My output jack fell into my guitar the nut fell off I have tried to shake it out but its upside down There is no back plate and Ive had this guitar too long to take it back to the shop help?

Answer 1

There is no easy cure for this problem, but this might work:

First, you need to bring the jack back out into the hole it fell out of. Easy, right? I mean, how were YOU planning to hold the jack from the inside while using two hands on the outside to reattach the jack???

I have been successful (once) with shining a penlight through the jack hole and looking into the hole, then tipping the guitar and jiggling it until some part of the jack is near the hole.

Then the jack can be grasped with a pair of doctor's forceps (needle-nose pliers never seem to work), and maneuvered and prodded so the the correct end of it is positioned at the hole.

Now it gets tricky, because there is no way to both hold the jack's threaded tube AND pull it through the hole! So, try holding the jack with the forceps - the locking kind are almost mandatory - and wedge some thing inside the jack to pull it out with. If you can hold the jack with the forceps, or better, now, pliers, you can simply plug a guitar plug into it and pull the jack to the outside of the guitar using the plug as a handle. If you are clever enough to have unscrewed and removed the plug cover, then you will later appreciate it immensely.

If you somehow let the jack slip, then plenty of swear words are necessary, but that is your problem.

So, instead of the not letting the jack slip and swearing part, you have previously had the clever idea of removing the plug's cover. (Ummm, please notice that nowhere did we mention a plug with a cord on it)

So, here you are with the jack through the hole and the plug is holding it (Well, along with the fingers of one hand) so you slip the nut's washer over the plug and on to the jack's threaded part. Couldn't have done that if the cover was still on.

Having cleverly thought to borrow our buy some blue label thread-lock gunk in the little tube (Loctite, etc) you apply a little drop of this gunk on the jack threads nearest the guitar. thhis will keep the nut from later falling off again. And enable its removal with a wrench, if necessary, later.

Then you slip the nut (The jack nut, not the guitar nut) over the plug and on to the jack's threaded part, and then, well, thread it on.

Tighten with a small box-end wrench or adjustable wrench. You won't scratch the guitar's finish because of those 2 layers of masking tape that put around the jack hole before you started this venture. You DID apply the tape, didn't you?

Very carefully wipe off the excess blue gunk without letting it get on the guitar's finish.

Good luck, and remember to pull that plug out of the jack before pluggin' in your axe!

Oh, and you might want to go over the entire instrument and gently tighten every screw, nut, handle, and device on it! If this is a new or used instrument bought from a dealer, they should have already done this, but . . . . .