As with many of you in quarantine, I have been going stir crazy. I have tried doing a bunch of stuff, along with working, but nothing has really taken hold.

Until last week, when I took apart my amplifier, my Stratocaster, and then my Stratocaster again.

This is to document what work I’ve done so far, along with my thinking on it. I plan on it being at least 6 parts:

1. Amplifier
2. Stratocaster Output Jack
3. Stratocaster Teardown
4. Pickups
5. Switch
6. Volume and Tone Pots

Today we are going to talk about the output jack. I have been hearing a bit of hum from the pickups, and the occasional issue with loss of signal. I have done this trick before, so I knew vaguely what needed to be done.

This is actually what it looked like after I disassembled the guitar, but for our purposes, it will do.

The red is the signal wire, and the black is the ground wire. I have had two main issues with this particular jack: wiring and nut.

The nut is easy, but also the most frustrating. I can tighten it down, but it always comes loose. I’m going to make sure I have a lock nut when I next get to the hardware store.

Anyways, the black wire was loose and just hanging there. You can see the solder job I did on it.

Next time: Stratocaster Teardown