The Steel Guitar Forum

Hello,
A friend of mine brought an old double neck Supro lap steel that was his Dad's over to my studio to check out. It's really in great shape, since it's been under a bed for no telling how many years and never played. Unfortunately, the 1/4 inch cable to plug into the amp was totally rotted. The connector says "amphenol" and screws into the steel body. It looks like just a soldered button in the middle of the connector and I have no idea if they still make such. Any ideas of what this part # may be would be much appreciated and possibly where to buy one. This is such a nice steel to not be able to play.

Thanks,
Dennis McClendon
Ardmore,Oklahoma

The connector you need is SWITCHCRAFT #2501F

You could make a cord with one of these at one end and a standard 1/4" plug on the other end.



Or you could buy an adaptor: Amphenol to 1/4". I think Switchcaft makes these too.

If you have trouble finding the part, try a few vintage microphone websites - that's the standard connector that screws on to many older mics. Some had pins, some just the center connector like yours. Go to the page below and look at 75-MC1F. It's probably just what you need if you want a whole cable all ready to go.

http://www.oaktreeent.com/Vintage_Style ... Cables.htm

I've bought stuff from these guys before (I have vintage 555 "Elvis" mics, RCA ribbons and a few other classics) and it's all very high-quality.

Also used on accordions as standard cable to 1/4"

Clean up the old connector, and put it on a new cord with a 1/4" connector on the other end.

I was looking at the connector and wondering how it was even wired. The part that has the soldered center looks like it does not come apart in order to solder new wiring.

Dennis

I don't remember if the piece comes apart or not, but I remember that the unit is kind of fragile. It's easy to pull the wires out.

A few years ago I bought this very durable cord that someone had put together. The heat-shrink tubing on the amphenol connector prevents the wires from being ripped out.



A lot of lap steel owners change over those old screw on jacks to a standard 1/4" output jack. Any guitar repair shop can do that job. It does not devalue the lap steel as far as I can tell.

Thanks Doug,
I appreciate the photo examples and the input.

Dennis

I'm a big fan of the Switchcraft adapter. It allows you to use your choice of cables, if you're the kind of nerd who cares about which cables he uses (or the kind who doesn't trust that lone Amphenol connector to not break at a gig). Easy to find on Ebay as "vintage mic adapter" or somesuch.

Just make sure you remove it when you're not using it, or it's sort of a break-point for the instrument.

The screw-on connectors I have on cords have a set screw to hold the strain relief spring into the connector, and the shield of the coax is soldered to that spring before it's inserted into the connector. The center conductor (wire) has to be guided into the little hole where it's soldered in, and the set screw torqued tight.

Ok, I see, So what I need to do is de-solder the center point to view the opening. I think I will play with this since I have a box of cables that have ends cut off and see what happens.

Dennis

Scotty's Music sells these already made. I bought one while in St. Louis several months ago. It works great.

http://www.scottysmusic.com/cables01.htm

Terry

Terry, would that be this one?

CONCERT SERIES

Lap Steel Old Style
10' STRAIGHT/WITH SCREW ON
ITEM #QTMHMF $11.95

This is helpful to me too, since I have an older microphone that uses this type of cable and I've not known where to get one. I think it's an Electrovoice. Wonder if it's any good? Anybody know if they made decent mikes? It's probably from the 1960s.

That is the cable I bought...and I bought it for an old Electrovoice mike, also. The mike is not the best sounding - but it does sound old. Those old mikes were made in the pre-monitor days, so their voice pattern will cause feedback if you put very much of it in the monitor system.

Hey Thanks, Terry
For that price, I think I'll give them a call and make life easier.

Dang this forum is awesome! My first post since joining the group and it amazes me the information. You guys are great. I think I'll buy Christmas presents for everyone

Dennis

What about the plug that's installed in the guitar? My friend has an old National. The internal wire that connects to the guitar plug has come loose. Near as I can tell, there is only a hot lead routed to the plug end. I'm guessing that the ground is connected to the bridge or one of the controls. Anybody know? Any ideas on how to resolder this connection?

Oops. I just pulled out that old Electrovoice mic and I don't think it's the amphenol connector after all. Here's a pic. Can anyone tell me what kind of cable I need for this baby?

Thanks,
Jim