The Steel Guitar Forum

I have a double 8 national console with the old the screw on cable that hooks in to the 1/4" jack on the amp. My question that i need advice on is this, I would like to convert the screw on addapter into a 1/4 inch female jack. This unit is a player not something to sit and gain value. i just bought a 38 national new yorker that this mod has been done to, which i find is not a problem because this too will be a player. so what is your opinions doing this mod to a vintage lap steel?
thanks
Phill

I would make a cable with the appropriate ends on it .& leave the guitar alone. Bill

I recently bought a National double 8 and I'm using an adapter that screws on with a 1/4 inch jack input. It's up to what you do to your own guitar, but in this case I don't believe there's a need to change the input.

Bill

Bill where did you get the addapter?

It came with the guitar which I won on Ebay. Sorry I can't help anymore, but I'm sure someone else will chip in. They must be fairly common though as I've got another one somewhere that was in a bag of bits my dad gave me.

http://www.jt30.com/jt30page/eacstore.html

Amphenol connector. Just screws on and you can plug in a regular guitar cord.

Those adapters are also available at angela.com
They are under the microphone category in their online catalog. They also have the the screw-on connectors for the cord if someone wants the keep things original.
They don't show a p/n for the adapter, but the connector is Switchcraft p/n 2501.
Unless you are into doing the mods on guitars, I would advise using the adapter.

I see that the site Mark listed has that adapter for $14.50, while angela gets 16 bucks.!!

I've never dealt with either site. The first one quotes $4 shipping while Angela says $10 minimum for shipping. I thought Elderly would carry them but I can't find them there.

I believe this is the same style cable connection as an Astatic JT-30 bullet mirophone. Harmonica players use these almost exclusively and the cables are very common in harmonica catalogs. I have 2 15-footers still in the plastic. I think you can buy them on-line at Harp Depot.

Or I could be completely wrong about the connection.

Hi Phill, I just did some repairs on an old National screw on connector 6 string last week. After taking the pickup out, I was able to desolder the connection and repair the male end.

On this guitar, the guitar end of it was threaded into the body. The wiring from the pickup was broken where it had been soldered into that end. We repaired that connection, then threaded the connector with the wires attached back into the guitar.

If yours is made like this one, I believe you could find a thick panel female jack with the same thread pattern, screw this into the body in place of the old connector and then attach the wiring.

That way, you could use a conventional 1/4" guitar cable for connecting to the amp. Also, this mod would be reversible if you should decide to sell to a vintage nut or suddenly discover it's worth a fortune in it's original condition.

Another thing to consider about the conversion adaptor previously mentioned, is that your guitar probably won't fit in the case with this adaptor installed. If you don't need to case it up, this wouldn't be a problem.

OTOH, if you carry it to gigs etc. and have to disconnect the adaptor to case it up, you might just as well use the old cable and connector. JMO.

with any of the adapters it would not fit into the case, since it has a devider in it to store the cord. I would hate to have to cut a section out of the devider so the lap would fit. The upside wouold be I could hook a longer cord to it since the original is only around 4 ft. I did do a search for the adapters and will see which one will be the most wallet frendly. Thanks for all your inputs.
Phill
Ps Does anyone know how long National used this funky plug?

As far as I know they started in the thirties (Valco) and used them on Supros etc until they went out of business. That connector was a common mike cord set up in the old days, which may be why they used them.
I had an Electrovoice mike in the forties with that screw-on Amphenol set-up.
I didn't think the screw-on set-up was all that bad on my National. Just took a bit longer to connect. I have no intention of modding that old guitar.

I'm not modding my 1936, either. The darn thing is all original. I bought some mic cords from Gryphon when I lived out there. The bad thing about the jack is that it is on my side of the guitar. It jabs my gut.

I'd just use the connector adapter mentioned above and just take it off when you store the guitar, that way you can keep it in original condition if you ever want to sell it.