# Daddy-o Problem



## Spikezone (Feb 2, 2006)

I really like(d) my Dano Daddy-o for a long time, and still would, but I think the input jack is fried. When I plug in my gear, there is an obnoxious loud hum, which totally cancels out the guitar signal. I think I have isolated it to the D-O input jack. Are the jacks replaceable/available? Does any one here know? Thanks,
-Mikey


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## Jim DaddyO (Mar 20, 2009)

When I saw the thread title I thought it was about me!....lol.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

PCB-mounted jacks tend to have standard spacing, however there are a couple of "standards".

If you do a Google image-search for the "Danelectro Daddy-O", you'll see a link to a gutshot on The Gear Page that shows the daughter board with the jacks mounted. I believe those jacks are identical to these ones: http://www.smallbearelec.com/servlet/Detail?no=576


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## neldom (Apr 29, 2009)

Before you go ordering new jacks, I would pull apart the pedal and check if your solder connections from the jacks to the pcb are cracked.
I've had this issue lots of times, both dc jacks and input/output jacks.
Really easy fix too, if you have a soldering iron.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

That's a good suggestion. Though not subject to untoward stress, every time you plug into a PCB-mounted jack, there can be a little bit of "tug" applied to the jack's pins soldered to the board. Over time that could eventually fracture a copper trace.

If this IS the case, then one would scrape away some of the coating insulating the copper ground on the board, and solder some wire from the ground pin on the jack, to the ground plane on the board. While you have the daughter board out, wouldn't hurt to apply a little hot glue to the perimeter of the jack just to secure/stabilize it a bit, and maybe prevent future plug-in-related cracks.

And just to emphasize the value of following up on neldom's suggestion, if the problem was a crack AND you replaced the jacks, you'd probably still have the problem. So check for possible cracks first.


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## neldom (Apr 29, 2009)

Actually I wasn't referring to trace issues, although that could be an issue too.
What I've seen a number of times is the solder around the jack or power lugs being cracked and just having to resolder that joint.
Even just reheating the old solder and making sure there is no cold solder joint.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Then that's TWO pieces of good advice!


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## Spikezone (Feb 2, 2006)

Thanks, y'all, I don't really want to trash teh distortion yet (at least until I can dig up the scratch for a Sovereign)...LOL!
-Mikey


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## Spikezone (Feb 2, 2006)

So I got out the gun, opened up the pedal, and gave the connections of both jacks a little shot of heat, and when I plugged it all back in again, there was still the same issue, this time with my Danecho instead (???), and when I wiggled the cable enough to get rid of the hum, there was a pretty noticeable volume loss. I decided to rewire the whole board, so I got out some of my extra George L's cable and went to it. Strangely enough, it all works now. I 'm happy, but I don't get it...I thought patch cables either work or they don't. Is it strange that they might have let some, but not all, of the signal through?
-Mikey


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## neldom (Apr 29, 2009)

Not at all unheard of.
I was having a similar problem lately when I was using a patch cable to bypass my effects loop send and return jacks on my pedal board. 
I had just been playing with things because I had picked up a new pedal recently. 
I was wondering why it sounded so poor and started trying to isolate what it was. 
When it wasn't causing issues with either the drives on their own or the modulation on it's own I quickly realized what it was and tossed the patch cord immediately.


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## Spikezone (Feb 2, 2006)

You know, as an afterthought, I'm either not putting my George L's cables together properly (which makes no sense, cuz it's a no-brainer), or maybe they just aren't as great as they are made out to be. This is the third time I have had my board up and running and one of them has caused me grief. It seems if I move a few pedalss around, before I know it, I have cable problems again. Now that I have it working, I am going to try to leave all the patch cords as undisturbed as possible.
-Mikey


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## neldom (Apr 29, 2009)

Not to poopoo a generally great product but... 
I know the cable is really high quality, the connectors are top notch, but a mechanical connection is never going to be as good as a well soldered connection.


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