Ibanez EHB locking jack socket

[tauzero]

I consider locking jack sockets to be the work of Satan. If you're playing connected with a lead then the lead or the amp or the first item on the pedalboard becomes the sacrificial victim if you stray too far or someone (including you) steps on the lead, whereas with a non-locking socket the lead will simply pull out. Whether you play with a lead or wireless, it's fiddly getting the plug out at the end, and the teeny tiny button hurts your finger/thumb. So I wanted to de-lock my Ibanez EHB.

 

This, in theory, is a simple operation. Remove the small crosshead screw holding in the core of the socket, slide it out, remove whichever locking bits you want. However, my socket core appeared to be held in with a rivet, so replacement was the way to go. The entire structure corresponds to an XLR blanking plate (type D IIRC) so I got one of those and a jack socket, drilled a hole in the middle of the blanking plate, discovered that the screw holes meant I had to have it as an outie rather than an innie, soldered it up, then put it back in position.

 

 

 

Lovely. Well, as I was writing this, I thought I'd include a picture of the locking jack socket and its rivet. And then, looking more closely with a magnifying glass, I saw that the rivet wasn't a rivet, it was a Torx (6-pointed) screw. Oh well...