Cord falling out

[stringmann]

No idea why, but on one archtop, endpin 1/4 inch jack, none of my cords stay/snap in. Just slides out enough after while to lose contact. Is there a quik + dirty fix to make it stay put? Tnx

[Jimmy blue note]

If it's the spring mechanism on the jack itself, you can secure the jack with a long dowel or stick, undo the nut and bring the jack itself to the F hole from the inside.
Take a pair of needle nose pliers and you can bend the tongue of the jack positive contact just a tiny bit. This will give the jack more 'bite'. That does it just fine if that's the trouble.

Is the guitar an Asian guitar? Their input jacks are a lesser quality than American Switchcraft 1/4" jacks. I'd advise replacing the jack completely with a SwitchCraft jack. They're really built to last and that could be the last time you're forced to deal with this issue.

IF the jack is an endpin barrel jack, the jack goes THROUGH the end block and comes out the tail strap/jack button, then you need to do things a little differently.
Again: Secure the jack with a dowel, MAKE SURE IT'S SNUG! USE MASKING TAPE WRAPPING ON THE DOWEL IF NEEDED, and again remove the securing nut on the outside of the guitar.
Next, using the dowel, push the jack into the guitar and bring it up to the F hole again. You'll see a stop nut on the barrel of the jack. Screw it a couple revolutions back (so it's further towards the end of the barrel), this will provide you with more exposed thread on the end that sticks out of the guitar. If there's a lock nut, secure it, if not, no biggie. Now carefully pull the jack out the back end of the guitar and don't lose it off the dowel. Pull it out, slide the external washer and nut over the dowel as it's sticking out and then tighten it up again.
These problems with endpin jacks I've described are not a fault in the jack itself, but in the tricky way they must be mounted. I've seen this many times in my years on the Ibanez production/QC line and in my time with Guitar Center. The jacks must be precisely mounted at the factory and it's not the case by a long shot. If the protruding jack is shy by only 4 or 5 threads, the guitar cord will not be able to seat in the jack tongue. There's your problem. It's not the simplest of fixes but it's certainly do-able.
Not big on patience or spacial skills? Bring it to your tech. It's a 20 minute fix for someone who knows their way around these endpin jacks. On some of them, there's an external threaded ferrule strap nut too, depends on the variety but they're all essentially the same: Threaded barrel, stop nut and washer (and ferrule) on the external side, lock washer and nut on the inside. Space the threaded barrel the right way between them and you'll never have the cord come loose.

What happens in 90% of these cases is not enough thread is left sticking out of the guitar. The plug can't get a firm click. So by doing this, you're moving the jack out of the guitar just a smidge and the cord can get a firm full and positive engagement with the internal tongue.

Good luck

[Bobby Timmons]

The part of the jack that the cable clicks into may have bent away somehow and you can just bend it back. Or replace the jack itself.

[dconeill]

Quick fix? Loop the signal cable behind your strap at the tailpiece end of the guitar (i.e., put the cable between the strap and the guitar body, with a short length of cable and the plug sticking out), then insert the plug into the jack. Use a right-angle plug at the guitar end. The first of these will reduce the force (from the weight of the cable) bearing on the plug in the jack, while the other will change the direction of the force vector so it's not in line with the weak jack.

If you have an endpin jack, a more permanent fix might be to replace the endpin jack with a new, higher quality piece.

[stringmann]

Thank you guys for the time you took to help! DC, i had actually tried that and it worked. And no, this not an asian jack, this guitar + parts are high quality...wonder if 'clip' is bent. But the ideas above should get me a long term solution, so tnx again.