Top Mount Versus Side Mount Jacks

[Aleph Null]

Do you have a preference? Why?

In my experience top-mounted jacks translate to space savings on the pedal board. Has anyone had any noise issues with certain circuits and jack arrangements?

[selfdestroyer]

Top mounted jacks for me!

Saves space and keeps my board looking clean.

I have also found that side mounted jacks and DC on the side works well if you do not have a board with a way to secure the pedals down. When I was younger and had a pedal with top mounted DC, I hated when I stepped on it and the pedal moved down some and unplugged it by accident. Talk about killing the moment. With Velcro and pedal boards this is no longer a huge problem.

Cody

[EBRAddict]

I know it is possible to put in top mounted jacks on a 1590B it often is not practical.

[matmosphere]

Most of my bulls are 1590b size. I don't like messing with top jacks on that size enclosure. I've done a few 125b size with top mounted jacks but I find myself wishing the jacks were just on the side. Don't know why but top jacks on small boxes don't look right to me.

I've done a few horizontal bb sized effects and those work great with top mounted jacks.

[jtaormina]

Most of my bulls are 1590b size. I don't like messing with top jacks on that size enclosure. I've done a few 125b size with top mounted jacks but I find myself wishing the jacks were just on the side. Don't know why but top jacks on small boxes don't look right to me.

I've done a few horizontal bb sized effects and those work great with top mounted jacks.

Agreed.

[alanp]

With BB and 1790NS enclosures, top mounted jacks are okay, provided you're not having to excessively monkey around with the PCB and pots to get it to work.

Too much of a cram for me in 1590B and 125B size.

[samhay]

I like them on the top, and have plenty of 1590Bs with this arrangement.
I have never had a problem with noise, but most are not particularly high gain. Realistically, there is only 1-2" more wire from jack to footswitch, and if you are worried, screened wire is easy enough to come by.

[Muadzin]

To me the 125B with top mounts is sooooooooooooooo much more pedal board efficient then a 1590B with side mounts. I can cram more pedals onto my board with top mounts, I don't have to wrestle with those damn jacks on the side to find the most efficient layout. Side mounts eats up way more pedal board estate that I find it puzzling why so many people still go for them. To each his own however and whatever works for you would be the optimal solution. I just wish all the PCB designers would keep this in mind as most PCB's are still laid out for side mounts only. Which means most of the time I can't use PCB mounted pots and still have to use wires. There should be a little jumper option on the PCB to reverse the signal between the outer holes for each pot connection. Like no jumper for standard side mounts, with jumper you can reverse the pots and do top mounting. Everybody happy!

[m-Kresol]

For me too, 125B with topmounted jacks beat 1590B with sidemounted every time. comfortable routing and more pedal board estate. I myself design everthing this way. You can still wire it for side mounts without a problem anyways.

[drolo]

To me the 125B with top mounts is sooooooooooooooo much more pedal board efficient then a 1590B with side mounts.

I find them actually even more efficient than 1590A's with side mounted jacks

[matmosphere]

Thinking about this more I realized that part of the reason I don't like top mounted jacks on smaller boxes is my wide feet. No Chuck Taylor's for me, my feet don't fit in most standard width shoes. If the pedals move to closely together I can't stomp on one without hitting another, so trying to make the board that tight would make it unable for me. It's hard for me to hit just one switch on a bb size that is verticle with two switches.

[jimilee]

I'm going to say top for all the reasons listed

[GermanCdn]

Side mount, partially because of wide feet, partially because most of the production pedals still in my collection have side mount so it's easier to go from production to DIY and back without snaking a pile of cables, partially because I tend to like buildings in the 1590B range, and partially cause I hate the look of top mounts.

[midwayfair]

Side, because I can't get top jacks on a 1590A.

[Muadzin]

Thinking about this more I realized that part of the reason I don't like top mounted jacks on smaller boxes is my wide feet. No Chuck Taylor's for me, my feet don't fit in most standard width shoes. If the pedals move to closely together I can't stomp on one without hitting another, so trying to make the board that tight would make it unable for me. It's hard for me to hit just one switch on a bb size that is verticle with two switches.

A valid point. Which is why I stopped wearing army boots when playing guitar and always make sure I have a pair of old converse sneakers at the ready. My feet are wide too, but being able to cram a few extra pedals on a pedal board is more then enough to make up for it. And slim shoes help a lot too. Besides, humans are adaptable. Given time they can get used to almost anything.