Is there difference in connecting these two jack connectors?
Stereo jack connectors are often used in guitar/bass pedals to "enable" the pedal when a mono jack cable is connected, let me explain it with an image:




The Sleeve is in contact with the ground part of the jack cable
The Tip is in contact with the "tip" part of the jack, carrying the signal of the instrument
The Ring is the extra tap necessary to "enable" the pedal, it is only present on stereo connectors. When the jack is plugged, the sleeve and the ring are shorted together (the jack cable is a mono one). When unplugged, they are not connected anymore. This mechanism is used as a battery switch, to save the battery when the pedal is unused.


The stereo jack will allow you to save the battery of your pedal. If you don't have one, or you don't want to buy one, use a switch, connected between the the minus of your battery and the ground of the circuit.

You can still connect directly the ground and the minus of the battery together on your mono jack connector sleeve, but I strongly recommend you to remove the battery of your pedal when you don't use it, it won't last long.