Guitar & Bass Capacitors

[nebo1981]

Hey all ...

Was surfing the net ...
den came across this site ...

http://www.axesrus.com/CAPS.htm

noticed the most guitars use the .47uf caps ...
and so did my bass ~

So instead of wasting money on new bass pickups,
i decided to change capacitors 1st ...
(waste less den $2.50, better den wasting $200 for pickups)
lol ~!

i've changed the cap on my bass ...
put a 1uf and a .47uf in series. WOW ~!
I got the deep bottom end sound, whit the tone knob turned down, but without the sound getting "muddy" ....

This might be a cheap alternative to try out for ppl who dun have dat much money to splurge on expensive pickups.

i've already changed my pickups on my electric, and am quite satisfied with the tone of it ... (wish i had seen the site earlier)
But i hope this info is helpful ~

Oh yeah ...
If you guys got anything experience on this matter ...
pls advice ...
like how to convert values of mf into uf ??
and ur experiences ... ~

Also ... the tonal qualities of different caps ..
ie. metal fil or ceramic ... ~

 

[MadWerewolfBoy]

if i'm not wrong i think m sstands for milli and the "u" symbol stands for micro...

1 milli something = 0.001 or a thousandth

1 micro something = 0.000001 or a millionth

 

[nebo1981]

so is the standard guitar cap a 0.47uf or 0.047uf ??

 

[nebo1981]

den prob with dat site is dat ...
it's in mf ..

 

[uzzo88]

where'd u get capacitors anyways??

 

[nebo1981]

Sim Lim Towers ..

 

[mikemann]

Tone caps are 0.022 or 0.033 or 0.047 (uf) microfarad, normally. A simple resistive capacitive tone circuit is what we call a high frequency roll-off attenuation.

Or put in layman term, it cuts off from which point which correspond to the component value, the cut off vary from which frequency onwards.

This is the most basic possible tone circuit, but effective nevertheless. Variation of this circuit or increasing complexity of the circuit will give different response in different frequency attenuation. Thus so.

For bass, when you get a more detailed 'EQ', you can be very versatile with your tone, which is possible with an active circuit. Which in fact is to boost the signal then selectively attenuate the required frequency range. If you have a 'graphic equaliser' you can easily visualise your freq scope.

Still, nothing is more important than your musical fingers playing the strings.

 

[edder]

1uF (?!?!?!?! thats one huge ass cap to use!!!) in series with a .47uF (hmmm... i think you're missing a 0 somewhere) is effectively 0.319uF

if you've made a mistake with a zero somewhere then it should read as 0.0319uf, which the closest cap available is 0.033uF.

Play around with 0.01uf, 0.022uf to get even "tighter" bass.

Hey all ... ~

 

[nebo1981]

yeah ....
when i put the 1uf only ... it rendered the tone pot useless ... lol ~!
i wan trying to get the heaviest and deepest sound out of my bass ...
trying to cut the bite out when tone is full,
and making the bass have more bottom end when tone down - instead of it sounding dull...

 

[nebo1981]

Play around with 0.01uf, 0.022uf to get even "tighter" bass.

wouldnt dat give me more highs ???

f you've made a mistake with a zero somewhere then it should read as 0.0319uf, which the closest cap available is 0.033uF.

lol~!
does this mean i've actually lowered the cap value from .047uf to .0319uf ??

 

[edder]

dunno. only you know the values of the caps that you use.

reducing the capacitor values eg from 0.047uf to a 0.033uf in a passive bass guitar tone circuit DOES NOT increase any highs when the knob is at full. You can't add anymore highs or lows in a passive system. You can only take out.

What it affects is when you turn down your tone knob. It takes out LESS HIGHS therefore making the bass sounds deeper without the mud.

 

[nebo1981]

Wow, thanks man ...
damn ... this is so fun and interesting ...
i'll definately try out the 0.01uf, 0.022uf caps too..~

could you educate me on how to calculate the caps in series ?
like how does 0.47uf in series with a 1uf = 0.319uF ??
also ... wad abt if i were to put 2 caps parellel ?

 

[edder]

Lazy wanna type out stuff that is explained very much more clearly on the net.

http://www.google.com.sg/search?hl=en&q=capacitor+series+parallel+calculation&meta=

Please check what are the actual values of the caps that you're using right now before swapping the caps. Do it systematically. You must know where you are now before you tweak it further. Good luck with the solder fumes!

 

[ShredCow]

Solder fumes are horrid... ugh... need a fan and an open window nearby.

Anyway, I have done the Cap upgrade before... bought a Fender No Load tone pot and realised the cap with it was sucking off too much treble too fast, resulting in mud... got the smallest cap davis had (can't rem the value) then replaced it... now although i have to turn the tone down a bit to hear a significant diff, the tone retains it clarity...

 

[nebo1981]

Please check what are the actual values of the caps that you're using right now before swapping the caps. Do it systematically. You must know where you are now before you tweak it further. Good luck with the solder fumes!

hehehe~
You're right ...
it's a .047uf .....~

.047uf in series with a 1uf ...
kekekeke~