Types of Capacitors for Guitars
- Thread starter J.custom
- Start date
dudelove
New member
There are many types that can be used for caps in guitars. The popular ones are orange drops like you mentioned, and Paper-in-Oil or PIO caps. You probably won't find anything by posting this question on this forum. You'll find out much much more by researching over at mylespaul forum.
PatheinRaindropMoe
New member
hehe, should have more faith in soft yeah. Capcitor is a very basic component, but when in the hand of "mojoed" geetar players, suddenly there be lotsa majik which prolly will make music more beautiful.
Guitar usage aside, here is prolly more than enough info to make geetarers give up trying to find out different kind of capacitors, still, it is all about capacitors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor
If anyone wanna for the fun of it, can just pop in those polarised cap just for the fun of it and see how it affect the sound. I have only tried it on effect circuit(interchanging polarised cap with non polarised type) so cant really say how it affect geetar sound in the tone pot section. But if you wanna try it on geetar, theres no harm done. There is prolly no danger of anysort in a guitar circuit, generally.
On the tone control, with just a capacitor alone, it doesnt work towards the purpose of rolling off the highs (frequency). It need to work hand in hand together with the value of the tone potentiometer, taper response etc to make a difference
using a cheap ceramic cap(which some geetars used to have as factory default) compare to all those fancy caps on top of the different value pots, theres prolly differences. Theres difference in the roll off response, aka improved fidelity/tone balance when rolling off the tone pot without getting mushy tone too fast, too furious and perhaps a slight/tiny improvement on the sound when tone pot is set to full. The effect of the cap will only have most effect when you adjust the tone pot, as thats where the filtering take place.
Oh yeah, if anyone able to record clips of the differences in sound a cap change will do, best! Even better still, if able to capture a screen shot of different caps in action, with the signal fed through a spectrum analyser. The differences can be seen and not just heard, which in the first place, varies among us.
Guitar usage aside, here is prolly more than enough info to make geetarers give up trying to find out different kind of capacitors, still, it is all about capacitors.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor
If anyone wanna for the fun of it, can just pop in those polarised cap just for the fun of it and see how it affect the sound. I have only tried it on effect circuit(interchanging polarised cap with non polarised type) so cant really say how it affect geetar sound in the tone pot section. But if you wanna try it on geetar, theres no harm done. There is prolly no danger of anysort in a guitar circuit, generally.
On the tone control, with just a capacitor alone, it doesnt work towards the purpose of rolling off the highs (frequency). It need to work hand in hand together with the value of the tone potentiometer, taper response etc to make a difference
using a cheap ceramic cap(which some geetars used to have as factory default) compare to all those fancy caps on top of the different value pots, theres prolly differences. Theres difference in the roll off response, aka improved fidelity/tone balance when rolling off the tone pot without getting mushy tone too fast, too furious and perhaps a slight/tiny improvement on the sound when tone pot is set to full. The effect of the cap will only have most effect when you adjust the tone pot, as thats where the filtering take place.
Oh yeah, if anyone able to record clips of the differences in sound a cap change will do, best! Even better still, if able to capture a screen shot of different caps in action, with the signal fed through a spectrum analyser. The differences can be seen and not just heard, which in the first place, varies among us.
Last edited:
PatheinRaindropMoe
New member
check your pot, is there letter "A" stamped on the pot somewhere, perhaps after the value(500k A, 250k A or perhaps just an A somewhere on the pot itself)
From the way you mentioned the response being more response in the lower region, thats a sign of a audio taper pot. For tone pot, i prefer using a linear pot, where the roll off response is even throughout the turning of the pot.
If you wanna find out more on pot, this one is a good site and some of the info can be applied for geetaring as well.
http://sound.westhost.com/pots.htm
From the way you mentioned the response being more response in the lower region, thats a sign of a audio taper pot. For tone pot, i prefer using a linear pot, where the roll off response is even throughout the turning of the pot.
If you wanna find out more on pot, this one is a good site and some of the info can be applied for geetaring as well.
http://sound.westhost.com/pots.htm
PatheinRaindropMoe
New member
hehe, its the power of the internet..
Volume supposed to be Audio taper due. That said, i guess theres no harm trying linear pot for volume just to see which one you like. Most geetars are equipped with audio taper pot though. And with some after market pot meant for geetar, the reponse curve of the pot, even though not linear taper, will sound smoother in transition when turning up/down.
Interestingly, our hearing ability between soft and loud sound, aint functioning in a linear direction. This one prolly outta the range of guitar liao, but if wanna find out more, prolly can get info on the net quite easily.
Volume supposed to be Audio taper due. That said, i guess theres no harm trying linear pot for volume just to see which one you like. Most geetars are equipped with audio taper pot though. And with some after market pot meant for geetar, the reponse curve of the pot, even though not linear taper, will sound smoother in transition when turning up/down.
Interestingly, our hearing ability between soft and loud sound, aint functioning in a linear direction. This one prolly outta the range of guitar liao, but if wanna find out more, prolly can get info on the net quite easily.
RS Pots are CTS post btw.
@J. Custom. Gibson pots are definitely lower in quality as compared to CTS or whatever.
I personally prefer Alpha pots and Bourns.
And back to main topic.
I personally like Fujiken caps very much. I could sell you a pair of 0.47uF caps for testing if youre interested.
dudelove
New member
Yes, but I'm pretty sure RS Guitarworks designed their Superpot for CTS to manufacture.
j_m_s
New member
http://www.mylespaul.com/forums/tonefreaks/76345-de-bunking-myths-about-capacitors.html
- very good read.
Yes RS pots are manufactured by CTS to their specs. Its made by CTS, but its RS designed and different from the normal CTS pots.
- very good read.
Yes RS pots are manufactured by CTS to their specs. Its made by CTS, but its RS designed and different from the normal CTS pots.
PatheinRaindropMoe
New member
not big enough to be able to distinguish between good and normal tonal quality in the aspect of a mix for a music composition/recording context
Anyway, if handy with diy, its very easy to use a push pull pot for tone pot, wire 1 cap on the switching portion of the push pull pot and the other with a jumper connection. Switching between with cap and without cap while not rolling the pot to hear if theres any obvious differences.
Anyway, if handy with diy, its very easy to use a push pull pot for tone pot, wire 1 cap on the switching portion of the push pull pot and the other with a jumper connection. Switching between with cap and without cap while not rolling the pot to hear if theres any obvious differences.
3hree6ixty
New member
In my experience and opinion, brand and type of capacitors matter less than the measured value and how the guitar is wired. And to prove it, i bet i can make a $0.80 cap from the parts bin at Sim Lim Tower and make any guitar sing like it's been loaded with a Sprague or Jensen cap... As if half the people here can tell the difference...
But for consistency and ease of availability, I'd recommend Sprague Orange Drops.
But for consistency and ease of availability, I'd recommend Sprague Orange Drops.
CyanideJunkie
New member
A good pot with a tight tolerance affects the sound more than a cap does IMO. All a capacitior does is to add capacitance to the circuit, whereas your pot is responsible for the frequency roll-off which causes tone change. The type of cap doesn't really matter as much as the QUALITY of the cap. Those dime-sized CRL ceramic caps are good enough for most guitar applications. I love the guys over at MLP.com, but they can be prone to hyperbole at times when it comes to issues like this lol. YouTube Gregor Hilden for his demos; he can make an R9, bone stock with those crappy imitation Bumblebees sound silky smooth.
Here's a good read: For all those people who like slamming ceramic caps, google ESR, or Equivalent Series Resistance; you'll be surprised at what you find.
Here's a good read: For all those people who like slamming ceramic caps, google ESR, or Equivalent Series Resistance; you'll be surprised at what you find.
thats electronics cyanide bro, we're talking tone here, its truly a magical thing.
Do an experiment, take a 1uF cap and just tie it to your power supply cable to amp. Then pull it away.
You'll hear tonal differences even though the cap isnt exactly "part" of the circuit
And yes caps do matter, even though you cant use the full 600V of the caps, it does give more headroom, the higher the voltage rating.
Try two caps with different voltage levels, of same manufacturer and capacitance with the push/pull pot wiring as said above for reference ^^
Do an experiment, take a 1uF cap and just tie it to your power supply cable to amp. Then pull it away.
You'll hear tonal differences even though the cap isnt exactly "part" of the circuit
And yes caps do matter, even though you cant use the full 600V of the caps, it does give more headroom, the higher the voltage rating.
Try two caps with different voltage levels, of same manufacturer and capacitance with the push/pull pot wiring as said above for reference ^^
J.Custom , in a guitar the tone pot isnt exactly a part of the electric circuit if you get me, its just a bleed off (ie. no large voltages running through it)
Regarding the 1uF cap experiment, try it, none of the ends of the cap are even in contact with the amp right ? Then why is there a tonal difference ?
Maybe the tone freaks here may hear some difference.
Regarding the 1uF cap experiment, try it, none of the ends of the cap are even in contact with the amp right ? Then why is there a tonal difference ?
Maybe the tone freaks here may hear some difference.
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