The capacitor thread.

[jonesy]

Originally Posted by Masa

What do you think of Goodall .047 for strats? Did you compare it to other .047 PIO caps?

Thanks

If your running standard 2 wire vintage single coils in your Strat the .047 will work nice. When you get into the vintage noiseless and stacks (3-4 wires)it may end up being a little to dark. If you like to roll off the controls a .033 or .022 can give you more "usable" range...Fender used .1 M (Really Dark)in the 50's went to .05 in the 60's and currently use .022 a norm....hope that helps

p.s GOODALL PIO are Premium caps, I sell them for like $8?

[Masa]

Originally Posted by jonesy

If your running standard 2 wire vintage single coils in your Strat the .047 will work nice. When you get into the vintage noiseless and stacks (3-4 wires)it may end up being a little to dark. If you like to roll off the controls a .033 or .022 can give you more "usable" range...Fender used .1 M (Really Dark)in the 50's went to .05 in the 60's and currently use .022 a norm....hope that helps

p.s GOODALL PIO are Premium caps, I sell them for like $8?

Thanks, Jonesy.

I normally put two caps in a strat, .047 for the bridge and .022 for the neck. I don't have the tone pot for the mid.

I was wondering how good the Goodalls were.

Thanks.

[jonesy]

Originally Posted by Masa

Thanks, Jonesy.

I normally put two caps in a strat, .047 for the bridge and .022 for the neck. I don't have the tone pot for the mid.

I was wondering how good the Goodalls were.

Thanks.

IMO They are up there with the Spragues in quality and performance, or I wouldn't be selling them

[Splattle101]

Jonesy (and other cap gurus),

Do you know what kind of caps - and what values - Gibson normally put in their old Gold Tops that came with P-90s to begin with? What would you recommend for a Les Paul with P-90s?

Splat

[monroe]

Originally Posted by splattle101

jonesy (and Other Cap Gurus),

Do You Know What Kind Of Caps - And What Values - Gibson Normally Put In Their Old Gold Tops That Came With P-90s To Begin With? What Would You Recommend For A Les Paul With P-90s?

Splat

.022

[Splattle101]

Originally Posted by monroe

.022

Thanks. I assume the old ones would've been PIO, too. Do you know what kind?

Splat

[jonesy]

Originally Posted by Splattle101

Jonesy (and other cap gurus),

Do you know what kind of caps - and what values - Gibson normally put in their old Gold Tops that came with P-90s to begin with? What would you recommend for a Les Paul with P-90s?

Splat

Someone just emailed me a pic of a 1960 Melody Maker(P-90) and it had a Sprague .022 Black Beauty. I have also used .047's with P-90's in Tele's and had excellent results, plenty of "Bark & Growl" after all they are just overwound single coils and can be a bit bitey depending on guitar/amp/settings etc. I have some .033 Q's and a few .039 gudeman PIO. I have some .022 Tan beauties coming in, they would be very close to Original caps?
Peace, jonesy

[RCCola]

Originally Posted by Masa

I think the problem with those Jensens from Angela and RS are the prices. The real NOS Vitamin Q are a lot cheaper.

I got some Copper in Oil from Angela and put 0.015 in the neck and 0.022 in the bridge of my R9 and 335. Can't really say how they compare to the ceramic disc caps I had since I replaced all my electronics at once on both guitars (pots, pickups, and caps).

I just bought a bunch of Bumblebees and will probably try them out in my R9 to see how they sound compared to the Copper in Oil. Then I'll actually have something useful to tell you

[Splattle101]

Originally Posted by jonesy

Someone just emailed me a pic of a 1960 Melody Maker(P-90) and it had a Sprague .022 Black Beauty. I have also used .047's with P-90's in Tele's and had excellent results, plenty of "Bark & Growl" after all they are just overwound single coils and can be a bit bitey depending on guitar/amp/settings etc. I have some .033 Q's and a few .039 gudeman PIO. I have some .022 Tan beauties coming in, they would be very close to Original caps?
Peace, jonesy

Thank you, Jonesy.

Splat

[RCCola]

delete

[RCCola]

Just read this post where a few people say the type of caps in the guitar tone circuit have very little effect on sound quality. Some types are chosen because they have tighter tolerance.

I just bought expensive caps, so I'm not trying to argue that they don't make a difference. I hope they make a difference

Tone caps...? Please explain. - Telecaster Guitar Forum

[RCCola]

dp

[-Ninja-]

Originally Posted by RCCola

Just read this post where a few people say the type of caps in the guitar tone circuit have very little effect on sound quality. Some types are chosen because they have tighter tolerance.

I just bought expensive caps, so I'm not trying to argue that they don't make a difference. I hope they make a difference

Tone caps...? Please explain. - Telecaster Guitar Forum

I have to say, I put 2 vintage Bees in my LP. They made as big of a difference in my tone, as switching out the stock pups for my Alnico ll pro pups. I honestly didn't think I would notice it, but once I installed them, it was like night and day difference. I use my tone knobs a lot, maybe the ppl who don't notice them are full players.

[jonesy]

Originally Posted by Splattle101

Thank you, Jonesy.

Splat

Your Welcome...
Note: The Black beauties in those guitars are the Sprague 160P's .022, black case, red lettering 400vdc

[Paul]

Originally Posted by jonesy

Your Welcome...
Note: The Black beauties in those guitars are the Sprague 160P's .022, black case, red lettering 400vdc

i'v seen a few with yellow lettering.

[jonesy]

Originally Posted by Paul

i'v seen a few with yellow lettering.

Hi Paul, I have seen them with yellow lettering as well, but never in Gibson guitars...for example the 60' MM and the 68' LP's I have seen had the type with red lettering?
I have both types mostly .047/.05, red & yellow writing...What year Gibsons have you seen the .022's with yellow lettering in, just curious?

Thanks, jonesy

[dwagar]

my '64 ES330 has the red lettered Black Beauties .022 400v as Jonesy described above.

if you have a look here (Dr Vintage site)
1950's Gibson Electricals

the early goldtops used Grey Tigers, up to 55/56

[RCCola]

Originally Posted by -Ninja-

I have to say, I put 2 vintage Bees in my LP. They made as big of a difference in my tone, as switching out the stock pups for my Alnico ll pro pups. I honestly didn't think I would notice it, but once I installed them, it was like night and day difference. I use my tone knobs a lot, maybe the ppl who don't notice them are full players.

I'd say I notice a difference too. I changed out all my electronics at once, including changing the stock ceramic caps for PIO, and when I got the guitar back, I noticed the guitar was really bright and sounded similar to before.

I said to myself, "well, caps in amps usually need some time to form so maybe it's the same with guitars" and it seems to be so. My guitar is sounding warmer and warmer the more I play and I recently saw on Angela's site where they mention "new signal" caps especially the larger PIO caps usually need a break-in time. They say "less than eight hours in most cases." I'm at about 4 hours...I think caps in guitars are considered signal caps...

[jonesy]

Originally Posted by dwagar

my '64 ES330 has the red lettered Black Beauties .022 400v as Jonesy described above.

if you have a look here (Dr Vintage site)
1950's Gibson Electricals

the early goldtops used Grey Tigers, up to 55/56

Yes Don you are quite right, the early paper and wax caps preceded the bakelite Bees. I don't have any grey Tigers, but I do have an NOS Ajax .02 200V long leads, looks just like the grey Tiger caps.
Very Informative website, thanks for sharing..
Peace, jonesy

[Splattle101]

So, what difference would a PIO cap make compared to a nice, accurate silver / mica cap of equivalent value, all other things being equal?

Splat

[jonesy]

Originally Posted by Splattle101

So, what difference would a PIO cap make compared to a nice, accurate silver / mica cap of equivalent value, all other things being equal?

Splat

Smoother, Warmer Tone less bite...

[dwagar]

and the hollow, or vocal, tone you hear on those great old records.

[Masa]

I just received 10 x NOS 0.01uf Bumble Bees today. It was less than $5 for 10. I ordered them to use with treble boosters.

I checked the values, and what a great surprise! They all measured between .014 and .021. They are too high for treble boosters, but perfect for guitars.

I had .022 bumble bees in my R0, which were actually .028 and .029. I just replaced those with .01 bees (actually, they are .021 and .019). I like the new caps better.

I bought a lot of NOS Vitamin Q's, and they're pretty much right on for the values. But, those NOS Bumble Bees drift quite a lot.

I also bought 10 x NOS 0.0068uf Bumble Bees (again for treble boosters). They were less than $2. I checked a few of them, and they were .01 ~ .012.

[RCCola]

Wow, nice. Less than $5 total for the lot of 10? or less than $5 each?

I just bought 16 for way more than $5.

[Masa]

Originally Posted by RCCola

Wow, nice. Less than $5 total for the lot of 10? or less than $5 each?

I just bought 16 for way more than $5.

Yeah, that was $4.69 for Qty 10.

And, guess how much I paid for 10 of 0.0068uf caps. $1.36 for 10.

[RCCola]

Originally Posted by Masa

Yeah, that was $4.69 for Qty 10.

And, guess how much I paid for 10 of 0.0068uf caps. $1.36 for 10.

Wow...somebody just bought 6 0.022 for almost $200 on eBay...your 0.010's are probably closer to 0.022 than the ones in the auction.

6 pcs .022 uf 400v BUMBLE BEE Sprague Capacitor - eBay (item 170228088633 end time Jun-13-08 19:40:54 PDT)

[jonesy]

Originally Posted by Masa

I just received 10 x NOS 0.01uf Bumble Bees today. It was less than $5 for 10. I ordered them to use with treble boosters.

I also bought 10 x NOS 0.0068uf Bumble Bees (again for treble boosters). They were less than $2. I checked a few of them, and they were .01 ~ .012.

Wow, those are insanely low prices for NOS and I have done a lot of hunting for the Bees, care to devulge your source? Any pics of these?

Thanks, jonesy

[Fiesta Red]

Has anyone compared the Luxe Bumble Bee repro caps versus the Sprague Hyrel/Vitamin Qs? I have a set of the Luxe's and love them but was wondering how well the Vitamin Qs compare.

Thanks!
-Mark

[martin6string]

Originally Posted by Fiesta Red

Has anyone compared the Luxe Bumble Bee repro caps versus the Sprague Hyrel/Vitamin Qs? I have a set of the Luxe's and love them but was wondering how well the Vitamin Qs compare.

Thanks!
-Mark

Sure did, Mark. I swapped the Luxe BB's in my LP Standard for the Hyrels for a comparison 2 weeks ago. I found them VERY similar. The Luxe is great for cosmetically correct purposes (I still have them in my R6 and R8), but honestly, I didn't find much difference in tone between the two.

[jonesy]

Originally Posted by martin6stringcustoms

Sure did, Mark. I swapped the Luxe BB's in my LP Standard for the Hyrels for a comparison 2 weeks ago. I found them VERY similar. The Luxe is great for cosmetically correct purposes (I still have them in my R6 and R8), but honestly, I didn't find much difference in tone between the two.

Basically those Repro Caps are just a good Quality Paper in Oil Cap inside the Vintage/bakelite exterior. Same thing with the Reissue Bees Gibson uses...