"....makes no difference" Thanks Tony. An electronics expert told me the same, great to hear it emphasised here. All that money wasted on 'orange drops' and the like. Sigh :)
I've used a 6800 microfarad Cap in my bass. Which has been the biggest capacitor I've used. I mainly use a 2200 microfarad capacitor. I don't like the way they sound with anything smaller. I've bought a 10000 microfarad capacitor. Just to install in my bass. Except it wouldn't fit in the cavity.
You are dead right Tony. I remember many years ago changing my cap for an expensive type and really loving the change in sound, but it turned out that my original cap had drifted so much that it was the value which had changed, I tried a basic cap of the same value as the expensive one and my sound was every bit as good. Nice to hear honesty - very refreshing!!!!!!!
Cheers David. Drifting components are a big issue, more well known to amp techs, where often they renew caps that are failing in preamp cathode bypass circuits and find that the customer has become so used to the drifted value that they no longer like the tone of the amp - despite it being returned to factory spec.
one differentiation in the types of capacitors relates to the tolerance. denoted by letters and ranging from very small tolerance (.1%) to very large (20%+). meaning that if you have the worst tolerance "M" of +/- 20%, your 0.022uf cap could be anywhere from 0.176 to .0264 uf. Does this matter? Depends on whether you are trying to dial in a specific value (as the video mentions) OR if you are trying to get consistency in your circuits (i.e. you are a manufacturer trying to get consistent filtering in your circuits). as mentioned in the video, avoid expensive caps, they aren't worth it, if you find a M-type cap and actually measure it and get the uF you want, then it's as good as any other cap at the same uF reading (assuming proper voltage handling/etc., which for guitars is very very low)
You’re a brave man to tell the truth regarding the tone capacitor myth. Capacitors in guitar tone circuits have a pretty easy life not being subjected to either high voltages or high temperatures. Changing the value of the capacitor or the tone pot will have an effect , most modern capacitors are made to much higher specifications than the old paper in oil ones and should last for almost ever in an electric guitar. Having a no load tone pot or some sort of tone circuit bypass switch can be quite a useful addition to a guitar tone circuit.
Brave or crazy - you could make good money putting in very expensive caps! Yeah, you're right, the 600v orange drop cap gets a seriously easy life in your guitar! I haven't used no loads very often, I probably should try them more.
I'm not going to claim that capacitor type necessarily makes an audible difference, but the argument you're relying on is fundamentally flawed. It doesn't matter that the signal doesn't flow directly through the capacitor on the way to the amp. What is left in the signal that does go to your amp is obviously influenced by what's subtracted from it, otherwise tone circuits wouldn't work at all. This means that if the capacitor type did have an effect on the signal that passes through it, it would also have an (inverse) effect on the signal that doesn't.
That's a valid point. If there were something fundamentally different in the way one type of Cap passed the signal to ground you would potentially hear a difference via subtractive effect. But I think the main thrust of my argument remains unchanged - that if the capacitor is behaving as it is labelled, then its effect is entirely the same no matter what its construction. There's no magic, just mathematics.
I think this argument is flawed because these are physical objects with imperfections, not mathematical equations. The response over time is relevant. Its like saying all compressors are the same because they all are designed to compress the sound. Yes, but they are imperfect and react dynamically because they are physical objects.
No one who spends $25 on a capacitor says it sound bad.
3:55 - 4:05 agree 👌
"....makes no difference" Thanks Tony. An electronics expert told me the same, great to hear it emphasised here. All that money wasted on 'orange drops' and the like. Sigh :)
I've used a 6800 microfarad Cap in my bass. Which has been the biggest capacitor I've used. I mainly use a 2200 microfarad capacitor. I don't like the way they sound with anything smaller. I've bought a 10000 microfarad capacitor. Just to install in my bass. Except it wouldn't fit in the cavity.
nah
You are dead right Tony. I remember many years ago changing my cap for an expensive type and really loving the change in sound, but it turned out that my original cap had drifted so much that it was the value which had changed, I tried a basic cap of the same value as the expensive one and my sound was every bit as good. Nice to hear honesty - very refreshing!!!!!!!
Cheers David.
Drifting components are a big issue, more well known to amp techs, where often they renew caps that are failing in preamp cathode bypass circuits and find that the customer has become so used to the drifted value that they no longer like the tone of the amp - despite it being returned to factory spec.
one differentiation in the types of capacitors relates to the tolerance. denoted by letters and ranging from very small tolerance (.1%) to very large (20%+). meaning that if you have the worst tolerance "M" of +/- 20%, your 0.022uf cap could be anywhere from 0.176 to .0264 uf. Does this matter? Depends on whether you are trying to dial in a specific value (as the video mentions) OR if you are trying to get consistency in your circuits (i.e. you are a manufacturer trying to get consistent filtering in your circuits). as mentioned in the video, avoid expensive caps, they aren't worth it, if you find a M-type cap and actually measure it and get the uF you want, then it's as good as any other cap at the same uF reading (assuming proper voltage handling/etc., which for guitars is very very low)
Awesome little engineering but right there! More of those please!🔥🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻
Great Stuff Tony, it's about time capacitor myths are exposed lol
You’re a brave man to tell the truth regarding the tone capacitor myth. Capacitors in guitar tone circuits have a pretty easy life not being subjected to either high voltages or high temperatures. Changing the value of the capacitor or the tone pot will have an effect , most modern capacitors are made to much higher specifications than the old paper in oil ones and should last for almost ever in an electric guitar. Having a no load tone pot or some sort of tone circuit bypass switch can be quite a useful addition to a guitar tone circuit.
Brave or crazy - you could make good money putting in very expensive caps! Yeah, you're right, the 600v orange drop cap gets a seriously easy life in your guitar! I haven't used no loads very often, I probably should try them more.
I'm not going to claim that capacitor type necessarily makes an audible difference, but the argument you're relying on is fundamentally flawed. It doesn't matter that the signal doesn't flow directly through the capacitor on the way to the amp. What is left in the signal that does go to your amp is obviously influenced by what's subtracted from it, otherwise tone circuits wouldn't work at all. This means that if the capacitor type did have an effect on the signal that passes through it, it would also have an (inverse) effect on the signal that doesn't.
That's a valid point. If there were something fundamentally different in the way one type of Cap passed the signal to ground you would potentially hear a difference via subtractive effect.
But I think the main thrust of my argument remains unchanged - that if the capacitor is behaving as it is labelled, then its effect is entirely the same no matter what its construction.
There's no magic, just mathematics.
I think this argument is flawed because these are physical objects with imperfections, not mathematical equations. The response over time is relevant. Its like saying all compressors are the same because they all are designed to compress the sound. Yes, but they are imperfect and react dynamically because they are physical objects.
yeah he's thinking the signal comes directly from the output jack or something