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What capacitors can I use?


cistec

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Hi Guys

 

Can somebody tell me what caps I can safley use in my Les Paul? (I am rewiring my ES 135 which is the same as my Les Paul wiring... I have been told) I normally use .020 caps but will other values do? like 0.22uf 160v or 0.022uf 400v and these are not gibson caps but third party ie VitQ PIO tone caps, Mullard Tropical fish caps, K42Y soviet paper in oil caps?, and a few more to mention..are there better caps on the market which perform better than the stock standard from gibson? can somebody advise which caps are reccomended and tell me their full value name so I can safley order them.

 

Also what does the 400v/160v/630v following the caps value mean?

 

Thanks

 

cistec

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400v/160v/630v

 

I believe these don't matter in a Les Paul--my assumption is the amount of voltage they can hold. And I don't think it matters in a guitar because not much current is passing through them.

 

 

What I do know is that they higher the value the bigger the size of the cap. You have a fairly large cavity in a Les Paul, so you don't have to worry about the size too much. That said, I just put a 200v in mine and it is fairly big. There is less room for large caps in a strat.

 

Get a Paper in Oil Cap.

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0.022uF = .022MFD = .022 Microfarads = 22nf = 22 Nanofarads = 22000pf = 22000 Picofarads

 

More here:

http://www.justradios.com/uFnFpF.html

 

In the USA we typically talk about Farads, Microfarads, or PicoFarads - and leave NanoFarads to the UK/Europe folks.

 

Avoid the .22uF = too dark

 

 

FWIW - Fenders use .047uF or .05uF on a 250k Pot for their tone controls

 

The Gibson .022uF value on a 500k log pot allows a nice Clapton "woman tone" when tone is rolled to zero.

 

 

The old caps were designed in an age when high voltage was required for most electronics, since most electronics pre 1962 used Tubes.

 

In 1953 Gibson in Kalamazoo would purchase caps in bulk - and use the same .022uF@400V cap in both Gibson Tube Amps and in Gibson Guitars. Made it easier on their purchasing agent to stock just one type for all applications. This is why you will often find .022uF @ 400Volt caps in 50's Gibson guitars

 

But in a Guitar Passive Tone control Circuit the lower voltage ratings work OK. Typically you will see .022uF @ 50Volt as the lowest voltage rating.

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0.022uF = .022MFD = .022 Microfarads = 22nf = 22 Nanofarads = 22000pf = 22000 Picofarads

 

More here:

http://www.justradios.com/uFnFpF.html

 

In the USA we typically talk about Farads' date=' Microfarads, or PicoFarads - and leave NanoFarads to the UK/Europe folks.

 

Avoid the .22uF = too dark

 

 

FWIW - Fenders use .047uF or .05uF on a 250k Pot for their tone controls

 

The Gibson .022uF value on a 500k log pot allows a nice Clapton "woman tone" when tone is rolled to zero.

 

 

The old caps were designed in an age when high voltage was required for most electronics, since most electronics pre 1962 used Tubes.

 

In 1953 Gibson in Kalamazoo would purchase caps in bulk - and use the same .022uF@400V cap in both Gibson Tube Amps and in Gibson Guitars. Made it easier on their purchasing agent to stock just one type for all applications. This is why you will often find .022uF @ 400Volt caps in 50's Gibson guitars

 

But in a Guitar Passive Tone control Circuit the lower voltage ratings work OK. Typically you will see .022uF @ 50Volt as the lowest voltage rating. [/quote']

 

 

+100

 

that's some good info right there...

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OK .....Thanks guys...got the idea...gone for Bummble Bee caps ...paid the extra and lets see what all the hype is about.

 

I have sourced about 4 different sets and will test them all ...Will let you know somewhere down the track!

 

at the moment I am having problems with my original wiring..my neck pick up sounds fine when I tap it and the sound is strong through my amp but when I tap the bridge pick up the sound is weaker ...I have checked the wiring and it looks ok ...is there any obvious things I am missing or things I need to check? I have Multi-Metered all pickups and they check out fine ..checked grounding ..fine ..when I turn up the bridge volume knob its sounds fine till it hits number 5 on volume control then it goes quite? strange any Idea guys?

 

cistec

Cheers

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OK .....Thanks guys...got the idea...gone for Bummble Bee caps ...paid the extra and lets see what all the hype is about.

 

I have sourced about 4 different sets and will test them all ...Will let you know somewhere down the track!

 

Well' date=' they aren't a 'hype' in the first place + caps don't make your Les Paul sound like a Holy Grail if the guitar isn't a Holy Grail (sad, but true). Quality caps are meant for anybody that use their tone knobs a lot, for a better treble roll off without turning into a muddy mess...

 

Caps play a very little part in the overall performance/tone of the guitar. It's also about finding the right pot values and the right pickups for your Les Paul. Some like 500K pots for the neck position coupled with 300K pots for the bridge position (for a less trebly tone). To each his own, but you must know your guitar (its behaviour/tone) in every aspect before spending money on stuff that doesn't guarantee it's going to be an upgrade [i']for your guitar[/i]...

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Hi Guys

Can somebody tell me what caps I can safley use in my Les Paul? (I am rewiring my ES 135 which is the same as my Les Paul wiring... I have been told) I normally use .020 caps but will other values do? like 0.22uf 160v or 0.022uf 400v and these are not gibson caps but third party ie VitQ PIO tone caps' date=' Mullard Tropical fish caps, K42Y soviet paper in oil caps?[/quote']

 

 

The Sprague Black Beauty, Bumblebee, and Vitamin Q caps all are paper-in-oil capacitors, which were used in most electric guitars from the '50s and early '60s. The components of the capacitor contribute somewhat to the tone of your instrument. Paper-in-oil caps often are termed "musical caps", because they tend to open the tonal range of most pickups. If you have .022uf caps that are paper-in-oil, I'd suggest that you try them and see what they can do for the instrument. Not everyone likes them. I replaced the mica caps in my LP Classic with a set of Vitamin Q, and it did the trick for what I wanted. Before that, I replaced the ceramic pickups with '57 Reissues and rewired it to match the late-'50s wiring diagrams. I also replaced the stock 300k linear taper potentiometers with 500k audio taper, again to bring it to '50s-'60s specs.

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