where can i buy gibson bumblebee caps?

[tom brown]

do they sell them new from gibson or do i have to go to ebay?

 

ebay had the whole setup but one guy wants 999.oo buy it now, some others are less expensive......

[Tim Plains]

From my understanding you cannot buy them from Gibson. Why would you want to, anyways? The Bumblebees Gibson uses are not paper in oil caps. They just crappy caps that look like Bees. The ones on eBay that cost a lot of money are likely real Bees from the 1950s but not all '50s Bees go for that much. If $30 isn't too much for you, buy a pair of reproduction paper in oil caps go to RS Guitarworks. http://www.rsguitarworks.net/rsstore/product_info.php?cPath=45_67&products_id=452

[max2343]

TONEMOJO.COM Try this Guy he seem Kool.

 

Any paper in oil Caps will do with the right Values.

 

Original Bumble-Bees are alot. Repo's are the way to go.

 

Also look up Gibson 50s wiring on the net and learn the stuff.

[tom brown]

Thanks are nine, the caps are 42 for two, and to answer your question is that to much i say hell no for better tone on my lp.......:D

 

Nine, can you tell me on a scale of 1 to 10 how much of a difference would these caps make in a les paul VM..

 

Also, if you would, they offer it wired with the tone and volume controls for 99.00 which seems the way to go....

 

Question is are the CTS custom audio taper pots (volume +tone ) that come with the bumblebees different from my stock controls?

 

 

Also, some said 500k pots are the way to go , are the CTS custom in the same range or diffferent?

 

 

thanks for any assistance you can provide................................tom

[Tom99SS]

Call RS GuitarWorks and ask for Billy. Explain to him the sound you are looking for and we will give you suggestions on caps and pots. I have their CTS Pots, BumbleBee repro caps and pre-wired toggle switch.

 

They just got back from the Dallas Guitar Show so they may still be playing catchup.

[tazzboy]

I have Mojo Tone's Vitamin Ts and I like them a lot and they don't cost a lot.

[Tim Plains]

Tom, I replaced the caps in my R8 & R9 with repo Bees. As far as I could tell, there was zero difference in the R9 but they were quite an improvement in the R8. Mind you, the pots in these historics are basically useless and I have them at 10 all the time. You really notice how caps affect your tone when you start rolling down the tone pots. They should definitely influence your tone. On a scale from 1 to 10, I'd say around a 4. Keep in mind, it's not like you're changing your pickups and getting a completely different sound out of the guitar. Caps will merely alter the tone you have now.

 

Your VM has 500K tone pots and 300K volume pots. The CTS pots you'd get are 500K, tone & volume. You could buy the wired kit or you could save that money, buy just the parts and solder them in yourself. It's really up to you.

 

What do you mean by CTS custom? Without me searching RS's website, are those a specific type of pot? I bought four CTS volume pots and measured all of them. They all ranged between 520K - 570K. The reason I bought four was just that; so, I could match up two that were similar...and I did. Two of the four pots were measured at 520K exactly and those were the two I used in my Custom.

[tom brown]

they are calling the pots wired ""CTS custom audio tapered pots""and says they are "tweaked audio ""pots but they don't give what the values are some other they define as 500k.

 

heres is the page

http://www.rsguitarworks.net/rsstore/product_info.php?cPath=47_64&products_id=465

 

If mine tone is 500k then thats fine i was not aware.

 

these tapered pots are somehting else i did read once on but forgot what the defination was...

 

thanks again, i will order the bees ........

[tazzboy]

I get my pots from http://www.matchguitarpots.com I got pots one time from RS and they were crap IMO.

[Tom99SS]

When in doubt search the RS forum. Here Roy answer squestions regarding their Luxe and Jensen CAPs.

 

Also, depends on the wiring (Modern vs. 50 ) and how much the CAPs effect the tone knob.

 

Here are some links.

 

RS Forum link #1

 

RS Forum link #2

 

There are also a bunch of post on the other forums (Les Paul Forum and MyLesPaul Forum) about the RS stuff.

 

I highly recommend their pots and caps as they have worked well for me and their customer service is one of the best out there. Even if you do not buy from then at least give them a call as they are very helpful. Heck I think one time I talked to Billy for a good 30-45 minutes about pickups, pots, caps. That was even prior to getting any thing from them.

[tom brown]

Thanks for the info everyone.......