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Topic: The right capacitor for Lollar String-Through PUP |
JB Bobbitt
From:
California, USA
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Posted 8 Aug 2020 5:42 am |
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Hello all. I'm about to start wiring the PUP and I'm choosing a tone capacitor.
I can buy one for ~ $4 (polyester film) or ~ $20 (paper in oil).
Any insight or advice? I'm a rank first-timer as far as wiring PUPs, any discussion appreciated.
Thanks a heap,
-jbb
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"Time is an enemy"
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Mike Auman
From:
North Texas, USA
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Posted 8 Aug 2020 12:22 pm
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There are those who say they can hear the difference between the sound of two you mentioned. In the audio band, I can neither hear it, nor see it on an oscilloscope. The value of the cap (farads) makes a big difference, the tolerance (percent variation from that value) makes a smaller difference. The mojo, not so much. I think anything of the correct value will sound the same.
When you get down to 3-cent single-layer ceramic capacitors, they can be microphonic (generating a voltage in response to vibration.) On the other end of the scale, you can buy capacitors rated for high stability, low temperature coefficient, low frequency dependence, etc. But since you're wiring a pickup and not sending a probe to Mars, I would start in the $0.50 range and let your ears be the judge.
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Long-time guitar player, now wrestling with lap steel. |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 12 Aug 2020 4:52 am
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What Mike said! Don't pay big bucks for a tone cap. I'd suggest just getting a "grab-bag" and then you can have hours of fun selecting a value you like. Solder a couple of short lead wires to your tone control where the cap was and put alligator clips on the end of them to make the swapping in and out easier. Then just solder in your final choice where you had the leads connected to the control.
https://www.jameco.com/z/GB101-MYLAR-CAPACITOR-GRAB-BAG_17881.html?CID=MERCH |
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Steven Paris
From:
Los Angeles
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Posted 14 Aug 2020 2:14 am
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The HiFi guys will tell you that a capacitor with a POLYPROPYLENE dielectric has the least distortion. But let your ears be the judge, not the spectrum analyzer.
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Emmons & Peavey |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 15 Aug 2020 6:38 am
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| Steven Paris wrote: |
| The HiFi guys will tell you that a capacitor with a POLYPROPYLENE dielectric has the least distortion. But let your ears be the judge, not the spectrum analyzer. |
Worthy of consideration is that fact that with the classic "hi-cut" tone circuit used in guitars, the signal you're hearing is not going through the capacitor! Only the part of the signal you don't hear (that which is going to ground), is actually going through the capacitor. So, I think you could probably say that worries about distortion caused by different types of dielectrics really aren't applicable in this case, as they might be with coupling capacitors. 
At least, that's the way I see it. But I welcome discussion to the contrary. |
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