Original '50s and '60s tone caps?

Simpleman69 · **Joined:** Sat Aug 07, 2010 5:31 pm **Posts:** 23

All the fender specs I can find on this website list a .1uF (not .01) tone cap. It is my understanding that the larger value of the capictor, the warmer or more bassey the sound ie.more treble is bled off. But, all the old original 50s strats I've heard all had a very bright, tone with bell chime highs. It would seem that with a .1uF cap the tone would be fairly dark sounding. This puzzles me. Was it maybe the difference in the pups of the era? What material were those caps made of? Any insight on this would be greatly appreciated, but I'm asking for replys from folks who have actually owned, and or worked on these intruments and know facts, please no speculations. Thank you in advance.

kineman karma · **Posted:** Wed Oct 06, 2010 2:41 am

As this has become a subject of interest to me as well of late, I will be watching this post for info from someone who is fairly qualified to educate on the topic.

Cheers.

bluesky636 · **Posted:** Wed Oct 06, 2010 11:58 am

The answer is very simple: Everyone kept the tone knobs at "10". The cap doesn't really start rolling highs off until you start turning it it down. Even at "10" the cap has some effect on the sound, but not a whole lot. The pickups of the day did not have as many windings as current pups which also contributed to the brighter sound. Don't forget, Leo's early customers were country western swing band guitarists who were competing with pedal steel guitars and needed a bright sound.

Contrary to legend, there is nothing magical about the old caps compared to modern caps.

Single_Songwriter · **Posted:** Wed Oct 06, 2010 8:01 pm

in 1969 at woodstock behind the pickguard of the late great Jimi Hendrix lay an odd square capacitor made of paper it was brown and covered in oil of some kind and the value of that capacitor was .1MFD so if you are using say the 57/62 custom shop pickups they have a reverse wound middle pickup like Jimi had you will "hear and see everything" ... but if you want say a Stevie Ray Vaughn then use a .22uf capacitor with just about any pickup you choose then it too will have that Great Fender Tone ////// im an Old Man Now but been a guitar tech since i was a young teen hippy electronics wiz .... Hope This Helps With Your Quest for Tone >>>>>>>>> D.Faze

blackstrat71 · **Joined:** Sat Mar 21, 2009 8:02 am **Posts:** 293

57/62's don't have a reverse wound middle pickup.i own a set. the only way they sound good is with a .1micro farad cap.

Eugene89 · **Joined:** Thu Oct 07, 2010 4:41 am **Posts:** 3

strats are great guitars! i like them | free essays

eddie_bowers · **Joined:** Wed Oct 10, 2007 1:07 pm **Posts:** 427

I think the answer is just that those old pickups were extra bright.

I would have to disagree about the difference between old (paper in oil) caps and modern (ceramic) caps.
They DO sound different. I was skeptical as well, but tested a handful of caps for several weeks and the results were clear. Paper in Oil caps sound better when rolled off (not muddy) and tend to allow some harmonics to remain.
Even at 10 the cap value has a pretty big impact with standard 250k pots.

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Original '50s and '60s tone caps?

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