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Post subject: Caps
Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 8:16 pm
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I have a really nice Fender 72 Tele Deluxe Reissue that I want to change the two tone caps in. I was thining Sprague Orange Drops but I have a hunch there are better choices.

Has anyone used Wonder Caps, or WIMA caps? Has anyone done this? Any suggestions. The tone caps are .022mfd.


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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 6:04 am
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Give the orange drops a try and save your $$ for now.

Caps, along with a hundred and one other things are part of the subjective side of this hobby that drive a lot of us more technically minded people nuts. As far as caps, there are definitive and documented reasons from changing to the polystyrene or higher grade from the disc ceramics. But once you make that jump, you get into a lot of subjectivity, personal feelings, alignment of the planets and other things people swear by, but can't be measured. And I'll bet money, can't be verified in blind testing.

Yes, change the caps.. The Spragues are fine for now. Do shielding. Get the pickup wires twisted. Depending on what you have, *maybe* consider a potentiometer replacement.

These things will give you a more than 90 - 95% improvement in sound. Anything more is going to be very variable, depending (outside of the guitar) on the amp, signal cord, where you stand in the room and cycle of the moon.

But please consider carefully the hype that some other particular capacitors are special and will give you that extra half percentage points of mojo because they are in the original factory box from 1968 and the truck sat at a crossroads on a full moon night, etc.


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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 7:05 am
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Caps...just get the right sized ones, as there are some massive sized ones out there...but as far as which brand and value, don't get too caught up with all the different info on the internet, just use your ears as the final judgement...One site will say 715P Orange Drop only, another will say 225P Orange Drop only, another will say a paper and oil cap, another will say just use the cheap Chiclet-looking caps, and this is just the type of cap...if you ask on a forum what value to use, you'll get a range of values from .001mf to .047mf and everything in between...start cheap, and see if they improve your tone...

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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 8:20 am
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Thank you for that great advise. The 72 Tele has about 1.5 gazillion guard screws so I don't think I'll be jumping back and forth too much.

RR mentioned pot replacement and I think this may be a needed upgrade as well. Firstly they are not CTS and secondly, many argue that Fender used the wrong value... 250k instead of 500k... for humbuckers.

My understanding is that I can use any pot I want and that, for example, a 500K will yield more tone and a 1Meg would let all the tone pass.

Why would anyone want to limit the tone when you could always back it off with the tone pot?


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Posted: Sat Jul 18, 2009 9:14 pm
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At least as far as changing caps, they're all under the switch plate. With substantially less screws. (grin)

As far as the pots 250k vs. 500k. Sometimes it's not as simple as just throwing in, say, a 500k pot and thinking it will magically fix an issue. that particular component doesn't live in a vacuum. the pickups, the volume pot and tone pot and the caps all form a complex network with a lot of interactivity.

short version of that last sentence, try something, you may like it or you may not.

I personally have very good soldering skills (thank you, uncle Sam), but other folks, maybe not so. so it all depends on how far you want to go in your experimenting.

now something else to consider. ceramic disk capacitors *will* add a different 'color' to your sound. just the same as the polystyrene or Teflon may 'clean up' the audio signal. maybe that is something you like and want or not.

I'm not making it any easier, am I? There's a metric tonne of subjectivity to the 'sound' of a guitar and you could spend a lot of time and $$ chasing it.


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Posted: Sun Jul 19, 2009 4:57 am
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^^^ No, you really make a good deal of sense. I worked for Heathkit for 11 years so I too am no stranger to electronics and the ins and outs of soldering. You just made me rethink the ultimate tenet, the one we always come back to over and over again. Let your ears do the thinking'.

The Tele sounds perfectly divine as is. I suppose I just read too many rants over at Harmony Central about "you must change the pots in this Tele!.... and of course, there's always the curiosity factor. 8)


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