Les Paul tone cap replacements?

[MrDan666]

I have the reissued Bumblebee caps in my R7 Les Paul, and it sounds cool dont get me wrong.. but when i wana get that smooth Sykes style neck pickup tone by rolling back the tone pot, it gets really mushy sounding.

I know normally that happens from rolling back the tone pot, but i have played with other guitars with same pickups but may have had different value or different types of capacitors which didnt get muddy but just beautifully smooth sounding!

What would be a good replacement cap for what im wanting? Ceramic disc?

The caps in mine i believe are .022uF caps..

Thanks!
Dan

 

[Hey_bert_whtcha_doin_bert]

Try a .01/.015 it keeps some of the midrange intact.

 

[Hey_bert_whtcha_doin_bert]

Side note: This was from Tom Anderson, thats what they use and that what he told me why, pretty much for what your talking about.

 

[blackba]

I would not get a standard issue ceramic cap, at least get a decent one like a Sprague orange drop, they are only about $1 a piece.....

As far as value, I think it goes like this from bright to dark.

.01
.022
.047

0.022 and 0.047 are the common values, from what I have seen.

 

[MrDan666]

I would not get a standard issue ceramic cap, at least get a decent one like a Sprague orange drop, they are only about $1 a piece.....

As far as value, I think it goes like this from bright to dark.

.01
.022
.047

0.022 and 0.047 are the common values, from what I have seen.

I have a found that not only do the values affect the sound, but the actual type of cap seems to affect how it sounds.

For example i found that Ceramic disc caps sound a bit smoother on the top end, and also Sprague Orange drops sound a bit more high endy and clearer than say Mallorys.

So im thinking the 0.022uF value is fine, but the type of cap could affect how it sounds.

 

[MrDan666]

Tone caps are for wussys...

But if you insist, I always liked the Jensen copper foil in oil caps @ .01.

Cheers Dave!!

I may have to pick up a few of those caps in different values and see how i like em!

Tone caps rule when you're aiming for that huge Sykes/Aldrich neck pup tone

 

[duesentrieb]

I

a) would try a different pickup
b) would lower its height
c) would replace the 500k pot with a 300k (!)

and

d) wouldn't worry about caps in guitars at all

 

[MrDan666]

I

a) would try a different pickup
b) would lower its height
c) would replace the 500k pot with a 300k (!)

and

d) wouldn't worry about caps in guitars at all

Thanks Olaf!

So the 300k tone pot... what would that soundwise? make it smoother sounding?

 

[duesentrieb]

Vol pot, Dan.
It makes the sound soooo smooth and creamy.
Try it, love it.

 

[MrDan666]

Vol pot, Dan.
It makes the sound soooo smooth and creamy.
Try it, love it.

I will definitly give it a go!! The pickup is a Burstbucker 1, and its a nice vintage PAF sound. It just needs that something extra, so maybe the pot will do the job!

 

[Craggin]

Tone caps are for wussys...

But if you insist, I always liked the Jensen copper foil in oil caps @ .01.

+1. I put them in my R7 with 500k pots...works like butta.