To Recap or not to Recap, that is the question

[tonmazz]

I have a 1978 JMP and it appears to have all the original Caps. The amp sounds great IMO, but I have to wonder as all of us tone freaks always do if there is more I can get out of it. My question is what will recapping do for the tone, tightness, etc. if anything. Will it take away from the tone not being original? Any experiences would be helpful. Thanks.

 

[redrol]

I have a 1978 JMP and it appears to have all the original Caps. The amp sounds great IMO, but I have to wonder as all of us tone freaks always do if there is more I can get out of it. My question is what will recapping do for the tone, tightness, etc. if anything. Will it take away from the tone not being original? Any experiences would be helpful. Thanks.

It needs a recap no doubt. It will be tighter, more toneful, ie, what it originally was. Caps die after a long time and certainly 30 years is plenty to make them not work well.

 

[MrDan666]

I would personally see if they could be Re-Formed.. if they can and they can be brought back to health, then they wont need replacing. Otherwise i would get fresh caps put in. I have some ARS caps in my 82 JCM800 right now, but i heard the LCR caps are great.

 

[JerryP]

Change them.
Jerry

 

[blackba]

I would change them out. I recapped my '66 Fender champ and noticed a big difference in sound, the amp just sounded more alive.

Where I am kind of on the fence about recapping is with my '88 Silver jubilee and '90 Mark IV. They are getting up their in age....

 

[FortinAmps]

I have a 1978 JMP and it appears to have all the original Caps. The amp sounds great IMO, but I have to wonder as all of us tone freaks always do if there is more I can get out of it. My question is what will recapping do for the tone, tightness, etc. if anything. Will it take away from the tone not being original? Any experiences would be helpful. Thanks.

I'd reform them first since that is no money out of pocket. Depending of how much the amp has been used, stored, etc. you might be able to salvage the power supply caps.

Unless the caps have visible signs of bubbling where the terminals are located, then they should be replaced.

Send me a PM if you need the info on reforming.
Cheers,
Mike

 

[JerryP]

How does reforming address the aging and drying out of an electrolytic cap? What sort of tonal change will be noticed? The amp works now, after reforming it will work the same. What happens 2 days or 2 months later when the 31 year old cap fails and takes the 31 year old choke or power transformer with it? Electrolytic caps are typically changed at 10-15 years, but can last much longer than that. Some brands are better than others. The Chinese black and green caps Marshall used in the 80's are lucky to make it 10 years. After 10-15 years you run a higher risk of failure and the associated more expensive failures that could go along with a cap failure. As preventive maintenance change them. I've never had a customer tell me the amp sounded worse after changing caps and usually they feel it's an improvement. I have repaired several that played against the odds and lost.
Jerry

 

[MrDan666]

I changed all of mine to F&T. The biggest difference in tone was the tightness the amps had. Less flub, etc.

With that said, I have not changed the caps in either of my Cameron Marshalls. For some reason I am afraid??? ...and that the cost of F&T caps seems to have increased. I use to get the F&T 50/50 for $7.50 a piece.

Dave, dont worry about swapping out those caps in the Camerons. Chances are, Mark may have reformed them when he did the mod. Otherwise, im sure he wouldve changed them out. But you can still reform them anyway just to be sure, and that way it saves you the worry or hassle of having to recap the amps. Many of the top techs or amp builders swear by reforming.. Larry Grohmann being one of them. He actually posted a full step by step tutorial on reforming over at the Metroamp forum and it works great!!

 

[Gainfreak]

Whaddup!!

Im of the opinion if it aint broke,, don't fix it but...If the caps are showing some wear and tare then Id listen to Mike Fortin. The dude Knows his stuff!!!

 

[JerryP]

Whaddup!!

Im of the opinion if it aint broke,, don't fix it but...If the caps are showing some wear and tare then Id listen to Mike Fortin. The dude Knows his stuff!!!

If your tires hold air they must still be good right? Why brush your teeth if they're not rotted? As Mike from KCA Tubes has posted many times and it's 100% true, every cap that failed today worked fine yesterday.
Jerry

 

[tonmazz]

How does reforming address the aging and drying out of an electrolytic cap? What sort of tonal change will be noticed? The amp works now, after reforming it will work the same. What happens 2 days or 2 months later when the 31 year old cap fails and takes the 31 year old choke or power transformer with it? Electrolytic caps are typically changed at 10-15 years, but can last much longer than that. Some brands are better than others. The Chinese black and green caps Marshall used in the 80's are lucky to make it 10 years. After 10-15 years you run a higher risk of failure and the associated more expensive failures that could go along with a cap failure. As preventive maintenance change them. I've never had a customer tell me the amp sounded worse after changing caps and usually they feel it's an improvement. I have repaired several that played against the odds and lost.
Jerry

Guys. Thanks for all the good advice. I was hoping the answer would be improvement in the overall tone and feel. I think what really made me think about this was exactly what a few people have mentioned, that the amp came alive after recapping. I plugged into my newer Marshall and that's what I thought, it sounded alive and more responsive for sure. I love the JMP and it is an older Cameron mod so yes I am scared to touch it to a certain degree but I think it must be done. It sounds great now and I can't wait to hear it recapped!! Thanks.

 

[Gainfreak]

Whaddup!!

Im of the opinion if it aint broke,, don't fix it but...If the caps are showing some wear and tare then Id listen to Mike Fortin. The dude Knows his stuff!!!

If your tires hold air they must still be good right? Why brush your teeth if they're not rotted? As Mike from KCA Tubes has posted many times and it's 100% true, every cap that failed today worked fine yesterday.
Jerry

Well there is always a chance that something might go wrong but don't the caps usually show signs of wearing down like bubbling? I have a 1971 superlead with the original caps in it and its still going strong with no signs of the caps going bad . Now if I left that sucker in a closet for 10 years then I might think differently lol!

Anywho That's all I got lol

 

[JerryP]

Whaddup!!

Im of the opinion if it aint broke,, don't fix it but...If the caps are showing some wear and tare then Id listen to Mike Fortin. The dude Knows his stuff!!!

If your tires hold air they must still be good right? Why brush your teeth if they're not rotted? As Mike from KCA Tubes has posted many times and it's 100% true, every cap that failed today worked fine yesterday.
Jerry

Well there is always a chance that something might go wrong but don't the caps usually show signs of wearing down like bubbling? I have a 1971 superlead with the original caps in it and its still going strong with no signs of the caps going bad . Now if I left that sucker in a closet for 10 years then I might think differently lol!

Anywho That's all I got lol

They don't always shows signs and more often than not don't show any signs. I would never risk an original transformer in a vintage Marshall to keep original caps.
Jerry

 

[Gainfreak]

Whaddup!!

Im of the opinion if it aint broke,, don't fix it but...If the caps are showing some wear and tare then Id listen to Mike Fortin. The dude Knows his stuff!!!

If your tires hold air they must still be good right? Why brush your teeth if they're not rotted? As Mike from KCA Tubes has posted many times and it's 100% true, every cap that failed today worked fine yesterday.
Jerry

Well there is always a chance that something might go wrong but don't the caps usually show signs of wearing down like bubbling? I have a 1971 superlead with the original caps in it and its still going strong with no signs of the caps going bad . Now if I left that sucker in a closet for 10 years then I might think differently lol!

Anywho That's all I got lol

They don't always shows signs and more often than not don't show any signs. I would never risk an original transformer in a vintage Marshall to keep original caps.
Jerry

Good to know! Thanks!!

 

[degenaro]

Common sense says recap after 10-15 years. That said, I have never recapped one of my amps because it was time, but rather because they were acting up and in dire need of a cap job.
And yes I'm letting my teeth rot, and drive on bald tires.

 

[Vrad]

Recap...
As for sound, the amp will be tighter and sound 'like new'. I can't think of a better way to describe it.

 

[blackba]

How does reforming address the aging and drying out of an electrolytic cap? What sort of tonal change will be noticed? The amp works now, after reforming it will work the same. What happens 2 days or 2 months later when the 31 year old cap fails and takes the 31 year old choke or power transformer with it? Electrolytic caps are typically changed at 10-15 years, but can last much longer than that. Some brands are better than others. The Chinese black and green caps Marshall used in the 80's are lucky to make it 10 years. After 10-15 years you run a higher risk of failure and the associated more expensive failures that could go along with a cap failure. As preventive maintenance change them. I've never had a customer tell me the amp sounded worse after changing caps and usually they feel it's an improvement. I have repaired several that played against the odds and lost.
Jerry

Would those Chinese Black and Green caps be on a Marshall Silver Jubilee? I assume the caps are on the circuit board in side the amp and not in the power supply as I think my amp has large blue (LCR maybe) caps for the power supply.