Capacitors in treble bleed circuits

jaymenon

Re: the tone control of the average electric guitar, what passes through the capacitor is of course what is going to ground -  doesn’t make its way into the signal  from the output jack.

 So whether paper-in-oil, orange drop, or standard cheap ceramic, I rather suspect the electrons don’t really give a sh!t.  And that most guitarists couldn’t tell the difference with their eyes shut...

With a treble bleed circuit however the signal passes through the capacitor. In that context, does it make a difference, the quality / type of the capacitor?

Danny1969

Well technically the signal "doesn't" pass through the cap ... it can't as the dielectric is an insulator ... it appears to pass through the cap though so I see what you mean
Personally I don't think you will notice a difference between types at the frequencies range of a guitar but I've never blindly A\B'ed any in a test so could be wrong

ICBM

You mean a treble *pass* cap - treble bleed is what the tone control does . (Yes, I know... common jargon/uphill battle and all the rest .)

No, it doesn’t make any difference in either position. The reason caps *do* make a difference in amps is because they are subjected to tens or even hundreds of volts, which is enough to produce ‘self-distortion’ - where the signal voltage itself alters the capacitance, and hence produces harmonic distortion. Different materials and constructions have different self-distortion characteristics, hence affect the tone.

But in a guitar, the voltages are far too low - typically less than 1V, and even less than that in a treble-pass position when the volume control isn’t turned down very far - to cause self-distortion in even the lowest-rated caps.

Roland

The biggest issues I’ve seen with capacitors in guitars are changing values over time, and mechanical failure if knocked. I wouldn’t spend money on paper-in-snake-oil, or magic orange drop dust, but I would avoid cheap ceramics.

Funkfingers

Roland said:

orange drop

I do buy Sprague "orange drop" capacitors - not because I imagine them to possess any special voodoo/mojo properties but because they are big enough to grip between nerve-damaged thumb and fingers and because I can read the legend on them without needing spectacles.

Gagaryn

Funkfingers said:

Roland said:

orange drop

I do buy Sprague "orange drop" capacitors - not because I imagine them to possess any special voodoo/mojo properties but because they are big enough to grip between nerve-damaged thumb and fingers and because I can read the legend on them without needing spectacles.

And they are reasonably cheap.

ICBM

Roland said:

The biggest issues I’ve seen with capacitors in guitars are changing values over time, and mechanical failure if knocked. I wouldn’t spend money on paper-in-snake-oil, or magic orange drop dust, but I would avoid cheap ceramics.

Although since most Fender and many Gibson guitars in the 1960s were fitted with ceramic caps, perhaps they have the magic mojo!