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?
Comments
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
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.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
And they are reasonably cheap.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein