Anyone NOT like Sprauge Orange Drop capacitors?

[Hagbard Celine]

Re: Anyone NOT like Sprauge Orange Drop capacitors?

Man, it's sure a good thing they don't allow political or religious discussions in here. Someone might take offense!:banghead::naughty::eyecrazy:

Eight pages about capacitors complete with passionate attacks and self defense. :scared::argh::flush:

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Anyone NOT like Sprauge Orange Drop capacitors?

Man, it's sure a good thing they don't allow political or religious discussions in here. Someone might take offense!:banghead::naughty::eyecrazy:

Eight pages about capacitors complete with passionate attacks and self defense. :scared::argh::flush:

:welcome::newbie:

 

[uOpt]

Re: Anyone NOT like Sprauge Orange Drop capacitors?

1. If your Tone control is on 10 you will not hear any difference at all because the caps are not doing anything, even if you use some type of switching method.

Sorry man but you have your base physics wrong. The tone pot at "10" is still a low pass filter, a resistor and a capacitor in series.

3. Are you doing your testing with only a clean setting, a crunch setting or a wide variety of Tones settings on your amp?

I can only hear a difference in bright clean sounds.

4. Have you tested the same caps in 2 or 3 different guitars or just 1?

Several guitars, it's in my test harness.

 

[Barvador]

Re: Anyone NOT like Sprauge Orange Drop capacitors?

Hello, I'm new here and I've read all the posts...
Well I tried different caps and different pots in different LP types guitars.
Caps differences are hard to hear between same values.0.047 sprague orange are ok, specially on dark sounding guitars. 0.022 do not sound well in any guitar. 0.033 vitaminq are ok too best on powerfull and bright sounding LP standard .

The great differences are to be found through the pots. There is a great difference between a true 500K pot and a 430K or less value pot in a LP. A good pot of high value will give a LP standard bite and power. a cheap and lower value will give a soft or dully sound. Question of high freq preservation. I put 250K (269 and 280K) pots in a good old japanese with splittable gotoh PAF and the sound is really perfect, warm and still sharp and rich. Before, the 500K pots gave more power but also more agressivity and a bad tone balance, so overdrive was poor and clean sound senseless. Now again it's great everywhere.
If you find good pots that fit your pickups well, then you can check out caps. Value only, if you think PIO are best sounding, so you are able to hear the lawn growing ! Don't forget that after 20 mn disto playing, you can't even hear 30% of high freq any more...Pots are essential, not caps IMO.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Anyone NOT like Sprauge Orange Drop capacitors?

Hello, I'm new here and I've read all the posts...
Well I tried different caps and different pots in different LP types guitars.
Caps differences are hard to hear between same values.0.047 sprague orange are ok, specially on dark sounding guitars. 0.022 do not sound well in any guitar. 0.033 vitaminq are ok too best on powerfull and bright sounding LP standard .

The great differences are to be found through the pots. There is a great difference between a true 500K pot and a 430K or less value pot in a LP. A good pot of high value will give a LP standard bite and power. a cheap and lower value will give a soft or dully sound. Question of high freq preservation. I put 250K (269 and 280K) pots in a good old japanese with splittable gotoh PAF and the sound is really perfect, warm and still sharp and rich. Before, the 500K pots gave more power but also more agressivity and a bad tone balance, so overdrive was poor and clean sound senseless. Now again it's great everywhere.
If you find good pots that fit your pickups well, then you can check out caps. Value only, if you think PIO are best sounding, so you are able to hear the lawn growing ! Don't forget that after 20 mn disto playing, you can't even hear 30% of high freq any more...Pots are essential, not caps IMO.

Welcome new member.....Tone is a combination of "all" the right components and not just 1 single aspect of it...

 

[uOpt]

Re: Anyone NOT like Sprauge Orange Drop capacitors?

Welcome new member.....Tone is a combination of "all" the right components and not just 1 single aspect of it...

Well, that's the thing that frightens me.

If something causes a difference physically, and it is too weak to hear it, but it is just right below the threshold that you can hear, then you will cause a better sound by combining several of these barely-not-audible differences ...

... if you manage to pick the right value for each without hearing it.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Anyone NOT like Sprauge Orange Drop capacitors?

Well, that's the thing that frightens me.

If something causes a difference physically, and it is too weak to hear it, but it is just right below the threshold that you can hear, then you will cause a better sound by combining several of these barely-not-audible differences ...

... if you manage to pick the right value for each without hearing it.

Talking about this stuff doesn't frighten me,but getting bad tone does,plus it's not fun...

 

[The_Sentry]

Re: Anyone NOT like Sprauge Orange Drop capacitors?

Paper in oil caps are nice...but the biggest advantage to Spragues? I can get those and they don't cost an arm and a leg. I've seen some outfits charge as much as 40 dollars or more...for a capacitor!!!!

Come on now!!!

Sure...it's not as responsive (I know this...yeah, I'll admit it), but they work, and they're definitely a step up from the cheap caps found at Radio Shack or the Jensen caps which are found on a lot of high end guitars.

 

[The_Sentry]

Re: Anyone NOT like Sprauge Orange Drop capacitors?

I really don't understand all this.
Buy only what you want if it worths the money for you (or either if you are in love with its look) and let the rest to do whatever they want.

What are we really discussing here? The price of a cap?
What's the price of a cap compared with the whole price of a guitar?
Are you sure you aren't wasting money in other expensiver things that doesn't add tone, only fashion?.
How long will last this cap in your hands? maybe in the same guitar, maybe in other guitar...
Is a one time expense for the rest of life...

I thought the discussion was about if someone can hear or not differences, how big they are and if there is some technical reasons behind.
Conclussions are:

1. Some hear differences, some doesn't.
2. Those that hear differences, say that they aren't as big as to mod other parts of the guitars but, is one more drop that fills the cup of tone.
3. Some of those that hear differences think that they doesn't worth the money and go to cheaper caps.
4. Some others use any cap that is around and doesn't care about differences.
5. Some others buy caps because read in several posts (here or anywhere) that they are awesome. They could here a difference or not but they feel happier than before.
6. Some choose their caps based on the easier that is to work in their wiring projects.
7. Some others because they look fashion.

AND EVERYTHING IS RIGHT TO ME.
Be happy and let the rest be also happy.

(You is used here in general, not talking exactly about YOU).

Stylistically it's also what works for you hermetico. I know a lot of guys who are constantly adjusting their tone knobs...for guys like that? Sure, it makes all the sense in the world to get the paper in oil caps. I know firsthand the different between going from 7 to 8 is off the charts when adjusting the tone knob.

On the same token? Live...I have to do double duty as a singer/guitarist. It's enough for me to concentrate on singing, playing, and adjusting the volume...tone's a bit much, so for me it's more of a case of "set and forget"...and Spragues, at least in my opinion, are just fine for that.

Point: If you don't have to spend extra money, then why bother? :cool2:

PS: I don't think anyone's gonna convince me of any valid reason for a cap to cost more than 20 dollars...even for a high end one.

 

[The_Sentry]

Re: Anyone NOT like Sprauge Orange Drop capacitors?

I NEVER tried to convince no one.
Just, do the same.:eyecrazy:

:thanks:

 

[Barvador]

Re: Anyone NOT like Sprauge Orange Drop capacitors?

Welcome new member.....Tone is a combination of "all" the right components and not just 1 single aspect of it...

You're right !
:friday:
I experienced a lot with my guitars and I'm conviced the truth is to be found between your ears. There's no real rule and the choices i've made on my bluesy LP Burny with alnico 5, my jazzy Epi custom with alnico 2, my old japanese wierd country model (ARIA?) and my fantastic everything vintage armoured strat are not standard and not written in the users manuals ! nothing follows the same logic. It's everytime a new experimentation, but as you say, with always the right component that fits the right place for the right match of the "all".

 

[jake_xms3_punk]

Re: Anyone NOT like Sprauge Orange Drop capacitors?

i can't believe this thread is still going! lol

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Anyone NOT like Sprauge Orange Drop capacitors?

i can't believe this thread is still going! lol

Here I'll keep it going.... ;o) Bump

 

[jake_xms3_punk]

Re: Anyone NOT like Sprauge Orange Drop capacitors?

lol

 

[BlueSnMettle]

Re: Anyone NOT like Sprauge Orange Drop capacitors?

I agree with Sammy, he knows tone!

Peace,

Darrin

 

[uOpt]

Re: Anyone NOT like Sprauge Orange Drop capacitors?

Bump.

Bwahahaha!

 

[If6Was9]

Re: Anyone NOT like Sprauge Orange Drop capacitors?

Interesting read.

 

[jake_xms3_punk]

Re: Anyone NOT like Sprauge Orange Drop capacitors?

lol na keep them coming

 

[fuzman]

Re: Anyone NOT like Sprauge Orange Drop capacitors?

I would like to point out (probably for the third or fourth time) that the only valid listening test is a blind test - and preferably a double-blind test.

I listen to stuff as part of my job and I am painfully aware that much of the time I am unable to make a valid judgement because I can't do it in a way that rules out expectation.

It is impossible to listen to one thing, then another thing, and make valid comparisons if you know what the two things are. The human hearing system is not capable of this. Not yours, not mine, not anyone's.

I'd recount my (fairly) recent experience with blind cable tests but no-one listened last time and no-one will listen this time.

It's not just sound, but a difference in pick attack and note feel, blind, double blind, hi tech, lo tech. I hear and feel a distinct difference between different caps of the exact same measured value. No toleranace myths.

 

[Stratman]

Re: Anyone NOT like Sprauge Orange Drop capacitors?

My Les Paul Standard has Sprauge Orange Drop capacitors in it. I bought it used like that. Right now I have a Pearly Gates in the bridge position and an Alnico II Pro in the neck position. Recently I installed a Pearly Gates in my strat. I wired it up with 500K pots with a typical .022 disc cap. Now I know guitars are going to sound different from each other, but the PG in the strat has considerably more output and is a bit more open sounding. Could the Orange Drops be choking the sound of my Les Paul a bit? I'm not sure what value they are, the coding on the side of them does not list the rating.

What is the distance between the strings and pup?

Cap 'Brands" should not make a big difference in volume.