Can any one tell me why this cap

Jerry Madderra

New member
is located where it is and what effect it has there. It has been that way for years and years and I didn't know the cap was not in a standard place untill recently.
Jerry
Strattonecap.jpg
 
Re: Can any one tell me why this cap

It seems that whoever wired it into the circuit probably decided it was a good place for it so it wouldn't be in the way or get messed up when the pickguard was re-mounted. It's a big size for a guitar cap and the cavity in a strat only allows for so much. Is it wired to both tone knobs or just one?
 
Re: Can any one tell me why this cap

that big thing is is a tone cap. It enables the tone cap to function properly, that is, it's almost like a damper in that it filters out high-end as you roll down towards 1, and lets more high-end in as you roll up towards 10. That's my best guess until I can see a larger pic of it and the ensuing details.

PS: how's the fender '53 strat prototype doing?
 
Re: Can any one tell me why this cap

This is the wiring from the 53 although not the p/g. This cap is not the normal cap for a strat this age and it is not in the normal position which would be the center pot. This has been wired this way since 1954 at least.
Jerry
 
Re: Can any one tell me why this cap

Is it ticking! Holy crap I have taken apart a lot of guitars and have never seen a cap that big in there. That cap has a future in adult movies.:cool2:
 
Re: Can any one tell me why this cap

The guitar tech, Doc Pitillo, that set it up said it had the sweetest pups he ever heard in an old Strat. I guess the cap with a chubby is either great or has no ill effect on the tone.
Jerry
 
Re: Can any one tell me why this cap

Looks as though someone has used a high voltage cap for the tone control instead of a low voltage cap as they didn't have a small voltage cap handy.

No worries at all.

A high voltage cap is just larger and more expensive than the normal small voltage cap used in a guitar circuit.

To prove it's just the normal tone cap just open circuit it and jumper a wire over it.
 
Re: Can any one tell me why this cap

If I'm not mistaken, Fender used a .1uF cap when they first started production of Electrics. That would explain the physical size of the cap since .1 caps are on the big side. Callaham actually offers a .1uF orange drop w/ their vintage wiring stuff.

It appears to be wired up correctly from what I can see in the pic. The 2 tone pots are still jumpered together. Maybe they just put it there to keep it out of the way? I've often wondered how it would be to use 2 different tone caps for the individual tone pots to see how much of an impact it would have on the tone.
 
Re: Can any one tell me why this cap

they probably ran out of the normal caps and put that one in. very cool set
 
Re: Can any one tell me why this cap

That's a yellow Astron as used in contemporary tweed amps; somebody grabbed it out of a bin and used it. My old '56 had the cap wired and mounted in the same place...
 
Re: Can any one tell me why this cap

Thanks for all the replys. This old Strat is such a gang of old parts that sometimes its hard to tell what is correct and what isn't.
 
Re: Can any one tell me why this cap

Well, it could be original or not, but at least it's period-correct for mid-50's.
 
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