Capacitor value for SD Surfers?

[HoneyBearWombat]

I decided to go with a set of SD Surfers for my MIA Standard Strat. I am changing the pots to 250K CTS 450Gs and putting in an Orange Drop .022uf cap at 200V. Please tell me the cap value is good. I have seen some posts about whether I should go with the .047uf cap, but the .022uf cap seems more favoured on this forum. Does anyone have experience with it?

 

[jeremy]

Re: Capacitor value for SD Surfers?

i use .022 caps with mine and it works well.

 

[HoneyBearWombat]

Re: Capacitor value for SD Surfers?

Thank you, Jeremy. I am curious what others have experienced as well.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Capacitor value for SD Surfers?

0.022 uF is a good middle ground cap for Fender style pickups. Classic stock value is about twice that value, but IMO, with .047 or .05 uF, there is a large part of the tone knob range that isn't very useful. I've put .01 uF on Fenders as well, and I like it; more midrange retention and snarly cut through as you roll the knob down.

 

[BeKindRewind]

Re: Capacitor value for SD Surfers?

I use a set of surfers with whatever the default tone controls came in my 2006 USA Strat and it sounds awesome to me ! I don't use tone controls a hell of a lot but when I do, it does what I want

Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk

 

[Mincer]

Re: Capacitor value for SD Surfers?

I had great results with .047, but I also love slightly darker sounds. I mean, the tone knob is usually on 6 or 7 for me, all the time.

 

[MikeS]

Re: Capacitor value for SD Surfers?

Best thing you can do is grab some alligator clips and try a couple different cap values and see what you like best before soldering it. .047uf is the traditional go-to for vintage single coils, but I always felt like too much of the upper mids were rolled off for my tastes. Most of my guitars use .022uf, except for the .033uf capacitor in my Telecaster.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Capacitor value for SD Surfers?

i use .022 caps with mine and it works well.

Me too. And 250K pots.

 

[HoneyBearWombat]

Re: Capacitor value for SD Surfers?

I have a 2008 USA Standard Strat and the default is .022uf. I will leave it at that for the new cap. Thank you for the advice.

 

[HoneyBearWombat]

Re: Capacitor value for SD Surfers?

I use a set of surfers with whatever the default tone controls came in my 2006 USA Strat and it sounds awesome to me ! I don't use tone controls a hell of a lot but when I do, it does what I want

Sent from my SM-G965W using Tapatalk

I believe the more modern Strats, including your 2006 USA comes with the .022uf cap. My 2008 USA Strat comes with the same cap value.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Capacitor value for SD Surfers?

Do you have a tone control on your bridge pickup? That's a must for me.

 

[HoneyBearWombat]

Re: Capacitor value for SD Surfers?

Do you have a tone control on your bridge pickup? That's a must for me.

Yes, I do. The bridge and middle together.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Capacitor value for SD Surfers?

Yes, I do. The bridge and middle together.

The .02 cap value works especially well for dialing back the treble on the bridge pickup when I'm going into an overdrive pedal and trying to get violin like tones.

 

[HoneyBearWombat]

Re: Capacitor value for SD Surfers?

The .02 cap value works especially well for dialing back the treble on the bridge pickup when I'm going into an overdrive pedal and trying to get violin like tones.

Lew, does the cap voltage matter? For instance, if I go for a 100V or 200V cap.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Capacitor value for SD Surfers?

Lew, does the cap voltage matter? For instance, if I go for a 100V or 200V cap.

I don't think so. I've used 400 volt Sprague Orange Drops and they seemed to sound just fine. Of course they're kind of big!