Re: Caps.. Orange drops vs oil?
There is no point in asking this question. The replies will be almost nothing but opinion, and it will just lead to a bunch of argument and no resolution.
If you want to form an opinion on this matter that is actually worth its salt, then you need to do a simple experiment. Get a variety of caps of different types, in large batches for each cap type. Measure them all, and gets ones that are right on spec, or as close as possible within a batch of a reasonable size. Rig them all to a rotary switch. You can get these with 12 positions or 6 positions at almost any guitar electronics retailer. Install a different type, but identical value, cap on each switch lug. Make recordings of basic guitar parts, taking care to try and use the same picking force for each recording, and the same exact recording parameters. Do a lot of takes on each type of cap, say ten. Export the audio files (ten per cap type – maybe as many as 120 files, if you used every position on a 12-way switch), mix them up (i.e. play them in random order), and have others listen blindly and make notes. Remember that *blindly* is key here. They cannot see that one track is P.I.O. while another is an Orange Drop, or the like, as they are listening.
This does not eliminate all variables, nor does it provide objective analysis...but it should give you a damned good clue about what cap type does and doesn't do for tone. Ideally, you rig a robotic device that plucks the strings exactly the same, and plays the same exact parts with exactly the same timing. And ideally you devise a way to objectively analyze the tone (i.e. something other than a human being does it). But that's all beyond the scope of what the layman can do at home, and the tests described above can still tell you a lot, especially if you do lots of multiple takes on each type of cap, and include all takes in the files meant for listening and analysis.
