DPDT switch/push pull as a capacitor selector

[Agileguy_101]

So I got started on this train of thought by looking at Stewmac and coming across the Black Ice. For any of you that don't know about it, it's a little unit that replaces the cap on your tone pot and instead of having a tone pot, you have a pot that can dial in "tweed amp crunch." I liked the idea, but I like my tone pots. Eventually I decided against the idea, but it got me thinking - why can't I switch between more than one cap? I'd imagine that it shouldn't be too hard to wire up, but I wanted to ask your opinions and see what you think, especially if you have done this on any of your guitars. If you have done this, can you tell me if I can use just a push/pull pot, or do I need anything else?

 

[jake_xms3_punk]

Re: DPDT switch/push pull as a capacitor selector

you can do it with a rotary switch, i've seen a diagram somewhere with quite a few dif caps! not sure about a DPDT switch or push pull pot sorry

 

[jake_xms3_punk]

Re: DPDT switch/push pull as a capacitor selector

heres the rotary switch one, sorry if you already know about it lol

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: DPDT switch/push pull as a capacitor selector

I installed a double pole/double throw switch in my Strat many years ago to test the difference in tone between the then popular Hovland oil cap Erlewine and everyone else was raving about and the Sprague Orange Drop. I heard no difference.

I believe I was the first guy to actually do this and post about it. Some of those who had spent $15 on a Hovland went ballistic! :lmao: When I tried to be reasonable and practically begged them to do the test in real time that I had done all refused because they said they could hear a difference and didn't need to prove anything to me or themselves.

It was kind of like trying to get someone to set a course and sail straight out into the ocean two thousand years years ago to see if the world really was flat. Most wouldn't be willing to do it.

In the following years every single person I have gotten to do the test (Artie, John, my brother Bruce and many others) in that way has concluded that they can hear no clear or discernible difference in tone between two caps of identical value but different physical composition in a passive guitar circuit.

Most of us can hear the difference in a guitar amplifier - I certainly can. (I can hear if my guitar is out of tune too, BTW.) In fact, I've used Mallory 150 caps to warm up a bright sounding amp and Orange Drop caps to brighten up a dull sounding amp.

But in a guitar with a passive tone control circuit the output of the tone cap goes to ground and the highs that are rolled off by the tone control are sent right back to the undifferentiated cosmic oneness land that is the energy field of the planet Earth - never to be heard from again.

(I made up that pseudo science description, BTW, just for the fun of it. Because this stuff should be fun!)


But you know what? I'm here to experience the truth and if switching a .022 Orange Drop for a .022 Oil cap is going to make my guitar have a smoother and more vocal tone I want that advantage too. My tests in the past have shown me that won't but heck - this is fun!

I'm going to do the test again in this guitar, this time with humbucking pickups. This guitar has a PGneck and Custom bridge and a coil splitter switch for each pickup.

I need to work on this ax anyway and when I replace the bridge pickup with a single conductor 9K Antiquity MJ wound for me, I'll not need the second coil splitting switch.

I'll connect a Hovland Cap and an Orange Drop Cap to the switch and connect that to the tone control and test again. In fact, I'm going to invite NewKing70 and GuitFiddle over to do the test with me. Hell - I'm even lend both of them the guitar so they test in their own home for a day or two.

I hope I hear the Hovland as giving the guitar the more vocal tone with a smoother high end - but I heard no such effect in my Strat.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: DPDT switch/push pull as a capacitor selector

I installed a double pole/double throw switch in my Strat many years ago to test the difference in tone between the then popular Hovland oil cap and the Sprague Orange Drop. I heard no difference.

I believe I was the first guy to actually do this and post about it. Some of those who had spent $15 on a Hovland went ballistic! :lmao: When I'd tried to be reasonable and practically begged them to do the test in real time that I had done all refused because they said they could hear a difference and didn't need to prove anything to me or themselves.

It was kind of like trying to get someone to set a course and sail straight out into the ocean two thousand years years ago to see if the world really was flat. Most wouldn't be willing to do it.

In the following years every single person I have gotten to do the test (Artie, John, my brother Bruce and many others) in that way has concluded that that can hear no clear or discernible difference in tone between two caps of identical value but different physical composition in a passive guitar circuit.

But you know what? I'm here to experience the truth and if I'm wrong I'm fine with it.

I'm going to do the test again in this guitar, this time with humbucking pickups. I need to work on this ax anyway and when I replace the bridge pickup with a single conductor Antiquity I'll not need the second coil splitting switch.

I'll connect a Hovland Cap and an Orange Drop Cap to the switch and connect that to the tone control and test again.

I hope I hear the Hovland as giving the guitar the more vocal tone with a smoother high end - but I heard no such effect in my Strat.

It's all good lew.....I'm just not going to argue about this topic any longer...Maybe some of us just need to play more and tweak alot less....I actually tweak "alot" less and play more these days! The better I become as a player,the less I find I'm tweaking....I don't come on the forum to start arguements and cause tension among fellow players and forum members on purpose....Basically I just like offering help and gaining knowledge from others...I joined the forum in 04 for the fun and the great people and it's offerings....

 

[Agileguy_101]

Re: DPDT switch/push pull as a capacitor selector

Just to clarify guys, I wasn't wanting to use different capacitors of the same value. I want to be able to switch between capacitors of different values, much like the link that Jake posted. Hermetico, could you give me the link to ArtieToo's experiment?

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: DPDT switch/push pull as a capacitor selector

Gentlemen, take it easier, I think those answers must go to other thread, not this one.

Our mate is just trying to have a way to wire caps of different values, I just pointed him to the experiment of ArtieToo because I think there is valuable information about how to wire it, as well as suggested the stellartone as an alternative to the ice cube. Nothing else.

All is fine.....I was just trying to create some forum brother peace between us! I didn't expect our back and forth posting to take a challenging turn and wasn't leaning that way when I posted initially! :beerchug: