Gibson Firebird blue capacitors?

Jeffrec

Jeffrec

New member
I've got a 2014 Firebird V that I got last year (posted pics back then). Anyway, i finally opened the control cavity & noticed it has these tiny blue caps instead of orange drops. Anyone know about these?. The 'Bird sounds awesome, so I'm not concerned. Just curious
 
Re: Gibson Firebird blue capacitors?

What makes you think that the caps should have been the Sprague "orange drop" type? Most will have flat, brown disc caps.
 
Re: Gibson Firebird blue capacitors?

I was on the Firebird Player forum, and they were saying that some of the guitars had come with the Sprague caps, but most came with the blue ones. I had never seen them before. They're these tiny, round, blue caps. Was just curious
 
Re: Gibson Firebird blue capacitors?

The low voltage rating ceramic caps are small and usually round and brown but could be any color, green, blue etc. They aren't always round either. There should be printing on them and if you can read it, google it and it may turn up with the information that you seek. More likely though, if it's a ceramic, it will read something like "223" and tell you nothing. There are a lot of different manufacturers making capacitors, mostly in China and other Asia countries. Swap them with orange drops or whatever else, if you like.
 
Re: Gibson Firebird blue capacitors?

Darg1911 said:
The low voltage rating ceramic caps are small and usually round and brown but could be any color, green, blue etc. They aren't always round either. There should be printing on them and if you can read it, google it and it may turn up with the information that you seek. More likely though, if it's a ceramic, it will read something like "223" and tell you nothing. There are a lot of different manufacturers making capacitors, mostly in China and other Asia countries. Swap them with orange drops or whatever else, if you like.
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Thanks! I appreciate the info. Will a change in cap make much of a difference. (I know this has been discussed in other threads many times)
 
Re: Gibson Firebird blue capacitors?

If it sound good to your ears, it's fine. Everything I can glean says that the type of cap doesn't make any difference in tone. Joe Gore even made a comparison video on that and demonstrated that there was no noticeable difference from one type to another of the same value.
 
Re: Gibson Firebird blue capacitors?

rgand said:
If it sound good to your ears, it's fine. Everything I can glean says that the type of cap doesn't make any difference in tone. Joe Gore even made a comparison video on that and demonstrated that there was no noticeable difference from one type to another of the same value.
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Thanks. I remember seeing something about that. Yeah, I'm happy with the sound. I'm not even tempted to change out the pups. They sound awesome.
 
Re: Gibson Firebird blue capacitors?

Jeffrec said:
Thanks. I remember seeing something about that. Yeah, I'm happy with the sound. I'm not even tempted to change out the pups. They sound awesome.
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Sounds like you struck gold on this one.
 
Re: Gibson Firebird blue capacitors?

rgand said:
Sounds like you struck gold on this one.
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Sure did. And I was never a big Firebird fan before this. Strictly a LP and SG guy. I play this guitar more than any of the others. In fact the others are gathering dust as we speak (LOL)
 
Re: Gibson Firebird blue capacitors?

Jeffrec said:
Sure did. And I was never a big Firebird fan before this. Strictly a LP and SG guy. I play this guitar more than any of the others. In fact the others are gathering dust as we speak (LOL)
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I can understand that. When you find what fits you best, it makes a difference. I always liked Teles and LPs, didn't see the interest in Strats until I got one last year. Now that's the one I pick up.
 
Re: Gibson Firebird blue capacitors?

rgand said:
I can understand that. When you find what fits you best, it makes a difference. I always liked Teles and LPs, didn't see the interest in Strats until I got one last year. Now that's the one I pick up.[QUOTEe]

Its great to find that groove, isn't it?
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Re: Gibson Firebird blue capacitors?

Darg1911 said:
The low voltage rating ceramic caps are small and usually round and brown but could be any color, green, blue etc. They aren't always round either. There should be printing on them and if you can read it, google it and it may turn up with the information that you seek. More likely though, if it's a ceramic, it will read something like "223" and tell you nothing. There are a lot of different manufacturers making capacitors, mostly in China and other Asia countries. Swap them with orange drops or whatever else, if you like.
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Except that 223 relates to its capacitance - 22 with the decimal point 3 places across (.022)......so yes, apart from telling you vital info on its rating, it tells you nothing.
 
Re: Gibson Firebird blue capacitors?

AlexR said:
Except that 223 relates to its capacitance - 22 with the decimal point 3 places across (.022)......so yes, apart from telling you vital info on its rating, it tells you nothing.
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Obviously I didn't pull the number "223" out of my ass. Cleary, I realize that it indicates it's capacitance. My point was that the ceramic cap may have no identification other than "223" ... telling you nothing about who made it, what type of cap (if one doesn't know a ceramic disc), tolerance, voltage rating or anything else. The OP's concern seemed to be that he didn't get an Orange Drop. I took that to mean he had a quality concern (for what that's really worth). That's the concern in which my post was intended to address. Apparently I assumed too much. With someone always itching to intimate that someone else is an idiot, I should have know better ...
 
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Re: Gibson Firebird blue capacitors?

Darg1911 said:
Obviously I didn't pull the number "223" out of my ass. Cleary, I realize that it indicates it's capacitance. My point was that the ceramic cap may have no identification other than "223" ... telling you nothing about who made it, what type of cap (if one doesn't know a ceramic disc), tolerance, voltage rating or anything else. The OP's concern seemed to be that he didn't get an Orange Drop. I took that to mean he had a quality concern (for what that's really worth). That's the concern in which my post was intended to address. Apparently I assumed too much. With someone always itching to intimate that someone else is an idiot, I should have know better ...
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No worries. I really appreciated your help.:bigthumb:
 
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