Help with tone capacitors

flinch

New member
Can someone pls explain how the voltage of the capacitor affects the tone? I know how the k affects it, meaning, .022, .047, or .1 is bright to dark respectively. But what does the voltage do?. The populars ones are 100v, 200v, and 400v. And if im not mistaken the voltage also corresponds to the size right? Anyway, i'm asking coz my guitar tech just replaced a broken capacitor on my guitar with a 715p .022k @ 600 volts orange drop. And it literally looks 10 times bigger than the original, so i'm guessing that does something to the tone, despite my tech saying otherwise.
 
Re: Help with tone capacitors

Simply put, it doesn't. The capacitance will determine how much of your highs get rolled off to ground as you adjust the tone control, but the voltage printed on the side only lets ya know how much you can pump into it before it'll fail. The higher the voltage rating is, the bigger the size of the cap. Typically.

I'm sure one of the more electronics savvy guys on the forum can explain it in more detail...but...a 600v cap in a guitar is pretty overkill when you consider that a guitar's output is usually measured in millivolts. Those would be more at home in a tube amp. It'll work fine though, the only negative being that it probably cost a bit more than a comparable <100v cap ;). But, voltage is gonna mean zilch as far as tone goes.
 
Re: Help with tone capacitors

Simply put, it doesn't. The capacitance will determine how much of your highs get rolled off to ground as you adjust the tone control, but the voltage printed on the side only lets ya know how much you can pump into it before it'll fail. The higher the voltage rating is, the bigger the size of the cap. Typically.

I'm sure one of the more electronics savvy guys on the forum can explain it in more detail...but...a 600v cap in a guitar is pretty overkill when you consider that a guitar's output is usually measured in millivolts. Those would be more at home in a tube amp. It'll work fine though, the only negative being that it probably cost a bit more than a comparable <100v cap ;). But, voltage is gonna mean zilch as far as tone goes.
Ok great, that's a relief. Ya it's huge, but it fits. So i should just leave it on right? it's .022 @ 600volts. So just to confirm, you're saying that a .022 @200 volts will sound exactly the same as .022 @ 600 volts? Sorry being paranoid, just wana make sure. Thanks.
 
Re: Help with tone capacitors

Ok great, that's a relief. Ya it's huge, but it fits. So i should just leave it on right? it's .022 @ 600volts. So just to confirm, you're saying that a .022 @200 volts will sound exactly the same as .022 @ 600 volts? Sorry being paranoid, just wana make sure. Thanks.

If the capacitance values are exactly the same, then there won't be any difference at all. Unless you go into different types of capacitors, but thats a whole other can of worms. No need to worry though, it really wouldn't be worth swappin' out unless you need the extra space ;).
 
Re: Help with tone capacitors

If the capacitance values are exactly the same, then there won't be any difference at all. Unless you go into different types of capacitors, but thats a whole other can of worms. No need to worry though, it really wouldn't be worth swappin' out unless you need the extra space ;).
thanks! that's a load off..
 
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