McLaughysSN
New member
i've seen them around but never found out what exactly they did besides what the normal caps do, what are the differences between these and orange drops?
thanks
thanks
Hovland caps?
- Thread starter McLaughysSN
- Start date
L
Lewguitar
Guest
Re: Hovland caps?
Very little diff in a guitar because the output of the tone cap goes to ground never to be heard again. The diff is so subtle as to be almost unnoticeable. If there is any effect at all, the Hovland might be brighter. Might!
More of an audible diff in an amplifier because the output of many of the caps stays in the audio signal.
Lew
Very little diff in a guitar because the output of the tone cap goes to ground never to be heard again. The diff is so subtle as to be almost unnoticeable. If there is any effect at all, the Hovland might be brighter. Might!
More of an audible diff in an amplifier because the output of many of the caps stays in the audio signal.
Lew
Alvin Lee Fan
New member
Re: Hovland caps?
Got a set of Hovlands in both my LPs, and Orange Drops in my Dot. For the money, I'd go with Orange Drops if I had to do it over again. Got a lot more bang for the buck. I had more of a noticable difference switching to the '50s wiring than I get between the different types of caps.
Got a set of Hovlands in both my LPs, and Orange Drops in my Dot. For the money, I'd go with Orange Drops if I had to do it over again. Got a lot more bang for the buck. I had more of a noticable difference switching to the '50s wiring than I get between the different types of caps.
TwilightOdyssey
Darkness on the edge of Tone
Re: Hovland caps?
Hovland caps are EXTREMELY expensive, but very good. I work for a Hovland dealer, and have heard their full range of products: preamps, amps, cables, etc, aside from the caps and whatnot.
In the audio chain, if you can physically fit them, you will notice a difference; whether or not you consider it an improvement is up to you. I like the difference and consider it an improvement.
Hovland caps are EXTREMELY expensive, but very good. I work for a Hovland dealer, and have heard their full range of products: preamps, amps, cables, etc, aside from the caps and whatnot.
In the audio chain, if you can physically fit them, you will notice a difference; whether or not you consider it an improvement is up to you. I like the difference and consider it an improvement.
L
Lewguitar
Guest
Re: Hovland caps?
Well, once again I have to bring up the test guitar I have. It's a Strat with a push/pull pot for one of the tone controls. That push/pull pot lets me switch back and forth between a .02 Sprague Orange Drop and a .02 Hovland. There's virtually no diff between the tone of the two! I can roll the tone control down to 1/2 way and switch back and forth between the two caps...or turn the tone control all the way down to zero and switch back and forth. Really, the diff, if any, is so subtle and miniscule after a while I don't hear any diff at all! If you think you can play a guitar and remember what the tone control sounded like while you unsolder one cap and put another one in, IMO, you're kidding yourself.
Well, once again I have to bring up the test guitar I have. It's a Strat with a push/pull pot for one of the tone controls. That push/pull pot lets me switch back and forth between a .02 Sprague Orange Drop and a .02 Hovland. There's virtually no diff between the tone of the two! I can roll the tone control down to 1/2 way and switch back and forth between the two caps...or turn the tone control all the way down to zero and switch back and forth. Really, the diff, if any, is so subtle and miniscule after a while I don't hear any diff at all! If you think you can play a guitar and remember what the tone control sounded like while you unsolder one cap and put another one in, IMO, you're kidding yourself.
TwilightOdyssey
Darkness on the edge of Tone
Re: Hovland caps?
Truth! The ear has no memory ...
When I referred to the audio chain, I was referring to amplifiers, loudspeakers, etc (applications with much higher value caps) not the guitar itself. For the lower values, tho, Hovland does make good quality components, regardless.
Lewguitar said:
Truth! The ear has no memory ...
When I referred to the audio chain, I was referring to amplifiers, loudspeakers, etc (applications with much higher value caps) not the guitar itself. For the lower values, tho, Hovland does make good quality components, regardless.
McLaughysSN
New member
Re: Hovland caps?
my reason for asking is im getting the LP electronics deal on black rose customs and i was wondering if they were worth the $10 price difference
thanks!
my reason for asking is im getting the LP electronics deal on black rose customs and i was wondering if they were worth the $10 price difference
thanks!
papersoul
New member
Re: Hovland caps?
Good stuff Lew. I have a .047 ceramic cap in my Dean Evo Premium. I notcie this guitar is dark and with the Rio grande pickups it is darker. Will I gain anything by using a .022 cap, ceramic or otherwise? I put Hovlands into my Les paul a while back but I also installed 500k volume pots at the time and things got bright! My lP is already bright but I think the volume pots were the difference. I am thinking Orange drops just in case I want to use the tone and I do use the volume a little. Will using a better quality cap or a .022 give me a brighter tone in my Dean?
I have two .022 Hovlands sitting around and am tempted to throw them in my Dean.
Also, I have to say I noticed litle difference in the special wiring I had used in my LP compared to the stock wiring......very slight if anything. Certainly no big difference when the band kicked in. With quality pots being the most important in my opnion, followed by the caps, and then wiring. I had standard wiring with the good components and it worked quite well.
Lewguitar said:
Good stuff Lew. I have a .047 ceramic cap in my Dean Evo Premium. I notcie this guitar is dark and with the Rio grande pickups it is darker. Will I gain anything by using a .022 cap, ceramic or otherwise? I put Hovlands into my Les paul a while back but I also installed 500k volume pots at the time and things got bright! My lP is already bright but I think the volume pots were the difference. I am thinking Orange drops just in case I want to use the tone and I do use the volume a little. Will using a better quality cap or a .022 give me a brighter tone in my Dean?
I have two .022 Hovlands sitting around and am tempted to throw them in my Dean.
Also, I have to say I noticed litle difference in the special wiring I had used in my LP compared to the stock wiring......very slight if anything. Certainly no big difference when the band kicked in. With quality pots being the most important in my opnion, followed by the caps, and then wiring. I had standard wiring with the good components and it worked quite well.
L
Lewguitar
Guest
Re: Hovland caps?
Thanks! I actually use the Hovland's in a couple of my guitars - just in case. But I KNOW there is virtually no diff in tone between the Hovland and a Sprague Orange Drop in a guitar's tone circuit.
Over on the Pickups Page in that thread about the controversy over the Strat-90 pickup there's a link to the guy's website who says he actually had a patent on that design first.
I'd never seen his website before but it's a cool website and he has a graph comparing the Orange Drop to the Hovland. Looks to me like there's almost no diff between the two, which is his opinion too.
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/skgs/sk/CapTest/CapTest.htm
Lew
Thanks! I actually use the Hovland's in a couple of my guitars - just in case. But I KNOW there is virtually no diff in tone between the Hovland and a Sprague Orange Drop in a guitar's tone circuit.
Over on the Pickups Page in that thread about the controversy over the Strat-90 pickup there's a link to the guy's website who says he actually had a patent on that design first.
I'd never seen his website before but it's a cool website and he has a graph comparing the Orange Drop to the Hovland. Looks to me like there's almost no diff between the two, which is his opinion too.
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/skgs/sk/CapTest/CapTest.htm
Lew
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papersoul
New member
Re: Hovland caps?
Thanks for the link!
How about the ceramic disks? I guess I am wondering what I can do outside of changing pickups in my dean evo to liven and brighten the guitar. Would using a .022 cap make a difference even on 10? I thought it would because it is still in the circuit.
Finally, I must say that as god as my LP sounds stock...those generic 500k audio taper tone pots and generic 300k linear volume pots do NOTHING! Sounds fine on 10 though...and I am sure nothing would change if I switched to the CTS audio tapers I have around plus the Hovlands. At least nothing would change on 10 that is.
Lewguitar said:
Thanks for the link!
How about the ceramic disks? I guess I am wondering what I can do outside of changing pickups in my dean evo to liven and brighten the guitar. Would using a .022 cap make a difference even on 10? I thought it would because it is still in the circuit.
Finally, I must say that as god as my LP sounds stock...those generic 500k audio taper tone pots and generic 300k linear volume pots do NOTHING! Sounds fine on 10 though...and I am sure nothing would change if I switched to the CTS audio tapers I have around plus the Hovlands. At least nothing would change on 10 that is.
L
Lewguitar
Guest
Re: Hovland caps?
You're welcome!
I replaced the pots and ceramic caps in my buddy's Les Paul '56 RI Historic the other day and it did make quite a nice improvement.
I also did the 50's mod to retain highs when the volume is turned down: connect the .02 cap to the middle terminal of the volume and tone pot.
I used 4: CTS 500K audio taper pots and 2: .02 Sprague Orange Drops.
Less than $25. worth of parts for a real improvement in tone.
You're welcome!
I replaced the pots and ceramic caps in my buddy's Les Paul '56 RI Historic the other day and it did make quite a nice improvement.
I also did the 50's mod to retain highs when the volume is turned down: connect the .02 cap to the middle terminal of the volume and tone pot.
I used 4: CTS 500K audio taper pots and 2: .02 Sprague Orange Drops.
Less than $25. worth of parts for a real improvement in tone.
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Lewguitar
Guest
Re: Hovland caps?
Differant strokes for differant folks I guess.
Seymour seems to like 250K pots with the Jazz & JB...wouldn't be my choice tho. Lew
papersoul said:
Differant strokes for differant folks I guess.
Seymour seems to like 250K pots with the Jazz & JB...wouldn't be my choice tho. Lew
papersoul
New member
Re: Hovland caps?
Had to bring this back up since I did some experimenting. I found the biggest difference to be the value of the pots and caps, not the brand. With the pots the value change has to be significant to hear a difference, but I can hear a difference in smaller increments with caps.
In the end, I like 500 CTS pots with .02 Orange drops for humbuckers and 250k-300k CTS pots and .033-.047 caps for single coils.
Had to bring this back up since I did some experimenting. I found the biggest difference to be the value of the pots and caps, not the brand. With the pots the value change has to be significant to hear a difference, but I can hear a difference in smaller increments with caps.
In the end, I like 500 CTS pots with .02 Orange drops for humbuckers and 250k-300k CTS pots and .033-.047 caps for single coils.
