orange caps.. 225p or 715p

[rainsong86]

so I've decided to use orange caps on the tone controls for my les paul but I noticed that there are two types: the polypropylene film 715p's or the polyester film 225p's.. so which type should I go for?

also I'm using a Duncan Custom/59n setup with 500k push/pull pots.. I hear the convention is to use .022 uf caps for humbuckers and .047 uf caps for single coils.. is this true?

 

[firebirdVII]

Re: orange caps.. 225p or 715p

That is true. 715p are cheap and you can get them any where. Don't let people charge you $10 for them, because they really are dirt cheap. If you want to spend more money you can get paper in oil capacitors or hovlands, but 715ps are fine for most people.

 

[gordon_39422]

Re: orange caps.. 225p or 715p

Actually, that is exactly opposite! You should use .047uf for HB's and .022uf caps for Single Coils....

 

[Artie]

Re: orange caps.. 225p or 715p

And even that is a generalization. I use .022's for everything. Just rolls off the top end.

 

[DonP]

Re: orange caps.. 225p or 715p

Actually, that is exactly opposite! You should use .047uf for HB's and .022uf caps for Single Coils....

Wrong LOL!

 

[strangegrey]

Re: orange caps.. 225p or 715p

Great source for these things is Mouser....get em for pennies.

Also, simply get the smallest rated Orange Drop caps you can. No need for 600v caps in a guitar. There's simply not enough current to justify spending any more than the bare minimum for these caps. I always laugh when I see someone slap an Orange Drop the size of 2 horsepills into a Les Paul. Those are the caps you use in your amp...not your guitar.

Another option is to try some Mallory 150s. They might be a tad warmer than the OJs if that's what you're looking to accomplish.

 

[John Wymore]

Re: orange caps.. 225p or 715p

Actually it's not really the pickup type that's important, it's the value of your tone pot. With 250K pots and a .022 cap you get roughly the same frequency roll off as you do with a 500K pot and a .047 cap. As said above though this is a general rule. Use what your ears like best.

I sell the 225's in several values and the 715's in .022. Some people swear they like the 715's in 600V better than the 225's but I hear no real difference. The Mallory's are also comparable. Of course, others swear the Hovlands are the only way to go!! :banana:

 

[rainsong86]

Re: orange caps.. 225p or 715p

Actually it's not really the pickup type that's important, it's the value of your tone pot. With 250K pots and a .022 cap you get roughly the same frequency roll off as you do with a 500K pot and a .047 cap. As said above though this is a general rule. Use what your ears like best.

oh man it looks like we have a dilemma here.. I did a lot of research on cap/pot values and through all of that I've learned of four conventions in the Seymour Duncan forums:

1. use 500k pots with humbuckers
2. use 250k pots with single coils
3. use .022 caps with 500k pots
4. use .047 caps with 250k pots

putting two and two together, this means that most guitars with humbuckers use .022 caps and most guitars with single coils use .047 caps... this is exactly opposite to what you said.. now what you said might be true, but I'm just looking to go the sheep route and follow convention with my potentiometer/capacitor values.. I'll begin to experiment when I gain a little experience with the matter

 

[John Wymore]

Re: orange caps.. 225p or 715p

Actually, most guitars come from the factory with .022 installed. That is the logical starting point. The higher the value of the cap the lower the frequency at which the roll off begins for a given pot value. A 500K pot with a .022 cap will for sure have a different (higher) roll off frequency than a 250K with a .022 cap.

A 250K pot and a .047 cap is what Fender uses for tone control on their basses.

I tried to find the formula to calculate roll off frequency based on pot and cap values but it's hiding from me right now!!

 

[ErikH]

Re: orange caps.. 225p or 715p

I like .022 with singles too sometimes, depends on the guitar and the singles, but mostly it's .047. All my humbucker equipped guitars have .022 in them although I did use a .047 once before and it was pretty nice.

As for brand/type of cap, if I ever build my own amp, then I'll spring for Hovlands or Mallorys. Until then, the cheap greenie 35-50v chicklets from Radio Shack work just fine for me. Look inside an American Standard Strat, you'll see greenies in there too.