Tone Caps

sevycat · August 8th, 2008, 11:02 AM

I purchased a 60's N.O.S. custom shop stratocaster and it came with a tone cap that reads: ICMSR1 04K 250V S 71 1.

I have read a little on tone caps, but still feel that there is a lot of room for someone who knows tone caps to set the record straight.

Does changing a tone cap effect the tone of the guitar or just how well you can adjust the tone via the tone knob?

Does the voltage rating of the tone cap matter and is that conditioned upon the type of amp (tube/solid state) your playing thru?

How does the value effect the tone and what would be the best value and why?

Feel free to expand of these questions, Thanks!!!

tamias89 · October 14th, 2008, 09:13 PM

Hey Sevycat, here's a link explaining the function of tone capacitors. Auditioning Tone Capacitors - Premier Guitar
I have a Bill Davis '83 Strat. I'm getting ready to switch out my tone cap. I'm replacing it with a .047uF value. The original caps in fenders in the 50's i believe were a .050uF value, but in the sixties they switched to a standard .047. You might want to consider getting a variety of values to try out, and see which one sounds the best to you. Also try to get a cap out of an old fender. A capacitor made for a transistor stereo with the same value won't give the same roll off. Also make sure you find out it that capacitor is compatible with the potentiometer your putting it on. It should be a 250K pot, I think gibson uses 500K's. Good Luck This is one of the best and cheapest upgrades you can do to your baby.

jay

ShiftingKevin · October 15th, 2008, 09:32 AM

Jay, from my experience, there is no audible difference between the 0.047uf and 0.050uf caps, all other things constant. I changed out a 0.022uf for a 0.100uf capacitor, and found a great range between tone 5-8. With the 0.022uf, I had to go down to 0 to pull out the treble of my Lace golds to get the rhythm sound I wanted. YMMV, but I don't think that the 0.003uf difference will be audible.

Orlando Mike · October 15th, 2008, 11:04 AM

first thing I do when I get a new strat (or tele), is change to an oil paper .47 cap. I use mojotone caps because I cant tell the difference between them and the more expensive caps. I think the site is mojotone.com, and as far as Im concerned, it does affect the tone..and gives me a wider tonal range between 2-6 on my tele, and its more noticable on the bridge p/u of my strat....

ShiftingKevin · October 15th, 2008, 11:55 AM

Good tip, Mike... what's the tonal difference like, out of curiousity? Tone discussions are hard to word, but I'm curious what it sounds like!

tamias89 · October 16th, 2008, 08:08 PM

thanks for the info. I've seen tone pots with a resistor attached to them along with the cap. Mine doesn't have a resistor. When I switch out the old cap for the new one (i'm still sticking with the .5) I shouldn't have to put in a resistor, should I?

sevycat · November 27th, 2008, 11:19 AM

Thanks to all for the info, I got a range of caps that I intend to test out and see what works for me. mostly drop caps and one ceramic disc cap. I plan to do this in December.

I'll update with the results after...