Clipping bright cap on a deluxe reverb mod

[auxiliaryjoel]

IME the cap does need to be removed unless you play clean.
There is a difference in sound with bright cap and lower treble vs no bright cap and higher treble.
Bright cap does not take pedals well unless you like fizz.
Overall the sound was balanced better without the bright cap.

My fear of removing the bright cap is that the vibrato channel sounds excellent and adds so much depth to my distortion and fuzz pedals.
(Obviously I have to push it over 4 to avoid the low volume fizz that the bright cap has).
So.... if I remove the bright cap : do I just end up with another channel that sounds as bland and stale as the Normal channel is?

 

[Voxman]

My fear of removing the bright cap is that the vibrato channel sounds excellent and adds so much depth to my distortion and fuzz pedals.
(Obviously I have to push it over 4 to avoid the low volume fizz that the bright cap has).
So.... if I remove the bright cap : do I just end up with another channel that sounds as bland and stale as the Normal channel is?

I wouldn't call the normal channel bland or stale.
If you like it then don't remove the bright cap. But if you're cracking the amp to get pat the fuzz, then that says something right there.

Keep comparing pedals thru both channels with the reverb off so that doesn't influence the tone or the perception of tone. Or if you have an external reverb to use when testing our both channels.

When I did this comparison every drive or fuzz pedal sounded better thru the normal channel, and then I removed the bright cap

 

[auxiliaryjoel]

I wouldn't call the normal channel bland or stale.
If you like it then don't remove the bright cap. But if you're cracking the amp to get pat the fuzz, then that says something right there.

Keep comparing pedals thru both channels with the reverb off so that doesn't influence the tone or the perception of tone. Or if you have an external reverb to use when testing our both channels.

When I did this comparison every drive or fuzz pedal sounded better thru the normal channel, and then I removed the bright cap

I think we must have different pedals that react to the amp differently. As even with tremolo and reverb completely off - the vibrato channel sounds noticeably different to the normal channel. My distortion and fuzzes sound "just fine" and a little "smaller" in the Normal channel, but on the vibrato channel their depth and nuances come out way more and sound fuller/wider/bigger and better eq'd (This is with the reverb and tremolo completely off).
So my question To anyone that's removed the bright cap: does that make the Vibrato channel sound exactly the same as the Normal channel?
If it does, then I will live with the fizz.
If removing the cap retains the vibrato channels EQ (granted with some degree of brightness removed) then I would be interested in removing the bright cap.

 

[auxiliaryjoel]

Anyone able to shed some light on my querie above?

 

[StratUp]

Put it on a switch. Problem solved.

 

[auxiliaryjoel]

Put it on a switch. Problem solved.

I get that. But I'm curious about my initial question still:
Does removing the bright cap make the Vibrato channel sound exactly the same as the Normal channel?
Or does the Vibrato channel without a bright cap still retain its sound/EQ (granted with some degree of brightness removed)?

 

[StratUp]

My thought is always, especially with a simple mod like this, that you need to hook up a little toggle and test. Just run it out the edge and let it hang in back with some tape to insulate it.

Amps vary, ears vary, tastes vary. You won't know if you will like it until you try it and flip it back and forth a few dozen times.

 

[auxiliaryjoel]

My thought is always, especially with a simple mod like this, that you need to hook up a little toggle and test. Just run it out the edge and let it hang in back with some tape to insulate it.

Amps vary, ears vary, tastes vary. You won't know if you will like it until you try it and flip it back and forth a few dozen times.

Yes that's a good idea.
My point though is, if someone can confirm if the bright cap removal makes the sound identical to the normal channel - then I'm not going to even bother removing the cap. As that is something that I 100% know I don't want.

 

[auxiliaryjoel]

Anyone able to confirm:
if the bright cap removal makes the sound identical to the normal channel? (then I'm not going to even bother removing the cap. As that is something that I 100% know I don't want.)

 

[El Gobernador]

My point though is, if someone can confirm if the bright cap removal makes the sound identical to the normal channel

No.

 

[auxiliaryjoel]

No.

Oh ok cool. So the bright cap removal doesn't change the vibrato channe's sound drastically, it just takes some of the treble/high end out?

 

[El Gobernador]

So the bright cap removal doesn't change the vibrato channe's sound drastically, it just takes some of the treble/high end out?

The vibrato channel has an extra gain stage. It's there to make up for any loss with the reverb and vibrato/tremolo.

Turn the knobs. Play your guitar.

 

[auxiliaryjoel]

The vibrato channel has an extra gain stage. It's there to make up for any loss with the reverb and vibrato/tremolo.

Turn the knobs. Play your guitar.

Yes I have been.

 

[ripgtr]

I have a SFDR so pretty easy mod, and I have mine on a switch. This was my main gig amp for 20 years. Some things to be clear on.

The bright cap on a DR is not as big as on bigger Fender amps. I find it a much more usable cap value.

The bright cap is Always in play, until the volume hits 10. At 4 or 5 it is not as much, but it is certainly there. With the switch it is very easy to hear the difference.

The normal and vibrato channels are not the same. Vibrato ch has an extra gain stage and there is also some gain loss due to the tremolo even when it is not on. There is even a mod for this. The normal channel does not have reverb. There is also a mod for this, which basically turns the normal channel into the Vibrato ch with no cap.

I run with no bright cap with a strat at lower volumes. Higher volumes, it depends on the style, the gig, how the stage sounds, etc etc. The big advantage of having it on a switch.

The speaker in the amp makes a huge difference on whether the bright cap is good or bad.

The bright cap can be more of an issue with overdrive from some pedals, than it is clean.

 

[auxiliaryjoel]

I have a SFDR so pretty easy mod, and I have mine on a switch. This was my main gig amp for 20 years. Some things to be clear on.

The bright cap on a DR is not as big as on bigger Fender amps. I find it a much more usable cap value.

The bright cap is Always in play, until the volume hits 10. At 4 or 5 it is not as much, but it is certainly there. With the switch it is very easy to hear the difference.

The normal and vibrato channels are not the same. Vibrato ch has an extra gain stage and there is also some gain loss due to the tremolo even when it is not on. There is even a mod for this. The normal channel does not have reverb. There is also a mod for this, which basically turns the normal channel into the Vibrato ch with no cap.

I run with no bright cap with a strat at lower volumes. Higher volumes, it depends on the style, the gig, how the stage sounds, etc etc. The big advantage of having it on a switch.

The speaker in the amp makes a huge difference on whether the bright cap is good or bad.

The bright cap can be more of an issue with overdrive from some pedals, than it is clean.

This is some great info. Thanks for that.

 

[Guy Incognito]

Anyone able to confirm:
if the bright cap removal makes the sound identical to the normal channel? (then I'm not going to even bother removing the cap. As that is something that I 100% know I don't want.)

Thread 'Extra knob on the back of Deluxe reverb RI' https://www.strat-talk.com/threads/extra-knob-on-the-back-of-deluxe-reverb-ri.588276/

I believe the OP of that thread ^^^^ has bought an amp where the previous owner had done a similar mod as suggested in the video from @SilvaStrat (post#2 of this thread).

I think in their case the Treble cap has been run to a pot placed in the hole intended for one of the speaker outputs. It might sound odd but is adjustable and reversible.