Please tell me about the added condenser role!

[jselect]

Please tell me about the added condenser role!
I am the second owner of this no-caster,
but it seems that the first owner added a 0.047μF oil paper capacitor and soldered it.
How did he intend to change the sound of this no-caster by adding this?
If you are familiar with electrical matters, please let me know.

 

[The Ballzz]

Please tell me about the added condenser role!
I am the second owner of this no-caster,
but it seems that the first owner added a 0.047μF oil paper capacitor and soldered it.
How did he intend to change the sound of this no-caster by adding this?
If you are familiar with electrical matters, please let me know.

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Most folks call the "condenser"a capacitor, but that's OK. It's chosen value selects the frequency range that gets sent/bled to ground by the tone pot! Different values select different frequencies.You can read up on how tone pot circuits function and be amazed!
Just Capacitatin'
Gene

 

[Chipss36]

Looks like gibson 50s wiring to me, that works well in a tele.
the volume and tone controls are a bit interactive, the volume when turned down looses less highs that a standard set up.
however the tone knob can also affect volume.
I like this style of wiring, and use it in all my tele’s. And Gibsons,
if you use vol, and tone knobs, this wiring can yield a ton of different tones. Way beyond what a standard modern wiring does.

the cap is a standard value for a tele. It really does not matter what style of cap is used, more so the value. That’s a good value to use that you have.

none of this really matters, what do you think of your tele…..and how is it working out for you,
that’s what matters.

 

[StratUp]

I'm too lazy today to draw that out so that I can understand it, but off the top of my head it looks like the '53 Tele style wiring:

 

[Scott Baxendale]

Please tell me about the added condenser role!
I am the second owner of this no-caster,
but it seems that the first owner added a 0.047μF oil paper capacitor and soldered it.
How did he intend to change the sound of this no-caster by adding this?
If you are familiar with electrical matters, please let me know.

View attachment 607800
View attachment 607800
View attachment 607803

It’s a capacitor and it is what gives you a tone control.

 

[StratUp]

It’s a capacitor and it is what gives you a tone control.

There's a small ceramic disk in there doing the tone control thing. The Vitamin-Q is up to something else.

 

[Scott Baxendale]

There's a small ceramic disk in there doing the tone control thing. The Vitamin-Q is up to something else.

They are both capicators. It depends on the switch setting to give you more tonal variation.

 

[Eric_G]

I'm too lazy today to draw that out so that I can understand it, but off the top of my head it looks like the '53 Tele style wiring:

That was my first thought but looking at it, it seems that B3 is connected to the left lug of the volume and not the ground... Also, hard to tell, but it look like the ceramic cap is connected in a treble bleed config...

I think we need more detailed picture to see what connected where...

 

[dirocyn]

There's a small ceramic disk in there doing the tone control thing. The Vitamin-Q is up to something else.

I don't think that's right. The ceramic disk looks like a treble bleed. But I can’t see the connection well enough to be sure. The vitamin q cap is absolutely a tone cap.

 

[Eric_G]

I don't think that's right. The ceramic disk looks like a treble bleed. But I can’t see the connection well enough to be sure. The vitamin q cap is absolutely a tone cap.

Agreed, that cap looks like a treble bleed setup, knowing the value could also help, it should be under 3nf... Anything like a 22nf or 47nf would be more a tone application...

 

[jselect]

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who gave me valuable advice. Thank you very much. I've heard from you that you need more detailed images, so I'll add them below.

 

[Wound_Up]

Most folks call the "condenser"a capacitor, but that's OK. It's chosen value selects the frequency range that gets sent/bled to ground by the tone pot! Different values select different frequencies.You can read up on how tone pot circuits function and be amazed!
Just Capacitatin'
Gene

Yea. But there's 2 there. Most Teles don't have 2 caps. IME, people outside the US call them condensers. Either is correct.


More than likely, it's being used as a treble bleed/part of a treble bleed circuit. That's the only time I ever see multiple caps on a Fender.

Is that a 4 way switch, @jselect ?

 

[dirocyn]

Yea. But there's 2 there. Most Teles don't have 2 caps. IME, people outside the US call them condensers. Either is correct.

We in the U.S. called them condenser when used in a points ignition. Which were phased out in the 1970s, but a few of the old cars are still around.

More than likely, it's being used as a treble bleed/part of a treble bleed circuit.

It is 100% a treble bleed, now that I can see how it's hooked up. The small cap is intended to keep the signal from getting darker as the volume turns down.

 

[jselect]

More pictures.

Yea. But there's 2 there. Most Teles don't have 2 caps. IME, people outside the US call them condensers. Either is correct.


More than likely, it's being used as a treble bleed/part of a treble bleed circuit. That's the only time I ever see multiple caps on a Fender.

Is that a 4 way switch, @jselect ?

This is 3way.

 

[jselect]

Is the small capacitor a high-pass filter to prevent the high from falling when the volume is squeezed?　And does the Vitamin Q capacitor affect the tone control?

 

[uncle daddy]

Is the small capacitor a high-pass filter to prevent the high from falling when the volume is squeezed?　

Exactly, usually called a treble bleed.

 

[stratman323]

Yea. But there's 2 there. Most Teles don't have 2 caps. IME, people outside the US call them condensers. Either is correct.


More than likely, it's being used as a treble bleed/part of a treble bleed circuit. That's the only time I ever see multiple caps on a Fender.

Is that a 4 way switch, @jselect ?

Nope, in the UK we call them caps. If that's a treble bleed circuit, it's worse than useless, get some wire cutters & cut it off

 

[jselect]

Nope, in the UK we call them caps. If that's a treble bleed circuit, it's worse than useless, get some wire cutters & cut it off

Why does treble bleed circuit worse than useless?

 

[stratman323]

Why does treble bleed circuit worse than useless?

It attempts to solve a problem that doesn't exist, & it makes the tone thin & useless when all you want to do is reduce the volume a little.

 

[Eric_G]

Why does treble bleed circuit worse than useless?

It doesn’t.… necessarily… Like everything else, it’s all about the config of your instrument and what are your preference.

So as you stated correctly, you have two caps to impact both your knob.

The tone cap is the 0.047uf cylinder, it’s attached to your tone pot and work interactively with your pot, fully open it has near-zero impact to you tone, as you turn it, it’s start to redirect high frequency to ground thus making your tone darker.

The treble bleed cap, small pill like with the 102 code is a 0.001uf. It is attached to your volume to let some of the high frequency bypass the volume, thus keeping a certain amount of high frequency in your tone as you lower the volume.

If you like the sound of your guitar, don’t touch it. If you feel the tone is too thin, remove the the treble bleed cap. The treble bleed is also sometime use in combination with a small resistor, in series or in parallel. you can see different manufacturers application here.

Treble Bleed Mod Round-up – DrKevGuitar.com

If you find your tone goes from clean to too muddy (too dark) you can try replacing the tone cap with a lower value. 0.022uf would normally be used for humbuckers, but is sometimes preferred by some for single coils as well.

At the end, it’s all about preferences.