One of the last things I want to do is start a capacitor discussion, so please bear in mind that I'm trying to ask a very specific question, largely due to real, but non-technical concerns.
A customer brought me a 1958 Fender Harvard for repairs. All four signal path yellow Astron capacitors are leaky as screen doors and need to be replaced. This is not a gray-area judgment call; these are way into the complete failure category with one measuring as a dead short.
The thing is, this customer is extremely anxious about affecting the amp's vintage collector value, so he wants me to be very careful about replacing parts.
So, is there any consensus about what the most vintage-correct replacements are for '58 yellow Astron capacitors? I've used standard Sozos before, with good results, simply because I wanted an axial Mylar film & foil capacitor, but there are also the red and yellow Jupiters. Some claim the Jupiter reds are the best. Is it because they're the most expensive? I don't know. That's why I'm asking.
I don't personally drink the Kool-Aid on boutique capacitors, but I'm happy to install them for a paying customer if it's what makes him happy--and if it signifies to a future buyer that effort was made to choose the most appropriate replacement parts available at the time. Thus, this is as much about psychology as technical merit. In the end, who's really in a position to compare what a Fender amp sounded like in 1958 with new components to what one sounds like now?
So, any opinions on what the best choice is, given the parameters? My apologies in advance for asking what is partly a cork-sniffing question.
A customer brought me a 1958 Fender Harvard for repairs. All four signal path yellow Astron capacitors are leaky as screen doors and need to be replaced. This is not a gray-area judgment call; these are way into the complete failure category with one measuring as a dead short.
The thing is, this customer is extremely anxious about affecting the amp's vintage collector value, so he wants me to be very careful about replacing parts.
So, is there any consensus about what the most vintage-correct replacements are for '58 yellow Astron capacitors? I've used standard Sozos before, with good results, simply because I wanted an axial Mylar film & foil capacitor, but there are also the red and yellow Jupiters. Some claim the Jupiter reds are the best. Is it because they're the most expensive? I don't know. That's why I'm asking.
I don't personally drink the Kool-Aid on boutique capacitors, but I'm happy to install them for a paying customer if it's what makes him happy--and if it signifies to a future buyer that effort was made to choose the most appropriate replacement parts available at the time. Thus, this is as much about psychology as technical merit. In the end, who's really in a position to compare what a Fender amp sounded like in 1958 with new components to what one sounds like now?
So, any opinions on what the best choice is, given the parameters? My apologies in advance for asking what is partly a cork-sniffing question.
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