tele tone cap?

[chuckb]

Hey guys, I just received a set of Lindy Fralin stock pick-ups for my american tele anf I'd like to know what would be a good/best type cap to use? I believe there's a .022uf in there now. I'd like to try different values. Any suggestions on where to start. I'll be playing through a 5e3 with a weber 12a125a and a matchless lightning clone with a G12h greenback. I'm also open to any suggestions on other wiring schemes as well?

Chuck.

[big_teee]

Most of the older Model Fender Teles used .05uf Caps and 250k Pots.
Here's the fender Diagrams.
They might give you some Ideas to try.
I've had good luck with the Amp style foil Caps, like Mallory 150s and Sozo's.
Not a lot of room in a Tele Cavity though.
Fender® Support
Terry

[chuckb]

hey terry, thanks for the link. What would be the tonal changes going from a .022uf cap to a .05uf cap? I'm assuming it will be brighter? Given the space in the control cavity ,what type of cap would you suggest?

Chuck.

[big_teee]

hey terry, thanks for the link. What would be the tonal changes going from a .022uf cap to a .05uf cap? I'm assuming it will be brighter? Given the space in the control cavity ,what type of cap would you suggest?

Chuck.

No Cap is the brightest, more cap darkens the tone.
Say, if the tone is way to bright and tinny, get a bigger Value Cap.
If it's too dark go with a small Cap.
Larger Value Pots Can have the Opposite effect. 250Ks would sound Warmer and 1meg Caps would sound brighter.
I mainly work on Strats, and LP Humbucker type guitars.
I like 250K Pots, .1uf Cap with Low Wound Strat Pickups in a Stratocaster.
If you check on the Lindy Fralin Site, He may have some recommendations, for his pickups.
Whatever you get make sure you have enough room for it.
STEWMAC.COM : Capacitors
Capacitors
I used these last with good results, they were left over from an amp building project.
Metalized Polyester Capacitors
Good Luck,
Terry

[Mark Hammer]

The tone-pot resistance (whether full up or set part way) determines how much top end is bled off to ground. The cap value sets where in the spectrum that bleed-off starts happening.

Unless the tone control circuit is completely disconnected from the signal path, there will always be some treble bleed, even with the tone control up full. The question is whether the treble bleed is audible and acceptable. A lower-value cap, in theory, results in less treble bleed off. However, if the pot value is low, then even up full there is always some bleedoff although it might not be enough to hear. The best-case scenario is to have a smaller cap value and larger pot value, if your goal is to be able to keep as much top end as possible and do your top-end tweaking at the amp or on the board. The worst case scenario (assuming you're not Ed Bickert) is a large-value cap and low-value pot (e.g., 100k and .05uf), where there will always be enough treble bleed that if you disconnected the tone pot, you'd hear an instant "glassiness" of the pickups, compared to having the tone pot up full.

I like to have a 1meg linear pot with one cap value on one end of rotation, and a different vaue on the other end, with "flat" (max treble) in the middle. Handy, but takes some getting used to.

[David Schwab]

hey terry, thanks for the link. What would be the tonal changes going from a .022uf cap to a .05uf cap? I'm assuming it will be brighter? Given the space in the control cavity ,what type of cap would you suggest?

The smaller value (.02µF) removes just the top end and leaves more mids. The larger value (.05µF) cute at a lower frequency and removes more highs and upper mids.