Sprague Orange Drop Tone Caps

[Stiffy]

Are those Sprague Orange Drop Tone Caps that good? I got them for a strat. How do you install on the tone pots properly? Pics pliz?

[George Brown]

try looking here to see how the tone pots should be wired

as for how good they are thats really up to your own ears, but you may want to read this

[lovekraft]

There's nothing wrong with using Orange Drops, but there's no compelling evidence that they sound better (or make any audible difference, for that matter), at least in passive guitar electronics. Orange Drops got their street cred in tube amps back when they were pretty much the only readily-available film caps that modders could replace their coupling caps with, so using them in guitars is just transferring the Mojo. Frankly, I'd be surprised if anybody could reliably distinguish them from any other film cap when used as a tone cap, but then, I really didn't have any issues with the sound of the ceramic tone caps that were used universally for many years. The only caps I would absolutely avoid using here are tantalums and electrolytics - anything else is fair game! If you can afford Hovlands, it probably won't ever make an audible difference, but it'll sure impress some of those guys over at the Gear Page!! As always, YMMV!

[Mickguard]

Here's the best reason I can think of for using the orange drops over any other cap --because they look damn cool (of course, you have to be able to show them)

[Ben]

You know your obsessed with guitar building when things like capacitors seem cool

[Mickguard]

You know your obsessed with guitar building when things like capacitors seem cool

[WezV]

I just put some (one tone and one treble bleed) in my Wez paul junior purely because of the way they look. Its shallow i know but the guitar already feels so vintage it wouldnt have been right to put owt else in

[lovekraft]

Its shallow i know but the guitar already feels so vintage it wouldnt have been right to put owt else in

I hate to bust anybody's bubble, but Orange Drops first came to prominence in the mid 70s as replacement caps for real vintage amps - AFAIK, their use in guitars began with all the crossover mojo and misinformation that was marketed in the 80s. If you want vintage vibe, you're going to have to do better than that, like some real bumblebees or black cats, or those cool old oil and foil waxed caps - good luck finding the real thing for less than a small fortune. Use whatever you like, but keep in mind that using a 630V cap in a guitar tends to reflect on the judgement of the builder and/or the buyer, at least for some of us! To each his own, I suppose!

[WezV]

OK, Ok i get the message, it aint authentically vintage

Really i just wanted to try them out to see what all the fuss is about, and i am making a real effort to clean up my bad wiring habits and have control cavities i can be proud of. They definately look better than the disks so i got some.

what about these:

hovland musicap

That definately seems excessive for a tone pot

[lovekraft]

...what about these:

hovland musicap

That definately seems excessive for a tone pot

Ah yes, the Holy Grail of audiophile caps - if Orange Drops are a wee bit silly, Hovlands are at least an order of magnitude sillier! For fifteen bucks, you can get either one Musicap™ or 100 or so 100v Xicon polyesters - that had better be a really good cap!

Oh, and if you're into "designer" colors, check out the Wima FKM/MKM or FKP/MKP series for a really striking red hue (might go well with a cherry sunburst?). Short leads might be a hassle, but they're high quality, and very pretty!