Capacitor Differences

[cole]

Which cap would be better, a Sprague Vitamin Q or a Mallory film capacitor. I know theres more to it than good or bad but does anyone have any idea of which would be better?

[Primal]

For a guitar or amp/other electronics device? It seems like there was a discussion awhile ago that basically said those fancy caps weren't worth it for a guitar, but were for other electronic devices.

[Robert_the_damned]

I saw some nice research on something related to this....someone had done some tests on the frequency responces of (IIRC) Ceramic, metal film (Polyester) and paper and oil caps (all of the same value of course) and as I remember the polyester and paper and oil were basically identical and the ceramic was only slightly worse (worse as in a less smooth frequency roll off).

So back to what you actually asked: It really wont make a huge differance...I'd get whatever was cheeper/easier to get. Paper and oil are a pain to solder I bet (never used them but I'm sure they will be!).

[mammoth guitars]

I will add to what Robert stated and say the comparisons have shown the ceramics are not linear in response to audio signals and the others are much more linear.

[lovekraft]

...the comparisons have shown the ceramics are not linear in response to audio signals and the others are much more linear.

While that's absolutely true, there's precious little evidence that the resulting non-linearities are audible in a passive guitar circuit. I always use film caps, but that's probably more of a a knee-jerk reaction rather than any percieved tonal improvement - there are those who say they can hear a difference, and I'm not going to call anybody a liar, but if you want your guitar to sound better, use a cheap film cap, and spend the money you saved on better pickups. If you're lookin' for braggin' rights, use the most expensive Hovland Musicap (or similar) you can find!!