Capacitor Question

[dawnofzion]

does anyone use capacitors from radio shack versus buying them online from a supplier? I am in need of a .1uf cap for my EMG and dont' want to deal with shipping for such a small item. what are the differences between these?

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.js...rentPage=search

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.js...rentPage=search

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.js...rentPage=search

Edited December 12, 2007 by dawnofzion

[curtisa]

Fundamentally? Not much difference at all. They're all the same value.

However there may or may not be certain tonal differences between the three that some purveyors of the finest snake oil will have us believe For a buck-fifty for each style, why not just get all three and swap them out as you see fit?

IMHO I doubt you'll hear any difference between the three, but it can't hurt to try. FWIW I believe the first and third options you have there are exactly the same, except that the third has a higher voltage rating.

[Setain]

I agree with curtisa, but I wouldn't get the ceramic disc caps. My reason may seem trivial, but the tolerance is not specified and that type's tolerance is notoriously high.

[zyonsdream]

A lot of people don't like ceramic caps. I only use Drop Orange caps in my builds. When I used to use the ceramic caps I could never hear much tonal difference. They just seem blah to me. I know that there are better caps out there besides the drop orange. I've just been able to get a good tonal change out of them.

[Myka Guitars]

Snake oil perhaps but here is some data: The 'Sound' of Capacitors. And a special section for ceramic caps.

Not that this should be a substitute for your ears. I personally don't use an oscilloscope to listen to my music but some people might.

~David

[David Schwab]

The metallized polyester film capacitors from Radio Shack work fine for tone controls.

The whole thing about the tone of caps has more to do when using them as coupling caps where the signal is going through them.

For simple things like tone controls, polyester caps work fine, which is what orange drops are.

Edited December 15, 2007 by David Schwab

[pauseflash]

Oh the wonderfulness of passive electronic components in music instruments.

By the "book" everything should be fine, no matter what.. be it poly, ceramic, whatever... as long as the values are the same.

Sadness is, Thats not the way it always works, to the ear.

The best way I can explain the process is like having a beer. Take the same brand of beer... Pour it in to a plastic cup, a glass cup, and drink it out of a can. It is the same beer, the whole time. But in the hands of a true beer lover, subtle differences are noticed. Works quite the same way with passive electronics in music.

Ceramic is not a bad choice at all. It is my personal favorite. I wouldn't be to concerned with "tolerance" (no insult to anyone who previously stated to watch for them) but even running active emg's, their "Strum" voltage is usally about 1.2-1.8 volts DC. If you had high outputs and beat the hell out of them, you'd be lucky to get to about 3 volts. Point being, the line voltage and signal of a guitar, usally wont break most any part you could find at radio shack. Everything is rated to most 50 volts, and the amperage is so minimal it makes no difference.

None of those caps would cause any signal clipping so you'd be ok. I have actually all 3 of those on my work bench as we speak for a project. Buy all 3, plug them up and play what you like.