Strat Tone Cap?????

[photoweborama]

I went to a local guitar shop and asked for a standard Strat .022mf cap.

This is what they gave me:


Is this right? will it work?

[fezz parka]

If it's a .022, it'll do...

[photoweborama]

Well, that's what he said, but with this designation, how can I tell?

[fezz parka]

Got a multimeter?

[photoweborama]

yes, how do I test it?

[photoweborama]

Ok, I found the part number on Mouser.

It say it is a 22000 pF, which I assumes translates to .022mF?

[photoweborama]

Originally posted by photoweborama
Ok, I found the part number on Mouser.

It say it is a 22000 pF, which I assumes translates to .022mF?

Ok, I figured it out, you just move the decimal point 6 places to the left.

In this case it ._22000, or .022000uF

[BLUELOU]

it looks like the right one like fezz said i think either a .05 or .022 cap like you got will work fine

I AM USING A REAL GUITARIST REPAIR SCHEMATIC MANUAL

i'd give it a try it aint gonna hurt ijn my book here a

stratocaster has a .05mfd capacitor/5 way switch SETUP

CAPACITOR IS
hooked up first neck tone pot lead 3RD LUG of pot to cap then other end of cap soldered to ground on that same pot >

(I USE WHIT LITTLE 2INCH WIRE)
then solder a lead wire from first tone (neck pup)tone pot middle pot lead to the bottom middle lead of the middle potentiometer middle lug


1983 DRAWING IN MY BOOK SHOWS :fender standard stratocaster with 5 way switch

BOTTOM TONE POT to have a .022 mfd cap soldered across left first lug of tone potentiometer then other end of capacitor lead soldered to the ground of that pot

ON THE ELITE STRATOCASTER NOWthey use the .022 cap on the #1 lug of the neck tone pot to ground also

good luck
lou
i am looking at the benchtop reference manual for schematics guitars standard wiring diagrams IT IS WRITTEN IN 1992 so its old book but it has most all schematics in it i need to use
god bless
good luck
lou
i use a 15 /30 watt small switchable soldering iron and skinniest thinnest good solder
be careful with the soldering iron caps get very hot do not use excessive heat for long periods of time be safe

[photoweborama]

Ok, I put the new cap in and also changed the pots. I could not change the switch because the body is not deep enough. (Cheap Squire Strat).

So it appears that the type of Cap is really not the issue, it’s the value of the cap?

Also, explain this to me. It had a .047 cap. This would make it a thinner sound than the .022, and a .1 would be even bassier?

Also, since there is a +- variance of 10%, a .020 cap would be about the same as a .022?

Please, inquiring minds want to know!

[BLUELOU]

well a .047 isnt so unusual long ago i seen one in a repair job strat that came in myshop


i think you might like also to try a .05 cap maybe it might help



as for thinny sounds it is a squier i like using seymour duncan vintage strat desighn pickups in all my 14 stratocasters


pickups play a important part bro so it might be just silly stuff

try the .05 cap go to radio shack ask salesman for one if in a pinch

your squier strat is thinner body than std stratocaster it might also be laminated explaining the thin sound not that its a bad thing

i didnt remember them squier strats being thinner bodied but i own older stratocasters so i might have forgot

i love squier strats theyre good instruments anything fender makes is usually good

ok you had a .047 cap

well the stratocaster schematics in my repair book which i am right now looking at use either .022 like you shown fezz /me

or i like personally i use .05 mfd ones on my strats old stratocasters etc


squier fenders are good for work instruments jeff heally the blind guitarist blues cat from canada uses them so they are good
guitars he wails on them he's a madman on the guitar

set them up right theyre all good to me hey music its fun

your pickups might be thin sounding
its a possibiolity especially if its a 3 pickup single coil stratocaster bro squier stratocasters like yours might have different pickups than i am familiar with i only use seymourduncans
to each his own


is your guitar all single coil pickups ?
there is lots of factors ....wood quality is it laminated plywood body i seen them /pickup quality / silly stuff but all fender products are good its the player


good luck
god bless
keep rockin
sinceely lou:)

[photoweborama]

The body is plywood, but the pickups are a set of test pickups that go for $150.00.... $100.00 more than I paid for the guitar. I replaced all the pots and the cap, but the body is not deep enough for the new switch I bought. I'll put it in my main Strat.

I'm not saying the brand yet, because the review will be published in the AllThingsStrat web magazine next month.. I can't let the cat out of the bag.

All I'm saying is that with the .047 cap, it sounded much thinner and more trebly. With the .022, it sounds more like my #1 Strat when I had them in there. I just wanted the electronics to be similar so the pickups sounded the same.

But if they sounded thin with .047, warmer with .022, would they be even warmer with .01, but even thinner with .05? That's what I am trying to figure out.

[BLUELOU]

Originally posted by photoweborama
The body is plywood, but the pickups are a set of test pickups that go for $150.00.... $100.00 more than I paid for the guitar. I replaced all the pots and the cap, but the body is not deep enough for the new switch I bought. I'll put it in my main Strat.

I'm not saying the brand yet, because the review will be published in the AllThingsStrat web magazine next month.. I can't let the cat out of the bag.

All I'm saying is that with the .047 cap, it sounded much thinner and more trebly. With the .022, it sounds more like my #1 Strat when I had them in there. I just wanted the electronics to be similar so the pickups sounded the same.

But if they sounded thin with .047, warmer with .022, would they be even warmer with .01, but even thinner with .05? That's what I am trying to figure out.

I THINK THE .022CAP WILL DO YOU FINE
AS FOR LETTING THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG I DONT UNDERSTAND THAT BUT ANYWAY I LIKE .022 CAPS
IN THE BOOK HERE OF GUITAR WIRING DIAGRAMS IT SEEMS LOGICAL TO USE THE .022 CAP
GOOD LUCK ARE YOU LOOKIN MAINLY FOR A WARMER TONE??

FEZZ PROBABLY KNOWS HE IS SMART AT THAT STUFF ALSO
I'D ASK FEZZ I THINK HE TOLD YOU THE .022 CAP WAS THE ONE ANYWAY EARLIER IN A POST

SINCERELY
GODBLESS ME I USE .05 TO ME ITS WARMER
LOU
JUST WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE CAT IN BAG TERM EXPLAIN THAT TO ME OK ?LET ME KNOW
GUITARNOISE2002@WMCONNECT.COM
ITS ALL KOOL

[Jim Collins]

The typical capacitor code is a three digit code. The first two digits are the value, and the third digit is the number of decimal places to the left. 223 is a 22, with the decimal point moved to the left three places: .022uF.

1000pF = .001uF, so 22000pf = .022uF.

[BLUELOU]

Originally posted by Spose
I'm in the camp - composition of the cap DOES make a difference in tone. Photoweborama, if you'd like to try one of these(see photo below) paper in oil .022 Russian caps, drop me an email with your mailing address and I'll send one out to you. They are larger then the ceramic caps so space may be a consideration. Right now in my player Strat, I'm using a Sequa .022 aluminum foil/oil cap....I'm still not sure if that's the perfect value for a Strat.







The higher you go up in cap value, more highs are being rolled off when turning the tone knob down....a .015 will give you more highs bleeding thru with the tone knob rolled all the way down then a .022 for example.

nice caps yea i totally agree are them expensive ?
?
lou

[photoweborama]

Jim, your explination makes perfect sense.

Spose:
I did just buy two Mylar film caps. What will be different with the paper oil caps? I don't want to use up your supply.

So let me get this straight, the cap does not really do anything until you tune the tone knob? Otherwise, it is straight through, or it does alter the tone, but bleeds off more treble, depending on the value?

[photoweborama]

Won't the wiper wear it off after some time?

[photoweborama]

So what you are saying is the pots have more to do with tone when everything is wide open, and the it sounds more like my other strat because I changed the pots also?

It seemed all the tone adjustment on the old pots did not cut in until the pot was turned all the way down, like at #3. With the new pots it starts to bleed off noticeably at 8. I have feeling the stock cheap pots were linear taper, not audio taper pots.

[photoweborama]

Ok, here is another question. I just did a mod on my Squire Strat that makes the bottom tone control a master tone. Will the subtraction of the second tone control path change the tone? I can't really tell because I can't A-B the guitar, it's too much wiring.

I know it won't be a problem in single pickup positions, but duel combos, it may effect.