• Guys, we've spent considerable money converting the Les Paul Forum to this new XenForo platform, and we have ongoing monthly operating expenses. THE "DONATIONS" TAB IS NOW WORKING, AND WE WOULD APPRECIATE ANY DONATIONS YOU CAN MAKE TO KEEP THE LES PAUL FORUM GOING! Thank you!

Tone caps

MoneybagsR9

New member
Joined
Aug 12, 2019
Messages
1
Hello, I would love some opinions on what tone caps to run with paf humbuckers. I currently run a .01 cap and it gets a little to defined when turned up. Would a .22 cap be less defined but have the strat on steroids sound? Thanks
 

Big Al

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 24, 2002
Messages
14,537
Too defined when you turn it up????? What or how is that a cap issue? Turn the tone up all the way, [on 10], removes the cap from the circuit so no cap will change that. Do you mean turned down and by that I mean turned down ALL THE WAY on 1. I am puzzled by your post as I've used Les Pauls, Strats and Teles for over 4 decades and no cap makes a humbucker sound like a Strat, on or off steroids.

Do you mean both pickups?

A cap works by bleeding off treble as you roll it down. Larger value caps send more treble to ground as you turn them down, making the tone darker, or bassier by removing high frequency. Maximum treble reduction for any given cap value occurs with the pot turned down all the way with various ratio or degrees inbetween full on, [no treble reduction] and full off, [maximum treble reduction as set by cap value]. Or normal full frequency bright tone and reduced high frequency bass tone.

So a .015 cap is darker than a .01 cap, a .022 is darker still and a .047 more darker yet. A .022 sets a greater amount of treble to ground than a .01 cap so that when compared at the full off, all the way down setting of the tone control the larger value .022 sounds darker or bassier than the .01 smaller value which removes less treble.


I typically use a larger value cap anywhere from .022-.047 on my bridge pickup, depending upon how bright it is and a .015 or .01 on my neck pickup as I need less treble roll off on my neck pickups.

I almost always have some treble shaved off my bridge tone. Set at 7-9 depending. I use my ears and set accordingly. I turn down all the way for woman or mysteriouso tone and like running one pickup dialed full down with the other full up, both pickups on, volumes blended for tone.
 
Top