What do the values of capacitors in a guitar do?
Matty 2 Tears asked:
Hi! so recently ive started taking apart some of my old guitars to try to learn about the inner workings of guitars. I am totally new to this stuff. but I noticed that my strat and sg have .022 uf and .033 uf capacitors, respectively. What do these values do to the sound of the guitar? What about higher or lower values, what do those sound like? and what is the general range used?
Hi! so recently ive started taking apart some of my old guitars to try to learn about the inner workings of guitars. I am totally new to this stuff. but I noticed that my strat and sg have .022 uf and .033 uf capacitors, respectively. What do these values do to the sound of the guitar? What about higher or lower values, what do those sound like? and what is the general range used?
The capacitors are part of a relatively primative tone control circuit. The 2 part article that I’ve linked below is among the best I’ve seen on the topic but I wouldn’t treat everything in it as gospel. If your guitar can be considered “vintage” or collectable keep the original parts in case you ever want to restore it to original condition. Your cord may also have a significant effect on your range of tone. So will your choice of pickups. Feel free to experiment. You’re not going to blow up anything.
Don DON