Orange Drop Capacitors

[johnnyseven]

I took one of my Jazzmasters to a tech yesterday to have it set up and in conversation I asked him if there was anything that could be done to the electrics to make it sound better. He suggested that for a couple of quid he could install an Orange Drop Capacitor and it would improve the sound. As it was only a couple of quid I said to do it but I was wondering what difference in sound I could expect and whether it was worth it. The tech guy is italian and his english isn't great so his explanation wasn't particularly understandable.

[Mages]

pretty minimal difference really but they're just generally more "Hi-Fi". so they have a smoother frequency roll off. which... maybe that's what you want, and then maybe not. most people are just fine with the more "gritty" sounding cheaper capacitors.

I think for jazzmasters a really cool mod is to wire the rhythm circuit to work in combination with the pickup selector switch, so you can use it with any pickup instead of just the neck pickup. I did this with my jazzmaster along with changing the rhythm circuit cap for a .01uF (so not as dark as the stock .022uF. it's just kind of a brightness cut, pushing it into a Gibson-like tonal range). I like it a lot. it eaks out a few more tones from the jazzmaster.



fake edit: ok, I really didn't use a .01uF I used a 22k resistor in series with a .022uF cap but I estimate using a .01uF would probably have about the same result.

[Fran]

I've fitted Orange Drop's in everything i've modded or built, they are good quality but its not a dramatic difference. Well worthwhile for a couple of quid though, nothing worse than having a decent pickup and a piss poor Cap.

[George]

There's a lot of "OMG DONT WASTE MONEY ON ORANGE DROPS THEYRE THE SAME AS CHEAP ONES" going round but all caps are fucking cheap including orange drops. I use them 'cos they feel solid and look the part. I can't really say anything about the difference in tone because I tend to change them while I'm already changing pots. Changing to better pots like CTS as well as a nice cap has a definite impact though.

[johnnyseven]

Thanks for the advice/info. From what i've heard the Orange Drops are good for retaining clarity when you turn the tone knob down and as I play with my tone at around 5 on both my Jazzmasters then this cheap component upgrade sound worthwhile for me. Even if it doesn't make any diference at least I havn't spent a load of cash on it.

[Thom]

I put an orange drop in my jagstang when I last changed pup and it did make a bit of a difference. As has already been said, it's a couple of quid so you may as well.

[Will]

It's all about what works with the guitar. I put Mallory 150s in my Ric copy a couple years ago and the sound got dramatically clearer, warmer, and the tone controls worked better.

I tried them in my Mustang, and it just wasn't the same; a cheap ceramic cap I pulled from a radio ended up sounding best in there.

Then I have my Danos, which just aren't right without a huge .1uf PIO cap.

So, yeah, it's all about experimentation.

[BartMan]

I've read that the .033 uF paper in oil cap could take away the ice picky brittle end but still preserve the highs.

[Sloan]

fuck clarity IMMA PLAY ANGRY GUITAR RIFF