Ajax Blue .027 tone capacitor???...

[bassyeah]

I just bought a MIJ Fender Jazz bass and the CL posting stated it had a "Ajax Blue .027 tone capacitor"... what does that do? I love the tone (growl) out of this bass and if this has anything to do with the sound I wonder what your thoughts are on doing this to my 2008 MIA P bass?

Would love your input!

PS I have searched this and found nothing...

[bongomania]

There are hundreds of threads about using exotic tone caps. Here's a very recent one: Vitamin Q (Oil in paper) Capacitor

[bassyeah]

Thanks for the thread... I guess I didn't know what I was looking for when I searched.
I have to tell you... reading thru that whole thread I really didn't understand most of it... and there wasn't too much discussion regarding the tonal sounds from the different capacitors... I will do some more searching.

Thanks for the input!

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Basically, because in this application, tonal difference is caused by the actual capacitance, not the makeup of the capacitor.

[mongo2]

One characteristic of capacitors is that the values often have a very wide tolerance which contributes to variations in capacitance and therefore the tone even when comparing two caps of the same nominal value from the same manufacturer.

[i_got_a_mohawk]

Aye, that's what I was trying to get at by stating "actual" capacitance.

A prime example is the cheaper ceramic cap's are often +80% -20% tolerance. A 0.01uF cap could actually be 0.018uF or 0.008uF and still be given the same rating. (you can get ceramic caps with better tolerances tho).

[line6man]

Originally Posted by bassyeah

there wasn't too much discussion regarding the tonal sounds from the different capacitors

This has been well covered by myself and others already, but I'll put it into simple English.

There is no tonal difference between various capacitors when used in a tone control application.
The difference in sound that some people claim to hear is due to the fact that the tolerance can vary widely from cap to cap.

If you pick out two capacitors at random, rated at the same value, it is doubtful that they will actually measure out to the capacitance they are rated for, because manufacturing tolerance can allow them to stray 10%, 20% or more from the rating.

If you match up the actual capacitance of two capacitors, (say, a metalized film and a paper-in-oil) they will likely have no distinguishable tonal difference.

Remember also that you never actually hear a capacitor. What you hear is what the capacitor did not cut out...