Angela Wiring v.s. Bass Parts wiring

[cubinicano]

I want a P bass wiring kit for my MIM Fender P, and they both seem to be pretty good, but I'm kinda a noob at this kinda stuff so I would like to know what the wisdom of TB has to say about there's two wiring schemes. Pros? Cons?

[line6man]

P bass wiring is pretty much standard. I can't imagine there would be any difference between the two.

[cubinicano]

Originally Posted by line6man

P bass wiring is pretty much standard. I can't imagine there would be any difference between the two.

So wat makes one more expensive than the other?

[line6man]

Originally Posted by cubinicano

So wat makes one more expensive than the other?

Probably nothing. Pricing is often arbitrary.

FWIW, IIRC, Angela makes or sells ridiculously overpriced paper in oil caps. If the wiring harness in question has one, that would explain the price difference.

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by line6man

Probably nothing. Pricing is often arbitrary.

FWIW, IIRC, Angela makes or sells ridiculously overpriced paper in oil caps. If the wiring harness in question has one, that would explain the price difference.

+1. And some of those paper-in-oil caps aren't even PiO.

I wiring kit shouldn't cost more than this:

STEWMAC.COM : Wiring Kit for P-Bass

[etinsley]

I bought my P-bass wiring kit from Acme Guitar Works. Their kits come with both vintage style "push-back" wire and modern teflon coated wire, a Switchcraft jack, nice CTS pots, and a 100V orange drop cap (not huge like a 600V cap). Maybe a little nicer parts than the Stewart-MacDonald kit and a few bucks more.


Wiring Kit - Fender Precision Bass®

[SGD Lutherie]

Thats true. And they aren't over priced.

As a hint... if you buy your parts from a place like Mouser, it will be cheaper than Stew-Mac and better.

Orange drops are a fad, that's about it. Any other cap would sound the same. CTS pots are nicer than the cheap Alpha pots StewMac sells (Alpha makes much better parts). I like Bourns pots myself.

[line6man]

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

Orange drops are a fad, that's about it. Any other cap would sound the same.

I liked Orange Drops because they were reasonably priced, but now they have become expensive.

Also, FWIW, StewMac's description of their ceramic caps is totally wrong!

The higher the value, the more bass output from the tone control at its "zero" setting.

The higher the value, the less treble from the tone control at its "zero" setting. More bass is not the same thing as less treble.

[etinsley]

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

Thats true. And they aren't over priced.

As a hint... if you buy your parts from a place like Mouser, it will be cheaper than Stew-Mac and better.

Orange drops are a fad, that's about it. Any other cap would sound the same. CTS pots are nicer than the cheap Alpha pots StewMac sells (Alpha makes much better parts). I like Bourns pots myself.

I agree with you. I just like the fact that Acme supplies the 100V cap instead of the 2" long 600V cap that some shops sell you when you order a "guitar tone capacitor". I bought a dozen of the .047µF 100V orange drops when I placed a DigiKey orders a while back so I'd have them on hand for repairs. Also, Acme must order the CTS pots in bulk because they have the Acme name stamped on the back.

Still, I like the orange drops or any other polypropylene cap better than the cheapo ceramics as they seem more durable to me. I don't know if I can hear any "real" difference with the PIO caps. I just installed a Sprague "Vitamin Q" .047µF cap into my guitar player's Telecaster and he swears it sounds "sweeter". Whatever... it's his $$$.

[etinsley]

Looks like Mojo sells a nice wiring kit that's priced reasonably, too.

Precision Bass Boutique Wiring Kit - Mojotone.com

[jazzmonkey]

Please disregard previous post. (speaking with foot firmly inserted into mouth).

But yeah, all the cap is doing is bleeding higher frequencies to ground, so it's like volume control for upper frequency range. No need to pay out the yang for PiO or OD's when any cap of comparable value will do.