Pure Vintage 74 Jazz Pickup and capacitor

[Pantofolaio79]

Hello everyone I wanted to ask for advice on the fact that I would buy the 74 jazz pickups and I wondered which capacitor is more suitable .. many say that it is perfect 0.022 compared to 0.047 but I would like to have some more advice .. I like the typical jazz sound of the seventies .. thanks a lot to everyone!
P.S. In case you had to choose a .022 which features should you have?

 

[fermata]

The best thing is to try a few different values and find out what sounds good to you. .022, .033, and .047 will have different mid-bumps/will impart different resonant frequencies, so try one of each value. (The easiest way to do this: unscrew the barrel on one end of your instrument cable, and put test clips on the exposed hot and ground sides of the cable. When you put a capacitor between the clips, you'll be simulating the tone control turned all the way down; just make sure the tone control on the instrument is open, or you'll get misleading results. When you find the sound you like, solder that capacitor to the tone pot.)

As for what type of capacitor, it doesn't matter; all that matters is the value, so don't spend silly money. Get something with 5 or 10% tolerance, so the printed value is close to the actual value. (Or, get a bigger handful of inexpensive ceramic caps with wider tolerances, and just flip through them until you hear the sound you like.)

More info here: Tone Pot Capacitors question

 

[Pantofolaio79]

Thank you so much for the advice .. can you give me also an indication on the condenser, apart from the brand but the characteristics it must have? I often read apart from .022 or .047 but from 100 V or 200 V, just to get more information ... thank you very much!

 

[fermata]

Thank you so much for the advice .. can you give me also an indication on the condenser, apart from the brand but the characteristics it must have? I often read apart from .022 or .047 but from 100 V or 200 V, just to get more information ... thank you very much!

The voltage rating isn't important. Higher voltage rating = bigger component, that's all; a passive bass deals in millivolts. Again, all that matters is value (and maybe tolerance).

For instance: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
or [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] (Lots of other places sell caps, too, but watch out for inflated prices. If they're more than a couple bucks, it's price gouging. Realistically, you'll probably pay more for shipping than for the product.)

By the way, you'll want to be shopping for capacitors, not condensors--that's a type of microphone element.

 

[Pantofolaio79]

Thank you you were very kind!

 

[fermata]

Sure thing! I see that All Parts has .033 uF caps (alongside the more common .02 and .047). Getting five ceramic caps of one value for $3 is a decent price, plus, since the values may vary a bit from piece to piece, you can compare and pick the one you like best. Guitar Capacitors | Allparts.com

 

[Pantofolaio79]

Exactly I saw that there is a really good choice! thank you so much!

 

[saabfender]

I like 0.022uF for Jazz Bass. The cut is more slight than 0.047uF and you can get a usable tone with the control fully engaged. For experimenting, you can solder two 0.022uF in parallel and get an effective capacitance of 0.044uF.

These are the ones I always buy: Matched Pair 0.022uF .022uF 22nf 400V USSR Guitar Tone Capacitors PIO | eBay
About time to buy a new batch.

 

[Pantofolaio79]

I would really like to take a .022 although I would like to experiment with a 0.33 and a 0.47 .. I love the sound of 70 years so we'll see what will be the most suitable, thank you very much!

 

[allboutbass]

I changed recently form 22 to 47 with 500K pot, I like it a lot better as the 22 when tone closed is too honky. The higher the value the less bump resonance and obviously more roll off.

 

[iiipopes]

All the above. Please don't purchase paper-oil capacitors because the oil dries out and the value of the capacitor shifts. And to concur with the above: any good quality reputable capacitor will work. Go for ones with a lesser voltage rating because they are usually physically smaller, meaning they will actually fit in the control cavity where others may not. Don't spend crazy money on "bumblebee" caps or such, unless you are restoring a vintage instrument, and the difference in the value of the instrument for resale exceeds the cost of getting a "period correct" capacitor.