Tone Capacitors

[macnik]

Charlie, I wonder if you or any of the technically minded members can help in letting me know the value of the tone caps used in the 50/60s strats. This information may help me in getting as close as possible using a modern strat, to the sound produced from those vintage strats. I know it's a long shot but the value of the one in Hank's '59 maple neck is what I'm really after.

cheers
Ian

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Ian,
The tone cap in 50s and 60s Strats was 0.1uF. Some modern caps will be marked 104 which means 0.1uF.
If your Strat is wired stock this will make no difference to the bridge pickup alone sound.
Regards,
Charlie

[macnik]

Hi Charlie,
Thank you for such a quick reply to my question. I'm using a CIJ 2005 '62 reissue, rosewood board with Fender 57/62 pups. the tone cap, a round orange one, is marked as follows sk .1x 50v. This means nothing to me, but as a guess I presume it's a 0.50uF. The pups are bright, but now I've messed with the tone controls on my Pod they are not too spiky. If I changed to the one you specify would I get closer to the early 60s tone. I know an exact sound replica is impossible with my gear, but I'm hoping to get closer. Will the 0.1uF cap give me a fuller sound or bright.
Thank you
Ian

[Charlie Hall]

Hi Ian,
Your tone cap is 0.1uF at 50 volts. You have the correct one.
Changing tone caps won't really make much difference with the tone pot at 10. A smaller value cap like 0.047 or even 0.022 as used on more recent Strats will make the sound slightly brighter with the tone controls at 10. The biggest differences are heard when the tone control is rolled back. 0.1 will remove more mids than a 0.047 when the control is rolled back.
The 57/62 pickups should sound good. They are not usually known to be too spiky sounding.
You could try a longer guitar cable if you use a fairly short one at the moment.
If you are using a wireless system, there may not be enough capacitance in the signal from the guitar to the transmitter. Some transmitters have a small amount of capacitance added inside the transmitter but it is not usually enough to duplicate the sound of a cable.
Regards,
Charlie

[macnik]

Hi Charlie,
Many thanks for your advice and very much appreciated it is. I'll probably leave things as they are for the moment, at least till my next string change.
Regards,
Ian