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Post by davidofchatham on Feb 22, 2022 22:17:05 GMT -5
I'm a bit stuck. I've been reading a lot and know some of the things I want to try, at least, and the major components I need. But what about the hookup wire, the capacitors, and the resistors? I've been planning a Mouser order. After a lot of picking through, I was planning to use Panasonic film caps, and probably still will where available, but found that I apparently need to use the ceramic disc caps for some values. And then I started looking for resistors and was confronted with this:  I don't even know which category to start with! And then there's the wire: Pushback? Multi-core?... And where to buy that?Sorry, I'm a bit lost in the weeds! |
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Post by gckelloch on Feb 22, 2022 23:04:11 GMT -5
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Post by davidofchatham on Mar 2, 2022 17:36:21 GMT -5
Thanks for the suggestions, gckelloch! I'm planning to order from Mouser anyway (pots, at least), and keep poking around. Are these sorts of parts suitable choices? I was thinking I would want some shielded multi-conductor wire to run from the main control cavity up to the pickup selector cavity, but I apparently would need to buy 100' at minimum from Mouser, so I probably am gonna look somewhere else for that. My initial soldering attempts have shown me that yes, I really need something to help me hold stuff. I'm thinking about splashing out for the QuadHands WorkBench Mini.... |
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Post by gckelloch on Mar 2, 2022 21:17:30 GMT -5
Thanks for the suggestions, gckelloch! I'm planning to order from Mouser anyway (pots, at least), and keep poking around. Are these sorts of parts suitable choices? I was thinking I would want some shielded multi-conductor wire to run from the main control cavity up to the pickup selector cavity, but I apparently would need to buy 100' at minimum from Mouser, so I probably am gonna look somewhere else for that. My initial soldering attempts have shown me that yes, I really need something to help me hold stuff. I'm thinking about splashing out for the QuadHands WorkBench Mini.... Axial caps are generally better for guitar wiring. The leads are more flexible. The material doesn't really matter for guitar -- V is far too low to cause any resonance or distortion, but disparate opinions on tonal quality abound. Someone else might know if ceramic or film are less likely to burn out from soldering. I attach alligator clips b4 components to sink heat. Shielded multi-wire makes sense. Can probably be found on Amazon. I dunno. The Stew Mac "Helping Hands Soldering Holder" is cheaper and has a magnifying glass. I don't have such a device myself, so I don't know what's best. |
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Post by davidofchatham on Jun 26, 2022 20:46:54 GMT -5
Back after a long delay.... Axial caps are generally better for guitar wiring. The leads are more flexible. The material doesn't really matter for guitar -- V is far too low to cause any resonance or distortion, but disparate opinions on tonal quality abound. Someone else might know if ceramic or film are less likely to burn out from soldering. I attach alligator clips b4 components to sink heat. I thought axial resistors and radial caps were used in guitars. No? I started by looking at the Orange Drop caps, which are described as "radial," so I looked for others of that type. I have managed to pull apart and resolder some of the original components from my guitar without destroying anything — yet — and I've used the alligator clip heatsink technique where I could. Thanks.  |
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Post by gckelloch on Jun 27, 2022 2:27:27 GMT -5
Back after a long delay.... Axial caps are generally better for guitar wiring. The leads are more flexible. The material doesn't really matter for guitar -- V is far too low to cause any resonance or distortion, but disparate opinions on tonal quality abound. Someone else might know if ceramic or film are less likely to burn out from soldering. I attach alligator clips b4 components to sink heat. I thought axial resistors and radial caps were used in guitars. No? I started by looking at the Orange Drop caps, which are described as "radial," so I looked for others of that type. I have managed to pull apart and resolder some of the original components from my guitar without destroying anything — yet — and I've used the alligator clip heatsink technique where I could. Thanks. Guitar players assume Orange Drop make a difference in passive guitar circuitry because they are heralded in active circuitry. There's no objective evidence or reasoning for that conclusion, but there's ample confirmation bias. You can certainly use radial caps, but axial cap leads are usually more flexible. I used to get parts cheap from BYOC, but their stock is running low. |
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Post by thetragichero on Jun 27, 2022 9:02:29 GMT -5
chiclet caps work just fine and are dirt cheap
resistor-wise the composition doesn't particularly matter as you have at least two rather large tracks of carbon in the pots
as mentioned by someone else, we're dealing on a scale of a couple hundred milliVolts inside a passive guitar so arguable-in-tube-amps component composition doesn't even come into play
the reason "classic" era guitars used high voltage capacitors for tone controls is 100% financial: you get deeper discounts ordering more of one part than half as much of two
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Post by newey on Jun 27, 2022 11:06:02 GMT -5
chiclet caps work just fine and are dirt cheap I use the "chiclet" caps as well. They are more commonly called polyethylene film capacitors. The "chiclet" name comes because they look sort of like a green chiclet. |
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Post by thetragichero on Jun 27, 2022 11:21:19 GMT -5
I've thrown all sorts of wacky 'orange drop' and 'bumblebee' caps into guitars but that's mainly because the majority of guitarists 'hear' with their eyes and will pay a premium for such "upgrades" (picked up a bunch of unused sprague "black beauty" caps at the electronics surplus store for pennies and folks gladly paid me about ten bucks apiece on reverb)
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Post by unreg on Jun 30, 2022 23:48:04 GMT -5
David, the helping hands is a huge improvement. I bought a Helping Hands from RadioShack.com (the store is closed, but the website still works, at least is was working around 4 months ago)… it has a large magnifying lens, two alligator clips, a 3AAAs battery powered light, a soldering sponge, and it’s extremely incredibly helpful. Recommend it. [EDIT]Just checked and radioshack.com is still selling Helping Hands. The one with illumination is superb.[/EDIT] They are more commonly called polyethylene film capacitors. The "chiclet" name comes because they look sort of like a green chiclet. My most recent cap purchase from Mouser tried to be a green chiclet purchase, but Mouser did not have any of the green ones. Oh well, it’s just a tone cap and works wonderfully… even though it isn’t green. |
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