The Emerson .047uF sounded the sweetest because it looks the most like candy.

I agree, it seems capacitor type doesn't matter, at least I can't tell a difference between types. I only hear a difference between values. Thanks for the comparison, nice work!

great video! and just my $.02, i've been playing bass for about 30 years now, and am also an audio engineer and work with electronics for a living, primarily servicing tube amps and guitar/bass electronics. i have spent a LOT of time in proper listening environments auditioning (at least) hundreds of caps of various values and construction types, and i might have some useful info for why some things are easy to hear and others not so much. first of all, i did hear differences in this video between the caps, most obviously between changing values of the same type of cap, and more subtly so between the various construction types. i must say that cap differences in this video are not presented in a way that best reveals what's changing when the cap swaps, though that isn't meant as a fault or problem. the reason the different construction types were hard to tell apart was because the artifacts of a cap's construction type are in the *dynamics* and note envelope, how the tone and feel change OVER TIME AS THE NOTES DECAY, and how that juxtaposes with the next note played. it's a matter of the unique "dynamic signature" (and by "dynamic" i simply mean volume/tonal changes over time) arising from artifacts of physical construction. what i usually notice is whether the instrument seems to play more stiffly or loosely, how the "bounce" of the rhythm sounds, but not in the frequency rolloff differences like you get when simply shifting the capacitance amount. with swapping construction types, it's a difference i feel more than hear, especially when i'm playing the instrument under test. it may seem trivial, and under these conditions on youtube, it may kind of be. but try it out yourself sometime on your own instrument and amp setup. see if you can notice changes in how pleasant or unpleasant the instrument is to play through the amp. with polyprop/polyester and some mylar type caps, i notice they tend to make the instrument seem to play stiffer and tighter and more focused, and this is whether the tone is fully down or up. styrene caps have a slightly sticky and sparkly character i notice. paper-in-oil type caps act very differently, they almost seem to have a tiny bit of reverberance or some resonance-based sound artifacts. i have also noticed that changing the cap's voltage rating can make a big difference; generally speaking, for most caps i've worked with, lower voltage rating caps don't sound nearly as pleasant as higher voltage rating caps. anyway, well worth messing with and dialing in right. ,

I only go by value and voltage. Technology has made caps of the same electrical value many times smaller and less expensive comparing to 50 years ago. I re-capped a 1960 transistor radio with modern caps and the crowded circuit board looked empty when I finished it. It works and sounds good. I've been troubleshooting electronics all my life and worked 13 years being a engineering tech in manufacturing. I know nothing about guitars but lately being around someone that rebuilds guitars I think there is a lot of guitar myths in electronic components.

Capacitor type doesn't matter at all, but the values really matter. i only hear a very little different bass response on The Emerson .047uF. but I really like the tone of 100uF caps on p Bass, it almost like double bass tone.

BASS player here, I was expecting some tonal difference, alas, just the price changed!!! Might try a 100nf one.

Changing from linear to audio taper regardless of Capacitor makes a difference you can feel. Linear seems to have a more sensitive effect as you turn from 0 to 10 you can hear/ feel the variation from 1 to 2 2 to 3 etc up to 9 and 10. Best sound I heard was a Jensen .1uf paper and oil with a CTS linear pot. It was a bit big for the Guitar so I changed it but the recorded tone had a tighter and punchier sound.

Once you have the amp turned up and playing a gig with a band, I'm sure someone in the audience will be able to easily point out the capacitor type of each guitar and bass while they are playing.

Fantastic side by side comparison! Exactly what I was looking for!

The big yellow one sounds amazing!

I really appreciate the comparison you did with changing caps as the big difference in the sound is noticeable, but I also noticed that you played the 47's with the 3 strings below but played the 100's with the 3 top strings, and that makes me feel the difference may not be really that big if played in the same strings.

its more a placebo. if you have an old sentimental guitar and wanna get her new pots, cloth wrapped wire, oil paper transistors as a project of passion kind of thing, but for performance it don't really matter. the only difference paper transistors make is they age with the guitar and loose capacitance so they don't get a bassie, its more of a product failing. but if you have a child and you wanna give a tele, strat, les paul/sg variant to, the paper transistors might be a cool mod they might appreciate when they are much much older like 30's+ if they hold onto the guitar that is. just make sure the pickups are alnico 2 thru 5, those will slightly age as well with the wood of the guitar, its recomended its the same wood species as the authentic vintage models. with modern machining even a low priced guitar is excellent precision quality vs. hoping jimmy in the 50's was having a good day at the guitar factory.

As a guitar tech for over 20 years, I personally LOVE Emerson pots. Mainly because the second I see them in a guitar, I know I can charge the customer absolute top dollar for their guitar repair. 😂

At these voltages and low frequency, only capacitance value matters. Ceramics also can be non-linear and producing harmonics and may be exhibiting microphonics effect, but not at these voltage levels. So pick the cheap high volume polypropylene ones and you'll be happy...

All those people who claim to hear the differences remind me of the "Golden Ears" Hi-Fi experts who used to write for the Hi-Fi magazines who in my ignorance I used to pour over. When they failed miserably in true blind tests, which they always did, they complained that this was due to any number of circumstances that hindered their hearing. Aye, Right! Apart from anything else, we are listening to this on You Tube which compresses the audio and most probably through crapola speakers..... but fill yer boots.

si que hay diferencia. No esperes que la notes inmediatamente, pero tocando seguido si te das cuenta. Ademas tocando en la banda se nota mas la diferencia

i listened to it with some in ear monitors and the little white ones are the best, i think those are mkp type caps, they sound better than the rest, and the 1st time i heard the 8 dollars one i like it the most.

The paper in oil has a more open sound stage with a punchy mid range and warm timbers. That’s a lie. Great vid. Mind blown!

Great comparison, thank you.

The Emerson ones look cool, but that is all for nothing when they’re locked away in the back of the instrument. Sound wise, there is no difference at similar values.

Orange drops are my favorite caps. Because they sound better? Nope. I just like the color orange.

thank you very much !

Thank you very much. The audiofoolery has been busted again.

Thank You!

I totally agree with your conclusion. And blind tests are a bloody safe proof!

The only thing that really matters is how much the capacitor drifts when the temperature changes. Other than that, your "tone" knob takes care of the tone.

Very helpful. Thanks a lot

Yes

I heard some differences. Slight, but there.

I can’t hear anything that would make me shell out more than a few quid on a 47nf capacitor. I’ll stick with orange drop, as it’s what came with my wiring kit, but it was building from scratch, I’d go with the cheapest

Sometimes we worry too much i guess! Great test

The only time a capacitor will make any significant difference to the signal is if it causes distortion, ie, defective, badly installed, or is micro-phonic. More important considerations are temperature stability, lifespan, and not suffering from micro-phonic issues (ceramics). Film capacitors rule the roost here.

People need to understand that the way the caps were demo’d is like when you have your tone pot on 0. Who plays like that? When its on 10 very little signal goes to ground through the cap. Meaning the cap is doing very close to nothing with the pot on 10. So if you think there is little to no difference between caps in this demo then multiply that by 100 with the pot turned up. So in real conditions your just not going to hear a difference at all.

This supports 20 years of my experimentation. Cap-type mojo is a myth. I use mylar because they don't drift when it's hot.

Different makes of caps make no discernable difference in a passive tone circuit of a guitar whatsoever. As you mention yourself, its the slight differences in capacitance that is maybe audible, barely. In a passive guitar tone circuit the caps are not in series with the signal they are parallel and only bleed off signal to ground, the signal never passes through the capacitor on the way to the amp. In an amplifier where capacitors are in line with the signal and couple the gain stages from the preamp to the poweramp, yes they do sound different, but in a guitar? - nope.

Since signal never actually passes thru a capacitor what it's made out of is only for it's application. The only thing that matters to tone is how fast it charges and dis-charges (it's value).

IMO, the reason for getting high-grade, modern capacitors would be not for tone but for getting less noise and hum

Was a tantalum tested also? They are supposed to sound gritty and harsh.

isnt this like sayign energize batteries sound best for active pickups?? serious question cus they all mostly seem the same when the same values.

Actually I liked more the Emerson and the orange cap. But the difference is almost 7 times more expensive the Emerson one.😮

Value makes a difference, otherwise not really

Just to be clear: are the samples with the tone rolled all the way off? If so, I would think that it would be most flexible to have the 100nf cap, to have a wider range of sonic possibilities from open to closed tone pot. You would cover the range of the 47nf cap and then some. Or am I misunderstanding something? Very interesting comparison. Thank you!

Hi, in your experience, since you have a Dimarzio Model P equipped P-bass, what capacitor would you suggest to get the most out of the pickups in terms of tonal possibilities from mellow to aggressive (say, Steve Harris kind of sound)? I am still waiting for my set to arrive and it will take a little long, since I don’t live in the US, but I got someone who can get me stuff from there to my country. Also, do you use the suggested setup as in Dimarzio webpage (500k pots for volume and 250k for tone)? Would it work to have both with 500k pots to get the most sonic possibilities out of them? I currently have both pots with 250k resistance and the cap is 0.047 mF. Your comments are always welcome, thanks.

Fantabulous.

Great comparison! My favourite is definitely the Auricap XO, how did you find that one? It's usually for audio stuff but is that the most organic/transparent to you?

That .022 uf Cap sounds like a jazz bridge pickup. What do you think about using a push pull switch? .1 uf and .022 uf on a Precision Bass?

Trying to figure out if when you said clean...did that mean the pot wide open??....and the rest if them rolled all the way down??

and then the question comes to mind, would anyone, besides an audiophile, who just listens to the music hear a differenc?. Like with all little sound improvements we as guitarists think they really matter, but they are probably not heard bij the listener. Especially when they listen to mp3's

Puedes hacer esta prueba con una guitarra ? Con un bajo no me aclaro.

If they are in spec and doing their job, they should all sound the same doing what they do. But if they are out of spec, damaged or defective, likely they don't pass enough highs to ground or too much and in that case, they will sound different. But the idea that if you could even tell an infinitesimal amount of "tone" difference from one to another playing by yourself with no other instruments, imagine how insignificant that tiny difference would be in the context of real life gigs or studio situations. Not even Eric Johnson really could tell. So should you really buy that $100 bumblebee or just stick with a

can tell diff unless you show it in graph

Nice Channel! Subscribed!

Nice work! The difference might be clear through experiment like this. But in my opinion, it would not be that audible for bass, compared to electric guitar.

Hi thanks for the very interesting video. I am shocked by the huge difference between the sound without cap and the sound with caps ... all the caps mute the sound ... some more some less but the sound without cap is so much better that is shocking.

Was looking to upgrade caps on my old jbl l112 crossover i was told to use film and foil. Which are expensive. What do you suggest

it just seems like it's a waste of time if you're going to turn the tone all the way down, you should have put it on seven or something so you could hear some trouble and not just that muffled blanket on the amp sound, therefore they bad imao

I presume this is the sound you gets when you roll off the tone knob when its installed. Tone on 10 on a no load pot would be the clean sound.

Where to get the 47nf yellow cap? @2:35 ?

I see no Vishay. Vishay has been in to space! Highly reliable brand, but expensive.

Are you aware that the capacitors need to be warmed up? they are not immediately revealed by the sound .Well, that is, you need to play music through them for a while and then the sound will be fully revealed.For some kind of capacitor, a few hours are enough, for the second day, and the third needs two months.You know what I mean?

Hi Oliver, did you try reversing an Orange Drop? To my ear 'text towards pick-up' vs 'text toward output' can give a big change, hence I always check an orange drop before fitting - sometimes I like the brighter orientation sometimes the darker (sadly I've read there is no consistency in printing so each cap has to be checked before soldering).

Guitar Capacitor is the biggest snake oil in the world of guitars. You see these old Fender phonebook caps for $50-60 each.. The ONLY reason why you should buy a expensive repro cap is because it looks cool..That is why they have fancy logos like the Emerson. But how often do you peak under to hood to admire that fancy waxsealed POI cap that looks like its made in the 50´s? A real POI paperdressed cap will start to bleed after some time. Orange Drops and Dime caps will outlast your life.. and your kids life.. Better to get tin foil sealed NOS caps if you want the cool-factor.. Atleast they look great.

Why you using small capacitors in this configuration they blocked all hight frequencies (hoght pass filter)??? This is not good test!!!

The difference is meaningless tbh, the differences you're hearing are unlikely to be anything other than slight human inconsistencies...

Can you Cut open the Mundorf Silver Gold Cap to view the inside can ? Is it real Pure Silver Foil or basically just a Fake Foil ? Video have ! ( Surely u will have Billion of Billion of Viewer in your KZfaq)......................,

The only difference you HAVE heard is the price the salesperson gave you over the phone! Guess snake oil salespeople make good money.

Of course you couldn't hear a difference with the Paper-in-oil Caps, you have to charge them up first. Your passive pickup makes about .8 microvolt of current. The modern Paper-in-oil Caps are rated for 600 volts. It takes several hours of hard playing to fully charge them and get them to open up. This test is therefore not accurate.

No meaningful difference. Thanks, I 'll stick to the cheap stuff.

can you hear the difference? Nope just your mic clipping and smashed to hell. Why is it that every video about audio contains shit audio?

So you're dismissing the actual difference in tone to the variation in actual value? That's nonsensical and anti-science. Instruments are for musicians. If I can tell the difference as a player, none of that other stuff downstream matters. Playing my P-Bass, I'm on the Tone knob all night. The tone cap is an important part of my instrument. I can tell the difference by how many usable sounds I can get.

Testing the capacitor in the guitar is DUMB! The only place you will hear a difference in caps of the same value is by putting them in an amplifier. The signal never passes through the capacitor in ANY bass or guitar. It’s a bleeder cap. That means it bleeds frequency to ground. Everyone says they can’t hear a difference, and they are 100% correct. Because at no point, ever, does the audio get passes through the cap to the amplifier. It goes through the cap to ground where it dies, never to be heard from ever. So stop comparing caps in bleeder circuits and claiming caps don’t effect tone. Because the make and style, construction methods, materials used, etc , absolutely can make or break your tone. Just not in a bleeder circuit! Only in circuits where the audio goes through the cap and on to the next stage. Build an amp with only ceramic disc caps, build another with only PIO caps, and I guarantee you that the PIO will sound way way way better.

Pick the cheapest at the value you want and go to town (or don't who cares it is only two for most guitars)

I like the clean sound the best. Should I even add a capacitor into my circuitry then?? 🥲