Can someone tell me what value this capacitor is

kipple

Anyone know what value this cap is please
https://i.imgur.com/NGliDtr.jpg

SteveRobinson

It's probably not 22nf / 0.022μF (sorry)

ICBM

No, 2200pF (.0022uF or 2.2nF)

222 - 22 followed by 2 zeros, in pF.

That's *really* big for a treble-pass cap - too much so I would say, it will be a treble-and-most-of-the-upper-midrange-pass cap. 1nF (1000pF) is usually the largest useful value, and even that can make the sound quite shrill when the volume is down a fair way.

kipple

ICBM said:

No, 2200pF (.0022uF or 2.2nF)

222 - 22 followed by 2 zeros, in pF.

That's *really* big for a treble-pass cap - too much so I would say, it will be a treble-and-most-of-the-upper-midrange-pass cap. 1nF (1000pF) is usually the largest useful value, and even that can make the sound quite shrill when the volume is down a fair way.

Ok Thanks. it was on there when I received the guitar and it just don't sound right. It's on the bridge pickup and it's not got any bite to it for want of a better description.
Guessing it must be on there by mistake, the cap on the other pot is 223J which I think is 0.022 

Dave_Mc

^ Yeah, far too much IMO. What is it with companies (I'm assuming it's stock, apologies if it's not!) often fitting really weird treble bleed bypass cap values? It's no wonder people don't like them if they're the only ones they've tried (granted, there certainly are situations where you don't want one, plus personal preference, of course).

A few do it right (PRS and G&L, I think). I'm usually using 180pF or 220pF (though admittedly I keep a timmy on most of the time which keeps a bit more treble when you roll back).

kipple

Dave_Mc said:

^ Yeah, far too much IMO. What is it with companies (I'm assuming it's stock, apologies if it's not!) often fitting really weird treble bleed bypass cap values? It's no wonder people don't like them if they're the only ones they've tried (granted, there certainly are situations where you don't want one, plus personal preference, of course).

A few do it right (PRS and G&L, I think). I'm usually using 180pF or 220pF (though admittedly I keep a timmy on most of the time which keeps a bit more treble when you roll back).

Yes it was on there stock. it's not got any bite to it

Dave_Mc

^ What do you mean by "not got any bite to it"? Do you mean when you roll the volume back? Or is that a tone pot? It looks more like a volume pot, I could be wrong but that doesn't look wired anywhere right for it to be a tone pot! EDIT: I'll go with my usual preemptive advice- "Don't listen to me and wait for @ICBM to come back!" It's quicker in the long run...  

kipple

Dave_Mc said:

^ What do you mean by "not got any bite to it"? Do you mean when you roll the volume back? Or is that a tone pot? It looks more like a volume pot, I could be wrong but that doesn't look wired anywhere right for it to be a tone pot!

Yes it's the volume pot. I was reffering to the general sort of tone and attack, it's not got enough treble bite unless I pull the volume back just a little bit and even then I can only find a very narrow spot on the volume control where it sounds usable. if the volume is full on it just does not seem to sound or feel very good seems like it's just too full on..
Hard to descibe really it's just a bit shite.
I need to get some other caps and just change it out

ICBM

kipple said:

Ok Thanks. it was on there when I received the guitar and it just don't sound right. It's on the bridge pickup and it's not got any bite to it for want of a better description.

Guessing it must be on there by mistake, the cap on the other pot is 223J which I think is 0.022 

Yes, that's correct - that's a typical humbucker tone control cap value and is correct if the other pot is a tone control.

kipple said:

Yes it's the volume pot. I was reffering to the general sort of tone and attack, it's not got enough treble bite unless I pull the volume back just a little bit and even then I can only find a very narrow spot on the volume control where it sounds usable. if the volume is full on it just does not seem to sound or feel very good seems like it's just too full on..

Hard to descibe really it's just a bit shite.
I need to get some other caps and just change it out

The cap will make no difference when the pot is up full - unless the pot is faulty. If it's working properly the cap is bypassed when the pot is all the way up, so if something is wrong with the sound there it's not due to the cap. What value is the pot? I'm assuming it's a humbucker guitar since I'm guessing the push-pull is a coil split. If so and it's a 250K pot it will strangle the tone a bit. If anything, the sound when the pot is rolled back a bit being better tends to indicate that the pot is working correctly but you need the midrange boost that size of cap gives.

(If the pot is faulty and the cap is *not* bypassed when the pot is up full, the sound will lack bass rather than 'bite'.)

First, remove the cap and see what the sound is like. I would take it off completely since even if you want a cap that's not the right value.

Dave_Mc

^ Agreed.

That's a good point, maybe it is 250k and the extra treble/mids from the too-high treble pass cap when the volume is rolled back slightly is improving things?  

If it is 250k, going to 500k is a better solution (and change the cap value when you're at it). EDIT: But removing the cap, as you said, is the easiest thing to try first.

kipple

Ok So... Problem solved.
First I tried different caps a 1nf and a 0.022uf and it did not improve the sound, it changed it but still no cigar so I put the original 0.0022uf cap back on and I then reflowed the solder on all connections and the sound DEFINITELY changed on the guitar, weirdly though with the original cap in place it actually sounded even worse than before so much that I thought some was still broken, So I changed the cap for a 1nf and also tried a 0.022uf and the guitar sounded great with either the 0.022uf or the 1nf. I'm not sure which cap I prefer yet as I think could live with one or the other.
Thanks for the help

axisus

I'd say 5p max

digitalkettle

axisus said:

I'd say 5p max

Stop haggling Jon...it's not for sale!