NOS caps for Edwards JP Relic

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Hendrixfreak

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hey all, new to the forum. i have a Edwards JP Relic on the way and was thinking of changing out the ceramic disc caps for some NOS Spragues. problem is i dont know the difference between the Sprague Vitamin Q's, Black Beauties, and Bumblebees. also theres the Jensen paper-in-oil cap.anybody have any experience with these?

heres a pic of my JP Relic:

E-LP-112-2.jpg
 
Is yours the model with the "super circuit" push pull coil splitting pots? If so, your can forget about the caps.....have a look at the guts of mine with the super circuit electronics:

CIMG0404.jpg
 
Hendrixfreak said:
BTW are you Marcus from Charley's Guitar Shop?
Click to expand...

Do you mean Marcus Morgan over at Larry Morgan's Music in Garland? No I'm not but he's a good friend of mine - If there is a Marcus over at Charley's, I haven't met him yet. :wink:
 
marcusnieman said:
Is yours the model with the "super circuit" push pull coil splitting pots? If so, your can forget about the caps.....have a look at the guts of mine with the super circuit electronics:

CIMG0404.jpg
Click to expand...

:eek: WoW! that does look fairly complicated, are there actaully any caps in there? i can't see any.
 
My guess is that there are some radial lead polyester caps mounted on the small circuit board. That could be modified and cleaned up a bit.
 
Yeah it is alot of spaghetti. With all four pots being active push/pull coil splitters, I can see why it's such a mess. I think I did see some tiny little caps on the circuit board but I'm so pleased with how it sounds as is, I'm not going to jack with it.
 
I wouldn't suggest messing with it either. I also wasn't implying that they did anything wrong (in case anyone reading takes it that way) as there is a lot of wire needed for the switching. I was just pointing out that someone skilled could easily reroute the wiring and put in their choice of caps if so desired. I have to hand it to them for putting out some nice guitars. 8)

Back to the original question (sorry for hijacking). Any film type capacitor will improve the tone. Mallory 150 series are cheap and work well. Sprague orange drops are cool too. Paper in oil are nice and will usually give you a bit smoother sound. It's best to try a few and see what you like. Here is a good place to buy if you are in the states. They have a good selection. Hovland's are nice for $8.75 ea.

http://www.tubedepot.com/capacitors.html

Bumble Bee's and Black Beauty's are fairly similar with the latter being cheaper. I think you are splitting hairs between them and the currently available new production caps. I wouldn't pay $45 plus each for Bumble Bee's.
 
I've had good results with Vitamin Qs on a LP. I'd recommend 0.022mFd for the bridge pots & 0.1mFd for the neck.
Black Beauties are alright, but if you go for them you'll probably need to install treble bleed caps too (the stock ones should do the job).
 
went with some .022 Jensen Paper-in-Oil caps from RS Guitarworks. thinking about some Sprague Vitamin Q and Mallory 150's as well for experimenting.
 
Hendrixfreak said:
went with some .022 Jensen Paper-in-Oil caps from RS Guitarworks. thinking about some Sprague Vitamin Q and Mallory 150's as well for experimenting.
Click to expand...

Good idea ... I have both of them and I'm happy with the upgrade !! :lol: :lol:

But - also the Hovlands are worth to try them ... :wink:

Roger
 
Hendrixfreak said:
hey all, new to the forum. i have a Edwards JP Relic on the way and was thinking of changing out the ceramic disc caps for some NOS Spragues. problem is i dont know the difference between the Sprague Vitamin Q's, Black Beauties, and Bumblebees. also theres the Jensen paper-in-oil cap.anybody have any experience with these?

heres a pic of my JP Relic:

E-LP-112-2.jpg
Click to expand...

Caps don't have enough tonal impact in a guitar circuit to justify big money boutique caps. They are essentially there to bleed the highs to ground. (In amps it's another story).

However, it is worthwile to upgrade from cermic caps. What I'm trying to say is that $1 Orange Drops (or the forementioned Mallory 150s) will sound every bit as good as NOS Bumblebees, $15 Hovlands, $15 Jensens, etc, etc.
 
PoorMan said:
However, it is worthwile to upgrade from cermic caps. What I'm trying to say is that $1 Orange Drops (or the forementioned Mallory 150s) will sound every bit as good as NOS Bumblebees, $15 Hovlands, $15 Jensens, etc, etc.
Click to expand...

You're right !!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

... the difference between those are marginal ... 8) 8)

Roger
 
marcusnieman said:
Is yours the model with the "super circuit" push pull coil splitting pots? If so, your can forget about the caps.....have a look at the guts of mine with the super circuit electronics:

CIMG0404.jpg
Click to expand...

new here so be easy on me. just a trick i learned, you may all know about it already. i had the desire to upgrade my caps on my JP but when i saw this control cavity, i didn't want to mess with it. so, i simply soldered two small alligator clips to each end of my upgraded caps (forgot what they were, one might be a jensen) and clipped one end to the one end of the lead of the ceramic cap and clipped the other end to the other lead of the ceramis cap. i think this is called "series" and bypasses the ceramic cap. best part is it doesn't require any modification to the existing electronics. and, i haven't had any problems with the alligator clips falling off. also, lets you experiement with different caps. just a suggestion. i can take a pic if interested. 8)
 
Rick,

welcome to the forum ... :lol: :lol: :lol:

... and YES ... we're interested in your solution ... so - please post some pics !!! 8) 8)

Roger
 
ok, here are the pics. in pic 1, you see how i soldered the alligator clips to the cap leads. in pic 2, you see how i clipped the alligator ends to each lead of the cap. in pic 3, you see how i cut small holes in the foam and pulled the caps through to help add stability. i realized after i hooked these up that i ended up attaching each cap to the tone pot of the wrong pick up :eek: sounded like crap on the neck pick up. anyways, you get the idea. i'm trying to hunt down some different caps to do the same type of mod. what are some other good brands of caps and where can i get them?

JPcaps001.jpg


JPcaps002.jpg


JPcaps003.jpg
 
as i am researching this, i don't think this is an accurate way to bypass the ceramics that are already attached. my gut tells me the only "true" way to get the effects of a different cap is, unfortunately, to remove it entirely from the lug of the pot. i'm not going there. yet.
 

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