Capacitor voltage values

[llmtelecaster]

What difference in sound will there be, if any, between a .047uf 50 volt cap and .047uf 200 volt cap?

And second, what exactly does the voltage value on any capacitor actually mean?

 

[mayfly]

What difference in sound will there be, if any, between a .047uf 50 volt cap and .047uf 200 volt cap?

And second, what exactly does the voltage value on any capacitor actually mean?

If you are talking about in the tone circuit of an electric guitar, the voltage rating won't have much effect on tone.  What may have an effect on tone is the *type* of capacitor, but I argue that this won't even change things much for a typical tone pot circuit.  Actually, just re-reading this, a polarized cap in that circuit will dramatically change the tone (and not for the better).

The voltage rating specifies the maximum working voltage of that device.  Usually this is achieved by changing the dialectic material.  in the old days, it was just thicker, making higher voltage caps  larger.  These days,  you can get pretty high voltage caps that are quite small.

Edit:  Fixed a typo ^^^

 

[llmtelecaster]

I see. What voltage does a guitar circuit typically run at? I'm assuming it's pretty low. Would putting a 200 volt cap be overkill for that type of application?

 

[line6man]

The voltage rating is the maximum voltage that a capacitor is designed to operate at. In a guitar, you are dealing with a couple of Volts at the absolute maximum, and therefore, the voltage rating of a cap does not matter, because nearly all non-polarized capacitors can handle that.

 

[line6man]

I see. What voltage does a guitar circuit typically run at? I'm assuming it's pretty low. Would putting a 200 volt cap be overkill for that type of application?

Usually in the hundreds-of-milliVolts range, up to a couple of Volts at the peaks.
200V is fine, it's not "overkill," perhaps not cost effective if you were mass producing.
Assuming you are using a decent cap like a film cap, the voltage rating is usually pretty high.