Clarostat C3-RV4 Milspec Pots & Sozo Caps
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stratamania
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Build an amp :icon_scratch:
Cagey
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The pots are fantastic parts, but linear tapers are only good for tone controls. If you try to use one as a volume control, the non-existent taper will make it behave almost like an on/off switch. You want an audio or log taper pot.
The caps are just re-branded Mallorys, nothing special. They have an unnecessarily high working voltage for a guitar, but that doesn't hurt anything. They're just more money than you need to pay.
As Mr. Mania said, they're good for building tube-based amps.
The caps are just re-branded Mallorys, nothing special. They have an unnecessarily high working voltage for a guitar, but that doesn't hurt anything. They're just more money than you need to pay.
As Mr. Mania said, they're good for building tube-based amps.
Verne Bunsen
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Cagey said:
I've got to respectfully disagree with that. Linear and log/audio tapers are both well suited for volume controls, they just perform differently. The log/audio taper stretches out the taper nice and slow from 0-7 or so, then things go quickly from 7-10. This makes them great for volume swells and quick dirty-to-clean-to-dirty changes, but not so much for finding a spot in the in-between. Linear taper is just that, a straight line at a 45 degree angle on the graph from 0-10. There is more fine adjustment capability on the top end of the pot, but you have to go further to get drastic changes. This makes linear great for finding a sweet spot in your guitar/amp combo, but not ideal if you're doing Roy Buchanan or Bill Kirchen covers.
As for tone controls, a linear taper pot will give you nothing-nothing-nothing-MUD, while a log/audio taper will spread things out. Some people like the linear tone for wah-wah swells and such, but in production guitars they are a rare bird indeed. Linear volume pots on the other hand are pretty common, especially among the likes of Gibson, Carvin and Ibanez.
Really it's all about what you are trying to get your controls to do for you. For me, log/audio volume pots drive me up a wall. I have all of my guitars wired with linear volumes.
Cagey
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vikingred said:
There was a site back then that pointed it out - I don't remember now who it was. Anyway, they had disassembled some to show it. Mallory makes caps they private label for a lotta companies. It's just a wrapper on their standard product of that type/spec.
Some companies make the investment and tool up to make a thing, and they make those things for a lotta other companies who market them in various ways in order to take advantage of economies of scale. For instance, there's no such thing as a Kenmore washer/dryer pair. They're Whirlpools. There's no such thing as Coke bottles, they're Johnson Controls bottles. There are only a few manufacturers of LCD screens who sell them to everybody else who makes monitors/TVs. Same with vacuum tubes. Only two or three plants left on the planet, but dozens of brands. On and on.
vikingred
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Cagey said:
Well, I'm finishing up the Canary Strat build this weekend, and I'll do some A/B comparisons. The cap I have in it now is that huge ass Jensen paper-in-oil. Still breaking in my Swart STR. Love playing straight into the amp, no effects. I've got a super sensitive ear, I'll post back later and see if I can tell a difference. The Jensen PIO's are 30+ bucks a piece. I've got some orange drops too. Gonna check them all out before I drill final holes for the pickguard. BTW this ebony neck is the BOMB, can I tell you? I am loving it. Got the FR shimmed up and installed. Never played on ebony before. What an interesting difference.
Cagey
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Be sure to measure the capacitance of those caps. The marking on the case is just a design target. If they're not identical in value, then they will sound different.
As for Ebony fretboards, they've always been my favorite. Until I got ahold of some of the exotics Warmoth sells, they were the only 'boards for me.
As for Ebony fretboards, they've always been my favorite. Until I got ahold of some of the exotics Warmoth sells, they were the only 'boards for me.
stratamania
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I like the look of those SoZo caps, and I think it was probably me that pointed them out to you. The one I have I got when I was out buying parts for the Woodstock Strat project (which still needs completing), and I said oh I'll need a cap, and it was suggested to me. Somehow I thought for that build it just looks right.
The last thing I wired up was a Nashville style wiring with tiny caps, in a Tele and I'm glad they were small because trying to fit anything bigger in the Tele control cavity along with a superswitch and S1, and so on might not have worked.
Anyway, I think when we build stuff we want to get the best aesthetically and tonally and so on. There's nothing wrong with that in and of itself. There are of course lots of urban myths about tone and so on, which some marketing uses as an angle.
I think if you can afford it it pays to buy quality stuff but with some things there may be the law of diminishing returns in terms of tonal difference. But that isn't always the point
Enjoy your parts, and that probably is the main point of all of this... Enjoyment.
The last thing I wired up was a Nashville style wiring with tiny caps, in a Tele and I'm glad they were small because trying to fit anything bigger in the Tele control cavity along with a superswitch and S1, and so on might not have worked.
Anyway, I think when we build stuff we want to get the best aesthetically and tonally and so on. There's nothing wrong with that in and of itself. There are of course lots of urban myths about tone and so on, which some marketing uses as an angle.
I think if you can afford it it pays to buy quality stuff but with some things there may be the law of diminishing returns in terms of tonal difference. But that isn't always the point
Enjoy your parts, and that probably is the main point of all of this... Enjoyment.
vikingred
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stratamania said:I like the look of those SoZo caps, and I think it was probably me that pointed them out to you. The one I have I got when I was out buying parts for the Woodstock Strat project (which still needs completing), and I said oh I'll need a cap, and it was suggested to me. Somehow I thought for that build it just looks right.
The last thing I wired up was a Nashville style wiring with tiny caps, in a Tele and I'm glad they were small because trying to fit anything bigger in the Tele control cavity along with a superswitch and S1, and so on might not have worked.
Anyway, I think when we build stuff we want to get the best aesthetically and tonally and so on. There's nothing wrong with that in and of itself. There are of course lots of urban myths about tone and so on, which some marketing uses as an angle.
I think if you can afford it it pays to buy quality stuff but with some things there may be the law of diminishing returns in terms of tonal difference. But that isn't always the point
Enjoy your parts, and that probably is the main point of all of this... Enjoyment.
^^This. Totally. Well said. I'm having fun. I do respect that there are some who would prefer to conserve funds and avoid waste or hype. I'm just experimenting here. I'm sure I'm wrong at least half the time, but that's how we learn.
Verne Bunsen
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stratamania said:I think if you can afford it it pays to buy quality stuff but with some things there may be the law of diminishing returns in terms of tonal difference. But that isn't always the point
I think that deserves a second "Well said".
vikingred
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Verne Bunsen said:stratamania said:I think if you can afford it it pays to buy quality stuff but with some things there may be the law of diminishing returns in terms of tonal difference. But that isn't always the point
I think that deserves a second "Well said".
Subjectivity is king.
Prove it.vikingred said:Verne Bunsen said:stratamania said:I think if you can afford it it pays to buy quality stuff but with some things there may be the law of diminishing returns in terms of tonal difference. But that isn't always the point
I think that deserves a second "Well said".
Subjectivity is king.
vikingred
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pabloman said:Prove it.vikingred said:Verne Bunsen said:stratamania said:I think if you can afford it it pays to buy quality stuff but with some things there may be the law of diminishing returns in terms of tonal difference. But that isn't always the point
I think that deserves a second "Well said".
Subjectivity is king.
No.
stratamania
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Thanks folks...
mayfly
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Cagey said:
Hey - did Cornell-Dubilier buy out the Mallory line? This is what's currently on offer at Mouser when I search for those Mallorys:
http://ca.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Cornell-Dubilier-CDE/150473J630EC/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMsh%252b1woXyUXjxU%252bQtfd5Td7yNGto77bd2c%3d
Cagey
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Mayfly said:
At one point they were Vishay, now it would appear they're Cornell, and you can still buy Mallory-branded parts from some distributors. They'd be NOS, but other than the electrolytics they don't really age. Plus, there's always SOZOs :laughing7:
It's a difficult company to research from an ownership or product standpoint due to multiple divisions, product lines and marketing arms. For instance, Duracell "Energizer" batteries were made by Mallory for some time.
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