10-06-2015, 05:15 PM
Can anyone out there answer a few basic questions about capacitors:
1.) I am aware that electrolytics have a limited lifespan. What about epoxy encapsulated caps (orange drops, xicons, silver mica, etc.)? Do these (in theory) last forever? Same questions about axial caps such as Mallory 150's or similar?
2.) My '76 distortion V4 has a few caps that do not seem to be easily sourced, specifically a couple .33uf 400v caps in front of the power tubes and a couple of .68uf caps used with the midrange control. The originals are the ERO green rectangular PC mount caps. Reuse or replace with what?
3.) I'm finding several old and cracked "tropical fish" caps in some locations, I'm trying to determine why they were selected by the OEM. Do these have some vintage mojo for tone, or was it because they are relatively small for their values, or are they more heat resistant than other caps, or something I haven't even considered?
4.) I know this last topic has been beat to death many times over, but I've got to ask: Bearing in mind I'm aiming to retain the original Ampeg tone, are Mallory 150's a decent choice to replace coupling caps in the signal path? What about locations that require a smaller footprint?
Thanks all for any assistance.
1.) I am aware that electrolytics have a limited lifespan. What about epoxy encapsulated caps (orange drops, xicons, silver mica, etc.)? Do these (in theory) last forever? Same questions about axial caps such as Mallory 150's or similar?
2.) My '76 distortion V4 has a few caps that do not seem to be easily sourced, specifically a couple .33uf 400v caps in front of the power tubes and a couple of .68uf caps used with the midrange control. The originals are the ERO green rectangular PC mount caps. Reuse or replace with what?
3.) I'm finding several old and cracked "tropical fish" caps in some locations, I'm trying to determine why they were selected by the OEM. Do these have some vintage mojo for tone, or was it because they are relatively small for their values, or are they more heat resistant than other caps, or something I haven't even considered?
4.) I know this last topic has been beat to death many times over, but I've got to ask: Bearing in mind I'm aiming to retain the original Ampeg tone, are Mallory 150's a decent choice to replace coupling caps in the signal path? What about locations that require a smaller footprint?
Thanks all for any assistance.