Polystyrene caps.

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moj067
Posts: 129
Joined: Fri May 18, 2007 4:51 pm

Polystyrene caps.

Post by moj067 »

Has anyone tried these in the tone cicuit to tame the brightness of some amps? I know ceramics are the way to go w/ these amps, but just in case the highs are a little hot, maybe these are an alternative as they work fine in Fender circuits.
Thanks.
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nickt
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Location: London, UK

Re: Polystyrene caps.

Post by nickt »

I've only seen these used in Matchless amps. Not sure how much difference they make. I've got a bunch and used them in my Lightning clone. Certainly no brightness tamed there :wink:
moj067
Posts: 129
Joined: Fri May 18, 2007 4:51 pm

Re: Polystyrene caps.

Post by moj067 »

Thanks Nick, I was just looking for an alternative to the 330 treb. cap in the D'lite tweaked. I'll use the ceramic. How's your D going?
-Joseph
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Funkalicousgroove
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Re: Polystyrene caps.

Post by Funkalicousgroove »

Where do you find them??
Owner/Solder Jockey Bludotone Amp Works
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Funkalicousgroove
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Re: Polystyrene caps.

Post by Funkalicousgroove »

Where do you find them??
Owner/Solder Jockey Bludotone Amp Works
Tavda3172
Posts: 44
Joined: Tue Jun 27, 2006 1:48 pm

Re: Polystyrene caps.

Post by Tavda3172 »

Funk,
http://www.justradios.com/polystyrene.html
is a good source for them unless you want to go searching for NOS ones. They have an ebay store where you can get easily get a few to try. It seems that, with the exception of one manufacturer I know of, all polystyrene production has ceased so they can be hard to track down. These caps were used in tons of old hifi gear and are extremely stable so were used in a lot of oscillators and such as well. They offer a different sound than ceramic and silver mica. It is interesting to try them out in different circuits to see where they may work. Another shade for your tonal palette in the pF range.
-Kevin
rfgordon
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Re: Polystyrene caps.

Post by rfgordon »

Ken at turretboards has several pF values in NOS styrene. In many amps, they really smooooooooooth out the highs when used in the tone stack. I also put a 560 pF styrene parallel across a M150 .o22 mF as a first coupling cap in some designs.

I had one in the tone stack of my ChocoDLite, but I replaced it with a super-cheep 1kv 330 pF to get more of that "grain" you need in a D amp. The styrenes are too smooth for that design, IMBHO (in my bald-headed opinion).
Rich Gordon
www.myspace.com/bigboyamplifiers

"The takers get the honey, the givers get the blues." --Robin Trower
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nickt
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Location: London, UK

Re: Polystyrene caps.

Post by nickt »

Tavda3172 wrote:Funk,
http://www.justradios.com/polystyrene.html
is a good source for them unless you want to go searching for NOS ones. -Kevin
Yes this is where I got mine - lovely people to deal with.
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