Doing Things Wrong

Support Luthiery Labs

Featured

Hosting and domain names aren't getting cheaper. If you think there is something worthwhile here, you can make a small donation towards these costs. Just click the PayPal button here:

( PayPal takes 3.49% + 49ยข per transaction )

For your small donation, you will receive my heartfelt gratitude and absolutely nothing else.

Note: PayPal puts that 'monthly' checkbox there, and I can't turn it off or I would.


The subject of capacitors in guitars is rife with fraud and nonsense. The fact is, the capacitor is not IN the signal path, it is very much OUT of it, and only has any effect when you select it, which is probably pretty seldom. The capacitor is part of a low-pass ( or rarely high-pass ) filter, basically a frequency-dependent leak to ground. It is not making 'tone', it is taking it away. The type of capacitor that you use for this really doesn't matter at all, as long as you don't use a polarized one the wrong way. Orange Drop, oil-in-paper, film, ceramic -- makes no difference. Anyone who claims it does either has a very vivid imagination or is trying to sell you something.