do we really need more expensive parts?

[Paul Marossy]

Well, it gives small pedal builders a justification for the bigger price tag. 

Another thing that cracks me up is these people that will pay BIG money for an original vintage capacitor such as the ones used on the tone controls in the old Les Pauls. To me, especially in a guitar that has passive pickups, the exact capacitor used on the tone control is even more irrelevant. I know some people would argue the point on this, but I won't. 

[petemoore]

  Expensive really has nothing to do with being 'picky', 'crap' is rare in components other than the electro-mechanical types.
  Because it is not known what or where or why parts makes a difference is often the case for buying the more expensive ones.
  The 'expensive reasoning' having little to or nothing to do pro's and con's of buying expensive, often ranging from vague to nonsensical.
 
 

[Taylor]

Well, it gives small pedal builders a justification for the bigger price tag. 

Another thing that cracks me up is these people that will pay BIG money for an original vintage capacitor such as the ones used on the tone controls in the old Les Pauls. To me, especially in a guitar that has passive pickups, the exact capacitor used on the tone control is even more irrelevant. I know some people would argue the point on this, but I won't. 

Check out this guy who makes his own caps for his Vintage replica basses and guitars:

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/tele-home-depot/169606-1960-jazzbass-build-5.html#post1944685

[Boogdish]

In fact, one of my best sounding vintage tube amps from 1964 uses only ceramic coupling caps, and it's a GREAT sounding amp. Most tube amp purists would want to pull them out and replace them with Sprague Orange Drops or something, but I ain't touching a thing because it sounds great. It has a crisp, clean tone and when it overdrives a little bit, it sounds really nice.

Sorry to be a little OT, but what amp?  You've sparked my curiosity.

I think if you're building pedals as a business and you're interested in the very high end boutique market, then yes those caps make a difference just from a marketing standpoint.  It's like Mark was talking about earlier about graters; I'm sure there are plenty of rich non-proffesional cooks who have very very expensive graters in their homes because that's what they can afford and they always want to have what they've been led to believe is the best. 

High quality caps in stomp boxes are sort of a placebo.  If people believe they sound better, than they're going to enjoy playing more than if they believed that they were sounding mediocre.  They are definitely more useful psychologically than electronically/acoustically when it comes to stomp boxes.

[Paul Marossy]

In fact, one of my best sounding vintage tube amps from 1964 uses only ceramic coupling caps, and it's a GREAT sounding amp. Most tube amp purists would want to pull them out and replace them with Sprague Orange Drops or something, but I ain't touching a thing because it sounds great. It has a crisp, clean tone and when it overdrives a little bit, it sounds really nice.

Sorry to be a little OT, but what amp?  You've sparked my curiosity.

I think if you're building pedals as a business and you're interested in the very high end boutique market, then yes those caps make a difference just from a marketing standpoint.  It's like Mark was talking about earlier about graters; I'm sure there are plenty of rich non-proffesional cooks who have very very expensive graters in their homes because that's what they can afford and they always want to have what they've been led to believe is the best. 

High quality caps in stomp boxes are sort of a placebo.  If people believe they sound better, than they're going to enjoy playing more than if they believed that they were sounding mediocre.  They are definitely more useful psychologically than electronically/acoustically when it comes to stomp boxes.

It's a 1964 Gregory Mark X that I worked on a little bit. Mainly I star grounded it and it became WAY quieter after that. Anyhow, it's made out of "the cheapest crap", but it sounds great! The speaker is not stock, it's a 12" 25 watt Eminence OEM alnico speaker. It's a nice combo, I've gotten many comments about the tone.

[Johan]

Well, there ARE some parts whose quality is undeniable.  What is at issue is often their relevance or added value.

..the humble 4558 that we love so much, with its poor high gain frequency responce, pretty much singelhandedly gave op-amps a bad name in pro-audio for many, many years..
..it's all in the ears of the beholder...
j

[slim_blues_boy]

..the humble 4558 that we love so much, with its poor high gain frequency responce, pretty much singelhandedly gave op-amps a bad name in pro-audio for many, many years..
..it's all in the ears of the beholder...
j

ahh 4558, remind me about my first build. when I started this diy thing, I decided to build TS808, so I bought JRC4558D.
after that I read that TS808 also use RC4558P and the sounds are little bit different from JRC4558D, so I looked for RC4558P.
I asked the store owner for RC4558P, he took RC4558P and said, "why you want to buy this (RC4558P)? you already bought JRC4558D yesterday. JRC4558 is better than RC4558P. RC4558P is cheaper one".
but guess what, for TS808, I like RC4558P more than JRC4558D.