Choosing Capacitors

[bossa]

Hi All
I would like some advice on choosing type/brand of capacitor for a new build.
I want build a couple of pedals by ordering some boards from GGG and sourcing the parts my self here in the UK.
Probably a Big Muff, ITS8 and a red Fuzz. I recently built a TS-808 kit which was supplied with MKT caps ,should I go with these? I am bit confused.
Planning to get the parts from Banzai http://www.banzaieffects.com/Film-Foil-c-566.html which when you go to the page has a vast choice. Which to choose MKT Panasonic Wima ...?

Also I was going to do the AMZ fat mod on the TS-808 that I built and that requires a couple of extra caps on a toggle switch .I was advised to use MKT but the legs dont look long enough to solder off the board on the switch.What do you reckon ?

Any advice much appreciated

Cheers
Steve

[Hanglow]

I would be tempted not to use banzai if you are in the UK. The exchange rate is poor and you will have to pay shipping. Rapid sell wima caps, DPDT footswitches for just over £1 and indeed everything else you need and shipping is free if you spend more than £35.   If you want 3pdt switches go to the store here and get them from aaron, good service and cheap

[bossa]

Cheers Hanglow
What about which type/brand of cap to choose MKT Panasonic Wima ...?

[Hanglow]

In general it doesn't really matter. The more expensive ones tend to be better tolerance so they are closer to the true values of whatever circuit you are building. The only thing you really need to consider is to make sure the voltage rating is enough for the circuit - no problem with almost all of them as you are only building 9v boxes.

I like the box type ones in general, like WIMAs and the MKT ones,  because they tend to be quite small and look nice instead of the really cheap greeny ones. 

[bossa]

Nice one Tom 
Just wondering about the resistors they supply ,the metal film ones seem to be in packs of a 100 for the 0.25 w is it alright to use the 2w rated ones ? They seem to be the ones with the smaller amounts .
The Red Fuzz takes these
Resistors (1/4 watt rating)
1 - 2K2 (2.2k)
1 - 1k8 (1.8k)
2 - 10k
2 - 470k
2 - 1M

[petemoore]

  capacitor distortion...infanitecimal unless you've got a brownie-cap in a position where...it causes 'fizz' or other unwanted schtuff, such as drift etc.
  That moves us 'up' to film capacitors and beyond.
  Mind that I've never built anything with a long circuit, using super low tolerance components, then compared that to low tolerance components, feeling satisfied enough that my perception of it is correct...IE I have assumed the differences are so slight as to be less than noticable, or small enough to make price point the deciding factor.
    Capacitor tolerance: Super low tolerances are great for super sensative circuits [such as medical test equipment] when mass production and extreme accuracy is required, otherwise...every cap I tried that was code marked 103 sounded so close like any other cap marked 103, I spent lots of time swapping input caps a couple times to see about tolerances [my ears certainly ain't what they used to be], a 'tolerance' difference doesn't seem to become apparent between film caps of same values, besides...I voice the circuits anyway, generally socketing the input cap, at least for the first one-off.
  I can tell a slight difference between a 103 and a 223 in an input cap postition, often times I can't decide which of these two values should remain as one of two switchable value choices...ie they sound ~'close'.
  Surmize it for me to say this is like a realy big 'ballpark target' to me, any 'better than a brownie' capacitor can be chosen and will hit the mark very accurately, every time...therefore, precieved issues about tolerance tone and distortion are mostly non-sequitur in my experience.

[bossa]

Thanks Pete

I know what you mean about the ear thing . Standing next 100 watt cabs in my younger days replaced by chainsaws for years and no ear defenders!!(had to give that up because of my hearing)

Just to bug you a bit more on the resistor question and wattage .The spec says 1/4 watt which should I go for on this page ?
http://www.rapidonline.com/Electronic-Components/Resistors-Potentiometer/Metal-Film-Resistors

[Hanglow]

These are fine

they also sell carbon comp resistors if you want any mojo or more likely, think they look a bit better. But metal film are suppposed to be the quietest...

[bossa]

Thanks Tom
Man I can start ordering ....cant wait 
The Banzai site seemed a lot more straight forward, now you guys have cleared things up..Ta

[frank_p]

Hi Bossa,
Use the search function, there are a lot of topics on capacitors on this forum.  Plus if you read the topics you might get some info that you did not think of asking.
Bear in mind that many discussions on the "sound" of capacitors are more opinions than science.
Plastic film caps have good reputation (all the kind of plastic films).  They can be boxed, dipped, not covered, etc. ; you will not get a lot of audible differences (in many peoples opinion).
For other considerations: look for the space-geometry limitations, lead spacing, etc.
And cost.

[petemoore]

  I should have said 'If you can tell, then you can tell' , reports are that there are slight differences, especially when 'long-circuit'..ie the cumulative effect of all the components.
  I'm not at all sure I would like 'cleaner', the tolerances of films are plenty tight for me to work with, noise floor is low as heck...I'm happy for now not knowing enough to care.
  Perhaps my 'lowly film caps' are what makes it sound as good as it does !
  Experiment:
  Breadboarding introduces too much 'hash' to make a good lab experiment.
  Other components for 'clean' experiment should be measured as nearly or identical for each position to make 'matched' boards, that would be tricky for transistors or other actives [certain opamps of same batch I think would be acceptably identical], so swapping Q's position for position, from the board with 'extra high spec' to the board with 'high spec' capacitors would suggest that only the capacitors would be responsible for any tonal differences.
  I think it'd be a whole lot of messing around for sure on a Fuzz with a few caps contributing say .002% of the '98%' distorted signal, even then, if I noticed it was missing, I'd probably miss it.
  I don't think I'd notice [and long way to find out] so I'm not going to try it, others have, and I've read mixed results...all depends on..what it depends on, I can't help but think that pre-concieved notions might arise unless double blind fold tests were done, especially after hours of effort setting up the comparison circuits.

[Jered]

 
  Experiment:
  Breadboarding introduces too much 'hash' to make a good lab experiment.

   If your testing hi fidelity audio, sure. But for stompbox circuits, a breadboard is one of the first tools I recommend people to get. It will save you countless hours of soldering and de-bugging that come with other proto methods.
  Single transistor circuits are quick in any manner, but you can breadboard something like the BSIAB, or a Tube Screamer in a half hour to run it through its paces to see if you like it
  They do wear out, but $15 for a new one ever 6 months is more than worth it IMHO. Breadboarding high voltage tube circuits I've noticed noise from time to time, but that's to be expected.

[Johnny Halo]

Can larger caps (i.e. Bumble bees, Orange Drops, paper n' foil, etc.) be used for pedals?

Provided, of course, you have room.

If you want to build a TS in, say, a bread box. 

[Electric Warrior]

I think so.
I used a rather large electrolytic in this one (slightly underestimated the size ):




my prototype with tiny caps and trim pots sounds a lot stiffer than this one.. might be due to the caps.