What kind of caps do you use?

[Mark Hammer]

Just a quick note to remind one and all that a great many of your favourite vintage effects were made with ceramic caps.  If it was good enough for Jimi, it's good enough for me.

Ultimately, it's a bit like asking "What piece of cutlery is best?".  From personal experience, I can vouch that eating soup with a spoon or knife does not meet with success, and trying to cut your steak with a spoon and fork is met with similar lack of success.  Caps are not rankable from best to worst, regardless of purpose.  Some will have desirable characteristics for some purposes and undesirables ones for others, and some caps that come up short for some applications are more than good enough for others.

[Ripthorn]

That's a good point Mark, I was mostly just curious what others use since I have been mostly using the inexpensive multilayer ceramics.  I am going to be building an amp which I would like to make the best possible quality, but if ceramics are good enough quality, then I may well use them.  Mostly I just wanted others viewpoints since there aren't any people round here locally that build pedals.  My main reason for asking was so that people could talk me out of spending a fortune on orange drop or other expensive caps. 

As far as the flux capacitor goes, I found one once, but it was such a small value that, upon using it, I ended up right where I was in the first place.

[frequencycentral]

From personal experience, I can vouch that eating soup with a spoon or knife does not meet with success, and trying to cut your steak with a spoon and fork is met with similar lack of success.

Oh, that Mark Hammer, he'll try anything!

[Mark Hammer]

Oh, that Mark Hammer, he'll try anything!

Well, I have to confess that when my wife first suggested soup to me, I was kind of "Ooh, I don't know about that stuff.  Looks kind of....wet".  And of course, the idea of something that's not quite a drink, and not really solid food, kind of creeped me out.  I mean, yeah, I like to take chances now and then, but food that can't make up its mind about what it is?  What is UP with that? <insert shiver of fear here>

So, even though I'm "Mr. Risk Taker" in most things, I really had to be talked into that one, let me tell you!  Of course, you know, people can adapt to a lot of things - political oppression, psychotic girfriends/boyfriends, jogging, solid-state amps, "other" touring versions of Supertramp - you name it, and I've adapted to soup.  I'm not into soup.  I mean I'm not some sort of sicko or anything.  But yeah, I've tried it.  Never inhaled, but I've tried it.  And it's not the "gateway appetizer" some people claim it to be.

[frank_p]

What I like about caps is all the diversity there is.  I like caps for how they look: forms, textures, colors.  I don't care too much anymore about how they sound.  They look much more different than they sound different.  And since it is easier to tell how they look than how they sound,  people unfold their imagination to fill gaps about what they do not know.  I think you should select them like clothes: look at the label to see if they are the right value, then try them to see if they fit, if you can find a color, pattern or texture that suit your taste select the one you prefer at the moment.  If you want to look original, psychedelic and like stripes buy a tropical "shirt", if you don't care and are economy mined, just buy those drab-beige pants, they are comfy.  You know, Mr. Hendrix was tired of dressing like a clown, so if he had survived he would perhaps wear beige-nerd pants at this moment.  Personally I am like a girl and I like to watch my colored clothes in my wardrobe.  Looking caps in a catalogue is like women mags reading.  After all, we do have our feminine side...

[DiscoVlad]

Depends on the situation: but 99% of the time I use Panasonic electrolytic (50, or 63V rated) caps for 1uF and larger.
Anything less than 1nF I use ceramic discs, everything in between with a little overlap of course, MKT.

This way, everything ends up with 0.1" and 0.2" lead spacing.

[yeeshkul]

I am gonna build 2 Llamas. One with the new Panasonic Low Volatge polyfilm caps that should be here next week, and one with some generic grey plastic prism-shaped film caps i usually use.
I wonder if i can hear any difference  . I bet i won't.

[gez]

As far as audio goes, I use ceramic.  Even for decoupling (Rapid in the UK sell large-value, surface-mount ceramics).  As for filters and oscillators etc, depends on whether tolerance is an issue, but also tend to use ceramic. 

As noted, the bulk of rock and roll was recorded/played using amps, effects and guitars kitted out with ceramics.  Not sure what the tolerance was like on old caps (anyone?), but perhaps that accounts for the perceived difference (modern manufacturing practises have made them more consistent)? 

More recently I'm beginning to think that any differences I've heard in the past were more to do with tolerance, and possibly differences in ESR with some circuits.  If the effect sounds good, fundamentally, then that's all that matters.  I'm sure those selling clones would argue otherwise, but any improvements due to component swaps are going to be trivial to the point of being almost inaudible.  Are those changes going to inspire the performance of a lifetime?  I think the young lady flashing her boobs in the front row is going to have more of an impact, in that respect...

[slacker]

I use small ones, if they're also cheap then all the better, different colours are nice too, but not essential 

[Pedal love]

I use polyfilm and electrolytic. Below 1nf mica but ceramic is ok.

[Captainobvious99]

Liquid-

Great posts in this thread!

I'm actually surprised that you find Digikey easier because to me, Mouser is easier to navigate and find what I need. Maybe its the pictures 

I'll be sure to PM you if I cant find what I'm looking for with Digikey though. 

[petemoore]

  New or newish electrolytics.
  The value I need.
  Before, which is most of the caps in my SP..I used Poly/Mylar/ Greenies to be specific, the AVX are good.
  I put a brown flat item marked '102' in an OD yesterday, I'll let you know somethings funny.
  When I'm laughin'...transformers might last longer.
  The mower wheel needs changed if you can't see a diamond-tread pattern in a bald spot, only when viewed directly from above.
  Adjust mowing deck as necessary...

[liquids]

Thanks, Captain-O!   I'm serious about my offer, especially to newbies.  I'd love to save just one person from the agony that is Futurlec.  (=

And, maybe I will contact you, captain, when I surf the Mouser site.