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Topic: Dating a Ricky capacitor |
Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 23 Feb 2008 1:09 am |
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The complete and original vintage Vol/Tone wiring harness recently placed into my late '40s Bakelite has a large silver metal cap nearly the size/shape of a standard 9V battery, with a mounting tang at each end and 2 terminals on one side.
What year/s were these used?
Is there a 'value'? |
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Blake Hawkins
From:
Florida
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Posted 23 Feb 2008 7:40 am
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The style of capacitor you have described is generally called a "bathtub capacitor."
These have been made since the 1930's. I believe that Sprague still makes them today.
They were used a lot in Military Radios during the Second World War. Also used in industrial equipment.
The general construction was foil and paper in oil.
There is no way to date or determine the value from
the physical size.
There may be some numbers stamped on the bottom of the case. You'd need those to document the cap.
If you know someone who has a capacitor checker
you might determine the value and present condition. |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 23 Feb 2008 7:53 am
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Great info, Blake, thanx!
I'd still like to know the the year/s Rickenbacher used these. |
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John Dahms
From:
Perkasie, Pennsylvania, USA
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Posted 23 Feb 2008 9:31 am
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Just for reference: The circuit in your guitar is like a road with a Y or fork in it. The signal only splits off (gets grounded out) into the tone control and capacitor when you turn it down from 10 towards 1. How much is controlled by the tone knob, what frequency is governed by what size (microfarads) the cap is. If you disconnect 1 lead from each you can read the value of the control pot (usually between 100k to 1 meg ohms) and the cap (probably .01 to .05 mfd).
When the controls are all the way up, all the signal goes from the guitar pickup to the jack in theory. In reality though the pots lose some to ground. A 100k (100,000 ohm) path to ground will leak a little more than a 1 meg (million) ohm pot and different brands and types respond differently. That's where the "mojo" factor comes in. Even if you recreate the same circuit electrically and schematicaly the components themselves add their character to the equation.
_________________
Time flies like an eagle
Fruit flies like a banana. |
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