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Dry Electrolytics Capacitors in Effects

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2/3/2000 7:33 PM

Dry Electrolytics Capacitors in Effects

I have several effects that are 25-30 years old. They all seem to work fine, but I'm debating whether or not the elecrolytic caps should be replaced. My question is what kind of effect does a bad electrolytic capacitor have on the sound of the effect? Could they sound better if I replace the caps? I noticed that my Small Stone seems to cut volume when switched on...I don't remember it being like that when it was new...could that be caused by bad caps? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

JD

2/3/2000 7:59 PM

Electros dry out. If the effect is more than 15 years old, chances are one or more are going bad. Just replace them, don't debate. The effect of a cap going bad is that gradually the capacitor turns into the equivalent of a resistor in parallel with a resistor and cap. Someday the cap wil short or go effectively open. I can't tell you how many effects and amplifiers I've fixed by replacing the electrolytics.

Would they sound better? Who knows what "better" is? They will be more like they were intended to work when new.

As to the volume, have you changed it to true bypass? EH commonly did non-true bypass, and disabled the effected side. The non-effected signal was sometimes not as loud as the original signal, but you couldn't hear that until you did a true bypass. This is a common problem with TB'ing non-TB pedals. Might be here as well.

2/3/2000 10:35 PM
JD Sleep	Thanks R.G. No I haven't TB'ed the Small Stones, could be just the way they've always been and I just never noticed it when I was younger. I'll post on this thread if replacing the caps makes any difference in the sound. I'm planning on doing 2 Small Stones, a Big Muff and a Maestro Super Fuzztone. I'll listen to each before and after, see if I can tell any difference. JD

2/4/2000 12:55 PM
MKB	I would be very interested to read about your results, as my Small Stone also drops volume when switched in. I have installed a true bypass in it and this didn't help. I haven't replaced the electrolytics either.

2/5/2000 9:11 PM

Cap replacement results

Well I've only had time to replace the caps in the 2 Small Stones. To my ear there is no change. I think maybe they sound a little better, but that's probably my wishful brain, not my ear. They sound pretty good, the funny thing is, when I went to test-listen to them BEFORE the change, they didn't exibit a volume drop when switched on. Leads me to believe that the volume drop has something to do with being in the signal path with several other stompboxes...maybe??? I dunno...maybe it has something to do with different power supplies? MKB - are you using battery or AC adapter? are you listening to it alone or with other stompboxes?

JD

2/6/2000 5:43 AM

I have never experienced what so many people have mentioned as a volume drop with Small Stones. I always thought it had to do with the volume of the effects before it. While I like to crank the volume of my fuzzes to drive the amp a bit, I have found my fuzzboxes react best with my small stone and other modulation effects when their volumes were set equal to that of the through sound. Maybe this will help???

2/7/2000 6:25 PM

Hi, JD. I am using the Small Stone with an external supply, +9V regulated with a LM317. My pedalboard chain is as follows: Cry Baby (with true bypass)->modified TS10->Foxx Tone Machine clone->Boss CE2 chorus->Small Stone->DOD digital delay-> amp. All are powered from the same +9V supply.

I'm pretty sure that the Small Stone volume drop occured by itself with a battery, because I checked it. To be honest, it doesn't bother me as it's not too bad, andI mainly use it in the distorted channel of my Concert and I have the guitar volume down anyway.

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