can old ceramic caps crap out?

[newholland]

i dunno. i got to feeling my old 72 tele wasnt sounding 100%.. its got a set of SD stk2s in it, and the guitar has 1 meg pots, and it had an ancient- probably original .047 uF cap in it. spidey sense said- try a new orange drop.

id heard the old ceramics can drift and not act right.. i figured what the hell. change it.

i threw it in, and i swear its a new guitar. maybe there was a soldering issue previously, maybe the cap sucked... i dunno. i assume caps are caps.. but it sounds clearer and the rolloff is different, and the whole experience of playing the thing is BETTER even woth the same value.

am i having some sort of tonal delusion?

 

[norminal]

i dunno. i got to feeling my old 72 tele wasnt sounding 100%.. its got a set of SD stk2s in it, and the guitar has 1 meg pots, and it had an ancient- probably original .047 uF cap in it. spidey sense said- try a new orange drop.

id heard the old ceramics can drift and not act right.. i figured what the hell. change it.

i threw it in, and i swear its a new guitar. maybe there was a soldering issue previously, maybe the cap sucked... i dunno. i assume caps are caps.. but it sounds clearer and the rolloff is different, and the whole experience of playing the thing is BETTER even woth the same value.

am i having some sort of tonal delusion?

Do you have a meter to measure the old cap?

 

[newholland]

Do you have a meter to measure the old cap?

i do! the cap measures .03uF and is labeled .05.

well that surely explains the rolloff being slower in the tone knob- but probably not the sorta global treble rolloff cured by the new cap.

eeeenteresting.