Different Cap types for CBG users?

Hey guys, I get the different ratings for capacitors but do the different materials (eg ceramic, polyester, electrolytic etc) have any impact when we use them for our CBG Tone pots?
All the best from Bill. :D

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Permalink Reply by JL on October 4, 2016 at 2:18am

the different materials affect how much total power they can take without blowing and letting out the magic smoke, hopefully no one has a CBG pickup THAT hot, lol.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on October 4, 2016 at 9:58am

This has been a debate on several guitar forums. Really the only difference is in the tolerances of the different types. The ceramic disc types have a larger tolerance in value than the other types and I try to avoid them as much as possible, but have used them before.

When I say tolerance, I'm talking about the value(such as .022). All caps can be a + or - a couple of numbers, but the cheaper ceramic disc types can be greater in number for value differences. That accounts for the different tones that some hear.

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Hunter on October 4, 2016 at 12:20pm

ceramic caps are usually 2 plates separated by a ceramic dielectric. greencaps type are usually a sandwich of 2 foil plates separated by an insulating plastic and rolled up. i have read where people think the inductance from the roll makes a difference but i seriously doubt it in our application.
electrolytics and tantalium capacitors are polarised i.e they have a positive and a negative lead. these would not be good for a tone cap soldered to a pot.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Craig on October 5, 2016 at 8:17am

If I was building or rebuilding an expensive amp, I would use the orange ones. All my gits have the green poly film caps and work fine.

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Hunter on October 6, 2016 at 12:51am

yes wayfinder i think the only real difference is tolerance as someone said before in this thread. basic greencaps are all you need for a git. you only need the more expensive smaller tolerance ones in RC and LC timing circuits or a circuit where the charge and discharge time of the cap is critical. from memory i think greencap tolerance is 10% considering they are paired with a variable resistor (pot) its not an issue...

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Permalink Reply by Timothy Hunter on October 6, 2016 at 2:19am

sweet... i pulled out a box of my old electronics stuff and found some greencaps to use myself. heres hoping they are still ok. should be they were never used.