Hoffman Amplifiers Tube Amplifier Forum

Amp Stuff => Tube Amp Building - Tweaks - Repairs => Topic started by: luthierwnc on March 12, 2021, 12:37:47 am

Title: Need recommendations for brownface ceramic disc caps
Post by: luthierwnc on March 12, 2021, 12:37:47 am
Hi All,  I'm in the design stage for a 6G3 variant.  I think I've got the bigger caps sussed but conventional wisdom is that the tone caps should be ceramic discs from TV repair shops that went out of business in 1983.  Can anyone recommend something currently made that does the job?  Thanks, Skip
Title: Re: Need recommendations for brownface ceramic disc caps
Post by: thetragichero on March 12, 2021, 02:59:43 am
i just use the stuff antique electronic supply/ce dist sells but for the most part a cap is either leaky or good to go in a build so i'm not too picky
Title: Re: Need recommendations for brownface ceramic disc caps
Post by: pdf64 on March 12, 2021, 05:09:11 am
If the choice of ceramic is thought to be tonally significant, then it’s  probably implicit that a cheap, low spec class 2 type is required.
The more microphonic the better probably, as that may serve to indicate that other non-ideal characteristics are poorly controlled.
Title: Re: Need recommendations for brownface ceramic disc caps
Post by: luthierwnc on March 12, 2021, 06:32:15 am
That's what I figured but wanted to see if anyone had secret sauce.  You always to know if old amps sound great because they used middling components or because the components didn't matter.  Cheers, sh
Title: Re: Need recommendations for brownface ceramic disc caps
Post by: EL34 on March 12, 2021, 06:36:34 am
Hi All,  I'm in the design stage for a 6G3 variant.  I think I've got the bigger caps sussed but conventional wisdom is that the tone caps should be ceramic discs from TV repair shops that went out of business in 1983.  Can anyone recommend something currently made that does the job?  Thanks, Skip

I stock .01 and .02 ceramic caps on this page
https://hoffmanamps.com/MyStore/catalog/Capacitors.htm
Title: Re: Need recommendations for brownface ceramic disc caps
Post by: drew on March 12, 2021, 07:39:30 pm
If the guy that owned the TV repair shop didn’t wear a ratty cardigan sweater with holes in the elbows, have a cigarette lit all the time but only occasionally take a drag off it, and have a one syllable name like Murph or Merv or Milt, you’re just wasting your money.
Title: Re: Need recommendations for brownface ceramic disc caps
Post by: luthierwnc on March 14, 2021, 04:27:41 am
Long gone but my favorite place for nowhere-else, obsolete gear was 'The Black Hole' in Los Alamos.  It was a leaking old supermarket full of surplus weapons-lab components.  Everything was worth gold to the old guy who ran it so you had to negotiate.  A musician friend who turned me on to the place said, "It is the place to go if you were outfitting Dr. Weirdo."