[HAM] Capacitors

[Kon Zissis]

Hi Jordan.
There is a lot of " tonal purist"  hype intended to generate sales of
the expensive audiophile  class capacitors for guitar amplifiers and
Hammond organs and Leslies,  however  the reality is that the Hammond
organ preamps and the Leslie amplifiers are not audiophile quality so
therefore I do not think that  you need to use expensive audiophile
quality capacitors. 
In my opinion it is OK to use the "normal" capacitors and electrolytic
capacitors.

The capacitors used by the Hammond factory were chosen because they were
available in bulk quantities at a price instead of because they
produced a particular tonality. 

When I partially rebuilt  the AO28 in my 1962 C3 and  in my 1965 C3
organs I used the normal 630 volt rated reddish brown coloured polyester
capacitors as inter stage coupling capacitors and I used the readily
available high voltage  rated electrolytic  capacitors and I used metal
film resistors . These all work fine.

Because the high voltage rated multi cap can capacitors are not readily
available in Australia , I simply used individual 10 uf , 33 uf and 47
uf 450 volts DC  rated capacitors that I mounted on to two new tag
strips that I attached to a convenient  spot in the inner side wall of
the AO28 chassis. These 450 volt rated  electrolytic capacitors cost a
few dollars each as opposed to the significantly higher priced  multi
cap can capacitors that need to be imported from the USA. 

When I recapped the tone wheel generator of my 1962 C3 I used the
cheaply and readily available small yellow square shaped MKT metallized
polyester capacitors which cost less than $20.00 Australian dollars for
the full set. They work perfectly fine when matched properly with each
of the TG note 49 to 91 filter inductor coils. 

I did an A/B test experiment by trying out a few different capacitor
types ( green cap polyester , MKT polyester , polypropylene , ceramic ,
wax paper ) that I carefully  selected so that they all measured at the
same exact micro farad value through my digital capacitance meter and I
then tested them out on a few TG notes  within the TG note 49 to 91
range and all of these different capacitor types produced the same
output voltage reading and the sound of the TG notes that I tested with
these capacitors was the same so therefore I concluded from this that
it is OK to use the cheaply priced MKT polyester capacitors. Modern
capacitors such as the polyester types do not drift up in mfd values
with age  like the old wax paper capacitors did so therefore they are
suitable for the TG . 

All the best.
Kon

Jordan Kersten wrote:
Hey guys.  I am preparing to rebuild my B3 preamp and I need some
opinions.  Basically I have a pretty simple dilemma...should I worry
about cap choice?  Should I spend the extra money and get Orange Drops
or just go to my local electronic supply and put in "normal"
electrolytic and mylar caps?-Jordan-
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