
A quick guide to vintage Strat caps - which ones to try, and what you should expect.
Hello, and welcome back to “Mod Garage.” Recently, I’ve received a lot of emails about tone caps for Stratocasters. I’ve discussed capacitors in general a few times before, and those earlier columns are a good place to start if you want to find out more about tone caps for guitars and how to determine the best value for you. Based on those, we’ll dig deeper into the subject, and concentrate on caps for Strats. I can give you advice about what to try based on my experience with different caps and Strats over the years, but there are no fixed rules. It’s your guitar and your sound, and there’s no law that says you can’t try whatever you want.
Be brave and go wild, and maybe you’ll find something by accident that suits you exactly. One customer of mine uses only caps from a specific old German radio from the ‘50s. For him, it’s the perfect tone. If you have some old, obsolete electronic products in your cellar or attic, they’re a good source for some wild experiments. I received an email from a guy in Arkansas who opened up some old military stuff from the ‘50s and found tons of Sprague Bumblebee caps... some of them are now living their second life in his Les Paul and SG guitars, and providing superb tone.
In a nutshell, a capacitor is an electrical/ electronic device that stores energy in the electric field between a pair of conductors (called plates). The process of storing energy in the capacitor is known as charging, and involves electric charges of equal magnitude but opposite polarity building up on each plate. Capacitors are often used in electrical and electronic circuits as energy-storage devices. They can also be used to differentiate between high-frequency and low-frequency signals. This property makes them useful in electronic filters, and that’s exactly what we use them for in our guitars. Basically, our passive tone control can be used to dampen the high frequencies. When you close the tone pot, it rolls off the treble response, resulting in a more mellow tone.
Adjusting this control affects the sound very noticeably, but it’s still recognizably the same guitar. As a basic rule, you could say the bigger the cap, the darker the tone. Depending on the cap’s value, or capacitance, the effect can go from slightly warmer (2200–6800pF) to a “woman tone” (0.01–0.047uF) up to completely dark and “clinically dead” (0.1uF and higher). Another thing to remember is that the tone cap is always part of the circuit and even influences the guitar’s tone when the tone pot is left fully open—that’s the reason the tone cap is such an important part of the sound.
Here are some caps you should try in your Strat:
Orange Drop
These legendary caps were formerly produced by Sprague. Today they’re made by the American company SBE, but with the same old machines and the original tooling of the golden days. They are film types, available in different voltage ratings, sizes, shapes and values. The typical Orange Drop caps we know of are used in high-quality tube amps, especially the 630V types. These have the most “Fendery” tone when used in a Strat: slightly scooped mids and a tight, percussive bass response great for clean playing (and overdrive too). There are several different series available. The most common ones available from guitar parts suppliers are the 715P and the higher-graded 716P series. Both are polypropylene film types. The 225P and the PS series are polyester film types. These are the ones you should try in your Strat. They sound even more “Fendery” than the 715P and 716P series. As a film cap, the Orange Drop caps are non-polarized, so their orientation makes no difference... at least it should make no difference, but that’s a subject for a later column.
Mallory 150
These axial-leaded polyester film caps, or “poly-film” caps, are easy to identify because of their bright yellow color, similar to the old Plessi caps you may know from the Music Man amps. The Mallory 150 caps are made by the Canadian company DuraCap. Because of the axial-leaded shape, they’re very easy to use in guitars. They sound very punchy with a good edge—a perfect Strat tone cap for blues and rock. With overdrive, they sound very mellow and musical. This cap works perfectly with single-coil pickups, but will work with humbuckers as well. If you want a modern, round tone, this is a cap you should try.
ERO Roederstein MKT1813
Made by Vishay, these are also axial-leaded polyester film caps, and they’re also yellow, but not as bright and shiny as the Mallory 150s. They have a very woody and transparent tone; in a Telecaster they can sometimes sound like an acoustic guitar. If your Strat has a very woody and resonant primary tone, this cap will bring it all to the surface when amplified.
NOS Styroflex caps
Often called “polystyrol” caps, you can find them easily on eBay today, even though they’re no longer in production. Polystyrene capacitors are best used for filters, timing circuits, feedback circuits and anywhere high stability and low leakage is important, but they also are great tone caps for guitars, amps and stompboxes. Polystyrene (PS, often called “Styroflex” or “styrol” in Europe) has long been the material of choice for critical analog circuits. Polystyrene caps are a perfect substitute for silver mica caps, but much smaller and easier to find in the typical values we use for guitars. If you want maximum transparency and no tone coloration at all, this is the type of cap you should try.
Next month we’ll talk about paper-in-oil caps, silver mica caps, tropical fish caps, paper waxed caps and the good ol’ NOS “high voltage” ceramic caps from the ‘50s and ‘60s. Until then... keep on modding!
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“The Archon Classic is not a reissue of the original Archon, but a newly voiced circuit with the lead channel excelling in ’70s and ’80s rock tones and a hotter clean channel able to go into breakup. This is the answer for those wanting an Archon with a hotrod vintage lead channel gain structure without changing preamp tube types and a juiced up clean channel without having to use a boost pedal, all wrapped up in a retro-inspired cabinet design." - Doug Sewell, PRS Amp Designer
A fine-tuned, well-worn feel, noiseless pickups, and a broad tone vocabulary made possible by clever switching mark real refinement in Player II Modified versions of Fullerton’s foundational designs.
- Noiseless single-coil pickups – Classic Fender tone without hum
- Higher-output humbucker – More power with articulate midrange bite
- Push-pull switching – Expands tonal versatility by splitting humbuckers
- Treble bleed circuit – Maintains clarity when rolling back volume
- Modern “C” neck with rolled edges – Smooth, broken-in feel for effortless playability
- Redesigned active preamp (basses) – Improved tone control with enhanced midrange
- Upgraded bridges, locking tuners, and TUSQ nut – Better tuning stability, sustain, and intonation
In this episode of 100 Guitarists, we’re talking all things surf rock, from reverb to tremolo picking and much more. And while “Misirlou” is undisputedly his most influential work, maybe Dale’s best records didn’t come until a few decades later.
“All the kids in all L.A. / Come to hear Dick Dale play,” or so goes the title track from Dick Dale’s Wrecking Crew-heavy 1963 album, King of the Surf Guitar. Immodest though it might seem to proclaim such a status, he was indeed at the top of the heap.
For many, Dale’s legend precedes him. His sound, first heard in a So Cal beach ballroom, created the surf guitar vocabulary and transformed the guitar universe, starting with the 1962 release of his take on the traditional song “Misrlou.” Ever the showman, he worked closely with Leo Fender developing the right gear for the gig as he played his ripping instrumentals to larger and larger audiences. He also inspired a Hendrix lyric and had a late-career renaissance thanks to Quentin Tarantino.
In this episode of 100 Guitarists, we’re talking all things surf rock, from reverb to tremolo picking and much more. And while “Misrlou” is undisputedly his most influential work, maybe Dale’s best records didn’t come until a few decades later.
This episode is sponsored byTraveler Guitar.
Fabulous neck with just-right fatness. Distinctive tone profile. Smooth, stable vibrato. Ice blue metallic and aluminum look delish together.
Higher output pickups could turn off Fender-geared traditionalists.
$939
Eastman FullerTone DC’62
An affordable version of Eastman’s U.S.-made solidbody rolls with unique, well-executed features—at a price and quality level that rivals very tough competition.
Eastman’s instruments regularly impress in terms ofquality and performance. A few left my PG colleagues downright smitten. But if Eastman isn’t a household name among guitarists, it might be a case of consumer psychology: Relative to most instruments built in China, Eastmans are expensive. So, if you spend your life longing for a Gibson 335 and a comparable (if superficially fancier) Eastman costs just 20 percent less than the least expensive version of the real deal, why not save up for a bit longer and get the guitar of your dreams?
For some players, though, such brand-devotional hang ups are obstacles to getting the best instrument for the best price. Some just like having an alternative to legacy brands and models that live as dreams in a zillion other heads. As Eastman evolved as a company, they’ve paid close attention to both of those market segments—creating refined original designs like the El Rey and Romeo while keeping quality, execution, and playability at an exceptional standard. With the introduction of the FullerTone instruments, a series of Beijing-built guitars modeled after Eastman’s California-built, Otto D’Ambrosio-designed solidbodies, Eastman’s price/performance goals reach a kind of apex. Because the FullerTone guitars aren’t archtops or thinlines and use bolt-on necks, they range from just $799 (for the simpler SC’52) to $899 (for the more full-featured DC’62 reviewed here). That’s a competitive market bracket, to say the least, but Fullertone delivers the goods in ways that count to players.
Somewhere in an Alternate O.C….
You don’t need to be a certified Mensa member to suss the FullerTone’s design benchmarks. The name’s likeness to that of an Orange County locale where historically important electric guitar design took place is a less-than-covert tip of the hat. More tangible evidence of the DC’62’s Stratocaster inspirations exist in the shape of a bolt-on, 25.5"-scale neck, six-on-a-side headstock, a curvaceous double-cut body, and vibrato. (The more Telecaster-like DC’52 uses a T-style bridge and comes sans vibrato).
Many of these design nods, however, are distinguished by Eastman’s refinements. The patented neck joint, for instance, mimics that of the upmarket, U.S.-built Eastman D’Ambrosio. It employs just two screws, bolted into steel anchors in the neck itself. It’s a robust, clever design. The joint, which works in part like a long tenon, provides extra neck-to-body contact, making the effortless access to all 24 medium-jumbo frets all the more remarkable. (The fretwork, by the way, is impeccable).
“The neck’s profile will pique the interest of anyone bored with the sameness of generic, modern C-profiles.”
The neck itself—roasted maple, satin-finished, and capped with a 12"-radius Indian rosewood fretboard—uses an angled headstock design that differs from Fender convention, but the break angle is much shallower than a Gibson, which aids tuning stability. The neck’s profile, though, will pique the interest of anyone bored with the sameness of generic, modern C-profiles. Eastman calls it a medium-round profile, but that doesn’t do justice to its substance, which calls to mind Fender’s chunkier 1960s necks. It’s not a shape for everyone, and shredders and players with really petite hands might be less enthused, but it’s exceptionally comfortable, fills the palm naturally, and, at least for me, induces less fatigue than slimmer necks.
The Strat-style vibrato is a smart, functional evolution of a classic form. The arm sits securely in a rubber sleeve that keeps it precisely where you want, and the bridge itself is fixed to a substantial brass block and features individually intonatable saddles. The vibrato is so smooth and tuning stable that you will want to use it often. Really aggressive, twitchy vibrato technique can produce knocking against the body as you pitch up—at least as it’s set up at the factory. Otherwise, it’s fun and forgiving to use.
I would be remiss, by the way, if I didn’t mention how good the black limba body looks in satin ice blue metallic with a brushed aluminum pickguard. Though the DC’62 is available in black and desert sand (the latter with gold anodized pickguard), this particular combination is beautiful, elegant, and tasteful in a way that accentuates D’Ambrosio’s timeless lines.
Substantially Yours
The DC’62’s pickups are produced by Tonerider, and they include two stacked noiseless alnico 5 single-coils in the center and neck positions (measuring 7.9 ohms) as well as an alnico 2 unit, also measuring 7.9 ohms, that Eastman calls a “soapbar humbucker with gold-foil cover.” That’s a curious mash up of nomenclature. Traditionally, “soapbar” pickups are P-90s, which are single-coils, and though the gold-foil-style cover looks cool, it doesn’t lend any gold-foil-ness in terms of construction. Tone-wise it inhabits a unique place. Some aspects of its response evoke a Stratocaster bridge pickup rendered large. There are also hints of a Telecaster bridge unit’s meatiness. But of all the pickups I compared it to (at one point there was an SG, Telecaster, Wide Range-equipped Telecaster Deluxe, Stratocaster, and J Mascis Jazzmaster strewn about the room), it sounds most like a Rickenbacker Hi-Gain in an ’80s 330. That’s cool. I think Hi-Gains are underrated and sound fabulous. But the Tonerider unit is definitely not an S-type pickup in any traditional sense. The stacked single-coils, too, deviate significantly from the Stratocaster’s sonic mold. They are noiseless, as advertised, but have heat and push that make a vintage S-style pickup sound glassy and comparatively thin.
The Verdict
With a fantastic neck, smooth playability, and tuning stability that keep you glued to the instrument, the top-quality DC’62 is flat-out fun to play, which is good, given that at $899 it’s in a price class with Fender’s excellent Mexico-made Player II guitars and PRS’s superlative SE series, to name a few. But the DC’62 offers a unique palette of tones that don’t fit neatly into any box, and with a shape that breaks from tradition, it’s a competitively priced way to take sonic and stylistic paths much less trodden