Thinking Caps

In the second part of our focus on pickup controls we talk tone with Bare Knuckle Pickups’ tech support whizz Tim Bartle

- Tim Bartle

In last issue’s Pickup Lines, we spoke with Bare Knuckle Pickups’ Tim Bartle to find out how different types of potentiometer can help bring out the best in our pickups and performance, and this time around we pick up the thread with Tim about guitar tone control. Much like guitar volume control, it is often underexplored by players, although a little knowledge and experimentation can yield some very pleasing results.

“The two main types of capacitor used in guitars are ceramic disk capacitors and paper-in-oil capacitors,” says Tim. “Although they work in a similar way and may have the same values, the curve of impedance as you sweep through the frequencies is slightly different. It’s a part of that whole interacting system along with your pickups, pots, cables, the front-end of your guitar amp and any pedals you might be plugged into. Everything works in unison. It’s a very subtle difference and it’s going to vary with different setups, but we find paper-in-oil caps give you a clearer tone and a little more detail.”