Capacitors: i.e "Caps"
PIO CapsPaper-in-oil capacitors.
PIO caps were used in the 1950's in electronics, so that's what I use. Depending on the guitar I'll either use bumble-bee caps, or Grey Tiger style caps, coated in bee's wax. |
The brand:Luxe Radio & Musical Instrument Co. is an an American manufacturer of early and mid-20th century style electronic components.
Luxe recreates hard to find vintage electronic parts: sourcing original materials, manufacturers, and equipment to make their products as close to the original part as possible: in appearance, materials, manufacture and in performance. |
Do caps make a difference?I think so. Some people claim that in a guitars circuit, they don't.
Some things are qualitative and some are quantitative. Both matter to me. If you're a gear-head, you get it. I happen to feel that the taper and relationship between the volume and the tone react differently with PIO caps, vs Mylar or ceramic of equivalent values. Even so, they're about 400% more awesome looking than the latter, and worth the extra few bucks in my opinion. |
Pickups
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In my builds, I tend to use different pickups depending on the need of each instrument. Over the years I've owned and played pickups from most of the big boutique winders out there, and in my opinion, once you start looking at a certain level of "boutique" winder, you really can't go wrong no matter where you land.
I wanted to do something unique for my DogEar builds and so I reached out to Sanford Magnetics. I wanted to do a couple of special things, and the energy and passion Nathan Sanford brought to the table was inline with what I wanted to do. We spent the better part of 6 months going back and forth on design, construction, and tone. Nathan's approach to mixing a linear and scatter wind on the P-90 he winds for me absolutely nailed that vintage tone I had in my head. More importantly, the way the pickup felt under my fingers once plugged in, was instantly noticeable. Spending the better part of a month bench-marking multiple samples he had sent me against an amazing 1956 P-90 which I own (strapped to one killer '56 guitar), in addition to several other boutique pickups I have on-hand; I feel we found a combination that hits you right in the feels. 
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ThroBak KZ wound P-90's with custom spec orange hookup wire.
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The details
After having done some work on an original vintage 1952 trapeze Lester, I was intrigued to find orange cloth in lieu of the common black covering on the braided hookup wire. Although extremely rare, this wasn't the first time I had seen this, (green cloth was also used on some examples); however, this instance sparked the idea to do something unique while keeping with what could be found in the 50's.
I reached out to Luxe to see if they could and would accommodate this request. Thankfully, Donovan was just as passionate about the details, and immediately got to making it happen for me.
I reached out to Luxe to see if they could and would accommodate this request. Thankfully, Donovan was just as passionate about the details, and immediately got to making it happen for me.
An original untouched 1952 control cavity. Note: Orange hookup wire.
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Custom made orange cloth covered hook-up wire, supplied by Luxe-Radio, per my request
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The Sanford Magnetics/Sorokin Guitars "SS90"