Can any one tell me why this cap

[Jerry Madderra]

is located where it is and what effect it has there. It has been that way for years and years and I didn't know the cap was not in a standard place untill recently.
Jerry

[Sanford]

It seems that whoever wired it into the circuit probably decided it was a good place for it so it wouldn't be in the way or get messed up when the pickguard was re-mounted. It's a big size for a guitar cap and the cavity in a strat only allows for so much. Is it wired to both tone knobs or just one?

[ganzosrevenge]

that big thing is is a tone cap. It enables the tone cap to function properly, that is, it's almost like a damper in that it filters out high-end as you roll down towards 1, and lets more high-end in as you roll up towards 10. That's my best guess until I can see a larger pic of it and the ensuing details.

PS: how's the fender '53 strat prototype doing?

[Jerry Madderra]

This is the wiring from the 53 although not the p/g. This cap is not the normal cap for a strat this age and it is not in the normal position which would be the center pot. This has been wired this way since 1954 at least.
Jerry

[dhooper89]

Is it ticking! Holy crap I have taken apart a lot of guitars and have never seen a cap that big in there. That cap has a future in adult movies.

[Jerry Madderra]

The guitar tech, Doc Pitillo, that set it up said it had the sweetest pups he ever heard in an old Strat. I guess the cap with a chubby is either great or has no ill effect on the tone.
Jerry

[wanmei1]

Looks as though someone has used a high voltage cap for the tone control instead of a low voltage cap as they didn't have a small voltage cap handy.

No worries at all.

A high voltage cap is just larger and more expensive than the normal small voltage cap used in a guitar circuit.

To prove it's just the normal tone cap just open circuit it and jumper a wire over it.

[Mr 9finger]

If I'm not mistaken, Fender used a .1uF cap when they first started production of Electrics. That would explain the physical size of the cap since .1 caps are on the big side. Callaham actually offers a .1uF orange drop w/ their vintage wiring stuff.

It appears to be wired up correctly from what I can see in the pic. The 2 tone pots are still jumpered together. Maybe they just put it there to keep it out of the way? I've often wondered how it would be to use 2 different tone caps for the individual tone pots to see how much of an impact it would have on the tone.

[Jerry Madderra]

Here is a closeup of the cap. It does appear to be a high voltage cap.

[jeremy]

they probably ran out of the normal caps and put that one in. very cool set

[The Usual]

That is so cool. If the axe sounds good, don't muck with it.

[ES350]

That's a yellow Astron as used in contemporary tweed amps; somebody grabbed it out of a bin and used it. My old '56 had the cap wired and mounted in the same place...

[Jerry Madderra]

Thanks for all the replys. This old Strat is such a gang of old parts that sometimes its hard to tell what is correct and what isn't.

[ES350]

Well, it could be original or not, but at least it's period-correct for mid-50's.