Metropoulos Forum

Roe wrote:

FourT6and2 wrote:

Roe wrote:the mojo/tad are not at all like a mustard, the sound is very different and much brighter

I think the assumption here is that I want something that sounds exactly like a real Mustard cap? Do I? I don't know if I do or not. Would a vintage Mustard cap be the right choice for a modern, high-gain amp?

No, it was TAD/Mojo who described these as mustard type caps, something that is not accurate. Moreover, these are not even the right choice for modern, high-gain. At least, several other caps work better for high-gain. Mustards can work for high-gain, if you want a british tone without too much brightness. Both Friedman and Larry use mustard type caps for high-gain

My current Marshall-flavor high-gain amp has a mix of Mallory 150s and CMC Polyester and it sounds great.
My current modern, high-gain production amps (KSR) has Mallory 150s, and they sound great.

I have Mallory 150s on hand to use. And I purchased some of those Illinois/CDE Metallized Polypropylene to try. The amp will definitely be a hot-rodded Marshall flavor with Jose Master, three-way clipping switch, and dual gains with bright/gain switches. Something with a Cameron voicing maybe... So, that said, what would you recommend?

I don't really like the Sprague 715/716 caps. Which I guess are actually the same type as the IC/CDE now that I look at them. And I don't like SoZo.

So what would you recommend?

Here's a four stager with all IC MPW's. I believe I had .1 uF's in the PI at the time of this clip with a depth mod which was may too much but the owner my brother who is playing in the clip loved the bass. We eventually went to .047 uf's in the PI which tightened it up but still had a ton of bass. Later on I started swapping out different caps but at least you get to hear the IC MPW's. The lower vid still has mostly IC MPW's but I think I was tweaking on it some by then. I hear aggression no harshness but everyone's ears are different. This was around 2011 so a few years ago.

harddriver wrote:Here's a four stager with all IC MPW's. I believe I had .1 uF's in the PI at the time of this clip with a depth mod which was may too much but the owner my brother who is playing in the clip loved the bass. We eventually went to .047 uf's in the PI which tightened it up but still had a ton of bass. Later on I started swapping out different caps but at least you get to hear the IC MPW's. The lower vid still has mostly IC MPW's but I think I was tweaking on it some by then. I hear aggression no harshness but everyone's ears are different. This was around 2011 so a few years ago.

Awesome, thank you. By comparison, this circuit is a bit tighter and more "modern" already. I guess I might just try both Mallory and IC/CDE MPW. No real way of knowing without doing it myself most likely.

When I listen to the clips back to back the Mallory 150 sound a bit smoother and rounded for lack of a better term they sound great.

The IC's just have this growly aggression to them on the open chords. I remembered these clips so I though it would give you some comparison on the MPW's.

Since you already seem to like the Mallory's I would build the amp with the Mallory as your baseline. Then substitute caps you want to try out in the Cathode Bypass caps locations V1A, V1B and V2 first to see if you like the differences. It would be the only way to truly arrive at your optimum tone. Looking forward to see what you come up with.

harddriver wrote:When I listen to the clips back to back the Mallory 150 sound a bit smoother and rounded for lack of a better term they sound great.

The IC's just have this growly aggression to them on the open chords. I remembered these clips so I though it would give you some comparison on the MPW's.

Since you already seem to like the Mallory's I would build the amp with the Mallory as your baseline. Then substitute caps you want to try out in the Cathode Bypass caps locations V1A, V1B and V2 first to see if you like the differences. It would be the only way to truly arrive at your optimum tone. Looking forward to see what you come up with.

Will do, thanks!

I'm with HardDriver on the IC caps for higher gain. They are fantastic. SoZo's are great for the more vintage plexi type Marshalls.

wdelaney72 wrote:I'm with HardDriver on the IC caps for higher gain. They are fantastic. SoZo's are great for the more vintage plexi type Marshalls.

I might try them. My only concern is that they're polypropylene. And The other polypropylene caps I've tried, I haven't liked (Sprague 715/716). I don't think there's gonna be a huge difference between different brands of the same type of cap, to be honest. Between different materials, like polyester vs polypropylene? Sure.