$48.00 for two old caps that we cut out and toss out of televisions! We have discussed this before. I am interested to see what they go.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190127158178&ssPageName=MERC_VI_RCRX_Pr4_PcY_BID_Stores_IT&refitem=190127390669&itemcount=4&refwidgetloc=active_view_item&usedrule1=CrossSell_LogicX&refwidgettype=cross_promot_widget


polaraman

Seriously?!?!

People will pay for those things?!

This changes everything... I hope I didn't toss the last ones out yet! :D

I follow many different interests on ebay (too many hobbies). While I am a complete idiot to old radios and tv's, I am well versed in building cars. Ebay just makes me laugh in the old car and motorcycle area. While I do believe value is like water, it reaches its own level, ebay has changed that. Still, nobody makes anyone bid on anything there, so, it is all fair, yet still amazing.
Dan

Look how many different listings there currently are for these things: http://search.ebay.com:80/bumblebee-capacitors_W0QQ_trksidZm37QQfromZR40QQpqryZbumbleb eeQ20caoacitors

And when I think how many I just throw in the trash on a regular basis...I've probably trashed hundreds in the past few years.

If they are actually selling at those prices you may have been able to afford that CT-100 by now. :)

When I get through recapping this I think I'll take a cruise....

So what's your complaint? :dunno: Sounds like you guys are in the money!

We have been tossing them out by the can full! We have been missing out!


polaraman

It appears that you guys could make some decent money if some of the bumble bee caps that you're now tossing are close to original specs. Looks like there's a market for them. :thmbsp:

The audiophools pay big money for these for their vintage amps and guitars. When you try to explain to them that these old caps are leaky they don't care because they think they are getting that "original" sound. They can't be made to understand that when the caps were originally installed they weren't leaky, so the amp will sound different with these leaky caps than when it was new.

I guess I must of made a big mistake I just tossed a few hundred bucks worth of them that I took out of my McIntosh MC60's. BTW they sound so MUCH better with new caps. I don't see any point in thinking a 50 year old part is going to sound like it would have when new. They where a problem then and just bad news now.

I've been saving all of mine for the last few years. I would have listed some already but I've just not taken the time yet.

I dun hit the lottery! Every cap in this is a black beauty!!!! Woo Hoo!!!:banana:


polaraman

P.T. Barnum was right.

Good thing i saved all of the caps I clipped put of the last couple TV's i recapped. That 1 gallon ziploc bag may pay for my roundie! Bumblebee caps are in big demand with guitar players, who use them to give their amps that vintage tone, or so they claim, if they dont short and destroy something first. I've seen used, clipped caps sell for upwards of $65 a piece, with the seller selling them as-is, no return.

Polaraman, That Looks Like A Stromberg-carlson Sr Series Receiver, An Sr-405 Maybe?
Kevin

Sr 405! I have yet to play with it. This is one heavy unit! It is a future project.

polaraman

My knowledge of the reliability of these old capacitors and my ethics prevent me from even considering selling anything like this on Ebay.

It goes to show that there are still suckers(and either ignorant or dishonest sellers) born every day.

I've got a one gallon baggie of brown devils, little chiefs, and that, and pulled a bunch of Black beuties out of my RCA tv. And, I have three more chassi's full of beutiful BB caps!
My next phonograph will be an Edison TRiumph with an oak music master horn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:banana: Bill Cahill:banana:

In my humble opinion it is not a good price.

folks,
Over the weekend I was having a discussion at a party with a gentleman who is into restoring vintage guitars and amplifiers. I happened to mention to him the very subject of this thread. He told me that people who restore the early Les Paul guitars and early amps use these caps for authenticity as that was what was in them early on. He mentioned specifically the tone control circuit on the '59 Les Paul guitars used .047uf bumblebees.

i have to admit, this info will make me look at old amps on the bay in a differnt light now...

I live an easy weekend trip away from those villages in China where they pull apart container-loads of old TVs and appliances to recycle the parts. If I knew well enough exactly what to look for (or to show/tell them exactly what to save for me) I could probably get a suitcase (or three) full of these things in no time, and probably pay on a pennies-per-pound basis... :scratch2: Hhhmmmm.....

Are there easy, safe (economically and otherwise) ways to learn to recognize EXACTLY which caps people find "desireable"?


EDIT: ON second thought, I just had a better look at the listings for Bumblebees (other than just that one auction). Seems like MOST of them are not so pricey at all, and (at least so far) no one has spring for the pricey listing. Maybe there isn't so big an opportunity here, after all.

Anybody that uses those caps in a amp with 500 volts across it is nuts. I will stand by what I'm saying. And how would they know what it would sound like when the cap was new. They only reason I could see to install them would be in a look at only amp that is never used. They were bad then and they are bad now. I wonder how one of these guys would feel if he was playing in a concert and his 40 year old Bumblebee let go in his amp, blowing it up.

Anybody that uses those caps in a amp with 500 volts across it is nuts. I will stand by what I'm saying. And how would they know what it would sound like when the cap was new. They only reason I could see to install them would be in a look at only amp that is never used. They were bad then and they are bad now. I wonder how one of these guys would feel if he was playing in a concert and his 40 year old Bumblebee let go in his amp, blowing it up.

Exactly, anyone who would use one of these caps in an HV circuit would be nuts, but i could see them being used in the tone control circuits of guitar pickups.

All joking aside, I agree with you guys.. I know that when they were brand new, the amps sounded fine, like the new caps do now. But, within a couple of years they were already starting to fail. The people playing the instruments were complainning that the sound was getting distorted.
Watch a Sangamo cap go when it shorts... Beutiful explosion!

These modern collectors are too wet around the ears, and don't know what they are doing. They really need trainning in what this equpment really sounded like new, and tha failure rate.

That is the one thing In old tube equipment, especially with the low grade caps., that failed the most. CAPACITORS!

After that it was tubes, resistors, and audio output transformers. We sure replaced our sharre of those at the tv shop.In Everything. Particularly in the cheaper equipment.
Bill Cahill :yes: