re-capping sets and capacitors

[wiseguy]

someone tell me why used bumble bee capacitors go for so much money on e-bay..i am confused..
http://cgi.ebay.com/2-SPRAGUE-BUMBLE...QQcmdZViewItem

[jpdylon]

I think the next time I re-cap a set I'll put those on ebay.

why anyone wants to buy a potential time bomb is beyond me.

[kx250rider]

Originally Posted by jpdylon

I think the next time I re-cap a set I'll put those on ebay.

why anyone wants to buy a potential time bomb is beyond me.

Either a fraud (no evidence in the listing), or there is a village missing an idiot again. I have a set of used, dried-out rubber Diesel injector pump seals sitting outside. I think I'll put them on ebay.

Charles

[Dave S]

Originally Posted by wiseguy

someone tell me why used bumble bee capacitors go for so much money on e-bay..i am confused..

A quick search seems to indicate that these particular caps are the "original" and "correct" tone capacitors in the Gibson Les Paul Guitar. I guess guitar collectors are at least as nutty as TV collectors (more so if you know anything about vintage capacitors!)

--Dave

[Chad Hauris]

The thing is...these caps may not do any harm in a guitar pickup circuit as there is no DC or highj voltage but they sure won't make the guitar sound like it was when it was new. Maybe some have gotten to like the sound produced by the lowered leakeage resistance from these bad old caps.

[Eric H]

I guess since some of those guitars are worth many thousands of $$, $100 to make it original isn't such a big deal, even if you can't actually see the caps...

[andy]

...

[bgadow]

When I first noticed this trend I started saving them and currently have at least a coffee can full. Good way to pay for the new caps-maybe Radio Daze or JustRadios will start taking them on trade-in!?

[Phil Nelson]

Yes, the high spenders are guitar collectors and restorers. I regularly get queries about these caps from visitors to my website.

So far, I've resisted the temptation to paw through my sacks of replaced components, even though I'm the kind of person who never throws away anything except solder blobs scraped off the workbench.

From what people have told me, some actually prefer a "raw" (i.e., distorted) sound (lots of electric guitar playing involves distortion, after all). Others want a correct -- or more correct -- part no matter what it sounds like.

I suspect that some of the latter group are collecting guitars that may be rarely or never played. Of course, as the owner of many radios and several TVs, I would never confess to owning any "shelf queens" that rarely get played :-)

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

[Arkay]

Originally Posted by Phil Nelson

So far, I've resisted the temptation to paw through my sacks of replaced components, even though I'm the kind of person who never throws away anything except solder blobs scraped off the workbench.
...
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html

What?! You WASTE those scraped-off solder blobs? How extravagant! How environmentally unfriendly! [Just kidding, of course! ]

I wonder if any of those guitar-restoring cap-collectors replace the interiors of the old caps with smaller, newer caps, keeping the outsides to maintain orginal appearance? Other electronics restorers do that; there are threads about it right here on AK. Its the best use I can think of for aging time bombs like that... unless someone has a "capacitor museum" somewhere?!

[Phil Nelson]

Originally Posted by Arkay

I wonder if any of those guitar-restoring cap-collectors replace the interiors of the old caps with smaller, newer caps, keeping the outsides to maintain orginal appearance?

"Restuffing" is very easy to do with paper and electrolytic caps, and I show how to do it on my website. The plastic-coated Black Beauties & similar don't lend themselves to the same treatment. The plastic shell is thin and brittle, the painted stripes easily rub off, etc.

I know a couple of detail fanatics who have replicated Black Beauty cases around new caps, and even done the same for old carbon resistors. I suspect they are people with a model-building background (i.e., extreme patience and manual dexterity).

Phil Nelson
Phil's Old Radios
http://antiqueradio.org/index.html