Scott Henderson Discussion

[Tommy]

Hi, Scott! First of all, I really want to thank you, thank you, thank you for out-of-this-world music and this Q&A forum - in the last couple of years, you were my beacon - music-wise, and tone-wise. I've learned so much transcribing You, and I've learned a great deal about Tone in this forum. I think this should be ''Guitarist Bible'' or something... Onto my questions:
1) What cap value do you use for tone pot these days? I've read through Index, but there seems to be more than one answer. Is .047nF Orange Drop okay?
2) I find my Maxon SD-9 kinda microphonic - if I tap my foot on the jack of input cable, I hear it in my amp. I tried switching cables (all high-end) to no avail. Otherwise, the pedal is doing it's job, never goes hissing, and I never had a trouble with it, but it bothers me... So, based on your experience, is it normal for that pedal, or is mine malfunctioning? I never turn it up all the way, it's on mild settings.
Thanks again, Scott!

[Scott Henderson]

Wow, this could be the dumbest answer I've ever given - I don't know the value of the cap on my tone control. I always thought it was 047 for single coils and 022 for humbuckings, but then I found a post where I'm saying that I use a 022 on my Suhr guitars. So, my answer is - I use whatever value Suhr puts in there. Give them a call and ask them - 951 471-2334.

Your SD-9 shouldn't make those sounds - sometimes that can be caused by dirty jacks. I use an electronics cleaner and spray it on a Q-tip - I'm sometimes amazed by how much dirt gets in there. If it's not that, time to take it in for repair. Mine is dead quiet when I tap on it anywhere.

[Scott Henderson]

Nevermind, don't call John - I talked to him. As I suspected, my single coil guitars have 047 caps, and the humbucking guitars have 022. I don't know why I said that I use an 022 - I might have been thinking of my guitar with the humbucking bridge pickup.

John doesn't like ceramic caps, even though they were used in the old strats. He likes polypropylene, metalized polyester, and the green mylar caps. He says the difference in those three materials are subtle to the ear and possibly even unnoticeable, but he thinks that ceramic caps can sound harsh. The Orange Drops were made in ceramic material as well as other materials, so I don't know which ones are the good ones. That info is probably on the web somewhere.

[Tommy]

Thanks a lot for such a detailed response, I really appreciate it. You're the man! I checked the web - new production Orange Drops are made either from polypropylene or polyester, so I guess I'm safe there. Best wishes, Scott!