Astron V Mustard Capacitors (Vintage Replica Comparison) 

Glad you uploaded this man. I just finished two deluxe builds - one with red the other with yellow jupiters and I noticed a stark difference. I already dropped the one amp off to my client so I couldn't go back and do a proper a/b comparison so the question was constantly nagging in my head. My memory of the two builds is congruent with this video. The reds seemingly allowed for more high end response and allowed for a much grittier sounding circuit.

One of the best comparisons ever. Thanks

Wow! Such a difference. I can’t say which one is better, but I’m just amazed.

I liked the yellow, the red seemed to cut off too much treble. Great demo.

Good video. All I know is that the Mustard Caps outlive the reds and most other brands. I have found/tested/ installed 60 year old Mustard astrons and they still work like new!! Be good to have both sets in a chassis and switch to choose "Yellow/Red" cos Humbuckers sound woodier and clearer with the yellow and Strat/tele with reds cos of the extra "lift" , let's face it they all sound good and if you can do it just have 2 amps yellow/red. Don't need pedals coz they smother the natural tone. Best tone I heard was the yellows with a les paul.P90 special with the vol at 4/5 on the guitar, clean and almost acoustic in character. More experiments please.

These capacitors generally have the average tolerance of 30%, (current manufactures says 10% but in 1950, the tolerance reached 50%) which can change in a lot, the gain, the bass and treble using the same parts is impossible 2 amplifiers be the same. the correct test should be done with identical capacitors on both amplifiers but this is impossible in practice.

Don't throw your old bumblebee/astron/whatever caps out if they're leaky. You can boil them in wax to get the moisture out and it will have 0 leakage after that, for a year now the ones I "reformed" haven't gotten leaky. Take some wax, paraffin or beeswax, or mix them, melt it in a can, over a candle. Then with caps like astrons, try to break off the outside shell without damaging the internals, then put it in the wax (make sure it's hot enough to boil the water out, which it will start to show bubbles when you put in the cap)... Then leave it there until the bubbles completely stop, takes around 5 hours. If you want to reform them with mineral oil instead you'll have to get a vacuum pump, otherwise the oil decomposes at the high temperature, although it still works and doesn't leak. With a vacuum pump the boiling point of water will be reduced until it boils at room temperature, so put the cap in a can of mineral oil, pull a high vacuum on it, and leave it for again ~5 hours until the bubbles stop Then you can put the shell back on with epoxy or something, if you seal it good enough it shouldnt leak ever again. The reason they leak in the first place is because they aren't sealed good enough and slowly draw in moisture.

Interesting... I liked the sound of the red ones for your clean sounds, but preferred the sound of the yellow caps for the overdriven tones. Very neat, thank you!

ohh my good! That cond sound SO different!

I had to watch this twice. Once to hear the difference in the capacitors, and a second time to enjoy the beauty of the video without the sound.

Nice come back in a few months of playing each and do it.

Unique video... Thank-You, very inspiring info indeed !!

wow the yellow ones seem more mellow

On clean tone the vintage ones sounds more open (or less low mids maybe) and with overdrive tone its just opposite. Interesting comparison.

Great comparison video!It was very helpful.BTW,what is the name of piano music in intro of video?I love it.Pls tell me.

Hi, wow that's pretty interesting I do like the tone with yellow mustard the most, thanks for the video.

I don't think you can say this is a true A/B test as it is assumed the amps are exactly the same. You have to ask yourself what is the tolerance on the transformers? The resistors have a 5% tolerance too, even the tolerance of the caps makes a difference. In short, I'm saying this test isn't terrible, but I think there are limitations to it. I would have used a looper to play though the amp too that way you can attribute difference to not playing the guitar riffs exactly the same.

Definitely heard some differences on certain licks. Other licks,not as much. I DO like Jupiter,tho. I hear techs say theyo don’t do anything special or sound unique. And if you’re building 500 amps at one time for sales, they probably aren’t special enough to make sense. But they’re GREAT for certain repairs in certain amps or for building a small number of amps to play yourself or to sell. Sozo’s are ALSO great. Especially their silver mica’s.They seem to sound like a nice mix of ceramic and film capacitors

Red cap amp seems to have more clarity or sizzle on the treble side and the yellow cap amp seems a little warmer sounding, still both sound great!

The difference in the voltage rating of the caps will make a slight difference. A higher voltage rated cap has a thicker internal metal film coil which will cause more resistance in the signal. The possible reason the red caps have more "buzz" or output is because they have less material for the signal to travel through and therefore more output. I've done this exact experiment on a strat and lower voltage rated caps had more output.

Awesome test and looks at one go !!! But still youtube does not give a complete idea. Tell me. And if in the crossover acoustics put Jupiter Vintage tone, it will sound good ????? And what kind of sound do you think they have ??? Tonality, softness, emotionality, detail ???? Thank you!!!

Much prefer the reds, although the first mild OD tone of the yellows was sweet. Yellows sounded nasally, reds a little punchier. But then I like a Strat rather than a LP, so maybe it's personal preference for glassier tones.

That was a really cool little shootout. The Astrons seemed a little brighter, but the tone of the Yellow Mustards was just plain tasty! Is this the same amp that you built last year? The one with the carbon fiber shell?

This comparison really isn't fair. The only way you could really tell is to use the same amp and swap the caps. The resistors have tolerance too and no way to say they're all the same between both amps. That tolerance difference on a resistor could make a difference in tube bias, etc.

I keep going back and forth.. I do think the reds feel more vintage, especially on overdrive. Anyway, another great video!

Way cool editing.

Legendary one piece LP))) Love that guitar)))

I like Team Red.....

The clean sound is Great

caps in the signal path make a huge difference in tone. I wouldn't go overboard with the whole overpriced vintage voodoo. as long as the caps are high quality the amp will sound great. I prefer Mallorys and Spragues

Red might sound better with humbuckers, yellow with single coils

What happens at the 1:20 mark, I hear some crunchies? Are you using any effects? The reds seem brighter, but have a nicer crunch. To me anyway. I just finished all of the function tests on a brown Deluxe build. I'm thinking I will use the yellows.

Very cool... Any chance of another documented guitar build (and views of your cool workshop) in the near future?

I'm failry sure you aren't Chef John. But that's OK. I forgive you. :)

red are clearer sounding more in the highs

The Jupiter Yellow Mustards definitely have a warmer tone than the Red Astrons.

what is the red caps???

Hi. this is really surprising and drives me to think that as there is no magic in electronics has to be a reason giving potentially the 80% of the sound change. Pareto lwa should apply here. I like this kind of test.... I would like to see which one of the caps is making the most of the difference in tone .I tend to think that most of them are not relevant in the tone change but has to be some very specific of them giving the most part of the effect. From that point of understanding will be possible to ascertain the real reason of the change. Off course the difference in the sound is not because something is "vintage" ( this is what "vintage" equipment sellers wants us to believe and then to pay a fortune for it...). Looks like there is a higher low pass effect from using the old one than in the replica. If the cacitance is identical then we will have to look for some other factors like the dielectric residual impedance . Regards

I looked at Jupiter capacitors about 15 years ago when all they had were the wax filled. Their prices are unreal, just like Jenson. Now they offer paper in oil, but they are using mineral oil; the same stuff you use to light an oil burning lamp. They are a fire hazard. Askarel was the fluid used in capacitors when they discovered that mineral oil in electronic devices causes fires in the early 1900s. Now it is a banned substance. Jupiter is not a sane company to buy from in my opinion. They write their own rules and charge for their labor as if someone has given them some kind of divine rights. I’d like to see the difference between the sound you’re getting with these two Jupiter caps and the original vintage ones from that era.

Hi, Did you check their real capacitance and compare the old ones to replicas? I suppose that the old ones could lose some capacitance over time due to aging, this could explain the sound difference.

nice - the reds are warmer or thicker in the mids the yellow seem cleaner

interesting ty. maybe tune next time?

What if you mix them?

I appreciate the intent, but the performance needs to be much more consistent to hear the differences.

Red=darker in a pleasant way. Shows how subjective this stuff is.

good comparation tanks

Looks like rebranded mallory 150 caps which according to most botique builders are the finest components, i do not agree but who am i to cast shade on an enterprise, clever no? Dont get me started on bozo caps.

Team Yellow

ok

Still thses caps need about 200 hours of break in time before they sweeten up -

I am not expert here, but shouldn't all that be shielded in the cabinet instead of in the open air? I know even having light hit the parts can induce sound. Cool video though. good job overall, just my two cents.

I can´t subscribe to you chanel... ?? How strange, now it works... Honestly No idea why it was unsubbed...

reds seem tinny

I hate Jupiter caps.