Bumblebee caps at MF ... not for me!!!

[Ringo]

I just got a new Musicians Friend catalog today, they have a section w Gibson parts, now you can get some genuine Gibson bumblebee tone caps, and what a deal , only $112.99 for a pair of them!

http://accessories.musiciansfriend....storic-Bumble-Bee-Capacitors-2pack?sku=H65441

Are they serious? who would pay $112.99 for a pair of repro caps? I wouldn't pay that for some original caps.

 

[tazzboy]

ah no they aren't actually real Bumble bees they are fake ones that Gibson has made from Westco company and they aren't worth that price when can buy vintage Bumbles Bee for a lot less on eBay.

 

[RodeoTex]

Yeah but they offer financing.

What a scam.

 

[deaconque]

Gibson does it again. These days I'm almost ashamed to claim that I like Gibsons. Their sense of "self-elitism" (i know it's not a word ) is upsetting to say the least.

 

[Birdmankustomz]

Is this any different then the $40 LP plastic jack plate? Or the switch tips that are like 15 bucks a pop? I found that pretty much every gibson replacement part is a rip-off

 

[tazzboy]

Don't bother Gibson Parts if want parts look Switchcraft for Parts which is where Gibson gets their selector and jacks made at and mark up the price.

 

[Agave_Blue]

There were some doubts about how real the new Gibson bumblebee caps were. I was told by a friend the caps that Gibson installs these days in its Historic Custom Shop guitars weren't real bumblebees at all. We wanted to find out for sure so my pal ( who is a vet ) x-rayed one and opened one from his R9 LP. This is the result:

Photo of both caps. One is real and the other one is a modern cap labeled as bumbleblee cap by Gibson :
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We x-ray the real one and this is the result:
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We x-ray the new one and ... What the heck is this?
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My friend got his pen knife out and found a decent ( yet plastic ) Wesco capacitor within the fancier bumblebee clone:
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Isn't that outrageous or what??!!

What a joke.

 

[fenderaddict]

Gibson is gradually working their way to becoming a laughingstock. They already have in my mind. Haven't owned one in years and never will again. This just re-affirms my feelings about gibson. You have to figure that if they will go this far in BS'ing you about a pair of caps at 100 times what they're worth, how can you trust anything they say about their uber expensive line up of guitars?

 

[CyanideJunkie]

I think it's pretty much gone downhill ever since they released the robot Les Paul... And the Hendrix Strat debacle; Ugh...

 

[Rob DiStefano]

the whole 'vitnage' deal about tone pot caps in passive guitar circuits is stupid silly. all that matters with these kinda caps is the initial value, the tolerance and the build. anything else is pure manufactured bullsh!t.

 

[zook]

the whole 'vitnage' deal about tone pot caps in passive guitar circuits is stupid silly. all that matters with these kinda caps is the initial value, the tolerance and the build. anything else is pure manufactured bullsh!t.

Ditto. There's so much hype out there these days that you can't believe about 99% of it.

Winnie

 

[3 Chord]

All the caps in the world don't make up for the tone from your fingers. Too much hype these days.

 

[TxTeleMan]

the whole 'vitnage' deal about tone pot caps in passive guitar circuits is stupid silly. all that matters with these kinda caps is the initial value, the tolerance and the build. anything else is pure manufactured bullsh!t.

Yep.

 

[Rob DiStefano]

realize, too, just what a cap does in a guitar circuit. when connected to a pickup (as with an esquire) or when used in series with a 'tone pot', it shunts treble to ground and leaves the signal with a increasing amounts of muddy mid-range. when strapped across a vol pot's input and wiper, it shunts treble signal directly to the output jack. so, think of a cap in a guitar's circuit as a conduit of treble - channeling it out of the signal, or injecting it directly out to yer fx/amp/whatever.

 

[TxTeleMan]

Find an old TV repairman (if you can) and ask him if a "bumble bee" or "orange drop" will make a TV get a better picture. LOL

 

[Dan German]

the whole 'vitnage' deal about tone pot caps in passive guitar circuits is stupid silly. all that matters with these kinda caps is the initial value, the tolerance and the build. anything else is pure manufactured bullsh!t.

I'm with you there. But cashing in on the hype by disguising a component as something it's not (whether it makes a difference or not) is BS of a whole 'nother level. Although there is a voice inside of me saying "well, if people want to get took, let 'em get took."

 

[Rob DiStefano]

I'm with you there. But cashing in on the hype by disguising a component as something it's not (whether it makes a difference or not) is BS of a whole 'nother level. Although there is a voice inside of me saying "well, if people want to get took, let 'em get took."

yep - THAT is criminal.

 

[msfenderarg]

you have to give the guys some credit, I mean, they start/incite a "cap-craze" creating a niche market for -presumably-yet-not-true-to-vintage- CAPS! ,at ludicrous prizes, and sell them!
what a scam!

 

[winny pooh]

All the losers on the internet claiming the tonal benefits of caps are the ones to blame. Gibson is just cashing in on the resulting silliness

 

[clydethecat]

Don Butler smashed open a new Gibson bumblebee cap and found the same as above: