"The stripes" are not provided on lots of the (high-quality, nevertheless) metallized polyester and polyester film/foil caps that are routinely used by DIY builders: CDE 225P "orange drops", CDE "Mallory" 150s, CDE WMF and WMC -- and the derivatives by Vishay, Illinois, etc. Only the vintage molded and other caps, and some of the boutique (Sozo, Jupiter) caps seem to have them; but as Ronnie Rayguns said: "Trust, but Verify".
That's exactly where I started, and I think I said so. In practice, it doesn't work like you say at all -- the cap will hum when connected in either direction with respect to the clips, just maybe a bit less (or more) in one direction than the other, and determining which hum is lesser is often difficult. I ended by being dissatisfied about how long an interval in time there was between test in one direction and the other, plus, when the circuit is opened (clips removed but not shorted together) there's a God-awful louder hum from the amp (which is why input jacks are "shorted" type, to short the input when there's no jack plug inserted). As explained above, the device I made solves both the temporal and big unwanted noise problems, for me anyway. YMMV.
My WAG is the stripe is just there for looks, I say this based on the fact that the datasheet is very detailed and includes description of all the markings on the casing, and no mention of foils. The line would be more suspicious to me if the factory/date code marking wasn't sideways like it is.
I know they're missing, but they should have been marked- that's a big ask, though. Since I'm not doing production, it's not hard to determine this.
Hey, I'm just trying to do the best I can with caveman electronic tools -- my WAG is that if you really want to know which lead connects to outer corner of foil, use the oscilloscope method.
Uh-uh, I wasn't making any such reference. No Teles were harmed or even involved in any of the foregoing, on my part.
Was just about to post this. I got a set of 10 ones with Dupont connectors and silicone wires on Amazon for like $5. They fit into tighter places too.
Uh, I don't understand how a DPST switch could be wired as a SPDT -- to me ST or DT means how many positions (throws) a switch has, which can't typically be changed. In any event, I shouldn't have spoken without investigating how a Gibson switch works -- It seems pretty obvious looking at Gibson pickup wiring diagrams that there's typically a single ground, and all the switch is doing is grounding one pickup, the other, or (middle position) neither, with no opportunity to switch polarity. But then I go to Switchcraft's site, and see versions with 5 or 6 conductors. Plus, I can't really find any schematics for these switches; so lacking anything other than one of these to try out with my DMM (which I haven't done yet), I should leave that out.
I'll have to try to find information about one of these, or get a real live one.
"Double throw" confuses me -- DT toggle switches can be either 2 position or 3 position, like SPDT and DPDT you have illustrated. It would be simpler if the terminology left "throw" out of it and simply indicated how many positions, then specified whether each was on, off, (on), (off). Like slide switches are described.Here's a little animation I did years ago to show how switches are named based on how they work.
The problem with the ones I used (bought as a bag of 10 on eBay, which is about as good a guarantee of quality and satisfaction with the product as buying from Amazon) is that the sheath insulator is a bit tight, so that the clamping force and bite are reduced. Mueller sells ones that look better, tighter around the wire end, but more capacious where the clip "handle" needs to rotate freely.
