Source For Small Quantities Of Resistors And Capacitors

[CCK1]

Greetings,

Anyone know of a good source for small quantities (10-20) of resistors and capacitors? I'm experimenting with treble bleed circuits, and don't really want or need the big assortments, just a few components of different values. All I've been able to find are the assortments, or online sellers that have a $20 minimum order. I really miss the days of the neighborhood Radio Shack!

Thanks!

 

[Telecentric]

https://www.tubesandmore.com/

 

[Peegoo]

Amazon.

 

[jimgchord]

Digikey or mouser are your best bet. Order one or a thousand.

 

[Mister_Hand]

Ebay is great for small quantities of stuff. For Treble bleed circuits, you can use some of the smaller circuit board-mounted components too and there are a lot of +/- 5% value components that can be had cheaply.

 

[denny]

I'll second DigiKey. I have ordered from them since the old mail-order catalog (and four week delivery) days in the '70s. In fact, I have a shipment of parts coming from them today. They used to have a slogan "No order too small". They will have just about anything you need in electronic parts.

Also rans... Mouser and Jameco.

Hope this helps.
denny

 

[beninma]

Why not just buy some variety packs and be done with it instead of trying to order individual values?

For $20 you should be able to get a variety pack each of hundreds to thousands of resistors & capacitors in the ranges that guitars would use in a treble bleed.

Any of the random brands on Amazon should be fine for something like a treble bleed that essentially has tiny current and voltage.

It's not like this stuff takes much space or goes bad.

 

[Engine Swap]

Digikey or mouser are your best bet. Order one or a thousand.

+1 on both of these sources. Great service and no minimums. And yes, I miss Radio Shack for this stuff.

 

[Peegoo]

Pay close attention to shipping costs when comparing prices across vendors.

 

[tubegeek]

Tayda is another option. Low cost, "meh" quality, decent selection.

Ebay or Amazon works too as long as you're not looking for genuine through-hole JFETs.

 

[Zepfan]

I use AES or SmallBear.

 

[beanluc]

+1 to the variety packs from Amazon. For $5 each I got 300 caps in 30 different values, and 600 resistors in 30 different values. Not all of the values are going to be useful for guitar circuits, but just yesterday I used the two kits to experiment with 5 different treble-bleed circuits in 3 different configurations.

Settled on hybrid Tonesaver config (basically it’s both Duncan and Kinman at the same time, with 2 resistors) with very different component values than Fender’s stock ones. They make it with a 1200pF cap, a 130K resistor in parallel, and a 20K resistor in series. My goal was to get a bleed network that remains as close as possible to neutral (no change at all in tone) as volume is changed, while preserving adequate volume-knob sweep (no ****ed-up taper). What gets me there turns out to be a .010uF cap, a 47K resistor in parallel, and a 220K resistor in series. So much for “one size fits all”, right?

 

[beanluc]

I’m about to remove the test leads and permanently solder in the tone stuff now.

 

[TimTam]

If you're into experimentation with different values, by definition you need a single example of lots of different values. That's hard. As suggested, you can buy the big sample bags of pots and caps, but then you have to measure them all ! In the end it may be cheaper/easier to just order all the common values, even if you only buy one of each. If you're heavily into experimentation, you could get a resistance wheel (or just a pot !) ...

Similar for capacitance ..

Or both ...

 

[DougM]

Parts Express?

 

[edvard]

https://www.taydaelectronics.com
Decent selection of lots of nice parts, GREAT prices, typical Asian budget quality (resistor leads are notoriously thin, but they work just as well). However, their ICs are the genuine article; if they say they have a batch of TDA2050s, you can be rest assured they aren't fakes, and their angled 1/4" phono plugs (Switchcraft 226 clones) are an absolute STEAL. Watch their Facebook page for coupons.

Radio Shack still exists, by the way, online and as Radio Shack Express locations that are installed in HobbyTown stores.
(link removed)
Click the "Radio Shack Express @ HobbyTown" button in the "Filter by store type" list.
I see you're in North Georgia; if you are close to Kennesaw or Buford Hobbytown stores, they both have Radio Shack Express sections that stock small parts like RS used to.

 

[CCK1]

https://www.taydaelectronics.com
Decent selection of lots of nice parts, GREAT prices, typical Asian budget quality (resistor leads are notoriously thin, but they work just as well). However, their ICs are the genuine article; if they say they have a batch of TDA2050s, you can be rest assured they aren't fakes, and their angled 1/4" phono plugs (Switchcraft 226 clones) are an absolute STEAL. Watch their Facebook page for coupons.

Radio Shack still exists, by the way, online and as Radio Shack Express locations that are installed in HobbyTown stores.
(link removed)
Click the "Radio Shack Express @ HobbyTown" button in the "Filter by store type" list.
I see you're in North Georgia; if you are close to Kennesaw or Buford Hobbytown stores, they both have Radio Shack Express sections that stock small parts like RS used to.

I didn't know that the Hobbytown in Buford had a RS section. Buford is pretty convenient for me to drive to. Thanks for the info!

 

[CCK1]

If you're into experimentation with different values, by definition you need a single example of lots of different values. That's hard. As suggested, you can buy the big sample bags of pots and caps, but then you have to measure them all ! In the end it may be cheaper/easier to just order all the common values, even if you only buy one of each. If you're heavily into experimentation, you could get a resistance wheel (or just a pot !) ...

Similar for capacitance ..

Or both ...

That's a good idea! I am a retired electrical engineer and I think, somewhere, deep in the recesses of my basement, I do have a decade box. That would be very helpful in nailing down the exact values that work best. Now I'm headed to the basement with a flashlight!

 

[CCK1]

I’m about to remove the test leads and permanently solder in the tone stuff now.

What values did you end up with?

 

[CCK1]

Pay close attention to shipping costs when comparing prices across vendors.

Yes, that was another consideration, good grief, how much can it actually cost to ship some 1/8 watt resistors, and some 1,200 pF caps! Some vendors were getting $10-15 for something that could probably be shipped with one first class stamp.