Ok, let me dry my tears first before I start this blog... one moment... O lord why??? why??? Why did you end the life of the dearly appreciated and beloved Panasonic Stacked Metal Film (SMF)???
It's been a few years since in 2015 Panasonic declared the ECQ-V series of SMF capacitors EOL (noob: End of Life) and we are now slowly feeling the pain. The stocks are drying up and so they are getting harder to find and of course they are getting more expensive.
What is so special?
Well, that is a good point of discussion. Let's start with some objective reasons.
They are extremely compact. On lower values (<100nF) they are even more compact than MKT (another type of foil capacitor). They got especially famous when modders (and later boutique builders) like Robert Keeley praised their small footprint when used in cramp pedals like Boss. Actually it started with the ECQ-B series which were discontinued in 2009.
But then the new EU laws stated that parts should adhere to the RoHS directive. And guess what... ECQ-V did not meet that directive. So that might be one of the reasons why it was discontinued. Although I could not proof that since the directive already came into force in early 2003.
And now the subjective side. There are loads of people on the web evangalising that the ECQ-V is capable of transforming your run of the mill pedal into a magical soundmachine. It must be made of some sort of angel dust or even unicorns! I made my share of pedals and never really noticed a real difference between similar valued other foil capacitors. But hell yeah, I still mention them in my building instructions as I love them and will miss them for their good sound and small footprint.
Ok, I'm starting a rant again. Sorry.
Alternatives?
Well let's show you a series of foil caps you can safely use in your guitar pedal build as an alternative for the Panasonic SMFs.
They will all make your pedal sound great!
MKT
Small size like the SMF about 6,5mm, but often not that accurate as the other alternatives (+/- 10%). Also not the cheapest caps
FKS2/FKP2/MKS2/MKP2 (WIMA)
They are German.. what else do you need to know? Yes, they are expensive but almost the same small size as MKT (depending on the series) and accurate (5%-10%).
Mylar
Mostely pretty accurate (+/- 5%) and cheap. Only problem can be that they are not the smallest caps. About 9mm in height.
Final thoughts
Do not get fooled by names and myths! The experience of tone and sound in particular is VERY subjective and if you truly want to find the best tone then whip out your.... wait for it... wallet (pfffff) and buy all types you can find and EXPERIMENT!!! Compare same valued components and measure them for drift before coming to any conclusion. I am not saying there are no mythical parts out there, but you will be surprised by the amount of myths you can debunk.
Contact me!
Got any questions? Comments? Rants? Contact me and I will answer! Maybe I will Blog about it. Let me know.
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