Luxe vs. RS jensens

[wedewer]

Have RS jensens in my Les Paul classic, thinking about replacing the caps in my R9. Am I going to hear any difference over the stock R9 caps and can anyone tell me any difference between the jensen and the luxe.

One more question. MY 06 R9 Vos that is stock is wired in the modern style and not 50's wiring. Is this common and how much of a difference will I hear if I switch to the 50's.

Thanks

 

[Aran]

I can't vouch for the Jensens but I do like the Luxes. I can't vouch either for Modern vs 50s because I went for a full kit from RS wired 50s and I can at least tell you the pots are a HUGE improvement. A much better taper. I can actually control the volume better. I use my volume and when I first got the LP I had issues with them.

Some have said tone wise 50s can be brighter but that is other's experience. I do like it in my 06 R9 VOS. I have the stock BBs in still and love the tone.

I got this kit.

Hope that helps.

 

[Giraffecaster]

luxes are just modern caps that have a repro cover to look like old ones, right?

 

[Aran]

luxes are just modern caps that have a repro cover to look like old ones, right?

Russian (I believe) PIO caps with Bumblebee covers.

 

[Sterling#Sound]

I'm not really sure. I used to have Hovland caps and moving to the Luxe Bumblebees was a big improvement (if you can call that tone area 'big'). The Hovland's are a lot tighter and more hifi. The Luxe are very creamy and warm. Very musical although electronics experts will disagree based on the values.

I have an RS SG set and a strat set and I believe those are Jensens. Great too.

 

[Bhodie]

An electrical engineer would tell you there is no difference in PIO (Paper in Oil) caps of the same value.. in fact, and electrical engineer would tell you there is no difference between any caps of the same values and parameters.. and the Luxe are just a vintage looking cover over some Russian PIO caps.. I think what you really hear is probably covered by a lot of the work you did and money you spent

The Pots are a little different. The Gibson pots have a 20% tolerance, so you could have a 600K ohm pot for the neck and a 400 for the bridge.. RS and other kits "match" the pots which have a closer tolerance. So depending on the luck of the draw as to what went in the guitar in the first place.. you may or may not hear much change. The other variable is how much you "use" the volume pots.. are you changing the volume at the guitar alot? If you tend to dime everything, you will also not hear as much change compared to if you ride your volume control.

In my R9 I have Russian PIO caps and used .015 at the neck and .022 at the bridge, and wire in the 50's style. I find it a little warmer in the neck, and more usable through the volume range.

YMMV and depending on how comfortable you are doing the work yourself (chance of screwing up, dropping a soldering iron on the back of your guitar, etc... or if you have to pay a tech to do it..) you might want to look at other options as these factors (Pots, Caps) have the smallest impact on tone compared to say, different pickups, thicker strings, raising the string height, lowering the pickup height, amp settings, or if the guitar is just sonically a duller sounding instrument (it happens unfortunately since wood has a lot of variable parameters itself)

Good luck!

 

[bartmcartman]

The Jensens have a warmer rounder low end than the Luxe's. The Luxe repros will give you a bit broader midrange and a bit more bite than the jensens. I've had both in my r8. I liked the jensens with the stock burstbuckers as it gave it more warmth while still remaining clear and took some of the burstbucker harshness away. Gave them more depth and dimension. The Luxe repros are in my r8 right now with a set of firewaters and sound really nice and woody. Both were improvements over the stock caps.