Ceramic Vs Paper In Oil Caps

Pio caps were used in the les pauls of the 50 s and many appreciate their tonal qualities over more modern capacitors.

Ceramic vs paper in oil caps.

Truth be told i don t like one more than the other because i can t tell a difference. Briefly a capacitor in the context of musical electronics consists of two plates of conducting metal separated by an insulating layer called a dielectric for example if you took two rolls of aluminum foil and unrolled them sandwiching a layer of paper between that would make a capacitor. The bumble bee caps were later replaced by the black beauties which contained a winding of aluminum foil and paper film along with oil and were printed with the specs. They still have the kraft paper in oil construction like the vintage russians but these are hermetically sealed metal tubes with glass ends so the value will not drift over time.

Paper in oil or pio caps are just one variety of capacitor. Others are made out of mylar ceramic etc. Did i just buy some magic beans or the brooklyn bridge. The cheap ceramic caps are a little different story.

Capacitors are energy storage devices that filter the high frequencies. These caps were filled with paper in a special oil inside of bakelite bodies with the original nema color codes printed on them this is how many resistors are still printed. I bought a bunch of vintage paper in oil caps.