I am writing this in response to some concerns on both the UNOFFICIAL LES PAUL FORUM and the Gibson Custom Shop Discussion Forum about the bumble bee caps and their authenticity,construction, specifications and the approach to reissuing any hardware on Historic Product. First of all, to all of the guys that are experts about capacitors just work through the first part of this with me because there are so many people that I have heard toss around descriptions like ceramic, oil filled, foil, mylar,teflon, and paper I feel a little general information is necessary to clarify. The actual definition of a capacitor is: An electronic circuit element used to store charge temporarily, consisting in general of two metallic plates separated by a dielectric. One of the main differences between the various styles of capacitors is the dielectric medium used. In a ceramic capacitor the dielectric is ceramic. The parts used in this style of capacitor consist of the metal plates which have the solder leads attached to them and the dielectric which is ceramic. This is also the most inexpensive capacitor available with the poorest ability to hold a charge. The next one is a mylar capacitor. With this one, it also consists of two metal plates which are the points that you solder and the dielectric which in this case is mylar. The capacitor with the highest quality material and performance is a teflon capacitor.


Reissue bumblebee leads
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Typically this style is used in higher end custom audio applications where exacting tolerances are necessary. If you go back to the days of antique radios, you will notice some of the first capacitors were oil filled capacitors. With this style capacitor it consists of two conductors which are the metal plates and the dielectric material which is oil. Typically these parts had a metal can around them so that the oil would be contained. There were many materials used as the dielectric material including paper and foil. As many of you know also on any old electronic part the variations in different tolerances were much greater than now. What was considered a high quality part in the 40's and 50's was a variation of +/- 20%. By today's standard that is totally unacceptable. Once again the bottom line is the metal plates generate a charge when a signal is sent into them and the dielectric material holds the charge and releases it on a constant. So with all of that said let me get into how this project was approached.

So many times when I R & D parts or models for reissues I get assistance both positively and negatively from many sources and all input is appreciated. But in addition to this input I also have access to a vast amount of engineering documents,blueprints, and purchasing records dating back to the '40s, '50s, '60s etc. So many times when it appears that someone at Gibson has not reissued a part or a guitar to a particular individual's idea of what it should be, the closest most realistic information from a manufacturing standpoint is the documentation that we used to make the parts/guitars originally (even though sometimes there are variations between what the blueprint says and what the part ends up looking like).


Reissue bumblebee foil
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When I started this project I contacted Sprague (the original manufacturer of Bumble bee capacitors), and got as much information from them as I could. Next I went to our purchasing records and searched until I found the vendors that were the distributors and actually sold Gibson the parts. On these documents I found not only the vendors names but also the exact description of the parts and the specifications. Next I went to see if there were any blueprints but I did not have much luck there. Oh one other thing I forgot to mention one of the things I keep in my possession here at the Custom Shop are many original pickup, control assembly, and pickguard sample parts from as far back as the 40's including an original Double 12 wiring harness dated on March 1958 on the inventory/tracking tag. So once I found a vendor willing to listen to my request I sent him 5 original Bumblebee capacitors to run tests on with the specifications from my purchasing records. Once he ran the tests he informed me that to a degree there was a varied range of the voltage and capacitance. Two of the capacitors read exceptionally high indicating some kind of breakdown within the dielectric material (foil).

Three of the capacitors were right on with what I had found in our records and with what the capacitor was supposed to be spec wise according to the color bands on both the original and the new. It was very easy to see but we still ran the test to make sure the color bands were actually what the part was. For those of you who do not know how to read the color bands on a capacitor, (it is different than a resistor), I have attached a sheet explaining. Next I discussed the actual construction, material and dimensions. I wanted the wire size on the leads, shape, color bands, tooling marks,color and all to be as close as possible but most importantly it had to be a foil capacitor with a dielectric at least comparable to the original brown craft paper and the specifications had to match the original bumble bees. On the reissue bumble bees the dielectric material we ended up going with was a poly film that exhibited the same properties as the craft paper did. This decision was made based on numbers and manufacturing issues. It is simple math, if one material conducts at a certain rate then if you find another comparable material and make the necessary adjustments be it in size, thickness, or turns the you end up with the same desired result. On the first samples they sent me they were plain without the shell just the foil and leads showing so that I could approve the construction. Next came the outside shell with the color bands and tool marks. Finally came the finished part.


Original bumblebee foil
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I did not take these and x-ray them but as with all good R&D'd projects, there are sacrifices. So attached I have put some of the tech sheets from my vendor for you to read over, along with some detailed pictures and my measurements I took of an original bumble bee I took apart and some other ones of a recent new reissue bumble bee's so that everyone is very clear that this is not a ceramic capacitor in a nice package but truly a foil capacitor, like the original bumble bees, in an injection molded case, like the original bumble bees.

Earlier on in this I said I appreciate all input and I do; it helps all of us at Gibson make better decisions about the product. But I still find it amazing that some people still think that someone is out to get them. I remember '80s Les Pauls that were not even the right shape, had the wrong necks, peghead shapes, routes, made from African Mahogany not even the same species, wrong binding size, wrong hardware and at that time this is what the company offered as a reissue style guitar! Yet now in 2003 when we go through the greatest lengths to make the guitars correct, when we use the highest quality materials ever in the company's history, the body shapes, necks, pegheads, neck tenons, pickups, pots, capacitors, and aluminum stopbars are more accurate and close to an original that ever, there are still individuals that feel we are out to pull one over on them. The things I mentioned above are the most important elements in any guitars sound and playability, except for one thing I left out..... the guy playing it.


Original bumblebee leads
Click for larger image

Our intent with the bumble bee capacitor was to make a reissue capacitor as authentic as possible using the same basic elements that the original ones used, with the same specifications and performance, to make a part that in 20 or 30 years was still going to perform as well then as it did new, to improve the quality of sound of the guitars and be another contributing factor in making these guitars one step closer in sound and playability to an original, And the greatest guitars that anyone could ever own. And we feel very strongly as do many others that we have accomplished this. If there are any further questions about this or any other parts/guitar issues, before any wrong assumptions are made, please feel free to get in contact with me directly at ewilson@gibson.com, or use the Historic Program Discussion Forum found at www.gibsoncustom.com.

* See additional documents below


HOW TO READ CAPACITOR VALUES

WARNING FROM THE MANUFACTURER THAT FURTHER TESTING MAY DAMAGE CAPACITORS

MANUFACTURER'S SPEC SHEET SHOWING REISSUE CAPS MEETING GIBSON SPECS


BUMBLEBEE CAPACITOR COMPARISON

ORIGINAL BUMBLEBEES

Lead Size: .025" to .035"
Foil Dimensions: height .890" tall, .0005" thick
Paper: Thin, brown craft paper; height .900", thickness .001"
Layers: foil/paper/foil/paper (4-ply)
Ends: lead based metal, 60/40 lead/tin


2003 BUMBLEBEES

Lead Size: .025"
Foil Dimensions: height .650" tall, .0015" thick
Poly (separator/dialectric): height .750" tall, .0015" thick
Layers: foil/poly/foil/poly (4-ply)
Ends: lead based


Edwin Wilson
Historic Program Manager
Gibson Custom, Art & Historic Division