Mysteries of the bench case#3: Wolf in chic's clothing?

[The Dude]

It must be April 1st. What could possibly be the point of putting them in a wooden coffin?

Well, according to the instructions, "You can achieve a major improvement in sound if the following is done accurately".

[SoulFetish]

I have occasionally slipped the old cardboard covers back on in very old stuff (30's, 40's) and old radios like Pedro mentioned. But no gluing or anything else, it is very obvious at closer inspection.
Agree with SoulFetish there may have been some deception intended here.

After reading through some of the responses, I guess I can appreciate a desire for the original aesthetic. This is a little obsessive, IMO, but I'm a sucker for presentation and have been known to obsess from time to time myself.
However, I think a good case could be made that this has a financial and functional advantage if one needed to replace some chassis mount can capacitors. Prices of a replacements will hurt your feelings, and often don't have the same footprint.

[g1]

However, I think a good case could be made that this has a financial and functional advantage if one needed to replace some chassis mount can capacitors. Prices of a replacements will hurt your feelings, and often don't have the same footprint.

Oh, and let's not forget about the filter cans with the insulating sleeves on them. (Garnet, Ampeg ?) These are sometimes used in totem pole arrangement where you have 1/2 of supply voltage sitting on the can. You don't want anybody touching them without that sleeve on there!

[Enzo]

I still have some of those bakelite diamond shaped discs for mounting can caps to chassis but insulated from it.

Like these:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Three-Tab-M...-/332151137724

[52 Bill]

I still have some of those bakelite diamond shaped discs for mounting can caps to chassis but insulated from it.

A necessary component in vintage Ampeg amps. Are yours Bakelite or phenolic?

The reuse of old sleeves on new caps keep the vintage look intact, especially true for tweed Fenders with the filters on the fiberboard. The bothersome thing in the ones shown here is the use of an 8@450 volt sleeve on a 22uF cap. I'm sure that it was just for the right look, but it could lead to problems.

[Enzo]

Oh pretty sure phenolic. I am just old and tend to call any hard plastic bakelite, I know I shouldn't use the term that way.

[Jazz P Bass]

Man, when they came out with bakelite it was the cat's meow.

[drewl]

Hey, did you guys know that big red 30uf 600v cap in Ampeg B15's is actually 2 caps stuffed into that red sleeve?
The negative lead broke off so I stuffed two caps inside...heh, heh, heh.

When you have caps in series like that, do you need resistors across each to equalize the voltage?
I put a couple in there, I noticed Hiwatt does with caps in series and so does some old Marshalls.

[Leo_Gnardo]

When you have caps in series like that, do you need resistors across each to equalize the voltage?
I put a couple in there, I noticed Hiwatt does with caps in series and so does some old Marshalls.

Yes it's good practice to have those equalizing resistors. As for the 600V rated "dynamite sticks" we find in old Ampegs & similar, I generally use film caps to replace those. Only hassle is how to mount them since they are rectangular. So far I've been using epoxy.

[drewl]

Film caps, for the power supply filter cap?

[SoulFetish]

Film caps, for the power supply filter cap?

Love 'em! I personally only use film caps in my power supply.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Film caps, for the power supply filter cap?

Sure thing. Carr's been using them in their amps for about 20 years. We can predict there will be no failures due to electrolytic filter caps gone bad.