Fiction: Transformers made to look vintage with paper tube bobbins (PTBs) somehow have better vintage tone than those using nylon.
Fact: PTBs were used in the early years of transformers only because they were the cheapest material available. Back then tone, consistency and long term reliability usually took a back seat to meeting a low budget. This still remains true today. If the issue of using PTBs for the sake of sounding more vintage was that simple then sporting a set of sideburns like Elvis should give you the ability to sing like him. Impersonators/imitators rarely scratch below the surface to find the heart and soul of what advances art and science.
Mercury’s goal of providing you with the finest sounding transformers on the planet could never be achieved by peddling myth, voodoo, junk science or unqualified opinion. The bottom line is that under close scrutiny PTBs fell short of our tonal expectations, not to mention the valued opinions and advice we’ve received from the finest players, recording artists, technicians and engineers of the past fifty years.
Let’s leave the question of paper or plastic to the box boy at your local grocery store. At Mercury we combine the best of what tradition has to offer with the best of today’s technology — and of course plenty of hindsight to boot. If you love music as much as we do, then you won’t settle for anything less than a set of Mercs in your amp — the best in tone without compromise.
Source: https://mercurymagnetics.com/pages/_misc/FAQ.htm#The_Paper_vs._Nylon_Bobbins_Myth_
