Monty*s Oil Capacitor 0.015uf

Monty's Oil Capacitors for Guitar and Bass

Monty’s Guitars may be best known for our guitar pickups but we are equally obsessed with every aspect of guitar tone, right down to the smallest components in your instruments.

After the supplies of our beloved Russian NOS PIO capacitors began to wane and stocks became harder and harder to find, we became increasingly concerned, we couldn’t allow our fellow Montonians to use standard, uninspiring components in their guitars and basses, so began a two-year quest for the perfect cap for Monty’s.

We found the only way to meet our standards was to have our capacitors made to our exact specifications. We went for a custom oversized 600v oil capacitor gave us an unparalleled response and the smoothest, most musical tone sweep. We were looking for consistency, our capacitors are made with the tightest +/- 10% tolerance possible and are hermetically sealed for unparalleled performance, for a long life with no leakage.

In the golden age of guitars, the major brands used capacitor values that were at the larger end of the value spectrum, 0.047uf and higher depending on the year. It is rare to see a capacitor higher than 0.047uf in a guitar now as these capacitor values can become woofy and overly dark when rolled back robbing your instrument of its vitality. Basically, the value of the capacitor makes a big difference to your tone, put simply the higher the value the more severe the treble roll-off across the sweep of the pot.

We choose to offer our capacitors at 0.022uf and 0.015uf, after 20 years of tonal obsession we have found these to be the most musical option for all guitars and basses.

They balance perfectly with single coils and humbuckers and have the perfect tone sweep across the travel of the pot.

Our favourite capacitor combination for twin humbucker guitars, a 0.022uf on the bridge and a 0.015uf capacitor on the neck. We recommend this combination for guitars such as Les Pauls, 335s and SGs. When the neck tone is rolled off the 0.015uf capacitor gives you subtler sweep and a higher level of clarity and is perfect for the ‘woman’ tone.

For most guitars it is a very easy process to replace your capacitor, pop the top, find the two points where your existing capacitor is attached and with your soldering iron go ahead and set it free. Take your new Monty’s Oil Capacitor and solder it to the points that your old, forlorn capacitor once resided. It can be a little trickier to do with some models, 335s we are looking at you! So if you are not sure what to do have no fear you can always give us a call and we will be happy to bathe in your tears of pain and frustration.

Something we recommend to all our customers is upgrading your wiring to vintage 50s Gibson specs, it gives your guitar an overall boost in clarity, a more usable tone and volume sweep and dramatically reduces the high-end loss when rolling back your volume control without the need for a treble bleed circuit. With modern wiring the tone capacitor is always part of the guitar circuit and it negatively influences the tone even when the tone pot is fully open. This modification works equally well in all guitars and is the standard option in all Monty’s wiring looms along with our own capacitors.

But when you buy this cap you do not only get the component(s) itself, your dose of capacitance comes in our A Tin For Things, perfect for keeping your picks, tools, or anything else that may be stored in a small tin.