Fender mid boost kit

shaunm

Hi all, Has anyone fitted this as an after market mod? I plan on keeping my standard pickups as I'm happy with them (standard 70's reissue set). if you have fitted this would you recomend doing it? Does it add a lot more hiss? What experiences do people have of these kits?

Fuzzdog

I seem to recall that there's a teeny bit of routing which needs doing with the Fender kit.  Haven't fitted one myself, but I did look into it a few years ago, and ended up going with a Cornell mid boost kit, which was a drop in fit and sounded better than the Fender, with a lower noise floor - enough room to tuck the battery under the board as well, which was a bonus!

ICBM

Why not just get a pedal?

shaunm

I just got the Xotic AC booster today and I love it. I was hoping to use the boost on the guitar just to make the guitar more virsitile for function gigs. Those type of gigs where you are playing Nile Rodgers one minute and Queen the next.

shaunm

@Fuzzdog I will have a look at the Cornell one as I haven't seen it yet.

ICBM

shaunm said:

I just got the Xotic AC booster today and I love it. I was hoping to use the boost on the guitar just to make the guitar more virsitile for function gigs. Those type of gigs where you are playing Nile Rodgers one minute and Queen the next.

Why does putting the boost in the guitar make it more versatile?

A pedal is much more versatile, because you can replace it with a different one at any time, or use more than one for different sounds much more easily.

I really do not understand the logic of putting electronics in the guitar at all, unless you need direct hands-on control in a way that can't be achieved with an expression pedal. You've pretty much got to be doing Matt Bellamy stuff for that to be true.

Gru

ICBM;427485" said:

Why not just get a pedal?

Can it be done with a single pedal?

I remember Capt Lee of Andertons doing a "Sound like Clapton' YouTube video and for a standard MIM Stratocaster, had to add two pedals to get enough mid boost. The mod would surely be cheaper?

Not knocking your comment, I've never tried to get the tone.

shaunm

@ICBM I am certainly not doing the Matt Bellamy stuff, I don't think any audience I get in front of would deal with it! I am wanting to give myself options as I sometimes have to use a boss GT100 for gigs and play through a PA. No settings I can find on this pedal gives me a satisfyingly mid boosted sound. Hopefully the Xotic will give me a decent sound when I use my amp set up though.

ICBM

Gru said:

Can it be done with a single pedal?

I remember Capt Lee of Andertons doing a "Sound like Clapton' YouTube video and for a standard MIM Stratocaster, had to add two pedals to get enough mid boost. The mod would surely be cheaper?

You could just as easily put the exact Clapton mid-boost circuit in a pedal if you want.

I just don't get why you would want to rout the guitar to fit the circuit in there, and leave yourself at the mercy of a battery failure or an electronics problem which you then cannot bypass or replace on stage, when you could do exactly the same job with a box on the floor. And then to tie yourself to that circuit and only that circuit - the great beauty of pedals is that they are separate units which you can chop and change at will.

The only reason to put the circuit in the guitar is if you actually want to adjust it with your hands while you play.

Gassage

I have used the Cornell boost- it's brilliant. I might even have a spare one floating about in my parts box. If I can find it you can have it.

shaunm

@Gassage wow! Thank you very much that would be superb

shaunm

ICBM said:

Gru said:

Can it be done with a single pedal?

I remember Capt Lee of Andertons doing a "Sound like Clapton' YouTube video and for a standard MIM Stratocaster, had to add two pedals to get enough mid boost. The mod would surely be cheaper?

You could just as easily put the exact Clapton mid-boost circuit in a pedal if you want.

I just don't get why you would want to rout the guitar to fit the circuit in there, and leave yourself at the mercy of a battery failure or an electronics problem which you then cannot bypass or replace on stage, when you could do exactly the same job with a box on the floor. And then to tie yourself to that circuit and only that circuit - the great beauty of pedals is that they are separate units which you can chop and change at will.

The only reason to put the circuit in the guitar is if you actually want to adjust it with your hands while you play.

For me it's just down to having the consistency of having the mid sound with using different rigs/back lines

ICBM

shaunm said:

For me it's just down to having the consistency of having the mid sound with using different rigs/back lines

I understand, but a pedal between the guitar and whatever is the first thing you normally plug into is exactly the same as putting the circuit into the guitar.

If you do it with a pedal you can have the mid boost sound with different *guitars* as well, without the trouble and expense of fitting them all with the same circuit - if you use a backup guitar you will need to do that.

Seriously, one of the biggest banes of my life (and the other repairers at the shop) is customers who want electronics built into the guitar. It just isn't the best way. It's more work, more expense, more potential unreliability and just plain pointless when you can achieve the same result with a simple metal box on the floor. You can then change either the guitar or the box with no more trouble than unplugging a couple of cables.

shaunm

I have never tried putting a pedal between my guitar and a GT100

ICBM

shaunm said:

I have never tried putting a pedal between my guitar and a GT100

Then maybe you should try it before you spend a lot of money permanently modifying your guitar! And find that the GT-100 doesn't like being boosted…

(I have no idea whether it does or not.)

richardhomer

ICBM;427516" said:

The only reason to put the circuit in the guitar is if you actually want to adjust it with your hands while you play.

Which if you watch Clapton DVDs is what he does - going from nothing to massively boosted and various points in between. In fact he uses it instead to the volume control often - rolling it off to get a cleaner tone and vice versa.

I'm not a fan of electronics on board a guitar (for no good reason - it's just a prejudice I have) - but I can see the attraction of one of these.

erky32

I've had my USA standard strat for over 20 years, ....my first quality guitar, but over the years it got used less and less. Main gig guitar became my Gibson LP. Three years ago I fitted the Fender mid-tone (EC) boost and never looked back - its my favourite gigging guitar, massive sound and flexibility.

I upgraded to Hot Noisless Pups because the standard pups did hiss a lot. EI was told you cant put JB hot noiseless with mid tone - well I did & it rocks, gives more possibilities. You dont need to mod the guitar, but you do need to trim a benign corner off the PCB to fit it under the switch etc. I also covered mine in insulation as well to be sure!. My trem is blocked so I push the battery between the springs that remained, again well insulated.

Altho I believe Lace sensors (esp golds) are best suited, but I love my hot noiseless. To get really clean you need to back the vol off to 5-6, at 8 it gets on the edge to crunch, by the time you hit 10 it's driving ....no pedals!! Bring up the boost 1-2-3 and the sound fattens and sweetens, beyond that it gets fatter but also kind of compressed. Keep the boost on and roll back the volume and it begins to go "valvey" again! ...brilliant!

I run my Marshall (1976 50w MasterLead Mk2) just on the edge of clean. I must admit I tend to use a pedal normally (BB+) ....and I find that rig keeps me happy all night, I always have the LP & a Blade-Lev'Delta ready , and for a change, but the strat does everything really that I need in the 60s 70s & beyond rock covers.

For sheer simplicity I sometimes use it without any pedals  through my Fender Blues Jnr ....great for rehearsal or jams ..simplicity with control in your hands!

Fuzzdog

ICBM said:

The only reason to put the circuit in the guitar is if you actually want to adjust it with your hands while you play.

That's exactly why I put the Cornell in - I'm one of those people who usually uses a guitar and an amp with no pedals if I can help it, and I constantly fiddle with the controls.  I used to fade the boost in on long notes quite a lot just to squeeze them out a bit more and push them into feedback, or just find that elusive juicy sweet spot without having to bend down and poke pedals mid-song.

Can't be arsed with onboard stuff these days though - back to good old fashioned volume and tone.

JayGee

Not quite the same thing (it's a passive circuit which combines the bridge and middle pickups in a series humbucking configuration) but I've been meaning to get a Rothwell Hot Little Knob for my Strat for ages - I played a guitar with one fitted a while back and it was great and added a very, very useful amount of grunt/girth/fatness with no batteries required!

I suspect for a lot of people it would do the same job as the Clapton mid-boost while being a good deal less intrusive.

siraxeman

ICBM said:

Gru said:

Can it be done with a single pedal?

I remember Capt Lee of Andertons doing a "Sound like Clapton' YouTube video and for a standard MIM Stratocaster, had to add two pedals to get enough mid boost. The mod would surely be cheaper?

You could just as easily put the exact Clapton mid-boost circuit in a pedal if you want.

I just don't get why you would want to rout the guitar to fit the circuit in there, and leave yourself at the mercy of a battery failure or an electronics problem which you then cannot bypass or replace on stage, when you could do exactly the same job with a box on the floor. And then to tie yourself to that circuit and only that circuit - the great beauty of pedals is that they are separate units which you can chop and change at will.

The only reason to put the circuit in the guitar is if you actually want to adjust it with your hands while you play.

The last sentence mr ICBM is where you hit the nail on the head...and thus the point. You can freely at the drop of a hat roll on or off as much or as little boost as you like. This is not really possible on the fly with a pedal! I've had it in 2 Strats and its a great addition to a SSS Strat...its extra beef on tap whenever you want it.

Now you DONT have to do ANY ROUTING at all to fit this baby. you merely snip the corners off the PCB and it and the battery will fit under the pickguard no probs. The battery life is something like 6 months  as long as you don't go leaving a lead plugged into your guitar. If you change the battery every 3-4 months you will never have any issues and its not like it just goes from working to flat dead...you will get warning signs.

Now for the OP one important point to note that I learned from experience of having it in my guitars (and I'm probably gonna end up having it installed in another Strat soon since those old Strats have moved on to new owners since..). Fender install the mid boost on guitars that have noiseless pups. Or back in the early days of the Clapton Strat noise reduced pups ie Lace Sensors. If you have regular single coils expect to hear some noise! The 60's cycle hum seems to increase significantly when your on full boost. A none issue with noiseless or noise reduced pups...and its here why I learned why Fender didn't just put it in any Strat with regular pups...they knew about the noise that I had to learn about the hard way! Still in a gigging band situation its no biggie...I will prefer and make sure next time I have quieter pups in but its great that you can be rocking away during a song with a nice rocky rhythm sound and suddenly at the drop of a hat roll the mid boost on full and cut right over the top of the band with great ease! Its like a secret weapon that has folks who have Strats wondering how did he do that?

Gassage

@shaunm

FOund it.

I am not sure if it's a Fender, Levinson or Cornell one.

But if you inbox me an address I'll post it to you.

It has FC21 on PCB.