Fender/Clapton Mid-boost kit?

[guitargeek62]

I've had one of these sat around here for a couple of years now but haven't gotten around to actually using it in anything! I'd mainly gotten it with the aim of playing around with Buddy Guys' tone rather than Snoozehands' but as I have a new frankenstrat in the works I'm probably going to chuck it in there and try it out at long last.

However, has anyone ever used one with Lipstick or Filter'tron style pickups?

This strat is going to be a complete mongrel anyway so I don't need it to sound the same, I'm just not convinced that it'll work too well with that p/up set. Either way it's a test-bed guitar for a future build so I'm not overly fussed about adding any extra routing if I can't squeeze it into the existing body cavity.

[TheGuitarWeasel]

I don't see why it shouldn't work with either sorts of pickup ... it's more: if the sound you will get will be usable. A mid boost is probably not going to do any favours to a FilterTron that relies for its 'sound' on a fairly delicate hollowed mid. Mind you ... I think a suck it and see attitude goes a long way ... I've got a Strat with a three band bass preamp connected in ... and that sounds brilliant!

[ICBM]

Why not mount it in a pedal enclosure, so you can try it with any guitar?

[Sir Axeman]

I've got one in one of my Strats....and I like 'em. They can make a Strat sound so much fatter n beefier at high volumes. They do bring more noise with them...but then all increases in gain do that. If you roll on the mid boost on the clean channel of an amp you will hear a significant volume increase and the clean sound will crunch up quite a bit...due to err those extra 25dbs pushing the front end of your amp...but when you do that same thing into the dirty channel or into an OD/Dist pedal it basically just compresses the sound and gives an impression of fatness and increased sustain. Defo a good worthy mod to a SSS Strat. My other Strat has a full size JB in the bridge..I keep telling myself I should leave this Strat with the mid boost in it as is ie SSS....but I keep wavering cos I've got this JB Jnr just lying around and I had it in a previous Strat (now sold) and it does a great job. So a mid boost isn't really a replacement for a humbucker but its sort of the next best thing....a secret weapon to have on a 'weedy thin' SSS strat. But is it really that different to having a TS pedal in front of your sound on the floor?

[guitargeek62]

Why not mount it in a pedal enclosure, so you can try it with any guitar?

Too simple, plus then you can't control the level as easily from the guitar.

I tend to use a simple setup tonewise (think pushed Tweed + OD/Dis/Fuzz) so only really use my pedals to boost the sound already. My FD2 stays on most of the time, and then I push the boost in & out as needed. This rig may make that setup even simpler hence the initial curiosity.


Weasel - I completely agree about the Fliter'Trons, that hollow-mid is essential to the tone from them, but I'm not convinced that the midrange added by the boost will complement them too well. I'm expecting to drop a TV Classic in there but might go for a Super'Tron again because they're frikkin awesome!

[TheGuitarWeasel]

Weasel - I completely agree about the Fliter'Trons, that hollow-mid is essential to the tone from them, but I'm not convinced that the midrange added by the boost will complement them too well. I'm expecting to drop a TV Classic in there but might go for a Super'Tron again because they're frikkin awesome!

I think you might find active mid 'boosted' Trons might sound a bit like a bad PAF! So easy to 'f' up that subtle balance in a very subtle pickup ... I wound around ten coil pairs only to find out that sticking pretty closely to Ray Butts original specs is the way to go.

[guitargeek62]

Sounds about right, it'll really depend on the specific combination I feel. Ah well, I can but try!