The kit includes all of the parts needed to upgrade your guitar with the Mid Boost Preamp used on the Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy Strats.
SPECIFICATIONS
Pre-Amp Mid Boost Kit 25 DB
1 ea 0028617000 PCB ASSY Clapton Pre amp
1 ea 0021682000 Control 50 K Audio
1 ea 0028531000 Control 250 K Special Taper
3 ea 0016352000 Nut Hex 3/8-32x3/32 TK NI
3 ea 0022384000 Washer Lck Intrl 3/8 x .500 x .040 Ni
1 ea 0039432000 Jack Output OPN Stereo Urge
1 ea 0992052000 TBX Tone Control
1 ea 0057578000 Schematic Wiring Diag Mid Boost Circuit
1 ea 9903320000 Bag Zip Poly 10x13 2m
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If you are hesitant to do this, but are fairly handy with a soldering iron, and crafty, do it. You won't be sorry you did.
I picked up one of these mid boosts and installed it myself. I did a lot of research before I did it though to determine all of the possible issue I might run into along the way. I did find one very helpful site at the link below that was quite helpful. Especially the tips about what to watch out for. http://areyouexperienced.net/fender_clapton_mid_boost_kit.htm
Once I felt confident about the process I pulled the trigger and bought the kit. I also picked up a whole new pick guard so I could build the unit from scratch, installing the new components and transferring the necessary old parts I.e. pickups. I used an old Strat Plus to make the conversion.
The single biggest problem I had was deciding where to install the small PC board and the battery. This will change based on the cavity routings under your pick guard. Fortunately, my Strat had one large rectangular cavity where the pickup go so there was enough room to carefully mount the board to the body between the neck and middle pickup. It was a tight fit but it worked well. The battery is installed in the tremolo spring cavity, where I blocked the trem, and moved the springs to the outside leaving just enough room between them for the battery.
Everything went very smoothly, my biggest suggestion is to plan out how you are going to do the install, and take your time. Depending on your routes you may have to route a space for this unit so beware and be prepared to make that modification.
However, once installed the product perform beautifully, and sounds great! Since I had Lace Sensor pickups in the Strat there is absolutely no hum or buzz. You will see a lot of people that shield the cavity to reduce interference but I don't think it's necessary. Mine is more quiet now than it was to begin with. You are gonna get a HUGE gain in output from this mod. Even without the boost engaged, you'll get 12 db in boost to begin with. I also installed a off/on switch, and would highly suggest this addition.
Anyway, this is a big bang for the buck, it just takes some time and I would say a litte experience to install... Not too bad overall to install, IMO. I'm glad I did it, I feel like I have a Clapton Strat now for a fraction of the price! Just do it!
It's Fender so the quality was good.
This is a super value for the cost compared to the cost of a Clapton Strat. The entire mod cost me around $120 with a new pick guard, screws, and new saddles (not req'd for the mod). The difference in tone and gain is phenomenal.
Fender Pre-Amp Mid Boost Kit 25 DB
.I used to have an EC Artist. Loved the mid boost, hated the TBX and that guitar is long gone to the memories of guitars I used to have. Because of that guitar I self installed this in a MIA 2014 60th anniversary Maple Neck Surf Green Strat. Self installation is easy if you solder and have swapped pickups else get this professionally done.
I installed the circuit board inside the pot control cavity and put the battery in the tremolo cavity to avoid pulling the pickguard cover off just to change battery. To do this requires you unsolder the battery from the circuit board, run the battery wires through the same route as the tremolo bridge ground then re-solder to the circuit board.
I block my trem so I am able to remove the middle spring and put the battery between the side springs. I used a dremel to create a battery shaped depression so the trem cover would fit flat without bulge.
I used the dremel to make room for the circuit board to lay flat on the cavity floor inside a small insulating baggie. Do NOT cut the circuit board in any way to make it fit.
I also had to dremel the jack hole side walls a bit to make room for the stereo jack or else it would squeeze the tips together making nothing work.
I left out the TBX tone pot and related resistor and capacitor because I am perfectly happy with a normal tone pot. I use .047 pf Orange drop and all 3 pickups share the single tone pot. Another reason I chose to do this is there is some arguments about which value resistor to use with the TBX based on your pickup types, N3's, noiseless, Texas specials, etc hence the many complaints about pickup fussy. I hated the TBX in the Clapton Artist anyway, so I just left it out.
My pickups are Seymour Duncan Surf Antiquity II's with a RW middle and a Surf Hot in the bridge. The active preamp makes them sound better with than without. When you crank the gain pot you get up to 25db additional gain. Sounds incredible, very good, very happy I made this change to this Strat.
This kit has recently dropped in price and is still 89 at some retailers. It would be easy to stick this in a stomp box but then you have to bend over to adjust the gain up and down. Works on any guitar, I also did this to a blacktop HH strat and wow full sized humbuckers with active preamp boost is worth hearing!
Fender Pre-Amp Mid Boost Kit 25 DB
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I have this kit paired with Fender vintage noiseless pickups, a.k.a. the Clapton setup. The mid boost is nice and does indeed fatten up your single coils; it does not however transform them into humbuckers as some would like to believe. The TBX tone control is actually more useful for tailoring your sound than the boost; it allows you to tweak the tone to get the right sound out of each pickup configuration and is much more useful than the standard Strat tone knobs. The boost itself is no more than what you would get from a decent boost or overdrive pedal with the convenience of having it on-board your guitar for easy access; thus if you already have a slew of pedals, you really don't need this kit. It does however pair well with the vintage noiseless pickups which are a bit flat sounding without the kit due to their underwound coils. In short, this is a nice cheap add-on for Strat owners but not really essential for the seasoned gear-head who has a bit of everything already.
Fender Pre-Amp Mid Boost Kit 25 DB
.I hear a lot of folks complimenting the sound, OK pre amps are pre amps and wiring mods are wiring mods, I just bought this as a kit not realizing it would be sorely lacking in basic key features yet loaded with um, dummy features?
first off the way this unit is activated is way beyond my comprehension, you turn it on by plugging in your guitar jack, yup thats the "on" switch, so we all know what that means, more miles on the switch and a lot of dead batteries as the ONLY way to turn it off is to unplug the guitar?
I have seen some of the loaded pick guards with this kit and WOW, they actually want you to out the battery UNDER the pick guard?
UNREAL how long till someone has to use the bathroom and sets the guitar down, gets side tracked and the battery is DRAINED?
you might think ah thats OK it sounds good in passive mode and I have pedals to so no biggie right?
WRONG
they DO NOT have a passive mode feature, thats right you read this right, a very simple radio shack switch, 12" of wire and 2" of solder and like 10 more minutes worth of labor to wire in a passive mode bypass switch, and hey guess what?
while were already MODDING the MOD we may as well do a 2 bird one stone thing and when you SWITCH the guitar into passive mode you SHUT THE BATTERY power OFF, novel idea right?
that way the REAL way to shut down the preamp is to simply FLIP it into passive mode!!!
I know kind of a 60's thing but hey when your battery is under the pick guard you may want to have that ability to shut her down without having to add more wear and tear on your input and cables..
I'm considering going 90's with mine and adding a timeout mod, if there is no activity in a preset (user definable) amount of time it shuts itself off, and to reset it very easily you just roll the guitar sideways strings up or down and the small tiny mercury switch turns it back on for you, I know thats sort of a 2000's thing but hey it is 2015 rolling up onto 2016... lol
Fender Pre-Amp Mid Boost Kit 25 DB
.This is the best upgrade you could do to a Strat or Tele. I put this in my Squier Vintage Modified Strat with Duncan Designed SC-101 single coils. I decided to put an American pickguard on as well. This really gets me that nice Clapton/ Buddy Guy tone. Imagine the Fat tone of a Les Paul crossed with the jangle of a Stratocaster. That'swhat this sounds like. This in a Strat through any tube amp, and you're in tone heaven. No pedals required. and the TBX just add that chimey top end that compliments the 25dB perfectly.
Fender Pre-Amp Mid Boost Kit 25 DB
.Pop this baby in your strat and step back!First, this is my setup: MIM fat strat, Tex-Mex pups, bone nut, Callaham block and 11's played through a '95 Fender Blues Deluxe 40 watt tube amp with an Eminence Swamp Thang speaker upgrade. The tone I like is definitely Texas Blues chiming strat with loads of sustain.Each of the above upgrades made a huge difference but there was still something lacking. After reading numerous reviews of the Fender Mid-boost Kit, I decided to give it a go.Nothing could have prepared me for the result! While it not only adds 25db of boost, it also enhances that bell/chime tone you play a strat for. Turning up the kit's boost darned near eliminates the need for a distortion pedal to get that great blues breakup even at low volumes. The TBX pot may be the best part of the upgrade as it changes the brightness of the tone without eliminating the upper frequencies.One caveat: I needed to add a volume pedal to my chain because adding 25db of preamp boost to a 40 watt tube amp can loosen your fillings at anything above the 3 setting.
Fender Pre-Amp Mid Boost Kit 25 DB
.I have two of these sets. One came in my Eric Clapton strat and one I had put into my 90's Fender Strat Plus. It made my old strat sound amazing. I hate the sound of single coils so naturally I had to have one put into my Strat Plus. Once I did, it gave my "Old Yeller" strat a boosted tone. Now it is my backup for my EC strat. This kit is a cheaper addition to any strat in case you don't have the cash for the EC strat. Or else if you do, I highly recommend getting an EC strat.
Fender Pre-Amp Mid Boost Kit 25 DB
.I am a 2yr player. Yeah its a long road and i am just getting started. Ok, first off i have had about 30 guitars already...trying to find my mojo. Most all of them have been hot rodded and sold. I recently had a tele with the mid boost and it easily had the best cleans i ever heard. So i went out and put the mid boost/tbx in my 98 mim strat. Against all warnings i put the fender hot noiseless pickups in. I can tell you they sounded like garbage with the mid boost. I then installed the vintage noiseless and. Wala! This strat sings, with excellent sustain. I highly recommend this mod. Just incredible. ....On another note I took the hot noiseless pickups and put them in a squire strat passively. They sound excellent, but not with the mid boost. So there you go...Go vintage. Or be prepared to experiment.
Fender Pre-Amp Mid Boost Kit 25 DB
.I never tried the Fender Mid-boost kit yet, but I've seen several videos of Eric Clapton in action during a fierce guitar solo.This baby is primarily designed to fatten up single-coil pickups, but also works perfectly with regular humbuckers as well.My gripe is that the kit doesn't include a toggle switch to turn off the preamp. I find the active-passive toggle switch extremely useful, especially when a battery dies during a gig. From my understanding this feature was available only on the first EC prototypes made back in the mid-1980s.
Fender Pre-Amp Mid Boost Kit 25 DB
.I added this to my MIM Squier w/ noiseless pups. The noiseless pickups were just dead sounding before, now they sound great! Very quiet, clean, the noiseless pickups almost sound like active EMG's now but without as much compression. Even without the mid boost turned up, it gives your signal a boost. The mid-boost really gives you a LOT OF BOOST and allows you to really crank up a lead.... I mean, whatever amp you plug into.. it's enough boost to go from clean to overdrive. I am guessing that's it's purpose. This is very good clean sound quality (much better than I expected). The Bartolini preamp in my bass is much noisier than this.... This really is one of the best upgrades you can do. I didn't install it, I had it done by a tech.
Fender Pre-Amp Mid Boost Kit 25 DB
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