Fender - Eric Clapton Mid Boost  [schematic]

All about modern commercial stompbox circuits from Electro Harmonix over MXR, Boss and Ibanez into the nineties.
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call1800ksmyazz
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Post by call1800ksmyazz »

Didnt think this fell into the boutique schematics so here it is.

Schem: https://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a303 ... oost-1.jpg

Kerry
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Clapton Mid boost
Clapton Mid boost

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bajaman
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Post by bajaman »

So that's how he gets that awful tone these days - should have stuck with your Gibson Clappers, back then you had tone, not like that wimpy sound you got at the Cream reissue concerts.
Another WRONG "reissue" - white room on a f**ked up sounding Strat through a Dunlop wah ( which he forgot to turn on properly) and a Fender amplifier - what was he trying to do?? - sound like Stevie Ray - LOL
:roll: :roll: :roll:
Cheers
Steve

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call1800ksmyazz
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Post by call1800ksmyazz »

first I was going to say, "Eric Clapton had bad tone?" Then I realised you said "these days" which I guess you are pretty right about.

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Post by soulsonic »

I agree with Bajaman. Clapton sounded really great back on all the classic albums, but somewhere in the mid 80's he must have gotten brain damage or something because his tone turned into total garbage. Well, some of his 80's stuff still had an alright tone on the solos, but the rest was awful, and everything now is unbearable. What makes it worse on those Cream reunion concerts is the fact that Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker have still "got it", and it makes Clapton stick out like a sore thumb.
He should have stuck with the Gibson. Maybe Gibson didn't want to kiss his ass with a signature model the way Fender did?

Anyway, thanks for sharing the schematic; that circuit looks interesting. I've never heard of it before - who makes it? It looks like a fun build. I had always heard rumors that Clapton's old tone was based on a Rangemaster - is this trying to sound like that sort of a thing? And most important.... does it sound cool?

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bajaman
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Post by bajaman »

I have the official Fender factory schematic somewhere in my files - I will post it soon - This was an attempt by Fender to give EC the "Gibson sound" from his Strat guitar, and as you can hear - IT DON"T WORK :wink: :roll: :lol:
Cheers
Steve

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Post by analogguru »

Some wrong parts:
R9 is 133k, R10 is 215k, R11 is 332k, C2 is 330p and from R18 to ground is a 1n capacitor.
Fender Powerhouse uses a similar electronic.

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Post by bajaman »

As promised - from the Fender Service manual :wink:
Cheers
Steve

https://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa2 ... ronics.jpg
FenderEricClaptonActiveElectronics.jpg

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snail
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Post by snail »

bajaman wrote:So that's how he gets that awful tone these days - should have stuck with your Gibson Clappers, back then you had tone, not like that wimpy sound you got at the Cream reissue concerts.
Another WRONG "reissue" - white room on a f**ked up sounding Strat through a Dunlop wah ( which he forgot to turn on properly) and a Fender amplifier - what was he trying to do?? - sound like Stevie Ray - LOL
:roll: :roll: :roll:
Cheers
Steve
I really couldn't agree more! Cheers mate!

I thought the whole world was insane, but who plays cream with strat and fender amp??? the god himself? boo hoo!!

Le'ts go see what the devil's cooking up!

snail

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Post by JHS »

This circuit is plain crap, it's optimized for those noice cancelling SCs (Lace Sensor) in the EC-strat and furthermore it's an onboard device. Don't know if it works with normal SCs or as an outboard-device.

The sound gets muddy if you roll back the Vol. (interaction with the Mid-boost circuit). The Mid-boost can't bend a SC into a HB, add only some mids to the sound.

As far as I know Fender revised he circuit for the new EC-Strat, but never seen a schem of it. Buddies who compared both Stats stated the new EC-Strat sound way better and has a more vintage tone.

JHS

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Post by bajaman »

noice cancelling SCs (Lace Sensor)
You mean - Tone Cancelling :wink: :lol: :lol:
bajaman

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Post by negrosinfe »

Hi people!

i have a problem with this boost... i installed as the schematic but when I move the volume pot there is a buzz sound... i think it is because a ground loop or something like that but the wiring seems to be correct... any suggestions?

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limbe
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Post by limbe »

One of the schematics has a 250 kiloohm as volume control.
The correct schematic uses a 50 kiloohm pot.
I made the same mistake and put a 250 kiloohm pot there.
The circuit started to oscillate when I turned up the volume!
After I had replaced the pot with a 50 kiloohm everything was fine.

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