Fender FR-12 preamp mod : The Hissterectomy

Been waiting for Liam's board before ordering but had a chance to pick up an FR-10 on the weekend so pulled the trigger. I haven't opened it up to see if I have a revised board from Fender but honestly the slight hiss I hear isn't an issue unless I'm with within a couple of feet and the driver is pointed right at my head. Looking forward to putting a V2 into it just because!! :)

BTW: I'm VERY impressed with this little cab. I'm only going to use it for bedroom practice (actually family room much to my wife's dismay) so it's plenty loud enough for my use. All the tones I use from the FM9 are great (mostly clean to edge of breakup)!! I'd get 2 at this price but the cost of a divorce is just too high. LoL.
 
Quick update, here's another Archangel V2 success story:
I finally got to install my V2 Gold preamp last weekend.
The installation took about 6 1/2 minutes and went smoothly.

(FYI I did mod my factory preamp board before (Lysander mod and some @WKSmith recommended optimizations/ part swaps), so I got to practice disassembling my FR-12 already.)

Anyways, with the way the V2 preamp board is made, assembly is really the easiest thing to do. Everything fits perfectly.

Boy does this thing sound good(er) now!
It finally is absolutely silent, no hiss at all, you really can't audibly tell if the thing is on or not. Quite astonishing.
The updated EQ is great, the BMT knobs grab all the right frequencies to make quick adjustments on the fly that just sound, well, right.

Thanks a lot, fantastic job @WKSmith, mission more than accomplished.
 
Liam- someone almost copied your logo:

Used Used NARGAL The Second Coming Effect Pedal 1
 
nolesj said:
Liam- someone almost copied your logo:

Used Used NARGAL The Second Coming Effect Pedal 1
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the darglass alpha omega got pretty close to my logo too.

After I used flamed maple and koa for tops on my acoustic preamps, Fishyman and especially LR Dbaggs started to use woodgrain as a finish also for their acoustic preamps. If they had tried to imitate the quality of components and design on the inside... the world would sound a little better. But they just keep pushing toaster oven trash in a pretty box.

I think I should make some Tshirts with the logo. It is still pretty cool ..even 15 years later.
 
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WKSmith said:
the darglass alpha omega got pretty close to my logo too.

After I used flamed maple and koa for tops on my acoustic preamps, Fishyman and especially LR Dbaggs started to use woodgrain as a finish also for their acoustic preamps. If they had tried to imitate the quality of components and design on the inside... the world would sound a little better. But they just keep pushing toaster oven trash in a pretty box.

I think I should make some Tshirts with the logo. It still pretty cool ..even 15 years later.
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I'd buy a T-Shirt, for sure. I'd also buy a metal logo to mount on my FR10. I'd put it right where it currently says "Tone Master". I'd pull the old badge off and replace. Besides, the original should say "Hiss Master", not "Tone Master", shouldn't it?
 
lscottk said:
I'd buy a T-Shirt, for sure. I'd also buy a metal logo to mount on my FR10. I'd put it right where it currently says "Tone Master". I'd pull the old badge off and replace. Besides, the original should say "Hiss Master", not "Tone Master", shouldn't it?
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It's like they wanted to bash people over the head with that hiss, or at least drive us all mad (like some kind of water torture!).
 
I'll be curious to see what my Open Box (blem) one from Musician's Friend is like. I no longer care if it (like the one I already have) has the hiss, because that's going to be taken care of soon.
 
WKSmith said:
from the unwritten FR manual.. page 1

a) Do not connect the FR XLR out to a mixer with phantom power! There is zero phantom power protection in the FR series, with the exception of the Ground lift switch. The ground lift switch does not affect the XLR input, only the XLR output. The ground lift switch lifts the ground connection when pressed IN and without the ground plane phantom power is not a complete circuit. Phantom power will absolutely toast the FR.

b) The input impedance for the balanced line in of the stock FR is 5K.
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Good to know.
 
WKSmith said:
So here is the latest update:
All of the parts should be in this week. I am just waiting on the final boards to arrive (edit: they just shipped) .. and a huge order of ICs (that have already shipped)

And here is some awesome news!

In less than 10 days, I have a meeting scheduled with Joe Satriani's management, to deliver his handmade V2 to him personally
... how completely humbling is that?

It's not an endorsement deal or anything beyond me wanting to hug his neck with humble thanks for over 35 years of inspiring my playing .. and just to give him something cool that I built for the FR-12 that I saw him playing live recently.

So we now have a third beta tester ..just as I am to start filling waitlist orders in only days. And if you wondered if there are any corners cut anywhere, your V2 will be exactly like the one I a building for an absolute legend.

You can believe F-corp is going to listen to his feedback ..along with all of ours. We are in really good company.

Thank you all for seeing this all the way through with me. It has turned out to be pretty dang cool.

❤️ Liam
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How cool is that?
 
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