Fender FR-12 preamp mod : The Hissterectomy

@WKSmith would you be able to point me to the post(s) in this thread that properly outline your circuit board mod?

I came in late and have only seen some of the newer updates..

If there is a particular one, that is 🤟
 
Yes, give it +4 for sure.

I cut the losses from the 1st stage in half, allowing me to also cut the gain for the 2nd stage. The V2 has the same resulting gain as the stock pre, but is gain staged properly with the benefit of a flat frequency response that doesn't need extra make up gain (and hiss) and post eq boost (more hiss) to compensate.

The V2 can also clip with hot +4 signal, but the clip light shows exactly where it tickles (or slams) the rails.
Tickle the light and its -.5v (1V peak to peak) from the V+ rail or roughly 96% saturated. (this % varies a little by opamp choice though)

If I staged the V2 to not ever clip, the overall system gain and volume would be lower.
And then comparing the two preamps, the louder one would be perceived as much more better ..by us humans

and yes @bigswifty , I am playing with co-axials next, and the V2 crossover is by-passable with a jumper for the FX200 just for this future upgrade.
 
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WKSmith said:
Yes, give it +4 for sure.

I cut the losses from the 1st stage in half, allowing me to also cut the gain in half for the 2nd stage. The V2 has the same resulting gain as the stock pre, but is gain staged properly with the benefit of a flat frequency response that doesn't need extra make up gain (and hiss) and post eq boost (more hiss) to compensate.

The V2 can also clip with hot +4 signal, but the clip light shows exactly where it tickles (or slams) the rails.
Tickle the light and its -.5v (1V peak to peak) from the V+ rail or roughly 96% saturated. (this % varies a little by opamp choice though)

If I staged the V2 to not ever clip, the overall system gain and volume would be lower.
And then comparing the two preamps, the louder one would be perceived as much more better ..by us humans

and yes @bigswifty , I am playing with co-axials next, and the V2 crossover is by-passable with a jumper for the FX200 just for this future upgrade.
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LolainNB said:
Almost? Almost?
Join me and leave mediocrity behind.

Do it
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LOL!

If I didn't live in Brazil, with no sign of the FR-12 becoming available here again at all, and if I had at least an US trip planned this year, I'd do it in a blink.

But it's hard for me at the moment, specially since the import taxes here are now close to 110% of the product price plus the international shipping with insurance.

Also, I'm not a professional musician and the purchasing power here is more or less 10 times smaller than in the US.

So, you can imagine it's kinda hard to show up at home with an imported FR-12 and an imported WKS mod pcb out of the blue, without generating a little marital distress... If you know what I mean.
 
davi_ssilva said:
LOL!

If I didn't live in Brazil, with no sign of the FR-12 becoming available here again at all, and if I had at least an US trip planned this year, I'd do it in a blink.

But it's hard for me at the moment, specially since the import taxes here are now close to 110% of the product price plus the international shipping with insurance.

Also, I'm not a professional musician and the purchasing power here is more or less 10 times smaller than in the US.

So, you can imagine it's kinda hard to show up at home with an imported FR-12 and an imported WKS mod pcb out of the blue, without generating a little marital distress... If you know what I mean.
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I’m not really experienced in smuggling. You’d probably need something big to fit an FR-10
 
LolainNB said:
I’m not really experienced in smuggling. You’d probably need something big to fit an FR-10
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Don't you worry, I'll find a way.

In countries with economic settings like Brazil, the grey market will always thrive.

Here the national industry don't make products that can rival the imported ones. Not even close to it.

The big companies don't have to, since they feed on government incentives and subsidies, and they are protected by the colossal importing fees.
In the other hand, the small companies are burried in the giant beureaucracy and production / laboral taxes, so they'll almost never have ways to make such products either.

So, in order to get some products here without being kinda rich, the only option is smuggling.

Jurassic Park Life GIF


PS.: Sorry for the digression :grin:.
 
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davi_ssilva said:
Don't you worry, I'll find a way.

In countries with economic settings like Brazil, the grey market will always thrive.
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It's kinda cool that you have some home grown companies that are harder to get here though.

I really love the stuff made by Cachalote Audio. I wanted their PT2399 Lilo Delay, actually.
 
jellodog said:
It's kinda cool that you have some home grown companies that are harder to get here though.

I really love the stuff made by Cachalote Audio. I wanted their PT2399 Lilo Delay, actually.
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Yeah, some things like analog effects, single digital effects and even tube amps have great manufacturers here, but they're all boutique level at most, unfortunately. They sure deserve more credit and fame.

But things in the realm of electronics, like a multifx all-in-one unit... Well, let's say that they will never be made here. Not in large scale, for sure.
 
LolainNB said:
So anyway back on topic. It’s February and the day is almost upon us.
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It's getting closer by the day 🙂

Taiwan and Shenzhen are on spring break for a couple of weeks though.

I'm out in the shop soldering up the first pcb proofs today ..before ordering the gold plated V2 production boards.

Long before the V2 waitlist at the beginning of this 900 post journey, I asked @Deadpool_25 and @Lysander to be my only two beta testers. Their V2s are in this batch of proofs. And unless there is a major glitch in these final board proofs, they should be receiving the very first ones and sharing their findings in just days.

And 4 of you awesome folks reached out before the waitlist was announced to be on the informal waitlist. I kept your first contact as your waitlist position.
@LolainNB you are at #2 🙃

Thank you all for your continued support. V2 is a really cool project.


IMG_1362.jpeg
 
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WKSmith said:
It's getting closer by the day 🙂

Taiwan and Shenzhen are on spring break for a couple of weeks though.

I'm out in the shop soldering up the first pcb proofs today ..before ordering the gold plated V2 production boards.

Long before the V2 waitlist at the beginning of this 900 post journey, I asked @Deadpool_25 and @Lysander to be my only two beta testers. Their V2s are in this batch of proofs. And unless there is a major glitch in these final board proofs, they should be receiving the very first ones and sharing their findings in just days.

And 4 of you awesome folks reached out before the waitlist was announced to be on the informal waitlist. I kept your first contact as your waitlist position.
@LolainNB you are at #2 🙃

Thank you all for your continued support. V2 is a really cool project.


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There's an aesthetic to this that calls to me! I don't care if Fender comes out with a fix. This project has such beauty and love infused into it that I know this is going to sound glorious.
 
Patzag said:
There's an aesthetic to this that calls to me! I don't care if Fender comes out with a fix. This project has such beauty and love infused into it that I know this is going to sound glorious.
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I agree... I've been lurking on this thread as I'm not in the market right now for new cabs (PXM-12MPs are great!).

BUT watching a master of his craft at work is very satisfying and though I don't think it has much functional impact, the aesthetic of the PCB is so nice!
 
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