Preamps

[PonyOne]

I'm getting a Kramer Striker lefty so that I can finally have a guitar that I can gut and tweak. I know what pickups I'm getting and all that stuff, the main thing I'm curious about is this product on http://www.stewmac.com, called a Musitech Preamp. It sounds pretty cool, but I've never used or heard one, nor have any of my guitar buddies.

Has anyone tried it? The link is at http://www.stewmac.com/cgi-bin/hazel.cgi?client=24957826&action=SERVE&ITEM=catalog/p.html&A=%2BNAME_LINK%3DMusitech_Preamps . I don't know whether or not it's worth it or if I should just buy a preamp pedal; also, it says that it's for Strat guitars but can be used with any other electric, though the product description makes mention of three pot switches. The Kramer I'm getting only has two, and I don't know whether it would be necessary to drill another hole for it ( wouldn't really have anything against putting a drill to a brand-new, mass-market $200 guitar if it's worth it).

And lastly, if I do get one, should I shoot for the Smooth & Creamy LP-style mids, or the Crisp & Crunchy Highs? I play hard rock, the pickups in the guitar will be a DiMarzio Distortion humbucker in the bridge and two Fender Texas Special single coils in the mid and neck, and it'll usually be fed through a Boss MT2.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Raskolnikov]

Ok, what this thing is going to do is crank the hell out of your mid range tones- the ones most responsible for distortion and sustain. A mid boost is the main feature (in my mind) of the Eric Clapton Strat. If you do install this on that Kramer, you'll probably just have to make due with a volume and a mid boost rather than a volume, a tone, and a mid boost. Not a big deal in my mind, but then again, it's nice to know you can roll off your tone. Also, if the control cavity is big enough you can always drill a third hole.

I would go with a "Smooth and Creamy" pre-amp, but that's just me. Either could work for what you want to play with it.

[PonyOne]

so, i take it that means that, unless i drill a new hole for the preamp's contol pot, i'll only be able to dial in loads of mid?

[Raskolnikov]

Well... if you really wanted to, you could wire up a concentric volume/tone pot. Might be a pain in the hieny though. Being a bassist, I have a great deal of love for concentric controls, it saves a lot of space.

Then again, if your tone control is always at "10," then there really isn't much point of having it in the first place.

[Szabolcs]

I bought a similar package from EMG for my strat. I didn't have to drill into my guitar. But that ohter guy was right about the tone knob. I don't know if you will be playing clean ever or switching between clean and distorted , but if you will play clean the mid boost is not gonna help your clean tone. So definitely find out if you can install a tone pot. if for nothing else , do it for your clean tone.
- guitarist for Twin Dynamo,
Szabolcs Szafko
P.S.: check out http://www.twindynamo.com