B
Great sound, but fiddly to install
I wanted to upgrade my 1995 MIM Tele with this kit. In the end it worked out, but it’s not without it’s flaws, though.
1. It says loud and clear on the Mojotone homepage, that everything is made in the imperial system, inches and fractions of inches. I.e. it will NOT fit »overseas« produced guitars. Knobs from overseas won’t go on the pot shafts, and the holes in the control plate has to be drilled or reamed out to fit the pots. Ok, fine. But I really didn’t expect a Mexican Fender guitar to be considered »overseas« by an american company. Especially since the Allen keys for truss rod adjustment and height adjustment of the saddles both are that archaic imperial system. So I had to drill the holes in the control plate up to 10mm and purchase new knobs for tone and volume to make it fit.
2. The kit was a bit too long to just drop in. Since there is a rigid connection between the two pots, you can’t really adjust the length of the kit very much. Now, the holes in my control plate should have been about 5mm further apart or so, because when I dropped the switch in its slot, and then the volume pot, I had to bend the whole kit quite substantially to make the tone pot go in. It could be a flaw in my control plate, but it’s the original Fender, that the guitar came with. I’l have to make my own - luckily I’m able to do this sort of job - because what should I buy...?
3. I had to peel of the copper tape I had put in the cavity underneath the control plate and route the cavity just a little bit bigger and deeper, otherwise the swithch would short out in the neck position against the copper tape. Again, I’m so fortunate to be a trained piano builder, so it’s not a big problem, but still.
In the end I got it to work, and I have to say, that soundwise it’s a major upgrade! Very very clear sound and really good throughput and very low noise - my biggest concern in advance. The treble bleed system is ok, it’s just a ceramic capacitor, it eats a little bit of low-end when you come down to 4-5 on the knob, but that’s fine with me. The tone control has a weird taper, 90% of the action comes between 0 and 3 on the knob, but that makes a bit easier to administer. If you roll back to say 5 on the knob, it cuts just a tiny tiny bit of high-end.
So all in all: When it’s up and working, it’s great, definitely. But you should be aware, that it might take a little »fetteling« to get it to fit properly. And Mojotone should write on the homepage, that it is STRICTLY for american built guitars if it is to be plug-and-play.
I’d recommend it for people, that are not afraid to fettle a little.
1. It says loud and clear on the Mojotone homepage, that everything is made in the imperial system, inches and fractions of inches. I.e. it will NOT fit »overseas« produced guitars. Knobs from overseas won’t go on the pot shafts, and the holes in the control plate has to be drilled or reamed out to fit the pots. Ok, fine. But I really didn’t expect a Mexican Fender guitar to be considered »overseas« by an american company. Especially since the Allen keys for truss rod adjustment and height adjustment of the saddles both are that archaic imperial system. So I had to drill the holes in the control plate up to 10mm and purchase new knobs for tone and volume to make it fit.
2. The kit was a bit too long to just drop in. Since there is a rigid connection between the two pots, you can’t really adjust the length of the kit very much. Now, the holes in my control plate should have been about 5mm further apart or so, because when I dropped the switch in its slot, and then the volume pot, I had to bend the whole kit quite substantially to make the tone pot go in. It could be a flaw in my control plate, but it’s the original Fender, that the guitar came with. I’l have to make my own - luckily I’m able to do this sort of job - because what should I buy...?
3. I had to peel of the copper tape I had put in the cavity underneath the control plate and route the cavity just a little bit bigger and deeper, otherwise the swithch would short out in the neck position against the copper tape. Again, I’m so fortunate to be a trained piano builder, so it’s not a big problem, but still.
In the end I got it to work, and I have to say, that soundwise it’s a major upgrade! Very very clear sound and really good throughput and very low noise - my biggest concern in advance. The treble bleed system is ok, it’s just a ceramic capacitor, it eats a little bit of low-end when you come down to 4-5 on the knob, but that’s fine with me. The tone control has a weird taper, 90% of the action comes between 0 and 3 on the knob, but that makes a bit easier to administer. If you roll back to say 5 on the knob, it cuts just a tiny tiny bit of high-end.
So all in all: When it’s up and working, it’s great, definitely. But you should be aware, that it might take a little »fetteling« to get it to fit properly. And Mojotone should write on the homepage, that it is STRICTLY for american built guitars if it is to be plug-and-play.
I’d recommend it for people, that are not afraid to fettle a little.
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