This conversation was originally posted on my Twitter feed.
Good morning! It’s a (rare!) sunny day here. I hope it’s nice wherever you are too. For this week’s #CoffeeAndKlon, I want to talk about how I’ve been using my Klon these past few days.
Coffee Has Already Gone
I’m afraid that my coffee this morning has long gone. Yesterday was an 11 hour day at work, and I don’t think my coffee touched the sides on the way down today!
We’re drinking coffee beans sold as “Mexican Lion Boy” from @CortileCoffee here in the beautiful Welsh Valleys. It’s a single-origin coffee, and it’s a very easy drink indeed. It’s one of our favourites, and a great contrast after the Sumatran coffee last week.
Classic Klon Usage
So … back to the Klon. It’s been quite a while since I’ve talked about the Klon itself. And I think that’s mostly because I only use it in one specific way: as a clean boost. I never said that I was imaginative or creative in how I use pedals 🙂
Normally, I use a Klon as a clean boost for guitar solos.
The Klon’s characteristic mid-hump has the effect of lifting a guitar out of the mix. It’s a really easy way to add a bit of mojo when you’re recording something.
The exact same settings on the Klon can be used to make a completely clean Strat sound even better. Which is what I’ve been doing this week.
The Elite Stratocaster Has Noiseless Pickups
On the back of Fender announcing their new Ultra range of guitars to replace the Elites, I dug out my Elite for a bit. It hasn’t had as much use since I got the Player Strat earlier this year. That’s a story for another day though.
One of the reasons I have the Elite are the N4 noiseless pickups. They’re an absolute godsend if you want to record clean guitars in a very sparse mix, and you’re powering everything off a dirty, noisy electricity supply.
They also work surprisingly well into a rig that’s mainly voiced for Les Pauls. Not as important to me today, but it definitely was back when I got my Elite.
Compared to the great-sounding single coils in the American Performer, the N4 pickups in the Elites have:
- a bit more low-end
- stronger low mids
- rolled-off highs
… and my Elite is an early one with a rosewood board, which accentuates the differences more.
I like the extra low-end. It’s a characteristic that I went after when I chose the new pickups for my Fender Player Strat. I like my low-E to go *plonk* and not *plink*.
The stronger low mids – combined with the rolled-off highs – can make the N4s sound different – and can be muddy if you don’t adjust for it. I suspect Fender switched from rosewood to ebony boards part-way through the Elite’s lifetime to help offset this.
I’ve been using my Klon to bring the best out of the N4s in my Elite Strat. The mid-hump of the Klon deals with any mud from those low-mids really nicely. And the treble boost makes the N4s sound a little more alive.
The Klon Makes Everything Sound Better
I’m delighted with the results. Best way I can describe it is that it sounds more like a Strat tone after it’s been mixed. And, of course, it’s dead quiet too. I get more noise from my Les Paul on really bad days.
In the room, just practicing or noodling around for fun, I do prefer the single coils I’ve put in my Player Strat. Thanks to some advice from Andrew @astringsuk, that guitar sounds really good. I can see me choosing Elite + Klon for recording though.
The Elite isn’t the only guitar where I’ve got noiseless pickups. I’ll do a follow-up on the decade-old set of passive EMGs in my old Charvel, and how the Klon helps there too.
And I *might* go and find out what the new pickups in the Ultra are like through a Klon … (that Texas Tea finish is very alluring …)
Anyone else using the Klon in this way with noiseless / stacked single-coil pickups? I’d love to hear how you’re getting on too.