John -
The modded clips are most definately darker with the tone knob in the same 12:00 position. I simply thought leaving the tone as flat as possible would give an accurate representation of the tone before and after. I'd like to mess with the pedal more and find the optimal setting with my guitar and amp...and then re-record.
The gain is now smoother and fatter, and that is just what I was hoping for. I can also hear a more complex harmonics in the pedal as a result of the mods. In the un-modded version moving the tone past 12:00 produced some very brittle, unmusical highs to my ears. Now I prefer the tone set between 2 and 3 o'clock as the pedal really opens up at that point. Another point I like is that the sound is far less "metallic" for lack of a better work. It is probably more likely the increase in even order harmonics and the decrease in un-even harmonics that account for the change. There is a more useable sweep in the tone knob now as opposed to before. I personally like the pedal's overall darker quality. My partictular Marshall is on the bright side IMO anyhow, so this pedal will complement it quite nicely.
The lows are definately tighter and more throaty. The upper mids seem slightly diminished to me while the lower mids seem more pronounded. The highs are definately smoother, and that is the biggest improvement for me. I can't stand brittle, ice pick highs. As I continue to play the pedal, I find that there are more useable settings than before. Each knob seems to have a fuller more useable sweep range than before.
If I could change something about the pedal, it would probably be to brighten it up just a touch overall. It may be slightly too dark with another amp, and I don't like the thought of running the tone almost all the way up to compensate. I would also tweak the midrange a little so they were a bit more pronounced overall.
I also still have the clips using the pedal with the OD channel of my amp...more as a boost pedal. I need to wait to be able to crank it until the wife is feeling better and can get out of the house for a few hours. I recorded the unmodded clips with the OD channel at fairly high volume levels in an attemp to get things to open up.
In terms of an overall rating.......tough. I think before the mods the pedal was a 7 out of 10. With the mod it's around 8.5 or so out of 10. Worth the $$....definately. It's closer to the tone I'm after, although still not quite there.
