George, in an effort to enhance your already wonderful 8304 mic pre, I replaced the gain knobs on two of the channels with NOS Bakelite knobs from the cold war era. The change in tone is amazing! Singers who, in the room, sound like Don Knotts, come out of the pre sounding like Howling Wolf! Cheapo Silvertone guitars come out sounding like prewar Martins!
Since I am mostly a right brain kind of guy, and spend more time pursuing free-range blondes than soldering stuff, I can’t explain this phenomenon. Perhaps the Bakelite has a magnetic resonance at some perfect frequency to euphonically influence the components inside the box. Perhaps I have wax in my ears. Perhaps this is the first sign of cognitive impairment.
Next, I think I am going to replace the mic cables with some made from Unobtainium. Since it has many more molecules than copper or silver, the electrons will no doubt flow more happily! I will be sure to keep you posted about any further improvements which pan out.
Yours in science,
Haolemon
