Fodera Custom Preamp v.3

1. Pickup Pan Board

Connections

1. Active Power - for EMG's
2. Neck – Hot – outer coil
3. Neck – Hot – inner coil
4. Neck – Grounds
5. Universal shield and ground
6. Bridge – Hot – outer coil
7. Bridge – Hot – inner coil
8. Bridge – Grounds

Jumpers

• CTB – Coil Tap Bridge – in for Parallel Coil Tap (default) – Out for Series Coil Tap
• CTN - Coil Tap Neck - in for Parallel Coil Tap (default) – Out for Series Coil Tap
• EN - EMG Neck – Adds 28k to the 250k Balancer for EMGs or other active pickups
• EB - EMG Bridge - Adds 28k to the 250k Balancer for EMGs or other active pickups
• BB - Bartolini Bridge - Adds 180k to 250k Balancer to contour tapers for Bartolinis and pickups with similar impedance
• BN - Bartolini Neck - Adds 180k to 250k Balancer to contour tapers for Bartolinis and pickups with similar impedance

Connectors

• a. 4 Pin - Coil Tap Switch – to coil tap switch
• b. 3 Pin - Active Passive out – to Volume Tone Board

Notes

"Ext Balance 1234" can be used if Balance Pot is removed and special wiring is needed such as a "Volume/Blend" stacked pot. (Used in Fodera's “Mini MB Presentation” model)

Coil Tap Wiring

For parallel and split operation, connect the hot of the second coil to the “To tap” terminal and place jumpers on the “Neck tap” and “Bridge tap” positions on the jumper block. For series and split operation, connect the hot of the second coil AND the ground of the first coil to the “To tap” terminal and do NOT install jumpers on the "Neck tap” and “Bridge tap” positions on the jumper block.

Shielding and Grounding

The fact that a shield and a ground are often supposed to be at the same potential (0V) does not mean they can be treated as the same signal. Fodera has gone to great lengths to ensure that the ground/shield treatment in this preamp is cutting edge and maximizes the benefits of a true, low impedance, driven ground. Therefore, a few steps need to be taken in Installation:

1. The output jack should NOT be mounted to the foil shield in the control cavity. Cut the foil away around the mounting hole. The only electrical connections to that jack should be the 3 wires that go to the switch board.
2. If your pickups have a “drain” or braided wire in addition to the hot and ground wires, it should be connected to the Shields terminal on the terminal block. This DOES NOT APPLY TO EMG PICKUPS or pickups with a single conductor and a shield. In this case, the shield wire IS in fact ground.
3. All shield wires including the bridge ground wire, any wires coming from the pickup cavities, and wires attached to the backs of pots should be connected at ONE POINT on the foil cavity shield. From that point, one wire should be run to the Shields terminal on the terminal block.

2. Volume Tone Board

Jumpers

Jumpers – when open 22nF with 250k tone pot:

• Dark - adds 22nF – 44nF total
• Deep – adds 47nF – 69nF total, 91nF if both jumpers are installed

Connectors

• a. 4 Pin Black and Red – 2x 9V connectors
• b. 5 Pin - Active EQ
• c. 3 Pin Purple Orange and Green – To output jack
• d. 3 pin - Active passive to Active Passive Switch – or can be hardwired with jumpers
  • 1-2 passive
  • 2-3 active
• e. 3 Pin – Active Passive from Pickup Pan Board
• f. 3 Pin - Standby switch – can be hardwired with jumpers on 1-2 to bypass (default)

The volume/tone pot can be removed and a single 250k audio taper pot can be installed for a single pot tone control. Volume function can be accessed using slots "1234" on the Ext Vol connector. Slots 3+4 of this connector can be connected to a momentary NC switch for push button kill function.

Ext Power slots 123 can be used for setups requiring Ghost Power.

3. Bass Board

Gain Adjust Jumpers

These jumpers affect how much gain is added to your signal when the active preamp is engaged and the EQ is set flat.

Bass / Treble Shelving Jumpers

• L: Controls Bass shelf at 40Hz.
• T: Controls Treble Shelf at 6kHz.

Connectors

• a. 5 Pin from Volume/Tone board
• b. 6 Pin to Mid Range Board
• c. 4 Pin to Treble Board

4. Mid Range Board

To set the two frequencies you can switch between for your Mid Frequency (Low Mid Frequency if preamp is 4 band), you must remove and add resistors on the bottom side of the board labeled "LM".

Jumpers D E F G select the “Hi Mid Frequency” for 4 Band EQ's with a Hi Mid Frequency Selection Switch.

Connectors

• a. 6 Pin from Bass Board
• b. 4 Pin to Mid Selector Switch (Lo Mid Selector if 4 Band)
• c. 4 Pin to Hi Mid Selector Switch – or can be hardwired
  • Jumper on 1-2 for lower of HiMid Frequencies selected with jumpers DEFG
  • Jumper on 3-4 for higher of HiMid Frequencies selected with jumpers DEFG
• d. 4 Pin to Hi Mid Pot (for 4 band EQ)

5. Treble Board

Connectors:

• 4 Pin Connector from Bass Board