Looking to start your day off with an argument huh? Sad! You must be miserable. Try to have a nice day!

If a generic clapton styled tone is required you can buy a eq pedal to set your mid boost and have the function switchable. Better to my mind than the installed midboost that is always on. Infact if you watch the clap live the mid boost is pretty much constantly maxed out, he rides the volume and tone controls though.
That boost circuit in itself will not get you much above 'generic clapton styling'. The amp you use would likely need replacing. Then you have to decide which era you want to go for, 1964 bluesbreaker, 1959 plexi ala cream/blindfaith, champs and other tweeds ala 70's/early 80's, soldano ala late 80's/90's or a stack of twins like now.
Its also stated by Lee Dickson that clapton does what he likes onstage, its all monitored closely, corrected and set at the mixing desk.

My advice, dont go too wild on this one mate. Claptons tone is far more than just a guitar. If you decide to install the boost I strongly recommend you route the body to get the circuitboard away from everything. You can get it in the control cavity but it seems a bit noisy there. Moving it towards the lower horn calms it down a lot.
Vintage noiseless pickups work fine on that boost circuit, their pretty much bland without it though.

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thanks niki,
you out of some posters actually gave me something to think about.
imho some people need to really chill here.
i understand technique, and certain settings are req for a particular tone.

one thing i have noticed is this forum started very helpful, now the trend has moved from helping out a fellow player to not helping.
there are a few that still give damm good advice, like nik,ceri and martian to name a few. some like to act like their the authority in music. thats fine, but you distract the purpose of one of these forums. to be able to ask a question and come out with a solution.

my original thread was a question on lace sensors, i think eric claptons tone is amazing. i simply want to use his guitars tone as a reference point.
i have several guitars that i can get several peoples tone, but i simply use as a reference point.

sorry for the rant, it just gets frustrating when there is a misunderstanding in the question and answers.

Hey Strat

Did you get the chance to play that Strat before you bought it, or did you buy it on line.

Noodles

Funny isn't it? I bought an '09 Standard and although it's not as versatile as my Deluxe it can get nice and dirty in a way that the Deluxe can't. Whereas the Standard can do gentle, the Deluxe can't really do dirty (well, it can, but not quite as filthy dirty as the Std).

If I had to choose to keep one, I think it would be the Standard.

So, not overrated, just not for you.

Bluesstratone

I think the mid boost circuit is the dominant feature on his guitar. I think the pickups are of little consequence by the time they have run through that board. Some form of noiseless pickups are needed as the board amplifies the pickups to some unrealistic degree. Frinstance the vintage noiseless knock out around 9.5k normaly. User Blackiefan put the boost into his lace equipped guitar and reckoned he was getting around 70k out of the pickups. I can only surmise that their around the same kind of output/resistance rating without the boost. My guitar with that circuit has 2 vintage noiseless in the mid and neck positions. The bridge however has a dimarzio fs2, a high gain humbucker . Yet the pickups dont sound that dissimilar in use .

I'd be tempted to try what you have in the guitar already. Plenty of shielding and maybe a dummycoil could probably sort the noise problem out. If it doesnt or the sound isnt exactly to your liking try the lace pickups. I only say that because I have vintage noiseless and find them particularly useless. I've always been tempted to try SCN's with that boost, i think their better bass response would be killer under that circuit. Haven't tried it yet though.

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Niki
You know that I luv ya.....but what is this?

Greetings
Noodles

Its my longwinded and not entirely rellevant explanaition of how dominant the clapton mid boost circuit is, in the over all sound of the clapton series guitar. It pretty much overshadows any tonal qualities that the pickups impart.

Love you too mate, in a entirely hetro way of course.
Anyhow, I've now got to go down the pub, quaff copious amounts of strong dark ale, sing bawdy songs, eat a really hot curry and generaly reaffirm my manliness.

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Thanks Niki
Enjoy the pub mate...I'm still doing the math.

Noodles

I played a clapstrat a while back and niki is right , its not real stratty, but a nice tone nonetheless.BTW, a proud owner of a 2008 American Standard and it is only overrated by one person.I think most people would agree that its a nice guitar with some nice features.I like the glossy maple board and the color options are nice .

Bud

I think "overrated" may have been just a "choice of verbiage" Not everyone likes everything and "Strats2004" opinion should have been respected none the less. I had asked him if he played the guitar before he bought it, or if he bought it on line...the reason I asked is because I always wanted to add a Strat or two to my collection, and I would play several MIA's every time I was at a guitar shop, hoping that "today would be the day" that I took one home with me. This went on for quite a while.

I know all about the whole CNC machine thing, automation, mass production story, but in my reasonably experienced hands, they always felt different from the last one. Strats are definitly quirky like that. These were all Am Std's mind you.

One day at the local shop, I again test drove an Am Std 60th Anniversary Sienna / Maple model and fell in love with it. This one did go home with me. This quest had continued with the Am Deluxe as my subject guitar, and I fell in very love with a Montego Black / Maple one of these which has been my daily player ever since. I pine for the Chrome Silver & Vintage White one's regularly. IMO the Am Deluxe is my personal fave.

As far as "overrated" goes....I think that if "Strat2004" gets to play a variety of Am Std's...and he is wanting to add a Strat to his toolbox...he will eventually find one that he likes. As far as "Bang for the Buck" goes, we are talking about an American Stratocaster for under $1,000.00. This is a superior value, great deal, money well spent. In the "Big Picture" these are very inexpensive instruments!

Just my humble observation
Noodles

Noodles, I agree and I know there are a few that dont care for the American Standard, but there is an overwelming amount of people who rave about it.I had a 2001 American Series and I can tell you that it is a descent improvement.The old molded case was terrible and I personally didnt care for the maple satin necks.My AS has a glossed maple neck and i really dig it.With the new trem block there is an improvement in tone and sustain.To each their own I always say.There is a reason why Fender makes so many variations in each guitar.I have 3 strats and They are all different.Btw, I have a Texas Special in chrome silver and I really like that color alot.Looks really great with a pearloid pickgard.