Bypassing express tone stack

[Miket]

I was wondering if anyone has tried this? How much increase in gain might there be? Could it be managed? Or would it be a buzzy mess?

[Firestorm]

It might depend on how you bypass it. Just lifting the middle pot ground does produce a buzzy mess. That, by the way, can be a useful technique for stabilising these things: with the tone stack ground lifted, you can chopstick and tweak lead dress to get it as under control as possible. Then, with the stack reconnected the amp becomes well behaved (but not too well behaved).

[Reeltarded]

Thanks for that cool tip!

[ampdoc1]

I'd suggest you put a 100k mini pot between the mid and ground, to fine tune the gain. In a couple of amps I've also put in a relay to switch between the full gain (no EQ) or the pot setting. Cheap and easy way to get a lot of control.