Got my EM back very quickly from Howard. He did an excellent job. Here is my summary:

1) Volume EQ mod: definitely worth it. Nice to have that fixed
2) Noise reduction: he found the noise was within normal operating limits for the unit
3) LED: nice to have and worth it
4) Vintage mod: Not sure how I feel about it. I am glad I had him install a little selector toggle so I could choose, although frankly, the difference is not huge. More high end, but you could fix that with your EQ pedal. He did a nice neat job installing the switch
5) I had a problem with the unit cutting out when tapped. Howard could not reproduce it and did not find a solution. I am not surprised…I went on a whacking spree with the unit just before sending it to him, and then the problem went away, so apparently I fixed it.

Overall with shipping the cost was $135. I have modded pedals myself, and know how to solder and can follow instructions. I do not know enough about electronics to “invent” a mod, and could not find adequate instructions to do all this myself. If I had such instructions, I would have done it myself. The LED and vintage switch would have looked sloppier than HOward’s fine work. So you get what you pay for. He does a great job, and you just have to decide if you want the mods and if they are worth the expense (which I would say is reasonable). You will NOT have your EM out of circulation long because Howard is very prompt!

For anyone reading, I owe Howard Davis an apology…he HAS been replying to my requests for info on his mods…my server was blocking e-mails from att.net domain.

My most sincere apologies. I will probably give up on looking for mod instructions and turn it over to the master!