Gain increases just slightly, though I will have to measure the stock one I have here vs. the modded one to say exactly by how much. I could go either way on the top plate, but I'm leaning towards not offering that since there isn't any thing particularly nebulous about how the controls operate vs. the stock amp. We have done stickers in the past, and I could see possibly designing a short sticker to go across the entire top panel to provide some labels, but ultimately that will have to be something we discuss before officially launching the product.