Sun bender mkiv this fuzz pedal is a blueprinted version of the old sola sound colorsound vox tonebenders that had three germanium transistors and a. These represent the sounds of almost every fuzz pedal introduced between 1962 and 1968. The first version of this tone bender is referred to as the tone bender mki. Click the button below to add the transistor set 3knob tone bender npn generic to your wish list. Sola sound ltd tonebender mki hornby skewes zonk machine dam fz673 the sola sound tone bender mki was one of the first fuzz pedals available in the uk. Korg used to own tone bender trademarks in the 1990s. It was my fifth or six fuzz, following two fuzz faces. Macaris ltd, who also own the sola sound brand, and who have built and sold the pedals since 1965 now own the tone bender trademark. In this series we already covered the bender fuzz model, based on the tone bender from the 60s, made by macarissola sound uk.
Colorsound 3knob tone bender with pnp germanium transistors positive ground colorsoundlike 3knob tonebender with npn germanium transistors negative ground. Here are the 3knob tone bender versions that can be built on the pcb for this project. Vox tone bender this popular fuzz sold like hot cakes and was marketed from the spring of 1966, as oemrelease produced by solasound. Kasleder fx boutique effects pedals music intruments. Tone bender pro mkii fuzz now directconnect compatible, though the image doesnt show the updated pcb alltime classic fuzz. Keeley fuzz bender 3 transistor hybrid fuzz pedal white. If you want to build a germanium transistor version, you can get your own transistors small bear carries them. The tone is a little heavier and denser when compared to that of the professional mkii. Twin bender has a long list of features that make it the most versatile and user friendly tone bender available.
The tone bender timeline history the big muff pi page. Dallasarbiters original fuzz face 1966, uk is based on the tone bender mk1. Professional mkii tone bender oc81d british pedal company. Semiconductors module 3 bipolar junction transistors semiconductors module 3 pdf 3 e. For a simple and great sounding tonebender, build the silicon transistor version. Colorsound tone bender mk iii clone project documentation.
A heavily modified version of the tone bender mk1 circuit. Its a great time to upgrade your home music studio gear with the largest selection at. Mkiv is more saturated and early 1970s sounding, and has a tone control that can go from. Influenced by the landmark tone bender mkii that was used by jeff beck and jimmy page in the yardbirds and its all over the first led zeppelin lp. They arent terribly cheap, but compared to buying a bunch of oldstock transistors and testing and sorting them yourself, probably throwing away a number of them in the end, its a bargain. Best guitar effects is a community for people who love making music with guitar, pedals, and effects. Best tone bender fuzz distortion guitar effects pedal. Dam 1965 tone bender mk i replica guitar effects pedal demo duration. As only difference, the input and outputcapacitors were kept. Diode schematic symbol and actual picture of a common 1n914 diode the black stripe in the picture is the cathode. Designed by gary hurst it was the british response to the american made gibson maestro fuzz tone fz1.
Looking at the timeline, the fuzz boxes were likely the new mki tone benders. Germanium transistors tone benders and similar page 1. Tonebenders for dummies page 2 telecaster guitar forum. The bpc mkii tone bender oc81d is a detailed replica of the 1966 professional mk ii tone bender pedals created by gary hurst. The concept of the british pedal company is to deliver classic british effects to a modern market in a choice of authentic vintage enclosures or compact modern enclosures using the correct transistors and circuit designs of the original iconic effects to the highest quality possible. The first incarnation of the tone bender was a three transistor circuit based. The prescription electronics yard box the prescription electronics yard box is a more recent take on the sola sound tonebender 3knob.
The fuzz face predecessor the vox tonebender was another pedal in the tonebender series, but it differs from most because of its greatly increased treble response and two transistor circuit. Colorsound tonebender mark ii professional this is the classic, vintage colorsound tonebender mark ii professional. My early experiences with the colorsound tonebender professional mark ii were a long and confusing ordeal, with no real answers to show for it. Note that voxjmi engineer and vox distortion booster designer dick. Twelve germanium fuzz circuits compared and analyzed. Several versions would come out after the sola sound tone bender was first introduced. This is the very first one from the whole family, originally build point to point on perfboard. Boutique guitar effects pedals and music instruments by kasleder fx, handmade for musicians, anywhere in the world. This my tone bender mkii professional oc75 germanium transistors pedal that is listed on ebay. The one that started it all, the legendary mk1 tonebender. Earthquaker devices and the newly resurrected park amplifiers have joined forces to deliver a reissue of the vintage park fuzz sound. We later started making a 3 transistor mkiv sun bender. Tone bender mk1 on perfboard exact repro, full offboard shielded wiring. Others recommend bc108s and bc109s because they appeared in early silicon fuzz faces.
The circuit schematic symbol of a diode is shown in figure 5. The circuit is based on the shuntseriesfeedback amplifier topology a standard in engineering textbooks. Colorsound tone bender mk ii project documentation. There are the three variations of the mark ii professional. A rundown of the most mythical fuzz pedals audiofanzine. Used by jeff beck, jimmy page and famously also used by mick ronson, the mk1 really has its own distinctive tone.
Yes there would be less artifacts in the decay of bone bender as compared with typical mk1 circuits and. Fitted with 3 nos germanium transistorsthe huge amount of sustain comes from those germanium transistors. The park fuzz sound is a germanium fuzz from the tone bender family that produces a brighter, almost distortionlike tone compared to. A good tone bender has everything to do with how the builder doesnt tune it. Rob mcnelley bob seeger band fuzzing it up in nashville turns it on at 1. The fuzz face is particularly similar to the sola sound unit known today as the mk1. The kit includes everything you need if you use silicon transistors. Ive noticed that 2g381 loaded mkis tend to gate more, but thats just because generally the 2g381 is an extremely crappy transistor. The mki was a three transistor circuit that was based upon the gibson built maestro. The circuit itself predates the fuzz face, which means that the famous arbiter electronics fuzz face was probably based on this circuit. A transistor consists of two pn junctions formed by sandwiching either ptype or ntype semiconductor between a pair of opposite types. I just built one like this too with the pulldown capresistor. The kit contains all the parts to make a great sounding npn silicon transistor version of a colorsound tone bender mark ii.
Mk1 tonebender fuzz owners what do you consider to be. Since this is a positiveground circuit, it requires pnpstyle transistors. Looking at the timeline, the fuzz boxes were likely the new mki tone benders, but gary claimed in 2010 that one was the twotransistor tone bender we now call the mk1. Im a huge fan of way huge, so i want to try the havelina. Below is the schematic of the vox tonebender mkiii thanks to stuart castledine for the schematic. It consisted of the twostage amplifier circuit of the solasound tone bender mk1. The only difference is that the 2200pf capacitor in the tone control section was changed to 2000pf. Earthquaker devices park vintage germanium fuzz tone.
A tool to help players identify the circuits most relevant to their musical needs. Tone bender mkii professional oc75 germanium transistors. Produced by sola sound in reasonably small amounts, you are more likely to pickup rocking horse sht than one of these. Recorded using a flip video camcorder, fender custom shop esquire and fender pro junior amp. Hence comparing the schematic symbol to the pn junction in figure 4, we see the anode is the ptype semiconductor and the cathode is the ntype semiconductor. If you want to build a germanium transistor version, you can get your transistor set from small bear electronics llc and use the resistor values that he sends with the transistors. Colorsound tonebender mark ii replica complete kit. This isnt about particular brands of pedals, but the circuits they employ. Bender tonebender analogman sunface fulltone 70 fuzz analogman sun triangle big muff boss fz2 hyper fuzz sovtek green russian big muff sun face fuzz analogman nkt275 rams head big muff electro harmonix sovtek big muff pi vintage germanium fuzz black russian big muff fulltone 69 fuzz sunface fuzz skreddy style fuzz super fuzz guitar vintage univox super. Ac188 datasheet, equivalent, cross reference search. Designed by gary hurst it was the british response to the. Sola sound and vox had been using the same circuit topology for their tone bender pedals earlier in 1966. I first built the circuit, using steve daniels schematic, in may 2001. The jfuzz is a faithful recreation of the wellknown early 70s jennings fuzz, equipped with the original silicon transistors from.
1563 207 1538 46 1192 1226 490 523 779 1382 463 539 1460 385 428 387 1291 1360 177 573 901 1174 1075 201 337 106 274 412 410 1388 68 1221 771 1017 696 161