Sola sound professional mkii tone bender tonebender youtube. Also i have a castledine supafuzz that is mk1 not the mk2 version and it has all mullard oc75s it rocks and gates very nicely. They both sound quite good but compared with other pedals they just dont seem as loud, even with the volume at max. Traditionally, fuzz circuits like the tone bender which have pnp transistors have required a dedicated power supply, since they are positive.
Jdm pedals elektrika custom tonebender mk1 zonk machine. Is dam, british pedal comapny and sola or soladam all different companies. This is an emulation of a fuzz face and a tone bender mkii with added controls for tweaking. This kit includes all of the parts needed to build the guitarpcb pumpd up tone bender project. There are extra resistor and cap spots not shown on the schematic these are for making different versions of the circuit shown overleaf. I decided to use npn germanium transistors for mine so that ill be able to use a negative ground arrangement, which allows use of modern power supplies. The only difference is that the 2200pf capacitor in the tone control section was changed to 2000pf. These tools allow students, hobbyists, and professional engineers to design and analyze analog and digital systems before ever building a prototype. Tone bender mk iii fuzz the final chapter in the classic tone bender series, and by far the most versatile. By february 1966, just months after the initial debut, a second tone bender iteration was in production with a twotransistor circuit and a sandcast aluminum enclosure. Designed by gary hurst it was the british response to the american made gibson maestro fuzz tone fz1. Jmi tone bender professional mkii effects database.
I made the layout in diptrace and followed most of the suggested mods on fuzzcentral, with a few extras. Tonebender mark ii professional pnp germanium transistor with charge pump version the addition of a charge pump on the input power, gives you the ability to daisy chain power to your pnp positive ground pedal with all your other negative ground pedals. Williams vintage tone mk11 professional tone bender. The williams vintage tone mk11 professional is a very faithful recreation of the legendary tonebender mk11 professional fuzz pedal. I just built one like this too with the pulldown capresistor. You are bidding on a new smitty pedals smitty bender mk1 which is a clone of the sola sound tone bender mki. The very first tone bender later christened tone bender mki, was based on hursts modified maestro fuzz. Tone bender pro mkii fuzz now directconnect compatible, though the image doesnt show the updated pcb alltime classic fuzz. Supplied with pnp ac128 or 2n404 transistors or you can have the kit without cans if you want to source your own. The above arent what youd typically expect for a tone bender set such as youd use in a mk ii pro. Tone 100kb vol 100kb bom colorsound mkiii vox mkiii the vox version originally had a 6. Originally built by sola sound in the 1960s, the mk11 tonebender instantly became a mainstay for many legendary guitarists such as. For more than two decades, the tone bender as we know and love it today lay dormant and forgotten.
Oct 21, 2009 for more than two decades, the tone bender as we know and love it today lay dormant and forgotten. My early experiences with the colorsound tonebender professional mark ii were a long and confusing ordeal, with no real answers to show for it. Colorsound tonebender mark ii replica complete kit kits. I breadboarded the tone bender mk1 and used the tonebender mk1 transistor set that small bear offers. Theres a reason why hendrix used to try every fuzz face in. The pcb and layout above the is the pcb, layout and parts list that can be used to build the vox tonebender. Used by jeff beck, jimmy page and famously also used by mick ronson, the mk1 really has its own distinctive tone. I gotta say, though, that the your face, because of the low cut knob, can get close. Ive built 2 mk1 s using this layout works great, and thanks for the layout. One used a generic matched set of small bears pnps and the 2nd a set of sbs oc75s. There was a late70s colorsound tone bender distortion, which used an ic and clipping diodesthis is not a tone bender. It was my fifth or six fuzz, following two fuzz faces. Tone bender clones fuzz is one of my favorite fxs, when done right, but most of the fuzz pedals sound harsh to me.
Schematic is based on the schematic, with a 25k pot replacing the 8k resistor at the collector of q3. It produces a characteristic high distorted sound called fuzz. Colorsound tonebender mark ii professional general. In the mk iii a typical tb set may give you too much gain, resulting in squishy, undefined fuzz. Pumpd up tone bender kit top quality diy guitar pedal kits. Seems that there is a lot of crossover in the tb mk1 and values had been adapted for different trannies.
Online schematic capture lets hobbyists easily share and discuss their designs, while online circuit simulation allows for quick design iteration and accelerated learning about electronics. His history stops at the release of the mk iii so this is where were picking up. Finally, we added a tightfat switch to help control the lowend boominess that the tonebender circuit can bring out on some guitarspeaker combinations. The tone bender timeline history the big muff pi page.
Sep 18, 2009 the very first tone bender later christened tone bender mki, was based on hursts modified maestro fuzz. As tone benders always work better with pnp transistors, this latest fuzzdog offering has the option of. Colorsound tonebender mark ii replica complete kit. This is the circuit diagram of vox tone bender pedal. I first built the circuit, using steve daniels schematic, in may 2001. There are the three variations of the mark ii professional. We started with a redesign of our pcb so that it would fit the larger axial leaded capacitors and carbon comp resistors and made the layout look nice. Supersaturated lead tones, or great chord work with the guitar volume knocked back. Sometime in the early 1990s, the vox tone bender fuzz model v829 appeared, announcing itself as germanium charged. I have replaced the 8k2 resistor on the collector of q2 with a 20k trimpot so that you can adjust the voltage on q2s collector to 4. Vintage tone mk1 classic mk1 tone bender build williams audio. Use the schematic as a rough guide and try different biasing, capacitor values, etc. If you want to build a germanium transistor version, you can get your own transistors small bear carries them and you can use them with this kit. The jmi replica line up now includes a wood cased jmi mki prototype tone bender unbranded, a steel cased jmi mki, mick ronson signature jmi mki, zonk machine jmi mki, jmi mk1.
Mk1 tonebender fuzz owners what do you consider to be. You can use 2n388a, sk3861, ac127, and a few other part numbers. This circuit is based upon the sola sound tone bender professional mkii, and uses vintage germanium pnp transistors for vintage tone. Nov 10, 2012 british pedal company vintage series professional mkii tone bender oc75 vs oc81d demo duration.
The schematic is identical in structure to the original arbiter fuzz face which was released in late 1966 it is rumoured that the tone bender mk1. I searched online for the orginal specd schematic, found it and i breadboarded the circuit to. The prescription electronics yard box the prescription electronics yard box is a more recent take on the sola sound tonebender 3knob. The tonemender is a very flexible, yet simple clean boost with a 3knob tonestack that allows the user to recreate the classic fender, marshall and vox responses. Note that voxjmi engineer and vox distortion booster designer dick denney also claimed that he personally gave the beatles a vox tonebender prototype in early 1965. Ive never played or heard the actual 1965 tonebender mk1 so im playing this by ear based on what i have read online and specially from this forum. British pedal company vintage series professional mkii tone bender oc75 vs oc81d demo duration.
Traditionally, fuzz circuits like the tone bender which have pnp transistors have required a dedicated power supply, since they are positive ground circuits. The kit includes transistor sockets to make it easy to add your. Relying on the schematic and expecting it to sound good right off the bat is putting yourself at the mercy of the draw. In the course of a year, the tone bender was subject to a succession of revisions that yielded two different versions of the mki, a transitional mk1. Using a vox tonebender with a fender twin, or any other read more. Here is the schematic of my modified version of the tonebender mkii professional, the mindbender. The photo is from a ghtb mk1, the schem shows the sola tb mk1 rev. 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.
It runs in mono or stereo, and has selectable 2x oversampling. The tone hungry effects hunger bender is a great rendition of the archetypal tone bender design. Colorsound tone bender mk iii clone project documentation. The kit contains all the parts to make a great sounding npn silicon transistor version of a colorsound tone bender mark ii. Building a tonebender mkii from scratch telecaster. Ivor arbiter took the round shaped enclosure idea from a microphone stand and it was the first pedal including a dpdt stompswitch. Just finished building the great sounding fuzz pedal clonereplica, the sola sound tone bender mk1.
Up to you, but the above values give excellent results. The vox tonebender will have a lot more treble response than the fuzz facemaybe to help brighten up those characteristically dark sounding british amps some. Tone bender mk iii diy clone phobos fuzz aion electronics. Mar 19, 20 i breadboarded the tone bender mk1 and used the tonebender mk1 transistor set that small bear offers. The tlc2272 is rated for lownoise and railtorail output, which will offer the highest possible clean boost and dynamic range. Options are to build it with pnp or npn germanium transistors or.
Fuzz is one of my favorite fxs, when done right, but most of the fuzz pedals sound harsh to me. Mar 20, 20 just finished building the great sounding fuzz pedal clonereplica, the sola sound tone bender mk1. Colorsound tonebenders 3knob general guitar gadgets. The gate control lets you dial in that unique choppy or fizzy sound that some vintage mk1 units had, or turn the gate up higher to increase sustain and smooth the tone. Tone bender m iii phobos fu 1 phobos fuzz coloursound tone bender mark iii overview phobos project link 3 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 1 3 3 1 the phobos fuzz is a clone of the coloursound tone bender mark 3 threeknob.
Transistor pinouts are all cbe with collectors closest to the pots. Sola sound tone bender mk1 suppose to sound like this. The jmi tone bender mki reissue is an exact replica of the original 1965 tone bender. The supafuzz is very close to a mk1 tonebender, but the gain is set maxed in the circuit, and the gain knob is replaced with a sort of tone knob. Without any official mk ii label, this came to be known as the 1. Produced by sola sound in reasonably small amounts, you are more likely to pickup rocking horse sht than one of these. Whereas previous tbs had only volume and fuzz controls, the mkiii adds a treblebass tone knob to take you from crunchy bottomrich fuzz to allout catbothering treble filth. Capacitor orientation c3 and c5 have been placed the wrong way round on the pcb. This pedal covers a wide range of classic overdriven fuzz tones and will satisfy the appetites of those seeking some oldschool tonebending distortion. C6 is a tight fit behind the potnot a good place for busting out the mojo.
Some specimens carry the rotosound label instead of sola sound. I have a mk1 and a mkiii and theyre both incredible. 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. The one that started it all, the legendary mk1 tonebender. David main from dam has written up a history of the tone bender up until mk ii, so you would do well to check out his page on the history for the full background story. The fuzz face is a distortion guitar pedal designed in london by arbitrer electronics ltd in the autumn of 1966. There is some controversy of when and where the 2transistor topology appeared. There are so many tone bender clones my heads about to explode from research.
It uses true germanium circuits, and achieves the same warm, vintage fuzz achieved by jeff beck and mick ronson. While the first version was essentially a slightly tweaked fuzz face, and the second version added a gain. Tone burner, modified 3knob tonebender pnp germanium transistor, positive ground this is an excellent variation on the 3 knob tone bender designed by tobias karlsson. An exact replica of the original pedal with oc84 transistors, encased in an enclosure replicating the original gold colored hammerite finish. Below is the schematic of the vox tonebender mkiii thanks to stuart castledine for the schematic. Dec 12, 20 the tone hungry effects hunger bender is a great rendition of the archetypal tone bender design. Granted im not a mk1 expert but here are the specs of it. Colorsound tonebender mark ii professional this is the classic, vintage colorsound tonebender mark ii professional. Huge, smooth sounds available from this great circuit.
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