The t60 was primarily a les hills design one of the solid state organ designers, but dick denney or gary hurst may have been involved since. The fuzz face also attracted a number of clones even in the golden age. A sample output signal created using matlab with the manual biasing. Ive laid this out for negative ground operation, so make sure to use npn transistors. By september he was selling them through the macari brothers musical exchange shops. Check the postings on for suggestions on how to tweak the bias.
The bpc mkii tone bender is a detailed replica of the 1966 professional mk ii tone bender pedals created by gary hurst. The input stage topology resembles the simple 2 transistor circuits, like those that would later be used in the vox distortion booster, tone bender mk1. And the tone circuit is like a very crude version of what you have in a big muff its a blender of sorts treble on one side, bass on the other. Tone bender pro mkii fuzz now directconnect compatible, though the image doesnt show the updated pcb alltime classic fuzz. The device was used by keith richards in the rolling stones 1965 hit satisfaction and became a favorite of many garage rock and psychedelic. The mkiii actually is like taking a fuzz face and adding the 3rd transistor at the end. The first incarnation of the tone bender was a three transistor circuit based on the gibson maestro fuzztone. Surprisingly it cleans up as nicely as my sunface with rca germanium with a strat and even better with a 58 lp ri custom. The vox tone bender not to be confused with the colour sound tone bender was a copy with only minimal changes to the the component values, and adapted to npn silicon transistors. Below is a picture of the circuit board in a tonebender mkii. Snoddy and hobbs tried to recreate that fuzz with transistors.
Tone bender mkii professional oc75 germanium transistors. For additional versatility get our rototone board and personalize your fuzz pedal important notes socket your transistors y ou may wish to change them later and makes troubleshooting a lot easier. Use npn transistors, flip the orientationpolarity of c2, c4 and c6, then follow. Q1 and 2 create a darlington pair that amplify the signal, while q3 is what creates the fuzz.
The deimos fuzz is a clone of the tone bender mark 2 twoknob. Amazin fuzz i build one today leave out the last resistor 220 k or put in on a switch it makes it louder will the gain on the 3. Has some of that beefy woolliness of a good germanium fuzz face but still has enough cut and. There are the three variations of the mark ii professional. Supplied with pnp ac128 or 2n404 transistors or you can have the kit without cans if you want to source your own. The tone is a little heavier and denser when compared to that of the professional mkii. The fuzz attack circuit is then completely different. Supposedely, this is the fuzz pedal that jimmy page used on the first couple of led zeppelin albums, which makes it even more famous.
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. Katzenkonig combines the best elements of a tone bender mkii fuzz with a rat distortion. Biasing part of the characteristic sound of the tone bender mk ii is the uneven bias. The second and third stages are exactly the same as in the fuzz face, and the first stage needs one that measures from 75100. Supersaturated lead tones, or great chord work with the guitar volume knocked back. Do the 2sc381 silicon transistors have a large effect on the sound. Here are the 3knob tone bender versions that can be built on the pcb for this project. A good tone bender has everything to do with how the builder doesnt tune it. What about the threetransistor set for the sola tone bender professional mark ii. Options are to build it with pnp or npn germanium transistors or with npn silicon transistors. The above arent what youd typically expect for a tone bender set such as youd use in a mk ii pro. The above arent what youd typically expect for a tone bender set such as youd use. The first time you engage twin bender youll know why the tone bender circuit is the holy grail of fuzz.
Early incarnations were housed in wooden enclosures. I made a simple one transistor fuzz circuit for a test. The tone bender timeline history the big muff pi page. Iii not only added a tone control, but the circuit was a deviation from earlier tone benders. The deimos project is a faithful reproduction of the tonebender. Colorsound 3knob tone bender with pnp germanium transistors positive ground colorsoundlike 3knob tonebender with npn germanium transistors negative ground. The circuit is all discrete, using a trio of silicon transistors in a modi. The very first tone bender later christened tone bender mki, was based on hursts modified maestro fuzz. Its a genuine kick in the teeth that will have a permanent spot in my setup. While the first version of the tonebender was essentially a slightly tweaked fuzz face, the mark 2 version added a single transistor boost in front of it. Twin bender uses the same circuit of sola sounds legendary tone bender mkii professional that jimmy page and many others made famous. This my tone bender mkii professional oc75 germanium transistors pedal that is listed on ebay. Npn germanium transistor set for diy effects pedals fuzz. Capacitor orientation c3 and c5 have been placed the wrong way round on the pcb.
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. Produced by sola sound in reasonably small amounts, you are more likely to pickup rocking horse sht than one of these. The circuit itself predates the fuzz face, which means that the famous arbiter electronics fuzz face was probably based on this circuit. Mixing and matching these, as well as tweaking your other components, lets you tailor your fuzz project to your liking. I made last year a variant on the three transistor tonebender or supa fuzz and called. The complete bom and the drilled enclosure is included, you only need soldering iron and basic tools.
My interest in fuzz pedal came from jmi tone bender iii reissue which belongs to a friend. Colorsound tonebender mark ii professional this is the classic, vintage colorsound tonebender mark ii professional. Very cool initiative and very nice fuzz face layout on single tagboard. So, to wax a bit poetic, the tone you get from the ac transistors is a bit more hairy and full than the 2n4, which have a slightly tighter or more crisp fuzz one.
Colorsound tone bender mk ii project documentation. 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. Fuzztone achieved a peak of popularity in the 1960s. Up to you, but the above values give excellent results. Schematic bom tonebender pro mkii marshall superfuzz vox tone bender mkii r1 100k 10k r2 10k q2bias 100k preset r4 470r r5 100k q3bias 10k preset c1 10n 15n c2 4. Professional mkii tone bender oc75 british pedal company. Mk1 tonebender fuzz owners what do you consider to be. Fitted with 3 nos germanium transistorsthe huge amount of sustain comes from those germanium transistors. Acid fuzz,vintage fuzz,germanium fuzz,tone bender,vox tone bender,vox guitars,sonic boom,fuzz face,zonk machine,vox starstream,vox ultrasonic. Recorded using a flip video camcorder, fender custom shop esquire and fender pro junior amp. Most of the early fuzz and benders were crude in design meaning that they could. Huge, smooth sounds available from this great circuit. Small mods in circuit added 10r resistor between q2 emitter and fuzz pot plus small ceramic cap 39pf to lower noise and prevent oscilations on higher fuzz settings.
The tone knob goes from a bassy tone to a trebly tone, its sort of a mix knob in the way it works, it does not just cut highs or lows. Enter the 1962 maestro fuzztone, godfather of all fuzzboxes. In order to have this circuit sound like a tone bender, you must use transistors in the recommended gain hfe ranges and bias the circuit. Electrosmash you can build the perfect germanium fuzz face. Colorsound tonebenders 3knob general guitar gadgets. Designed by gary hurst it was the british response to the american made gibson maestro fuzz tone fz1. 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. As the bom and all the documents are available you can get the parts and diy you can also order nos ussr germanium transistors. So far, i love it close enough to a fuzz face for me to like it immediately and different enough just so i wont ditch it in the never cared for that one builds drawer.
I used to enjoy using the tone bender and the shaftsbury duofuzz at the same time it gave a very thin violinish sound provided you used reverb or repeat echo to give it some gloss. Thats how i have my tone bender mkii wired, pnp germanium transistors wired for negative ground. And, unfortunately, my sola sound bum fuzz came with 3 of npn transistors while oc75 is pnp type. But even though the topology is similar to a fuzz face, the biasing scheme is very different, and. Ac125, nkt275 for fuzz face, tone bender, boosters. Used by jeff beck, jimmy page and famously also used by mick ronson, the mk1 really has its own distinctive tone. The one that started it all, the legendary mk1 tonebender. Colorsound tone bender mk ii project documentation deimos fuzz. Ive noticed that 2g381 loaded mkis tend to gate more, but thats just because generally the 2g381 is an extremely crappy transistor.
These fuzz pedals use 3 germanium transistors and have a tone knob unlike the earlier mki, mk1. Fuzz controls the attenuation of the signal coming out of the first boost stage, which changes the amount of gain going through the third transistor. A buffer circuit has a few hundred ohms driving impedance compared to some 715 kohm pickup impedance, which will turn the fuzz face hardon pun intended. Gary hurst, a technician, began selling these in mid1965. A complete schematic of the vox tone bender is shown below. 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. Colorsound tonebender mark ii professional general. Putb tonebender mkii pnp uses charge pump guitarpcb.
517 54 1450 572 1298 153 1513 824 767 62 779 73 1601 1077 858 1597 604 1306 891 875 1302 359 1200 1549 985 1072 350 1539 1218 1156 1499 1271 371 1066 449 1362 10 571