fuzz guy
Tele-Meister
The Soul Bender is a MkIII/IV copy.
Tonebenders?
- Thread starter joshphase90wah
- Start date
fuzz guy
Tele-Meister
I have a hard time watching the TPS guys, but Josh Scott is good value and this is a good video demo of the different Tone Benders.
EDIT: It says "video unavailable", don't know why. Just go to Youtube and search That Pedal Show Tone Bender Special.
EDIT: It says "video unavailable", don't know why. Just go to Youtube and search That Pedal Show Tone Bender Special.
MatchlessMan
Tele-Holic
I have one of these, it’s great, especially as I play in a Bowie tribute band. It runs from a standard centre-negative power supply and works well after other pedals or buffers, in fact to my ear it sounds better that way. The downside is that it can become a bit ‘starved’ in very hot weather!
Whitebeard
Tele-Meister
I have a Monsterpiece GE Fuzz. Mine is from approx. 2012 when he was making them in his basement. The box/can is bigger than the current version. Here's a demo of the current Monsterpiece GE Fuzz - https://monsterpiecefuzz.com/pedals/ge-fuzz
BoxcarBenny
NEW MEMBER!
Hi, I became fascinated with fuzz guitar sounds from all the great 60’s pop records and through to the 70’s soul fuzz flavours. I bought a vintage maestro fuzz tone for a pretty penny and it wasn’t what I was hearing in the old records…long story short I started to build my own and now have to great models—one of which is a tone Bender variant of the Vox variety which captures the Robbie Krieger Doors type fuzz, the Ron Asheton fuzz on the first Stooges record and some of Neil Young’s fuzz tones from his early days with CSNY. I want to add that my Tone Bender variant, which is The “Tone Snifter” is silicon-stable and has an external bias, option for stock or cascading extra sustain—has that distinct compressed attack, nasty as hell and CLEANS UP.
mictester
TDPRI Member
I build my own. Some years ago a friend brought a Macari's 1970s silicon Tonebender around here for repair. He said that it sounded "horrible". On trying it our, I found that he was right. I took it apart, and did a quick check of the obvious - looking for physical damage, leaked battery gunk and liquid spills. There wasn't anything obvious. I wondered if someone had tried connecting the battery back-to-front (I've seen that a few times) and done damage to the transistors..... I decided to check the voltages around the transistors and quickly discovered that it was wildly mis-biased!
A few minutes on the 'net, and I found a set of "typical" voltages, and changed out the resistors to bias it correctly. I realised that some of the values were either 1/10th or even 1/100th of the correct values - it was like this from new! Presumably its constructor at Sola Sound either couldn't read the colour code (perhaps colourblind) or just didn't know what they were doing!
Once it was sanely biased, it sounded great, but had a tendency to go unstable at extreme fuzz settings. I added a pre-set resistor in series with the Fuzz control, and that allowed me to set a "maximum" setting without the screaming instability! I changed a couple of capacitor values, since it sounded rather "thin" to my ears, and after consultation with its owner, I added a "Fat / Thin" toggle switch, which made it much more versatile. Changing the value of one of the tone control capacitors opened up the range of the control, making it much more usable. It sounded so good, that I jotted down the values I'd come up with, and I've made dozens of them for friends.
If you use three 2N3904 transistors, a small diecast box and the relevant pots, sockets, passive components and a battery clip, you can build the whole thing for £10 - 15 [probably $14 - 20 US]. It's an easy build, and if you don't fancy using stripboard, there are plenty of ready-etched PCBs around on the 'net.
MAKE YOURSELF ONE! - You'll be glad you did!
A few minutes on the 'net, and I found a set of "typical" voltages, and changed out the resistors to bias it correctly. I realised that some of the values were either 1/10th or even 1/100th of the correct values - it was like this from new! Presumably its constructor at Sola Sound either couldn't read the colour code (perhaps colourblind) or just didn't know what they were doing!
Once it was sanely biased, it sounded great, but had a tendency to go unstable at extreme fuzz settings. I added a pre-set resistor in series with the Fuzz control, and that allowed me to set a "maximum" setting without the screaming instability! I changed a couple of capacitor values, since it sounded rather "thin" to my ears, and after consultation with its owner, I added a "Fat / Thin" toggle switch, which made it much more versatile. Changing the value of one of the tone control capacitors opened up the range of the control, making it much more usable. It sounded so good, that I jotted down the values I'd come up with, and I've made dozens of them for friends.
If you use three 2N3904 transistors, a small diecast box and the relevant pots, sockets, passive components and a battery clip, you can build the whole thing for £10 - 15 [probably $14 - 20 US]. It's an easy build, and if you don't fancy using stripboard, there are plenty of ready-etched PCBs around on the 'net.
MAKE YOURSELF ONE! - You'll be glad you did!
TokyoPortrait
Friend of Leo's
Great if we know what your circuit is using 2N3904 transistors. Care to share
brupop
TDPRI Member
AIONFX Fuzz ProjectsGreat if we know what your circuit is using 2N3904 transistors. Care to share
The Deimos is the Mk II
The Phobos is the Mk III
You can get either the PCB only or a complete kit.
They have some of the best instructions for those just starting out with pedal builds; and Tone Bender builds are simple, easy circuits.
Another good vendor: PedalPCB Tone Vendor MkII
PCB only, no kits.
Last edited:
Pantone 333
TDPRI Member
I just received this in the mail today! I can confirm that it sounds exactly how Andy Demos the pedal:
I'm not here to argue that this is the best fuzz pedal. It is, however, the best fuzz for me.
I'm not here to argue that this is the best fuzz pedal. It is, however, the best fuzz for me.
LeprechaunSmurf
TDPRI Member
The Way Huge Havalina is a solid choics if you find one. I had the luck to find one last week.
Very Tone Bender like without the drawbacks of one.
Very Tone Bender like without the drawbacks of one.
Thanks, not looking for a kit... I know there a re a ton of schematics on line. I was asking @mictester to share his circuit that sounds so good with 2N3904 transistors and cap/resistor tweaks.
E5RSY
Doctor of Teleocity
JesterR
Tele-Afflicted
Great pedal, but for me, it has more RAT stuff, rather then Tone Bender.
If you want more Tone Bender vibe, check Blood Donor version. More loose, fuzzy tone.
It has been pointed out, but to restate - every Tone Bender version is completely different. Comparing a Mk I to a Mk 2 is no different from comparing it to a Mayer Axis Fuzz - they are completely different circuits,
That said, my home built Mk I is my most recorded fuzz. I reach for it constantly. After it are my Foxx Tone Machine and then the Mayer Axis Fuzz (especially if I am using a humbucking guitar).
That said, my home built Mk I is my most recorded fuzz. I reach for it constantly. After it are my Foxx Tone Machine and then the Mayer Axis Fuzz (especially if I am using a humbucking guitar).
warchol
Tele-Meister
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2004
- Posts
- 141
I really like the LovePedal Bonetender I bought a while back.
Check it out on YouTube:
(Of course Andy makes everything sound good)
Only available used (as are many really good LovePedal boxes...).
Check it out on YouTube:
(Of course Andy makes everything sound good)
Only available used (as are many really good LovePedal boxes...).
Not just me then... I used to quite enjoy them, I'm not sure what happened.
