Just a quick Tone Bender question !

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Which Co. made the very 1st Tone Bender ?

Vox ?
Sola Sound ?
Colorsound ?
JMI ?
Throbak ?
Boss ?


. . . i am asking, to settle an agrument !


Cheers

[James Rock]

Re: Just a quick Tone Bender question !

Definately not the last three. I think it was the sola sound tonebender then the mkI.V is the one VOX realeased as the VOX tonebender then MKII and I think Coloursound was the Supa and Jumbo.

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Just a quick Tone Bender question !

The very first Tone Bender units were sold as a "Gary Hurst Designed" Unit and they were sold through a line of music stores called Musical Exchange.

Musical exchange was owned by Sola Sound Ltd.

VERY soon after the Tone Bender came out they started being produced by Sola sound Ltd.

It should be noted that there were only a handful of Tone Benders built in 1965 before Sola Sound started being involved in the production.

All that said, I have no idea what Gary's relationship with Sola Sound was, there may have been no change at all just "Sola Sounds Ltd" being printed on the pedals...

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Just a quick Tone Bender question !

Definately not the last three. I think it was the sola sound tonebender then the mkI.V is the one VOX realeased as the VOX tonebender then MKII and I think Coloursound was the Supa and Jumbo.

The Vox Tone Bender and the Sola Sound pedal that collectors and cloners call the MK 1.5 are not the same pedal...

Colorsound "Benders" are not at all anything like any of the Sola Sound pedals (MK I, MK II, MK III, MK IV, Supa Fuzz, etc...)

[James Rock]

Re: Just a quick Tone Bender question !

The Vox Tone Bender and the Sola Sound pedal that collectors and cloners call the MK 1.5 are not the same pedal...

So is this a VOX only design as many searches come up with a VOX MKI.V tonebender. I guess my question is, is the original VOX tonebender (pre MKII) the same as a Sola Sound model or its own pedal.

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Just a quick Tone Bender question !

So is this a VOX only design as many searches come up with a VOX MKI.V tonebender. I guess my question is, is the original VOX tonebender (pre MKII) the same as a Sola Sound model or its own pedal.

Alright...it gtets confusing so I'll try and keep it as simple as possible.

The Tone Bender came out in 1965...it was just called Tone Bender but is now called MK I by collectors and cloners.

The first ones were built and sold by Gary Hurst and sola Sound quickly got involved.

In early 1966 Sola Sound revised the design of both the circiut and the case it was in...thes Tone Benders had the now famous sand cast shell where the earlier Tone Benders had a bent sheet metal case. The circiut changed from the earlier 3 transistor design to a 2 transistor design. These pedals were still just called Tone Bender however they sounded rather different from the earlier Tone Bender.

To help avoid confusion sola Sound changed the name later in 1966 to Tone Bender Professional MK II but it was the SAME circiut as the 1966 2 transistor design.

Now, to make matters even more confusing soon after changing the name to Professional MK II they decided to change the circiut again...this time back to a 3 transistor set up but still rather different from the earlies 1965 (MK I) Tone Bender pedals however they kept the name Professional MK II...

The sand cast Sola Sound pedals with 2 transisters built in 1965 (of which there are VERY FEW in existance) are refered to by collectors and cloners as the MK 1.5.

The circiut change in later 1966 back to a 3 transistor circiut is the pedal most folks think of when they think MK II Tone Bender.

Moving on...Sola Sound produced Tone Bender pedals for a LOT of other companies, one of them was Vox...the Vox Tone Bender Professional MK II pedal was built by Sola Sound for Vox and on the inside is the same as a Sola Sound Tone Bender Professional MK II.

Now, the pedal that is simply called Vox Tone Bender started production in 1966 and was made in Italy...these pedals were a 2 transistor design but NOT the same 2 transistor design used in the Sola Sound 2 tranny Tone Bender. People get these pedals confused all the time because both were "Tone Benders" and both had 2 trannys but like I said they are very differnet pedals.

So, the Sola Sound "MK 1.5" pedal and the Vox Tone Bender despite both being sold as Tone Benders and both having 2 trannys each are differnet circiuts and sound VERY differnet...

Also of note are the Zonk Machine, which is more or less a MK I Tone Bender in a different suit and the Marshall Supa Fuzz which is a tweaked 3 tranny MK II Tone Bender in a different shell.

Sola Sound introduced the MK III Tone Benders in 1968 so keep in mind, all these changes were made between mid 1965 and early 1968!

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: Just a quick Tone Bender question !

The very first Tone Bender units were sold as a "Gary Hurst Designed" Unit and they were sold through a line of music stores called Musical Exchange.

Musical exchange was owned by Sola Sound Ltd.

VERY soon after the Tone Bender came out they started being produced by Sola sound Ltd.

It should be noted that there were only a handful of Tone Benders built in 1965 before Sola Sound started being involved in the production.

All that said, I have no idea what Gary's relationship with Sola Sound was, there may have been no change at all just "Sola Sounds Ltd" being printed on the pedals...

The Vox Tone Bender and the Sola Sound pedal that collectors and cloners call the MK 1.5 are not the same pedal...

Colorsound "Benders" are not at all anything like any of the Sola Sound pedals (MK I, MK II, MK III, MK IV, Supa Fuzz, etc...)

So Sola Sound it is - YES !!!


Thank you very much for comming through (...again!) with the info.

Much appreciated.