Tonebender III/IV Hybrid

[Chistopher]

Good morning all,

I recently acquired probably the best fuzz I've ever used. The easiest way to describe it is 3 cascaded clean boosts into a BMP style tone control tuned to have no mid scoop. Where it gets interesting is the 3rd clean boost is a germanium boost, meaning it can't keep up at all with signal being handed to it and distorts the mess out of the signal.



This is not my unit, but thats what it looks like.

I love how it manages to get Gameboy levels of fuzz, while still managing to not squash the attack of the note or kill string separation. The tone control is a good bit more subtle than a Big Muff tone control usually is. I just got it yesterday but I've been playing it nonstop. I will upload sound clips at some point.

I will also say, do not buy one from Sola Sound, no pedal is worth the resale on a Sola Sound, build your own

 

[jeremy]

have you played other bender style fuzz? how does this one compare?

 

[Artie]

. . . build your own

Cool link. Thanks.

 

[Chistopher]

have you played other bender style fuzz? how does this one compare?

I've played a MK2, MK4, and this one. It bridges the gap between the 2 and 4 very well, even though the circuits have little in common.

It's rougher sounding than the 4 but more refined than the 2. It's got more midrange than both of them. Also it masks the tone of your instrument more than both of them do. Of the three, the hybrid feels the most modern and surprisingly the 4 feels the most old school.

I might buy the kit I linked too at some point when I have the money, because I think decreasing the gain at the second transistor could take this to a completely different level.

 

[idsnowdog]

The Tonebender I built has the opposite. Two germaniums into a silicon.

 

[jeremy]

interesting. i have a soulbender and something a friend made that he calls a mk4 but it sounds much more snarly than the soulbender

 

[GuitarStv]

I've found that these circuits are so simple the specific components can make a big difference in feel and sound. Just a change in transistors (or even in transistor readings using the same transistors) can make them sound like different pedals, so it's hard to make comparisons.

 

[jeremy]

i havent opened either up to see what trannys are used, though they are all germanium of some sort, so temperamental lol

 

[Chistopher]

The Tonebender I built has the opposite. Two germaniums into a silicon.

This is a pretty unique circuit. The idea behind the circuit is it's started out as the first half of a Ram's Head Muff going into the second half of a Buzzaround.