Tools, Tones and Toys for Guitarists
The Sounds of Today is Ian Sherwood from Ghost Effects adaptation of the MKI Tone Bender. It’s all explained by Ian here, with photos. There are also plenty of photos of these in various stages of construction Instagram too, so you can see a few variations along the way. Short story: The attack has been replaced with a fixed resistor. The resistor … Read more
Not a huge amount of variation on Zonks in terms of component values, and at one stage this was all on the MKI table, but I decided to split the two. ZONK MACHINE SCHEMATIC ZONK MACHINE COMPONENT VALUES Link to table BUILD NOTES In my experience, the Zonk can be a little easier to make … Read more
This isn’t a complete reference of every Tone Bender MKIII / MKIV ever made. It’s a working table compiled from multiple online sources and gut shots, so treat it as a guide rather than absolute gospel. In some cases, it’s difficult to have a definitive set of values for any one pedal, as they are … Read more
Picked this up today – it’s a Goldentone guitar amp from the early sixties. Goldentones were made in Melbourne, Australia when imported amps were a rare and expensive sight due to import tariffs. Like a few early Goldentones, this amp does not have a name or model number marked on the amp itself. It’s a … Read more
This has absolutely nothing in common with a regular MKIII Tone Bender – literally nothing – well, apart from the name and the enclosure used. The Vox Tone Bender MKIII with Treble ‘n’ Bass Boost is a tone control, followed by a Fuzz Face style fuzz, set to full fuzz. There’s only two knobs – … Read more
Like most people, I’ve never even seen an original MKI in the flesh, so I’m relying on online references for this. The references below all relate to original MKIs – or pedals that are said to be direct replicas of originals built for Sola Sound. Please feel free to comment and point me in the right … Read more
A recent request. This is a monster of a pre-amp from Jonny Reckless. Best to read the details on DIY stomp boxes, as there’s a lot to this. I’ve not built this, and there’s a bit going on with it. I’d suggest checking it against the schematic before starting. I’ve looked over it a few times, … Read more
This is a rather interesting looking fuzz – one that I had overlooked until someone pointed it out to me (thank you Mister Hate). Before this, I was only aware of the MKIII-style fuzz that Sola Sound made for Carlsbro. Despite having three transistors and being made in the mid-sixties in the UK, … Read more
The Madbean Kraken is basically a Mu-Tron Micro V with attack and decay controls, but the rest remains the same. MADBEAN KRAKEN – VERO LAYOUT
