Tools, Tones and Toys for Guitarists
A request from Mikko, who had very kindly done all of the tracing work – very nice job by the way, and photos below. It’s a Fuzz Face from Sonus using NKT MT57 germanium transistors, with an external bias pot and a couple of different component values (Jimi mods) – 2k fuzz pot and … Read more
Someone mentioned this in the comments recently (thank you ClassicFuzz), so I thought I’d have a look at the photos on Reverb. The Goldie is a MKI in a MKII enclosure from March 2022, likely to be inspired by this unit found in Germany – which is an absolute train wreck of work. … Read more
This is one of the more recent Sola Sound MK1.5 Tone Benders built by David Main. MK1.5 TONE BENDER: THE DIRTY HIPPIE MOD – OC75 ONLY This has two additions to the regular circuit. A 10n cap to ground on the input and a 47k bias resistor on the base of Q1 to help … Read more
Some notes for later from a recent Vox Tone Bender build. Mainly wanted to jot down the placement of the pots and switch, as this layout is quite tight in a 1590BB – there’s no room for error. I probably should have made the layout a row or two shorter, but I just liked the … Read more
A bit of a classic – the MK1.5 Tone Bender. Some great phots and background information here on Fuzzboxes.org and some great video demos below – who better than Ant Macari to talk Tone Benders. Note that some earlier versions carried a 500k volume pot, instead of 100k resulting in more bass – ultimately bringing it … Read more
I guess this is where it all started – The Glenn Snoddy Fuzz-Tone. I modified an existing MKI layout on the larger vintage size vero for this, sized to fit in a wedge enclosure. Initially, I was going to do the original layout used, but it was a bit of a mess – as was the practice … Read more
Germanium transistors from the former USSR are cheap, generally high quality, available in large quantities and very cheap compared to their European counterparts. They are their own thing and are not direct copies of European transistors – you can find similar transistors, but they are never like-for-like replacements. They nearly always sound different and … 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
This is my version of the Zonk Machine, based on one of the early vero layouts. I added a switch for the input cap, which is possibly the most unoriginal mod known, and increased one of the input caps from 1n to 2n2. I used an OC76 for Q1 and Q3 and an OC44 for Q2. I found … Read more
There are more than a few versions of the germanium Mosrite Fuzzrite out there – seems like they went through a few different construction technics and capacitor combinations along the way. The details mostly seem to be lost to time (and rust). Here’s a bit of info that I’ve pulled together from various sources while … Read more