Tools, Tones and Toys for Guitarists
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
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
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
I wasn’t aware of this version of the MKI until today. I’m sure you have probably seen the new line of Tone Benders that Sola Sound is releasing. I noticed that the Stu Castledine version was on vero, and the rest were all on the more familiar MKI board. So after a little digging, it turns out this … Read more
Surprised that I hadn’t done a standard vero layout for this earlier… The Colorsound Jumbo Tone Bender is just a Big Muff missing some diode clipping and the last boost stage (the lack of diodes in the first clipping stage makes up for the lack of boost). They share nothing in common with their predecessors of the … Read more
The Selmer Buzz Tone – three volts of nasty sixties guitar fuzz. I’d strongly recommend reading this first before committing to a build. If you don’t, disappointment will most likely follow. Most mid-sixties three transistors fuzzes are notoriously fussy about transistors / biasing. Plenty of discussion in all of the usual places regarding what works and what doesn’t. SELMER BUZZ TONE … Read more
Continuing with the Hornby Skewes theme, time for the Shatterbox – original layout below using the old school large format 0.15″ stripboard. Although I’m not sure if I actually want to build one this way… apart from all the off-board components, it’s PNP silicon, which is annoying having a positive earth circuit with none of the benefits of … Read more
While on the JHS thing, I noticed this booster and thought it looked interesting. The output switches between filters to allow for treble and bass boost, unlike most other boosters where it all happens at the input. Very few seem to be around, as I could only find one photo of the internals and one video … Read more
I started copying the original layout for veroboard and gave up toward the end as it’s a cramped mess – this is a similar but more practical version. The germanium John Hornby Skewes Zonk II is similar to a Fuzz Face but without the 100k feedback resistor, and note that the output cap is taken … Read more
FUZZ FACE VARIANT SCHEMATIC, INCLUDING MK1.5 & VOX TONE BENDERS The schematic includes room for components not present on a standard fuzz face, as some variants have additions. I thought I’d keep it relatively simple and not venture into circuits with input blends or the various trimmers substituted for resistors (at least for now … Read more