Americans and tonebenders

[boldaslove6789]

I think a lot of Americans are blinded by the tubescreamer bug. There are so many interesting pedals in the UK's history. After a month or so with experimenting with Tonebenders and Rangemasters circuits and I've added a few pedals to my arsenal.

Fuzz pedals have always been a mainstay in my rig but I've never heard a pedal as usefull as the "Tonebender Mark II Pro". I've searched hi and low for good parts ie' Ge tranys with a good Hfe and leakage and NOS caps and what a pay off I got.

The most versatile pedal I've built to date is a Tonebender mark II/Fuzz Face + a Rangemaster in one pedal (both on dpdt ftsw's). The rangmaster acts as a boost for the the tonebender (when put in front) and can be used as a clean treble boost when used alone. I also added a double pole 6 position rotary to switch out different input caps (from a 2.2uF electrolytic down to a .01uf film) as it changes the voice and fuzz quality's significantly (as well as going from a fuzzy tone to a overdrive quality the more the input cap is dropped) for use with different applications.

I've used Mullard 0c81's, OC44's, OC75, as well as Newmarket NKT275, NKT274, AC128, AC128, etc. There are many other transistors that can do the job although and I highly recommend experimenting.

Tonebenders and Fuzz faces can be just as much a distortion pedal as much as they're a fuzz IMO with a little bit of tweaking. If you haven't tried one, get the parts and build one!

[daydreamer]

I think I will do that mate! Sounds like a killer pedal. Is it available as a schematic?

I've been wanting to get a fuzz to go with my new set up as I've been going digital for a while, but it doesn't cut it live.

question; how far into 'random chaos' does the fuzz sound venture on the Tonebender? I want to experiment with that random, splotchy break up on a song I'm working on at the moment.

Do you have any tune you have used it on, myspace maybe?

thanks

Andy

[M Fowler]

Yes I agree there are a lot better pedals out there then the tubescreamer.

I had to have my tubescreamer after reading SRV used one and my Fender Super Reverb because in the early days SRV used that too!

Long before the tubescreamer came I was using EH stuff, Foxx pedal and many others.

[vibratoking]

Is it an American thing? I didn't realize that. I have been building Fuzz Faces for years. There is an an electronics 'junk' store here from which I purchased about 200 old Ge transistors of all different types many years ago. Unless they are really leaky, they all seem to make great FFs. Although, each one does vary, they are basically in the same category.

I have a Tubescreamer and a 65 Super Reverb. I have never bonded with the Tubescreamer. I can't really figure out why they are so popular, except for the obvious 'SRV used one' reason. I love the Super, but I don't usually use it alone. There is too much middle missing for me. I normally use another amp to fill it in. I like the FF, Barber direct drive, Butler tube driver, Analogman SD-1, Keeley Bluesdriver, Fulltone OCD, not necessarily in that order. I like to layer ODs for different sounds. It helps to keep things interesting and breaks the monotony by allowing me to easily change up my sounds throughout a show.

[jaysg]

hmm...I've built all three. Frankly, the Tonebender is pretty saturated. It's not like there's any backing it off...three transistors worth of gain. You've got to have the Ge and Si Fuzz Faces to play Hendrix and a few other useful bits of American music.

I have a straight tubescreamer that I don't think much of. My Barber DDSS is supposed to be a tubescreamer topology. It's very flexible. I built a Zendrive which is also fundamentally a tubescreamer. I haven't played it in a group yet, but it seems like it should be great.

[M Fowler]

I used the Zendrive OD in most of my past gigs until my own built amps sounded better and I no longer needed pedals

I thought the Zendrive was a good sounding pedal with a lot of tone versitility-good pedal.

I emailed the man for a Timmy but no response so I didn't get to try that pedal out.

[boldaslove6789]

Is it available as a schematic?

Here is a link to fuzz Central.It has some history about the pedal as well as mouser part #'s etc. too.

http://fuzzcentral.ssguitar.com/mkII.php

Link for NOS tranys & other goodies

http://doctortweek.co.uk/shop/category_ ... =cid%3D%26

http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=841

question; how far into 'random chaos' does the fuzz sound venture on the Tonebender? I want to experiment with that random, splotchy break up on a song I'm working on at the moment.

Sorry no clips now, I'll see if I can record some 2day. IMO the tonebender will have as much gain as the transistors you put in it. A bias trimmer can be utilized and you can tweak the pedal to get a bunch of different guitar tones.


Watch this movie (Very funny btw): "Fuzz the sound that changed the world"
(All of the parts are there, just click on the next part or hit autoplay,its about 90 min long)

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x79gto_fuzz-01_music


BTW I wasn't sayin the tubescreamer is a bad pedal. I own an OCD, tubescreamer, SD-1, etc. too. I was just saying that I've found more use out of other pedals and that I think a lot of guitar players in the USA are influenced by certain pedals for certain reasons.

[gearhead]

There is an an electronics 'junk' store here from which I purchased about 200 old Ge transistors of all different types many years ago.

Is that OEM? They still in business?

Used to go to COS 6-10 years ago and raided OEM mostly at their old place (vintage 60s supermarket with scattered basting pans on the floor where the roof leaked.). Talk about character; both physically and the manager.

Picked up a gaggle of Ge trans too. Early on they had shoe box-sized bins full of used 12AX7s for 3-4$ a piece. Almost all domestic and western european sources. Long gone. Didn't pick up any of those (NOS JANs were 10 bucks then). Waah, lol.

[vibratoking]

Yes, OEM!

They have changed locations quite a few times. I have boxes of preamp tubes and power tubes that I got for a song.

Quite the place although the picking has become slim, at least for the stuff I am interested in. Dick, the owner, is quite a character.

[JamesHealey]

I made many many range master reissues for jmi using nos oc44s great fun. I made a lot in the 299 to 350 range using polyprop caps instead of polyester. Which sounded fantastic! If you ever open one and it says jay or jayme inside it's one of mine.

Shame music ground were such a bunch of asses I really enjoyed making those pedals!

[Ken Moon]

I have a Tubescreamer and a 65 Super Reverb. I have never bonded with the Tubescreamer. I can't really figure out why they are so popular, except for the obvious 'SRV used one' reason.

Gee, that's a bit harsh

I had no idea SRV used one, and don't give a whit.

I've tried several dozen overdrive/distortion/booster pedals over the years, and I still like the TubeScreamer. With a Marshall 2204, I use it for a cleanish front-end boost, with both the Tone and Distortion turned pretty far down.

I've tried several pedals in the $200-$300 range that seemed to be exact TubeScreamer clones. Some prefer the RangeMaster sound for a boost, or a clean booster, but to me the TS adds a nice little something-something.

For real distortion, rather than just a boost, I like to use power tubes

[vibratoking]

Gee, that's a bit harsh

What is harsh about it? JMO

I had no idea SRV used one, and don't give a whit.

I thought everyone knew that. Glad you like yours.

[Ken Moon]

All's good - it's no big deal, I was just pokin' back atcha for the TS slam.

To Each his Own. Live and Let Live. Give Peace a Chance. Can't we all Just Get Along?

[HeeBGB]

Well I am an American and I don't use a Tube Screamer or equivalent!

I use a Geek BBB, a Liberty amps built Llama Roja and a home built Boutique Fuzz Face. All different flavors. Can't pick a favorite cause they all do different things. Other pedals on my board are an Original Vox/Thomas Crybaby, a Geek Phaser (forget the name but it's similar to a phase 90 I think), A Fulltone Octavia pedal, and a Home built Univibe clone (built on the neovibe board from Geofex). Thats' it actually I have a very small board and although I have 2 TS type pedals (an original 80's TS9 and a Geek Screamer) niether is on my pedal board. The Geek Screamer is WAY more flexable than the TS9 but I prefer the BBB to both. Just don't like an overdrive pedal I guess.

[vibratoking]

What is a Geek BBB? I googled it, but I only found a few women advertising themselves as geek BBWs. I am am assuming that these aren't the same?