Sola Sound Tonebender MKI

[Pedal love]

Could anyone direct me to a schematic of this fuzz. Thanks, pl.

[phillip]

We've all been waiting for a schematic of the MKI to show up for a long time too  A lot of people say that it's the same as the Vox ToneBender, but after seeing pictures of the circuit board of an original, I personally believe that it's based on the Maestro FZ-1 (and similar circuits), and that the Zonk Machine is possibly a clone or a very close copy of the MKI.

I know for sure that there were three transistors on the board that I saw, it was powered by a 9V battery, and the "Level" pot was wired like the "Swell" pot on the Zonk Machine.

There's a picture of the MKI board on the Vox ToneBender page at Fuzz Central.  Problem is that the components are covered in black gunk so it's impossible to see any parts values.

http://fuzzcentral.tripod.com/voxbender.html

Someone needs to butter up Gary Hurst enough so that he'll tell all the secrets of that circuit!

Phillip

[Pedal love]

I saw some of Gary's gold tonebenders on ebay recently. Maybe its the mkI circuit. I might purchase one to see what the insides are like, but I'm sure like 90% of all reissues, the circuit won't be even be 70% original. pl

[Pedal love]

Anyway thanks for the heads up Phillip

[brian wenz]

Hello Hello--
    Yeah, the Hurst re-issue is the original MK I [3-tranny] circuit.  I'm pretty sure that it's based on the 3-tranny Maestro circuit [like Phillip said...] which was a Shin Ei product made in Japan and sold by Gibson in the early 60's.  The Vox Tonebender is the same as the later [mid-60's] Sola Sound 2-tranny circuit but I don't know when the switch was made to 2 transistors. [I know that there are NO Vox 3-tranny pedals, though.]
Brian.

[phillip]

I thought that the reissue of the MKI that's being sold now uses the MKII Professional circuit

Phillip

[brian wenz]

Hello Hello Phillip--
    I'm confused as to which re-issue we're talking about.   Colorsound  re-issued the "MK II Pro"  a few years ago and it had the basic 2-tranny circuit.  The MK II Pro circuit that most people refer to is the 3-tranny one.
Is the MK I reissue you are referring to the Gary Hurst {gold} newer one??  That one does have 3 transistors, doesn't it?
Is the photo that you posted supposed to be an original TB circuit board or is it a reissue?
I have spoken to a few people who say that the original Hurst Tonebender had a 2-tranny circuit and was the same as the later Vox TB [the one that the Fuzz Face was ripped off of.]  This circuit was developed by Hurst in 1959 from some circuit that has been around for even longer then that.  I thought that the original Hurst TB had 3 transistors instead of 2..............oh well.   As to which model was called the MK I or the MK II..........it seems to have changed at some point.   My brain hurts.
Brian.

[phillip]

I was talking about the gold reissue that's popped up on eBay in the last few months.  I'd heard that it was using the MKII circuit.

The picture posted on the Vox ToneBender page at Fuzz Central is an all-original gold Sola Sound ToneBender MKI with a three-transistor circuit.

Phillip  

[brian wenz]

Hello Phillip--
     O.k., thanks.
I wonder if there were Mk I fuzzes with 2 as well as 3 tranny circuits?
Brian.

[brian wenz]

Hello Hello-
    Hey Phillip-- I forgot to ask... did you actually have that original Sola Sound Tonebender in front of you or did somebody send you the picture??
Brian.

[Torchy]

erm - that looks like either perf or veroboard to me ...

http://fuzzcentral.tripod.com/voxbender/mkIboard.jpg

[phillip]

I was emailed a set of pictures of the pedal, but at least it's an original unmolested pedal

The circuit board in the ToneBender MKI was perfboard, just like in the later MKII professional.  Not sure when Sola Sound/Colorsound started using PCBs...maybe by the time the ToneBender 3-Knob came out?

Phillip

[Torchy]

You learn something every day here. I didnt know they used perf/vero for production pedals back then - thanks Phillip  

[phillip]

It seems that the Colorsound/Sola Sound guys really favored the perfboard route to circuit construction.  The fairly recent "reissue" of the MKII Professional was build using perf also.

The MKII reissue was basically a Fuzz Face (erm...or should I say that it's basically a Vox ToneBender...) with some changes and additions.   There's a schematic of it on the ToneBender MKII page at Fuzz Central.  I hear it's not too terribly bad sounding, but because of the large input and output capacitors, it's pretty "dark."

Phillip

[jmusser]

I have been wondering about this for awhile. I have seen Vox, Sola Sound and Color Sound associated with the Tone Bender, but I don't which came first, or if they're different animals or what. For instance, I have built a Tone Bender Mark II (Silicon Version), and I have no idea what it's based on, and if there was ever an SI version of any of these. (It does sound great whatever it is). I have read a little on the Vox Wah, and it was associated initially with Clyde McCoy, and it seems like there was Jen in there someplace, and then Dunlop bought the Crybaby name, so I'm wondering what the chain of custody is on this circuit? You threw in Maestro and Shin-Ei in the mix too, so did it the Maestro come before any of them? If the Tone Bender MK I is a Maestro derivitive, then that would maybe account for why I can get a good "Satisfaction" tone going with it. If this is already answered somewhere, just point me towards the link. Thanks

[Pedal love]

If the Tone Bender MK I is a Maestro derivitive, then that would maybe account for why I can get a good "Satisfaction" tone going with it.

If they are so close in sound, why did Keith Richards leave his country, go to mannys in new york, get a maestro fz-1, go back to england and use it on the stones record. He could have stayed in england and gone with the hurst. :lol:

[RCZ53]

Actually, Satisfaction was cut at RCA studios in Hollywood, California.

[jmusser]

It has been awhile since I've read about Keef and his Maestro, but I had always figured that he was doing a gig State side and bought one while he was here. It seemed like that his roadie or someone brought this in for him to try, because other ones weren't giving him the brass sound he wanted. I have also heard that the Maestro Fuzz schematic we see here on the forum, isn't for the same fuzz as Keith had. I will have to get my Guitar Player interview and read it over again. Anyway....I'm still just as ignorant on this subject as I was at the start of the thread :?

[brian wenz]

Hello Hello---
   The Maestro was in England by the early 60's.   It seems that there were a couple of people  [Roger Mayer...................................] that were modding them.
Brian.

[brian wenz]

Hello Hello--
   Well........it seems that Gary  Hurst had his Tonebender in '59 - '60 but it was only being used by a few guitarists in England before Sola sound started marketing them.  I think the Maestro was probably "on the market"  a couple of years before the TB.  
Brian.