Around 19691970 sola sound launched their colorsound line of effects pedals and the 18v power boost was one of the first pedals in the colorsound line. None of the stock variants uses all four, though the. Established in 1964, and based in macaris ltd of charing cross road, london. This fuzz pedal is a blueprinted version of the old sola sound colorsound. As they are used instruments they may or may not have some scratches or wear to the finish. Aug 01, 2009 tonebender vintage fuzz from colorsound sola sound. Aside from the obvious differences in the enclosure type of these pedals any true solid definition of which is what in. The carlsbro fuzz and park fuzz sound were available in the mkiv enclosure as well. These are known as mkiii and mkiv versions, also known as thin case tonebenders. Heres a hardlyused tone bender reissue from macaris, london. It was converted to 9volt battery power at some point but could be easily converted back to its original uk electrical power. Walked in, and they had half a dozen from relatively cheap. The sola soundcolorsound tonebender mkii professional is probably the second most famous fuzz box after the fuzz face.
Hudson electronics uk fuzz mk iv colorsound supa tonebender. The mkii tone bender is a three transistor circuit based on the mki. Tonebender mkiii mkiv clone, built with nos parts including germanium. It offered a wide range of tones and soon became a favourite among guitarists like jeff beck and david gilmour. View all boss effects stock ac3 acoustic simulator bd2 blues driver bd 2w. Help me replace my sola sound tone bender fuzz reddit.
Tonehome the world of vintage guitar effects pedals. History macaris musical exchange is the longest running music instrument retailer in central london. Their sister company was sola sound, creators of the legendary tone bender fuzz, among other classic pedals. The saturation levels are lower too so works pretty neat for driving a big ballsy amplifier over. Analog man sun bender mkiv fuzz pedal buyanalogman. Unbeatable prices and next day delivery from the uks no1 instrument store. Sola never adapted the circuit for trannies with higher hfe but used them in the later made tbs. The overdriver is as the name suggests an overdrive pedal with a distinctive bass and treble boost. By september he was selling them through the macari brothers musical exchange shops.
My band is about to embark upon our first tour and id rather not take it on the road, so im looking for a pedal that will nail the sound of this pedal as perfectly as possible. Quite harsh, but greatnot as versatile as a big muff, but thats the point. Sola sound colorsound supa wah fuzz 1970 jellow effect for. Both using it to create their signature sounds in the early 70s. Gary also designed the legendary sola sound tone bender.
Skreddy pedals supa tone supa tonebender clone smitty pedals suppa bender supa tonebender clone. Vox tone bender tonebender reissue fuzz pedal rare. Boost, overdrive and fuzz was somewhat overlapping in the late 60s. The official mark ii iteration returned to a threetransistor circuit but added an amplifier gain stage.
Photos by tom hughes the very first tone bender later christened tone bender mki, was based on hursts modified maestro fuzz. Colorsound is an old english brand that produced pedals during the late sixites. For an idea of how it sounds jimmy page used one with his dragon telecaster from the led zeppelin 1 era, yes, its that tone. Sola sound tone bender mkii dam reissue green bastard. Jimmy page sound 90s reissue sola sound professional. Sola sound is the father company behind the colorsound and tone bender.
Tonebender fuzz sola sound aka colorsound london england wow. The new pedal combines yesterdays mojo and tone flavour with the reliability and stability of todays technology. Buy sola sound tone bender reissue fuzz pedal online from. Sola sound ltd tonebender mki hornby skewes zonk machine dam fz673 the sola sound tone bender mki was one of the first fuzz pedals available in the uk. Supa tonebender circa 1973, jumbo tonebender and tonebender fuzz circa 1976 manufacturer. Feb 12, 2012 the sola sound colorsound tonebender mkii professional is probably the second most famous fuzz box after the fuzz face.
But, im playing it, you cant hear anything, ive got the. Legend has it that a dallas rangemaster was involved in driving erics. Gary hurst, a technician, began selling these in mid1965. This time, the end result was a circuit that produced an overall softer fuzz, especially when compared to the very aggressive sola sound mkii professional. The tone of the colorsound tonebender is what has given it its reputation over the years. Colorsound tone bender tonebender vintagestyle fuzz. Midnineties sola sound reissue of the professional mkii, handbuilt by the late dick denney. The inside of the casing is stamped24 jun 1974 features an onoff footswitch with 3 rotary control knobs for.
Colorsound tone bender mk iii clone project documentation. The t60 was primarily a les hills design one of the solid state organ designers, but dick denney or gary hurst may have been involved since. The tone bender fuzz pedals were very popular in the 60s and 70s. Jmi mick ronson signature mki tone bender mk1 limited 1965 tonebender reissue. Sola sound tone bender mkiv dam reissue sola sound tone bender mkiv dam reissue the red baron. By 1969 the same circuit was sold in a smaller updated case as the sola sound tone bender mkiv. Colorsound sola sound tone bender tonebender youtube. Produced by sola sound in reasonably small amounts, you are more likely to pickup rocking horse sht than one of these. In 1962 joe and larry macari founded the sola pronounced solar sounds ltd company in london, uk. The supa tonebender, tonebender fuzz and jumbo tonebender big muff clones. This is the place for vintage guitar effects pedals and stomp boxes, mainly ibanez and uk brands like sola sound, colorsound, marshall and top gear. The colorsound bass fuzz is similar in design to the colorsound jumbo tonebender, but tuned more to bass tones. Still very much a fuzz tone but a lot less 1960s grange rock than the scb.
A 1968 purchase order from jmi to the musical exchange for tone benders can be seen below. Said to be the first circuit type used in any sola sound sand cast enclosure and the only tone bender made with two germanium transistors. Its a three transistor fuzz circuit that creates an unholy amount of gain and sustain. I ordered a colorsound tonebender off of ebay from a reputable seller, and it came in today. I could have listed this pedal under the rat category too, as it cleverly combines the tonebender and rat voicing for a rich and saturated fuzztortion style pedal which is still beautifully musical throughout its range. Used by jeff beck, jimmy page and famously also used by mick ronson, the mk1 really has its own distinctive tone. To add further confusion to this, there was also a supposeddick denney version at the same time during the 90s via sola sound which featured a 3 transistor circuit, but it wasnt really a 3 transistormkii either. Tonebender fuzz sola soundaka colorsound london england wow. Sep 18, 2009 midnineties sola sound reissue of the professional mkii, handbuilt by the late dick denney. Mar 19, 2012 sola sound ltd tonebender mki hornby skewes zonk machine dam fz673 the sola sound tone bender mki was one of the first fuzz pedals available in the uk. The sola sound tone bender, first designed by electronics engineer gary stewart hurst in 1965, was the first britishmade fuzz pedal, and was based on the gibsonbuilt maestro fuzztone. Plus, has the bias control, fat, and mode switches.
This is built on the same pcb as the supa tonebender and the jumbo tonebender. A genuine 1974 vintage tonebender fuzz pedal by sola sound from london. This circuit was produced from around november 1966 to early 1968, with a few exceptions. Sola sound colorsound supa wahfuzz 1970 jellow effect for sale.
Combined with modern resistors, capacitors and original germanium diodes. Ive been trying to get that tony joe white tonebender sound for a long time, and seeing i got a killer coloursound wah reissue there in 1999 thought id try my luck. Its definitely a traditional sort of fuzz box with a really huge sound to say the least. Many of the other clones use finicky power supply and dont sound very good through low wattage tube or ss amps with mediocre transformers, not a problem with this guy. Thomas organ, the american distributor of vox, chose to bypass sola sound. The colorsound power boost was one of the very first overdrive pedals to hit the market. This time, the end result was a circuit that produced an overall softer fuzz, especially when compared to the. This is the very pedal sola sound had a loan of for their 90s reissue which resulted in the 2 transistor circuit being used. A couple of weeks ago, i was sent home with this reverb exclusive, limited release sola sound tone bender mk iv fuzz pedal to get a feel for it. Anxious to enter the fuzz tone market, jmi entered into an agreement with the musical exchange to purchase sola sound fuzz pedals rebranded with the vox tone bender name. The sola sound tonebender mkii reissue as part of a recent trend of retro effects pedals becoming very popular again, sola sound reissued the tonebender mkii professional.
The bass and treble controls allow a wide range of tonal. Sola sound tone bender mkiv dam reissue the red baron. Vox 1960s v828 tone bender fuzz used effects pedals for. But also some well and lesser known german brands like schaller, hofner, schulte and lemon studio sound. The park fuzz sound and rotosound fuzz box were also available with this circuit. Vintage 1973 colorsound sola sound tonebender fuzz guitar pedal mint w orig box. A nice reader of the blog lend me this super cool colorsound supa tonebender, from 1973. Sola sound tonebender 3knob the softer side of the tonebenders the sola sound 3knob tonebender is another famous installment in the tonebender line of pedals. For your consideration, garrett park guitars presents this 1970s sola sound vox wow fuzz pedalthis fun fuzz wah was built by solo sound and distributed by vox. Colorsound tonebender mark ii professional general. Mkiv into our ardx20 delay into a deluxe reverb reissue butchering neil young. The one that started it all, the legendary mk1 tonebender. Designed by gary hurst it was the british response to the american made gibson maestro fuzz tone fz1. It is in excellent cosmetic condition and perfect functioning condition.
Pig dog range driver rangemaster amp top full range booster rare w original. The input stage topology resembles the simple 2 transistor circuits, like those that would later be used in the vox distortion booster, tone bender mk1. The pedal works very well with any kind of tube amps. Im a huge fan of catalinbread pedals who almost always seem to get things mostly right. Colorsound tonebender mark ii professional this is the classic, vintage colorsound tonebender mark ii professional. Jul, 2009 heres a hardlyused tone bender reissue from macaris, london. The grey one mkiii was made in 1973 and can be seen on some live pictures with jimmy page. Youtube sound like jimmy page without busting the bank duration.
A faithful reproduction of our original 1960s unit using the same circuit configuration as the original design. That is my treasured 90s reissue sola sound tone bender fuzz. It sounds absolutely killer with every amp ive played it through. Plasma colorsound overdriver clone pcb aion electronics. Youre getting an electric eye straight from the builder. Tone bender mark iii 3 reissue british pedal company distortion fuzz. Used pedals by tone april 65 sola sound tonebender mk1. V version, but with an additional amplifier gain stage. Besides pete, other users include jeff beck of the yardbirds, the beatles and mick ronson. Its perfect for getting that classic fuzzy distortion, but i like it a lot because it doesnt blur the notes and you can still hear the musically elements of what. Sola sound colorsound supa wah fuzz 1970 jellow effect. Alongside the original sola sound tone bender, this pcb will allow you to build the baldwinburns buzzaround, park fuzz sound, vox tone bender mk iii, and prescription electronics yard box. The first incarnation of the tone bender was a three transistor circuit based on the gibson maestro fuzztone.
There are the three variations of the mark ii professional. Coda effects vintage colorsound supa tonebender 1973. The pedal wasnt equipped with the original threetransistor mkii circuit, but rather a modified version of the fuzz face. Mullard oc82d, the green jacket wearing boss of all driver devices. There has been many reissues over the years, with different features. This fuzz pedal is a blueprinted version of the old sola sound colorsound vox tonebenders that had three germanium transistors and a tone knob. It is based on one of the most iconic rock n roll fuzzes of all time, but there are plenty of imitations out there. Tone bender fuzz box pete townshends guitar gear whotabs. Tonebender vintage fuzz from colorsound sola sound. There are four different pcbmounted pots on this board.
With single coil pickups it gives a very transparent and super clean boost that sounds very dynamic and open, humbucker pickups will always result in a slightly overdriven signal. At this point, sola sound produced units badged as the vox tone bender professional mk ii, the marshall supa fuzz, and the rotosound fuzz box. Options are to build it with pnp or npn germanium transistors or with npn silicon transistors. The inside of the casing is stamped24 jun 1974 features an onoff footswitch with 3 rotary control knobs for volume. Where fuzz was born the original sola sound tone bender. Awesome milkshake thick wah sound combined with a built in colorsound tonebender fuzz circuit. The release date is sometimes cited as 1968 or 1969, but according to kits research, the colorsound brand was not created and used by sola sound until 1970, the first ads appeared in 1970, and the preamp core of the circuit likely where the design originated appeared in a mullard application book in.
Someone he knows found it in his garage and gave it to him true story. Skip to main content skip to footer site51756674 used 1756674 in store used used pedals by tone april 65 sola sound tonebender mk1 effect pedal. Sola sound tone bender mkiii the shipping cost to most countries is included in the listed price the pictures in the listings are of the actual item so please have a look for an idea of the cosmetic condition. With the sola sound pedal theres a third party involved that needs to make money. The tone bender timeline history the big muff pi page. Photos by tom hughes the very first tone bender later christened tone. Early incarnations were housed in wooden enclosures. Modelled after the classic sola sound tone bender from the 70s.
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