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Just built a Tone Bender Mk.I . Need advice.

Started by LJN, January 06, 2016, 04:14:45 AM

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LJN

I think I was wrong about this pedal. I just compared my clone to "Moonage Daydream", by David Bowie and I couldn't tell much difference between my clone and Mick Ronson's fuzz sound. Mine seems to have a grittier sound, though. I guess I was expecting to get a Tone similar to a Maestro FZ-1 from this circuit. It seems like that's not what these really sound like.
If it sounds good, USE IT!

Epiphone Les Paul, Kasino U100- P, Sears 125-XL

LJN

Okay, I think I have it straightened out now. It turns out the problem was the cable I had been using. It was going bad. I made a new cable and now it's giving a nice Maestro FZ-1 style tone with plenty more headroom. I couldn't resist playing some Doors tunes with it. Sounded awesome ! Thanks.
If it sounds good, USE IT!

Epiphone Les Paul, Kasino U100- P, Sears 125-XL

LJN

I figured out that this pedal is very sensitive to amp settings. There's not many knobs on this Kasino amp I use. Just volume, reverb, treble and bass for each of the four channels. I had not considered different tone settings on it for fear of midrange loss, despite the fact that my dry signal sounded like pure garbage. Anyway, finally adjusting the treble and bass controls much higher helped not only my clean tone, but also has brought out a more sitar-like buzz from my Tone Bender Mk. I clone, as well as my other fuzz pedals. Oh, and I should mention that I had been using those same settings on the amp since I've owned it. Thanks.
If it sounds good, USE IT!

Epiphone Les Paul, Kasino U100- P, Sears 125-XL

LJN

I think I have it sounding about like it should, finally. I ended up switching back to a 180k resistor on the base of Q2. It increased the amount of fuzz and made the attack control more useful. I am quite pleased with the sound it produces now. Especially when captured on tape.
If it sounds good, USE IT!

Epiphone Les Paul, Kasino U100- P, Sears 125-XL

phatt

As long as you are aware these things only work in front of an already distorting amp setup.
The older Valve rigs did this by design which softened the outcome.
Add to that they were often of rather limited bandwidth which also aided the smoothness of the sound.

With a clean SS Amp and only relying on the pedal then it will be less than impressive as there will be a large amount if hi freq hash which makes it just a fizz box.

If this is the case then consider a good OD pedal post TB, it may help a lot.
Guitar Tone is a product of many things ,,not just One famous pedal. hint. 8|
Phil.

LJN

I get what you're saying. An OD would be more practical if I was, in fact going for a smooth distortion. This is not the case. I became quite bored with smooth distortion. I want nasty, sputtery,  amp-fixin'-to-blow chaos. It's just more fun for me. Besides, I'm more into the 60s psychedelic rock and it seems that a nasty sounding fuzz is almost a requirement for this type of music. I have some smooth sounding distortions, but I don't use them much. Thanks.
If it sounds good, USE IT!

Epiphone Les Paul, Kasino U100- P, Sears 125-XL

LJN

Sorry. I re-read your post. You're actually suggesting ways to get the best out of the Tone Bender. I misread the first time. My apologies. I will try an overdrive after the Tone Bender and see how it sounds. Thanks.
If it sounds good, USE IT!

Epiphone Les Paul, Kasino U100- P, Sears 125-XL

phatt

Tiss all good,, 8)
Yes the idea is that these pedals add that edge sound to an already Overdriven amp giving you the psychedelic stuff.
The pedal on it's own into a clean amp will sound exactly like what it is,,,
a badly biased transistor circuit. :-X

Same thing with Octave pedals they need to go before an ODriven amp or pedal to make it sound convincing.

A pedal sequence that works on my rig may sound like crap through your amp.
Phil.

LJN

I tried it with this other circuit I built that's called the Astrotone. It didn't really sound much different. I think there's still some work to be done on this tone bender because it's giving a weird upper octave effect on the lower notes when I use the neck pickup with the tone control on zero. I don't think it's supposed to do that.
If it sounds good, USE IT!

Epiphone Les Paul, Kasino U100- P, Sears 125-XL

LJN

The problem here not that it's distorting too much. It's actually not distorting enough. It's still a bit too smooth. If it's supposed to sound nastier through a solid state amp, which is what I want, I'm not hearing it. I think it's simply a problem with these transistors. Either not enough gain, not enough leakage, or both. As soon as I can, I will be ordering a matched set of transistors for it. Thanks.
If it sounds good, USE IT!

Epiphone Les Paul, Kasino U100- P, Sears 125-XL

LJN

I finally ordered a matched set of transistors for this pedal. Can't wait to see how they sound in it.
If it sounds good, USE IT!

Epiphone Les Paul, Kasino U100- P, Sears 125-XL

LJN

My transistors finally arrived today and I think the pedal is really sounding great now. It was a matched set of AC125 transistors from LIC pedals. Once I installed them, I realized that I needed to increase the bias resistor on Q2. I settled on a 1/2 watt carbon comp 330k that measured out to 395k. I switched all of the resistors over to vintage carbon comps. They had drifted, so I measured each one I pulled from the board's and used the ones that read closest to their specified values. There's still a bit of work to be done, as I plan to change out the caps and install a bypass switch. I also want to get some better pots for it.
If it sounds good, USE IT!

Epiphone Les Paul, Kasino U100- P, Sears 125-XL

LJN

If it sounds good, USE IT!

Epiphone Les Paul, Kasino U100- P, Sears 125-XL

LJN

As you can see in the pic above, it's not the prettiest MkI clone, but it works and is sounding incredible. It doesn't seem to like my modified TEISCO guitar, but none of my other fuzzes like that one, either.  It sounds great with my Epi Les Paul and gets really nasty with my Kay Effector guitar. I'll post more pics when it's actually finished.
If it sounds good, USE IT!

Epiphone Les Paul, Kasino U100- P, Sears 125-XL