Ohm Bender
OHM BENDER
My take on the classic Tone Bender fuzz. The revolutionary sound heard on countless records from the 1960s and beyond.
Based on the Mk1.5 Tone Bender circuit. This is well known to "clean up" the best of the Tone Bender versions. The "Pre" footswitch and knob are designed with this in mind. They work to attenuate the signal going into the pedal, similar to your guitar's volume knob, but can be set to exactly where you want it. Turning up the Pre level cleans up the fuzz, giving you more of an overdrive/distortion tone. It's like having a two channel amp - two gain levels of Tone Bender!
The transistor choice was key and I went through a lot of options until I found a batch of silicon BC183s. I chose BC183 transistors because they sound smooth and warm like a good germanium transistor but without the germanium downsides. They're not as bright or edgy as the BC108 or BC109 transistors usually found in silicon fuzzes.
The addition of the Freq knob can really change the feel of the fuzz from a focused tight distortion to a fat raw fuzz tone. Turning it up blends in more bass to the circuit.
Details:
- Gain selected BC183 transistors
- Each unit is hand built by me with carefully considered through-hole components and transistors biased to my specs
- Works with modern power supplies (standard Boss 9V. No battery clip)
- Works best when first in the pedal chain after guitar
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