TB MK II guru's

[angrykoko]

Seeing raulduke's build today really got me wanting to build a Tonebender (and I'm on a zeppelin kick). 

I took a peek at smallbear and he's got 2 pages of TB MK II transistors all at varying price points.. some say no choice in gain etc.

Would someone please help point me towards which ones would be best to buy? 
And/Or if there is somewhere else they like better to buy them in the U.S..

They are way too expensive for my usual "buy a bunch and try em all" approach to things.

Thanks!
Koko

[midwayfair]

Would someone please help point me towards which ones would be best to buy? 

You're going to have to be more specific with what you mean by "best." Fuzz is incredibly subjective. Aggressive, smooth, wooly, gatey, bright, dark, NPN, PNP, etc.

[angrykoko]

Hi Jon!

I wish I could answer that.. I'm very much a child when it comes to fuzz's, I don't know what I like yet.

If this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA_YwaKDjPU is really Page playing through a MK II (skip to 48seconds) I like that a lot.
I have a Colorsound OD that hasn't been turned off in weeks, it reminds me of Zeppelin when I'm playing it.

Sorry, I just lack the knowledge of the different terms used to describe fuzz sounds.
I guess I'd like to start with getting more of a Jimmy Page sound since that's what I've been playing mostly of late.

Thanks.

Koko

[angrykoko]

I like all of these.. excep the MK I was too hissy.. that would make me crazy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbBAI-BuP4M

[dondougie]

I built a MKII and a DAM Fleshhead Clone (MKII type with tone knob instead of the fuzz knob) with the Smallbear OC75 kits and both of them sound great. That being said, I don't really think it matters that much which types of transistors you put in there, a MKII is somewhat forgiving in that regard. As long as the transistors are within the gain ranges, every set from smallbear should yield good results.

[angrykoko]

Thanks Andre,

Sounds like a place to start... and they are black glass (adds some coolness in my head).

Sorry for the lame question, just got a bit overwhelmed with all the choices available.. just needed a place to start.

[Effectsiation]

If you're looking for a Zeppelin tone, go with a MK II (Pro) clone, most importantly though, make sure you tune Q3 to somewhere between 7.6-8.9 volts (as mentioned here: http://www.freestompboxes.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=920&start=40#p59847). That's the most frequent problem with MK II clones, is people think they should be tuned like Fuzz Faces at 4.5 volts.

[pryde]

I used smallbear OC75's with mine and love it. Here was the build report from awhile back
http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=6572.0

[angrykoko]

Thanks a ton!

I wasn't sure about the pro version or not, you just saved me some googling

Seems like tradition to use axial caps in these and carbon comp resistors.. seen that on several builds now (including yours pryde, love the look you came up with on that).  Shame I don't have either laying around

FSB has been blocked at work for about 3 weeks.. it's back!! hurray!!  but that thread is a bit long for work so I'll dig into it after we put the kid to bed tonight.

Thanks again for the help.

[dondougie]

In case you want to build it on stripboard, here is a super-mojo layout for a MKII which includes a biasing trimmer. I really like building these "DAM-style" in a 1590P1 with insulated wire and all that, but it should also fit in a 1590bb.

Edit: here is my latest build in that vein, a MKI/Zonk Machine with OC75's 

[JakeFuzz]

Ive built a few with all kinds of different transistors and they always sound good. I have one with OC75's that sounds really great. The biggest differences to my ears are the low end and consequently how muddy things will get. I have an NPN one with 2n1306's and it has a much more balanced sound (not all treble and mids like the OC75) but it also gets muddy with high output pickups. As long as everything is matched and tested, the MKII tends to be pretty robust; I would think all of Steve's matched sets will meet your needs, even the least expensive ones.

[raulduke]

My only comment would be to be less concerned about getting real OC75's etc, and instead get a few Transistors to swap in and out.

Get a few cheaper sets, have a play and see what sounds best.

Also, biasing Q2 higher than a FF (as others mention) definitely helps.

A small cap to ground at the output (220p-1n), I think D*A*M does this on some TBMKII builds, can also tame the 'fizz'.

[angrykoko]

Thanks for all the input.
Parts on order..  looked at the different variations of the MKII Pro on fuzzcentral and ordered the couple different cap and resistor values so I could try things out.

Went the mojo route and got carbon comp resistors too   (I like the way the look)

Thanks again!

Koko

[billstein]

A small cap to ground at the output (220p-1n), I think D*A*M does this on some TBMKII builds, can also tame the 'fizz'.

Would that be between lugs 1 and 3 of the volume pot?