Tonebender MKII

[jtn191]

Here's one I've been working on most of today: my new germanium tonebender. Gutshots tomorrow upon request...kinda tired of taking this one apart  . It's tough to tell through my SS amp but I think it still needs tweaking--there isn't much fuzz. It's mostly the low frequencies that get fuzz; it's acting as a nice germ OD/fuzz/boost. Trannies were low leakage w/ hfe's of 80, 79 and 97, I used a 5KB Attack pot because 1K wasn't doing much. Much to learn with these...I'll be watching demos and reading lots. Any Bender expert's wisdom is appreciated  

[Scruffie]

The gains aren't too far off but you need leakage for this circuit, may explain the lack of fuzz.

[mgwhit]

Looks great, but that 5K Attack pot isn't going to help you.  Lower values will produce higher gain from Q2 Q3.  But since any pot can go down to zero, if you're not getting enough gain with the Attack knob dimed, something is probably wrong.  Which schematic did you use?

[jtn191]

I used this one, with the mods listed below http://fuzzcentral.ssguitar.com/mkII.php .
I just realized today that I could use 4.7 instead of 5 uF and 47 instead of 50 uF  
mgwhit, I honestly could not tell a difference while turning the 1K pot...I thought it was faulty like in my last build, so I swapped it out for another of the nearest value. Guess I'll try switching back


Thanks, Scruffie. I'll look into getting some from small bear/ebay. Man, I thought low leakage were the good ones!

[mgwhit]

Scruffie's probably right about the transistors, but triple check to make sure you used a 470 Ohm resistor and not a 470K.  That's an easy mistake to make and would just about guarantee a non-functional Attack pot.

[jtn191]

I used 1K for the 470R as per the mods, makes for a nice boost with the level pot. Two trannies had .15 ma leakage and the other had even less