ToneBender MK1.5

[dondougie]

I can't get enough of these circuits, so this is the first pedal in my attempt to build replicas of the whole Tone Bender timeline. The enclosures will be 1590P1 (except the MKI, hopefully), just because the original sand cast boxes are either unobtanium or ridiculously expensive 



I'm actually really surprised by how good this one sounds; as close at it is to a Fuzz Face, it does sound a lot like a low Gain MKII, just with better cleanup that ranges from a slight overdrive to a godd classic rock crunch or full-on fuzz. Very versatile and lots of usable sounds.



AC128 for q1 and OC75 in q2, both around 100uA of leakage and gains of 70 and 100, respectively. There is a pull-down cap on the input and a resistor from q1 base to ground to stabilize the circuit a bit, like they do in the new MK1.5 reissues.



Good sounding fuzz overall that also sounds great into an already dirty amp.

[stevewire]

Don,
I like this one.  I need to try one someday.  Any Jimmy Page tones in there?  What type of guitar do you like with this? 

[dondougie]

Thanks! I actually think this does a better job at early Zep tones than a MKII! I have an alder HSS Strat with a JB and a mahogany RG with Air Norton/Tone Zone. While both guitars sound good, this thing (at least with these transistor gains) really likes high output Humbuckers and the RG sounds phenomenal on all pickup positions.

[jrod]

Wow! Nice job! Looks awesome!