Tonebender mkii...

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Tonebender mkii...

Ravenswerld
       Hello all...I'm wanting to build a ge tone bender mkii. I feel as if I'm getting to the point of being able to build one and be able to tweak it the way they I want it. I am wondering what people's favorite variant is? If the usual old original is the best place to start? Is having a bias knob or trimpot, like the fuzz face variants, something that is a good thing to do? And any other useful info is greatly appreciated. Thank u all, you're awesome!!!!!!
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Re: Tonebender mkii...

Travis
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I've played around with every version quite a bit and I dunno if I have a favorite. I like them all for different reasons, they're all unique and I grab whichever one I want for a particular sound. I like fuzz that is really rich in texture.. the two that I think I probably grab the most are my DAM FZ-678 and a Vox TB clone that I built. The DAM is kinda smokey and smooth, the Vox is buzzy and raspy

Anyway with the MKII you should first identify if you're planning on building the OC75 or the OC81D version. The resistor values are different and depending on your transistor selection one will be a lot easier than the other. If you have leakier transistors, do the OC75. Lower leakage do the OC81D.

Try not to look at it like a Fuzz Face. I don't do trimmers but I don't do them with the Fuzz Face either so keep in mind I'm kindof just not a trimmer guy if I can avoid it. The bias pot is not particularly helpful with the MKII, especially if you implement it on Q3 collector as most people do. It's much more effective with Q2, but I still don't do it personally.

With that said Q2 tends to be the most important one in the MKII. What I usually do is plug in the breadboard that I have dedicated to MKII transistor selection.. start with a ballpark hfe selected trio of transistors and listen to it. I listen for noise, gating, any weird attack or decay behavior. If it's noisy, generally you're gonna back off on Q1 and/or Q2 hfe. If it's gated I go for higher hfe. Once I get it sounding really badass, I will try a few different transistors just to see if it gets any better. Sometimes it does, if not, I go back to the 3 that sounded best.


Some transistors just don't wanna sound good in the circuit at all. You gotta accept that and experiment with different things. Don't be afraid to color outside the lines. The doctors recommended hfe values mean nothing, it can be a good starting point, but it's not a rule, nor is it necessarily representative of an actual original unit.
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Re: Tonebender mkii...

Ravenswerld
Thnx Travis for the information it is really helpful. So, I'm going to be using Russian low leakage trannies. I'm guessing then I would use the oc81 version. I don't know what version that is. Can you enlighten me on where about I can find it? Again thnx!!!
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Re: Tonebender mkii...

Travis
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You're welcome.

Were you planning on using Mark's layout from the main site? If so, that's the OC81D version

If you're planning on using a different layout, show me and I'll let you know if it's the right one or if you need to change a couple resistors
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Re: Tonebender mkii...

Ravenswerld
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Re: Tonebender mkii...

Travis
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Sorry I can't read any of the resistor values in that pic. If it has a 100K resistor on Q2 collector then it's the one you want
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Re: Tonebender mkii...

Ravenswerld
Oops, sorry bout that...how's this?

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Re: Tonebender mkii...

rocket88
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just put the link in rather than taking a picture. this way you don't have to worry about making sure the picture is large enough to see clearly.
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Re: Tonebender mkii...

Ravenswerld
Feel like an idiot. I don't know how to do it:(
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Re: Tonebender mkii...

Travis
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Hey don't trip buddy that's the right layout
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Re: Tonebender mkii...

rocket88
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In reply to this post by Ravenswerld
raven no worries, was just making a suggestion for next time. to put a link in you can do it 1 of 2 ways.

1 - just paste the web address as text into your post.

2 - when you go to write your post there's a button that says link, it's between the "I" and Smiley face.



just click it and follow the directions. easy as pie.
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Re: Tonebender mkii...

Ravenswerld
Thnx Rocket!!
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Re: Tonebender mkii...

rocket88
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