Vox Tone Bender Germanium Fuzz
Posted 2008-07-10 in Effects by Johann.
The Vox Tone Bender is a 60’s Fuzz guitar effect. It’s very similar to the legendary Fuzz Face in design but sounds thinner, more aggressive. Despite the name, this Tone Bender flavour has little in common with the previous three-transistor incarnations.
Still, these do have Germanium transistors (SFT 363 E and SFT 337) so they must be good, right?
Audio Clips
In the sound sample, I use my Ibanez 2027XVV seven-string guitar into a little amp modeller.
Even though the images above show three Tone Benders, I sold two of them. Sorry.
3 comments
#1 2008-10-15 by G
Are you kidding? Just because a pedal has germanium doesn't mean it sounds good. Everybody thinks that nowadays... Firstly, germanium is very inconsistent and 3/4th's of them sound bad. Secondly, silicon transistors on fuzz sound awesome because you get a lot of sustain and on a good pedal, they can destroy the average germanium pedal. I have an early 70's silicon Colorsound Tonebender and I haven't heard a better fuzz pedal in my 12 years of playing. Everyone from Zappa and Genesis to Jeff Beck and Jethro Tull, Moody Blues, Santana, Stevie Wonder, Rolling Stones and yadda yadda used this version of the pedal. Germanium "transparency" can be very good for drive pedals.
#2 2009-05-25 by Antonio
Hi, I have a couple of Vox Tone Bender. One is a silver finish with a black top plate and nothing written on the baseplate. The other is a grey paint like the one you show on the picture: Both comes with germanium transistors and I want to know wich one is earlier.
Many thanks, Antonio.
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