2 knob vs. 3 knob Tonebender

[gnugear]

What's the difference between the two?

I think I heard that the 3 knob tonebender can't reach unity gain, making it difficult to use in a band scenereo?

[Pedal love]

I think the frequencies and the way it cuts might preclude it from band usage?pl

[phillip]

The 2-knob ToneBender (Professional MKII) is a different animal from the 3-knob.  Generally, the MKII is a much more aggressive circuit...lots and lots of fuzz, long sustain and controlled feedback.  The MKII has always been my favorite fuzz pedal, but it has a one drawback.  The MKII is just as picky about its Germanium transistor selection as the Fuzz Face (since it's based on the Vox ToneBender/Fuzz Face circuit).  But these days it's pretty easy since you can buy a set of three gain-matched PNP Germanium transistors for the circuit from Small Bear Electronics.  Then there's Ricky Vance's NPN Silicon version of the circuit, posted on the Schematics 2 page.  To easily increase the output of the MKII you can replace the 470-ohm resistor with a 1K to 1.5K.

The 3-knob is a softer, less aggressive fuzz.  A couple of pluses to the 3-knob is that it has a tone control and that it's not nearly as picky about transistor selection as the MKII.  For Q1 and Q2 you don't even need to use Germanium transistors...you can use low-gain Silicon transistors.  If you were to build the circuit as NPN instead of PNP, you could use PN2369A for Q1 and Q2, and get a good 100 (or so) hfe NPN Germanium for Q3 and you'd have quite a good fuzz pedal.  To increase the output of the circuit, always leave out the 220K resistor that's between the tone and volume pots in the original circuit.  Also note that it uses all linear taper pots, even for the volume control.  If you were to use an audio taper pot for the volume pot, the output wouldn't get as high early in the pot's rotation as it would with a linear taper.

I like both of them, but for pure kick-in-the-teeth power, I usually pick up the MKII.

Hope this was of some help in your decision!
Phillip

[bwanasonic]

Is there any sort of "Online Field Guide to 70's Era Recordings of the Tonebender" ? What would be some prime examples of the 2 knob VS. the 3 knob?

Kerry M

[MartyMart]

I built the "Two Knob" version a couple of months ago.
I had a set of two "matched" germaniums, which I used in Q2/Q3 and put
a lower hfe ( 62? ) in for Q1.
I worked out well, as Phillip said, its a nice thick aggressive fuzz.

My preference with "Fuzz" is for the thicker, more distortion type of sound
I don't like the thinner "splatty" versions, so I'm always using larger i/o
caps and rolling off the high "fizz" with small 1n - 10n caps.
Also careful "biasing" can remove the "splatty" tone from them.

Perhaps I just dont like traditional "Fuzz" circuits at all ..... !!

Marty.

[nightingale]

hello,
if you have a fast connection, go here: www.nightingalesounds.com
listen to the 3 mp3's..
i use the 3 knob tonebender on the rythmn guitar on all 3 tracks.
Emerald Shadow is 3 knob into green ringer clone.
hth,

[brian wenz]

Hello Hello---
       Gnugear--- Get ahold of the last Yardbirds album ["Littlegames"] .  That whole album is nothing but TB MK II.
Brian.

[gnugear]

were there ever si versions of the tonebender?

[petemoore]

Si Tonebender should still be in Schematics 2.

[phillip]

were there ever si versions of the tonebender?

There were some later ToneBenders that had Silicon transistors, like the Suppa ToneBender (not to be confused with the Germanium Marshall Supa Fuzz) and the Jumbo ToneBender.  The earlier ones, like the MKII and 3-knob, were always Germanium.

Phillip