Which Tonebender did Mick Ronson use?

[Arno van der Heijden]

on Ziggy Stardust?

[lovekraft0]

Ronson, from Melody Maker, June '73
"I use a Cry Baby wah-wah pedal and an American Tonebender which used to belong to Pete Townsend.  He sold it to someone else about seven years ago and I bought it for £5. "

[G Kresge]

I believe it was the Tone Bender MkII.

[brian wenz]

Hello Hello--
   An "AMERICAN Tonebender"  
Brian.

[G Kresge]

Quoting the same article, Ronson said "It is the only one of its kind I have ever seen."

[Eric H]

Hello Hello--
   An "AMERICAN Tonebender"  
Brian.

Maybe he's using "tonebender" as a generic term for fuzz. Like "Hoover" or  "Fridge"

Definitely sounds like a %^&*ed wah in there.

-Eric

[Arno van der Heijden]

Hmmm......  so what's the verdict?  :?

[petemoore]

Verdict is...what it always was, and Mick gets the Prize for tone-perfection on that track.
 I agree with Eric H., there is a strong midrange hump, and it definitely sounds Fuzzy.
 Also...Guitar, amp, speaker[s, and Mic and air were almost certainly used to get that tone.. studio eq/compression?
 I'd say you'll like a Tonebender MkII, most Fuzz lovers do...with maybe a little variable HF rollof cap/pot, and guitar volume setting...I hear Humbucking pickups, but that can be 'decieving' too.
 This is what I hear:
 Nice HB pickups guitar
 Vox AC30 or ..four input Marshall tube amp...something along those lines
 TBMkII or...
 Wah or Fixed wah pedal
 Micing tricks...amp volume, mic placement...other stuff like the room.
 We're talking about the ZS Album...the sound on that...the live version sounds 'different'...it may be virtually impossible to reproduce the tone, exactly, live, but some people will purport to have done it !!!
 You can get to the point where you're so close that the fingers are what matters.

[brian wenz]

Hello Hello--
       THAT'S IT !!!    a "Hoover Fuzz"   !       I'm gonna use that name!!!
Lets see, it could have a "suck" and "blow" knob............
Brian.

[David]

Hello Hello--
       THAT'S IT !!!    a "Hoover Fuzz"   !       I'm gonna use that name!!!
Lets see, it could have a "suck" and "blow" knob............
Brian.

Not to mention "filter" and "carpet height"...  

Seriously, though, who produced that album?  That might say something about recording techniques.  Like, for example, Joe Meek and overcompression...

[brian wenz]

Hello Hello--
    I think it was Ken Scott.
   I was thinking about the "American Tonebender" thing and it DOES make sense that he used "tonebender" in a generic sense.......alot of English guitarists used " tonebender" to mean fuzz or booster pedals.
So, lets make a list of the American fuzzes that were around in the early 70's and go from there!   Maestro?  Fuzzrite?
 
        "filter"  ??

Brian.

[petemoore]

My older brothers [1 played and sang in a Rock Band, one fixed up the sound stuff] and their band buddies called all [see below] effects "tonebenders' as in 'What kind of Tonebender do you think that was?'..except for discussion about which effects fall into the 'ToneTwister' category, such as phasers or wah, as in 'Sounds like he has a 'Tonetwister in there putting a twist on the sound'.
 Of course they didn't know their 'whats what' on effects, but I make the case that in the past, a more limited terminology was sometimes used to discuss effects.

[chrishopkins]

Ronno used the original version of the Marshal Major 200w - it had active tone controls and has been nicknamed the "Pig"

Blackmore used the 2nd generation version of the Major which was more like a 200w Superlead.  Of course he had an extra output stage added and the power went up to around 278w!

[vanessa]

I hate to bring up old topics but...

I just was watching Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars Live movie. I read something on Harmony-Central were someone’s states that they saw the camera go down and show his pedals. They claim they saw a Vox Tone Bender next to his wah-wah.

I saw the same footage and it's a very short view (I freeze framed it), but I could make out a square box about the size of a Big Muff Pi with what looks like two knobs (on top, not in front like a Fuzzrite) and a stomp switch. It also appeared to be a dark color or silver. There was a flash of a camera bulb in one frame that seemed to confirm this. This box is first into the wah into the amps. There is a small switching unit next to the wah, my guess to turn on and off a delay or reverb.

If this is the same "American Tone Bender" that used to be owned by Pete Townshend 7 years prior (1964-65) what could this be?

I forgot to add that it did not look anything like a Vox or Solasound Tone Bender. The box was almost as high as the top of the wah (Crybaby) looking about the height of a USA reissue Big Muff Pi and about as wide.

[MartyMart]

So I'm not the only one who "freeze frames" live footage to see the gear being
used then   !!   
I keep trying with SRV's "Live at the El-Macombo" but his stuff is WELL documented
anyways ...

MM.

[vanessa]

Come to think about it, it looks like it's a Guild Foxey Lady. Maybe it's the first type with the Mosrite Fuzzrite guts in it, the ones made before EH took over?

I hear you Marty; I do it all the time. I also like to see the order of the pedals as well.