Some Mk II Solasound Manufactured Tonebenders (Data Dump)

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Graham
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Some Mk II Solasound Manufactured Tonebenders (Data Dump)

Post by Graham »

I have added the word "Some" to the post name as I dont feel worthy to claim the name under my own - think that the "master" Mk2 and Sola Sounds posts should wear the Captains monicker!!

But - here is somewhere I will introduce a few of my own beauties beginning with this mornings long and anxiously awaited mega pedal!!

VOX PROFESSIONAL MKII - OC81 (D?) LONG BOARD CIRCUIT pots dated 266 (Feb 1966)

I have been "chatting" to Dave and one or two others about this one for a while and here is what I believe it to be:

There are signs on this pedal of it having started out lfe as an already screen printed Sola Sounds branded MkII Tonebender - If you look at the solid black band underneath the Professional Vox MKII you can see that the band has been "overprinted" on an existing printed name - it's hard to capture properly but take my word for it there is a clear Sola Sounds there and part of what seems to be london on the right hand side - the Sola Sounds on the left being the easier to make out. It is also clear that the Vox name was added at the same time.

What appears to have happened is that the clever fuzz wizards at Sola Sound had been trying to sell more pedals (they were very ambitious at building their business and were continually seeking ways to increase sales - ending up a few years later with the Colorsound brand but the Sola history lessons can be carried on elsewhere) and had made up at least two (there is another one of these in poorer condition shown on p.39 of the very nice Analogman book that is credited as belonging to Daniel Conrad at that time) of these examples - it is possible that rather than its being a speculative venture by the Macari brothers - that they did it at the invitation of the Vox people to provide them with a few prototypes of what they hoped would end up as a product line of theirs - They (Vox)would have been very keen to cash in on the rapidly growing British market for Fuzziness that had begun in late 65 early 66 . We know that this design is not the one that Vox eventually used for their Mk II's, and I or others can show the normal (and still exceedingly rare) version later in this post.


I will add as many pictures as I can manage but have not yet attempted to do so with the new system - so I will take the liberty of putting up the first tranche of pictures (that I already have on photobucket from earlier discussions with one or two friends) the old fashioned way - and hopefuly either Donovan can " shrink" them or else once I have things sussed out I'll remove them myself and reload some better sized pictures

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I will add much more to this posting in due course but believe me this is a hell of a rare pedal - it sounds absolutely stunning - huge amounts of chewy singing sustain - very similar in character to my gold Rotosound MKII but this has a lot more balls - fabulous tone!! I am a bit overwhelmed to be honest and have just sat here looking at it the last few hours - I have a lot of hopefully even better pictures that I have taken this afternoon (the ones I used here were from my good friend who kindly let me prise this one off him - in many ways it completes my collection!! (although not entirely of course ! :headpop: )

Donovan - do what you can with these pictures by all means I thought this a cool enough thing to "take liberties" and get it on quickly - apologies to our dial up friends - bear with me as I'll get the hang of uploading pictures properly and doubtlessly will edit this one many times - I have been spending a lot of time tidying up my own personal pedal collection pictures and am poised to stick them all up now we have the chance of a permanent web presence - no more teasing provided nobody slates me for my oh so obvious greed (it's a disease honestly!! :mrgreen: )
G
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Graham
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Re: Some Mk II Solasound Manufactured Tonebenders (Data Dump)

Post by Graham »

MORE: have got the boards jumbled but heres the raw data -as in porn - take care of the details tomorow

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all early mk2s

I was looking back through these posts to see what I might do next (or if I had left any promises to go into more detail on any of the pedals) and orobably need to get a thorough Mk1.5 thread going.. BUT! One thing of use I just spotted - the two on the right hand side are both the earliest versions of Sola's Mk2 - the 2 transistored mk1.5 models - with familiar small circuit boards (though keep in mind that there were some especially early mk2 examples with 3 trannies - Stu has shown one here BELOW THIS POST that also used that sized board AND also had a red base plate)

What I noticed was that both the two Sola Mk1.5's (on the right) and the Gold Roto Sound Mk2 (at the far left edge) shared the same red painted base plates whereas the other one in amongst the 4 (a type 2 Sola made Vox Mk2 Tonebender Professional, had a "normal" black base - the same as on my other regular "overprinted" Vox Mk2 Pro . I had imagined that the Gold Roto was a later version that the Macaris had either been asked to (or had entrepreneurally - speculatively) put together for the RotoSound / Howe company - We saw that Api/Dennis posted that early archive picture of the "Fuzz Pedal" albeit in black and reckoned that it may have actually been the original Tonebender - Mk 1 or whatever but hat the shape of that case for some reason wasnt chosen resulting in only maybe a couple being made (I have pics of a Silver one). And of course the familiar gold wedge body being chosen as the first tonebender type.

What I am drawing attention to here is that with the red base plate on that Gold Roto - it puts it into the same timeframe as those other small board Mk1.5's - Amongst my friends and contacts every other small 2 tranny small boarded "Mk1.5" (actually the very earliest of the Sola Mk2 before they settled on the 3 tranny design) that has turned up also had the same red base plate.

I dont have anything profound to say (probably never do) just spotted the gold roto mk2 had that same red base plate and put that together with what Api had said about the earliest position of the Mk2 Rotosound pedals

Also it would be interesting t explore this red base coat a bit more - why did they use it?? did the cases come already coated in that red as some knid of a rust treatment . It seems to be only on the earliest bases and the bodies of the so called Mk1.5's (if you look closely at both of mine there are spots where the red base coat shows through either badly painted or worn areas of grey hammerite. I hav not noticed it on any of the true (as in later) Mk2 bodies.

I think that my next post (need to chec I didnt already do it but think the only pic is in this quad shot) will be to do a thorough job on the recent Mk2 Pro with OC75's (my other - "overprinted" - one has a triplet of metal can Ge trannies which we have always taken as "unmarked" OC81D's but which (according to Daves recent examination of mine and one of Johns pedals - his nice Marshall Supa Fuzz Mk1 - these aren't OC81D's but what he terms as much rarer "Impex" transistors - I also just got a similar Marshall as Johns with the same trannies/board) It would be of great usefulness if David could find the time to tip in with his observations on these transistors and how they "fit" into the overall Sola Mk1 / Mk2 story!!

Graham
Last edited by Graham on Wed Jan 07, 2009 6:19 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Stu
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Re: Some Mk II Solasound Manufactured Tonebenders (Data Dump)

Post by Stu »

Here's my early MkII. It has the same size board as the 2-transistor "MkI.5" and, being an early one, has the 100ohm limiting resistor in series with the Attack pot. I've moved the wire to take this resistor out of circuit. Pots are dated 17th week of 1966.

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Graham
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Re: Some Mk II Solasound Manufactured Tonebenders (Data Dump)

Post by Graham »

Here's the second type of Vox Mk2 Tonebender professional with 3 oc75's that I just acquired. Actually saying it is the second type is perhaps misleading as I am calling the "overprinted" Vox shown above as the first type of Vox Mk2 pro (amongst owner / collectors its thought that two batches of Mk2's may have been made for them by Sola - possibly 50 or 100 of each - One batch being the "overprinted" type (where the Sola wording is overprinted with a solid black bar and the words Vox and Professional added) the second type being like this one shown here. which had slightly different cosmetics.

BUT - obviously there were "earlier" versions of these pedals - seeing Stus Sola branded small board triple OC75 above and knowing Psycho Daveys "Wife" - what I have already termed above as the second type of Vox Mk2 Pro Cosmetics (the one that all the fuss has been about lately with the forhcoming reissues from JMI) but which has a properly marked triplet of OC81D's - also the exact pedal which the Captain used as the archetype for all his wonderful DAM Mk2's - it all gets rather confusing............... putting it kindly (or perhaps it is just me confusing myself and everyone else! :zombiehuh:

Anyway heres a few more pics of my "new" second type Mk2 Vox Pro - apologies if they are already up somewhere but theu belong here too (and I'll need to add a few more detailed guts shots:


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It sounds absolutely wonderful!! And is in pretty good condition (sits midway between Psycho Davey's and the Captain's "Wives") It is more "open" than my Gold Roto (which is also godlike tonally) but - and here it is so hard to describe sound!! - this one doesn't so much lack the bottom end of the Roto as have more breadth of range - perhaps saying that it "breathes" more deeply is a good metaphor! Thick harmonically loaded singing sustain - its enough to make me go all tingly AND a triplet of OC75's too - it is not the way you would expect it to be with those - not that theres anything wrong with them!! My other straight mk2 Vox - currently with the Captain on a Christmas jolly with a few mates runs on those "Impex" (OC81D lookalikes) an also sings in a godlike manner - though David tells me its gain is down a bit as the fuzz pot is some 15 odd percent "off spec" (a point incidentally which Stu tells me shouldn't materially screw it up in any way - there being so much gain on tap anyway....

My minds wandering - here enjoy this lot and I'll sort out another half dozen "intimate" pics!!

G
:mrgreen:
Last edited by Graham on Wed Jan 07, 2009 7:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Graham
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Re: Some Mk II Solasound Manufactured Tonebenders (Data Dump)

Post by Graham »

That didn't take too long - had some on file! :ugeek:

All the girls hidden bits!! well you (pervy tinkerer types - who understand these things) already know what the solder side of a mk2 board looks like plus you know I dont like getting so personal (a gal needs to keep a few bits for her husbands eyes only!)
:badlove:

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Details to follow: :headpop:

Graham - the partially deaf
:drool2:
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Cado
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Re: Some Mk II Solasound Manufactured Tonebenders (Data Dump)

Post by Cado »

Beautiful as always Graham. I have been wondering, for a while now, if any determination has been made regarding a date when Sola &/or Vox MKII's made the change from OC75's to OC81D's. I fear I'm in danger of :headpop:
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Stu
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Re: Some Mk II Solasound Manufactured Tonebenders (Data Dump)

Post by Stu »

I am 99.9% sure the red undercoat is Hammerite's "Special Metals Primer", which they recommend for non-ferrous metals. It's still on the market and it's the exact same colour. Presumably, somebody at Sola Sound decided they could save time and money by just painting the Hammerite directly onto the castings.

Graham, what are the pot codes on all these? They might help to group the pedals into batches.
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The Captain
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Re: Some Mk II Solasound Manufactured Tonebenders (Data Dump)

Post by The Captain »

Thought I'd add a few snaps of G's treasure while its on a little holiday for its self :badteeth:

They are a wee bit dark but its a start.

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Okay a little thoughts. This is a kick ass pedal. Kinda obvious right. Sola Sound made it and its say the magic words on the tin. Its not as gainy as the wife but has some of that dirtiness. Neither the wife or this early Vox MKII of G's have the soupiness or fluidity of that OC81D loaded beauty of Davy's.
I personally think this pedal is packing IMPEX S3-1T's. I have another pedal on a generous loan from another forumite which is a Marshall Supa from the same era. The boards are in fact almost identical. You can just make out some text on those cans in G's (hard to see in the pics) but they do appear to have been scrubbed clean. In the Supa they did appear to miss a spot.

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This Vox and the Supa have a similar tone in common but the Supa has a tad more gain at full Attack. They both compress and gate a little at full Attack. This limits how they clean up, which I don't really think was ever part of the plan in the MKII's make up, but it does make for a very unique and musical fuzz sound. Almost, but not quite the same character that an Italian Vox has at full bore. Choppy and raspy but in the same breath not overly gated so it doesn't splutter. Very cool. Insane at high volumes. Not to stir up shit but this is the closet I have heard to that Super Show sound. The subtle gating also seems to make it less inclined to freak out at the site of an overdriven amp. They still ain't bestest friends but it doesn't seem to bag out and loose low end definition nearly as much.

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Ladies that lunch :hihi:

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Sauniere
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Re: Some Mk II Solasound Manufactured Tonebenders (Data Dump)

Post by Sauniere »

Too much porn to take in at once! :drool2: ...short of breath... :headpop:
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Graham
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Re: Some Mk II Solasound Manufactured Tonebenders (Data Dump)

Post by Graham »

Got some more of my Sola Mk2 pedals (and others - see other post on my ultimate fuzz delivery today) together into one place today so here are some new shots:

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From left to right:
Two Sola Mk1.5's each with duo of OC75's one Sola made "Rotosound" branded Mk2 Pro (this is in what was possibly the very first Tonebender fuzz case from Sola (see what Dennis / api and others have said about that) the fourth pedal is the earliest cosmetic version of the Sola made "Vox" branded Tonebender Professional Mk 2 running on a triplet of Ge metal can Imprex Transistors. You can see elsewhere in this thread details on it pointing out that the black bar is an overprint - screenprinted to hide the already printed Solasounds lettering.. most likely from a small trial batch that Tom Jennings et al at Vox turned down asking for different cosmetics of the final pedal - the regular but still extremely scarce Sola made (though not marked as such) Vox Tonebender Professional Mk 2 - running now on a triplet of OC75's - and sporting the new preferred Vox livery - Both this and the previous 2 Vox mk2's are wonderful pedals - as are the mk1.5's but that missing tranny on the 1.5's does make a totally different sound - no way worse but very different - many people would insist that the 2 tranny version was copied by Arbiters engineers to make the first Fuzzfaces (although they used NKT275's) others will insist it's the other way round!! :hmm: I'm happy to give precedence to the Sola pedal.. only a matter of a few months but still!!

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