1966 Tone Bender "MK1.5" - 500k edition [DATA DUMP]

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Nick
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1966 Tone Bender "MK1.5" - 500k edition [DATA DUMP]

Post by Nick »

In light of the discussion (in that 1hr YouTube sensation) about the difference between the "MK1.5" and the Fuzz Face, here is an example of a "MK1.5" with a 500k level pot that contradicts it. Some of the earlier "MK1.5" Tone Benders actually came with the same(-ish) value level pot as the Fuzz Faces. It's a fairly subtle difference, but it shows that keeping the full bass response intact wasn't something that Arbiter necessarily came up with themselves. It looks rather likely (but never 100% certain) that they had an early "MK1.5" like this one for reference.

What does this nerdy shit mean? It means that it is even more unlikely that the Rangemaster Fuzzbug was some sort of "prototype" for the Fuzz Face, as has been suggested in recent years. The known surviving example of a "MK1.5" version of the Fuzzbug - as super groovy as it is - is a late example of that Sola Sound circuit, judging by the pot codes, so it certainly comes with the standard 100k level pot. (Additionally - according to Ivor Arbiter - the Dallas/Arbiter merge only happened c.1967-68, and Dallas' name only appeared on the Fuzz Face in 1968. The Fuzz Face was an Arbiter product -- not a Dallas product. There is no evidence to suggest that the Dallas company was involved in the designing of the Fuzz Face in 1966.)

We've seen the date codes in a number of "MK1.5" Tone Benders with 500k level pots (including the infamous gold one from almost 10(!) years ago now) and, so far, they've all come with a level pot dated the 34th week of 1965, and an attack pot dated the 3rd week of 1966. It's quite possible that the "MK1.5" first came about in 1965, in some form or another (e.g. funky Impex builds), but it looks like this particular version is from 1966.

The provenance of my pedal is unknown. It came from a house clearance, and I guess it's quite fortunate that the person that excavated the pedal, didn't actually open it up before advertising it for sale, because the exploded battery inside might've led them to chucking it in the trash instead :badteeth:

There is a sticker on the bottom plate that suggests that the pedal might at some point have been for sale by Nathaniel Berry & Sons - the piano manufacturer - who apparently did operate a number of shops in London, during the 1960s. There are a handful of anecdotes of people buying "MK1.5" Tone Benders at shops, other than Macari's, so it doesn't seem that unlikely that this is where my pedal was originally sold. Can't be certain though.

By all means feel free to disagree, and - if so - please share more data!

Here's the pr0n:

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Bonus pr0n:

It's rather interesting that even some of these earlier "MK1.5" Tone Benders were upgraded to Professional MKII specs. The MKII pictured below (which many will have seen before - either here, or in the yellow book) has the same 500k level pot, and makes arranging 1966 Sola Sound products into some sort of chronological order rather awkward.

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N.B. the reason why I refuse to wash the bird poop off this particular wooden bench before putting pedals on it for photographing, is because the management company responsible for maintaining my block of flats has recently cranked up my monthly service charge. Fuck them and fuck that.
Last edited by Nick on Sun Mar 22, 2020 10:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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jreeves47
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Re: 1966 Tone Bender "MK1.5" - 500k edition [DATA DUMP]

Post by jreeves47 »

beautiful. didn't even notice the poop
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Blues 1911
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Re: 1966 Tone Bender "MK1.5" - 500k edition [DATA DUMP]

Post by Blues 1911 »

Excellent! Very detailed and informative.

Very nice score, too! Have you just recovered it, Nick?
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Nick
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Re: 1966 Tone Bender "MK1.5" - 500k edition [DATA DUMP]

Post by Nick »

Blues 1911 wrote: Sun Mar 22, 2020 6:50 pm Excellent! Very detailed and informative.

Very nice score, too! Have you just recovered it, Nick?
Aye - 'tis a recent find :party:
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Philip
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Re: 1966 Tone Bender "MK1.5" - 500k edition [DATA DUMP]

Post by Philip »

Lovely. :badlove:
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Dullboy
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Re: 1966 Tone Bender "MK1.5" - 500k edition [DATA DUMP]

Post by Dullboy »

What about the damaged part where the battery goes? (sorry but I don't know the term in english)
Are you going to fix it or not? :)
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Doc Holliday
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Re: 1966 Tone Bender "MK1.5" - 500k edition [DATA DUMP]

Post by Doc Holliday »

Awesome man. You and EW should get together and write “the” definitive story of the Tonebender.
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Nick
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Re: 1966 Tone Bender "MK1.5" - 500k edition [DATA DUMP]

Post by Nick »

Dullboy wrote: Sun Mar 22, 2020 10:12 pm What about the damaged part where the battery goes? (sorry but I don't know the term in english)
Are you going to fix it or not? :)
Not sure. I guess it's probably not cleanable, but the connector itself could probably be replaced, whilst keeping the wire intact. The pedal works fine with jumper cables for now though :party:
Doc Holliday wrote: Sun Mar 22, 2020 10:28 pm Awesome man. You and EW should get together and write “the” definitive story of the Tonebender.
It's pretty easy to challenge myths, conjecture etc (even if you end up falling predominantly on deaf ears), but writing a "definitive" story is rather difficult when there's constantly new data cropping up in the forms of anecdotes or surviving pedals that resurface. On top of that, a lot of details will sadly have been lost over the years as well, with key figures like Denney, Big Jim Sullivan etc having passed away.
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vanguard
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Re: 1966 Tone Bender "MK1.5" - 500k edition [DATA DUMP]

Post by vanguard »

Quite a run you're on, Nick!

I love those exuberantly erect OC75's :party:
https://blackstrapelectrik.com/

Has anyone seen an Englishman called Gavin?
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fernieite
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Re: 1966 Tone Bender "MK1.5" - 500k edition [DATA DUMP]

Post by fernieite »

Very cool!!! Maybe get some battery neutralizer from an auto parts store, or some baking soda for that corrosion. Might be able to salvage the terminal end...
https://itstillruns.com/neutralize-batt ... 89182.html
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