Mick Ronson's Tonebender

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anemochore
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Mick Ronson's Tonebender

Post by anemochore »

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Nick
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Re: Mick Ronson's Tonebender

Post by Nick »

According to the owner, yes :)

I spoke with the guy at length a few years ago when this pedal was featured in an exhibition about Ronno in Hull. I've got a little bit about the story on my website: https://fuzzboxes.org/transitionaltonebender
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anemochore
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Re: Mick Ronson's Tonebender

Post by anemochore »

Nick wrote: Wed Jul 07, 2021 7:33 pm According to the owner, yes :)

I spoke with the guy at length a few years ago when this pedal was featured in an exhibition about Ronno in Hull. I've got a little bit about the story on my website: https://fuzzboxes.org/transitionaltonebender
Thanks :cheers:
Cool website!
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Re: Mick Ronson's Tonebender

Post by HorseyBoy »

Nick wrote: Wed Jul 07, 2021 7:33 pm According to the owner, yes :)

I spoke with the guy at length a few years ago when this pedal was featured in an exhibition about Ronno in Hull. I've got a little bit about the story on my website: https://fuzzboxes.org/transitionaltonebender
So Nick, in this chronology, Mick Ronson had and used a MK1.5 BEFORE he got the MKI he was famous for?
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Nick
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Re: Mick Ronson's Tonebender

Post by Nick »

HorseyBoy wrote: Thu Jul 08, 2021 3:46 am
Nick wrote: Wed Jul 07, 2021 7:33 pm According to the owner, yes :)

I spoke with the guy at length a few years ago when this pedal was featured in an exhibition about Ronno in Hull. I've got a little bit about the story on my website: https://fuzzboxes.org/transitionaltonebender
So Nick, in this chronology, Mick Ronson had and used a MK1.5 BEFORE he got the MKI he was famous for?
Yup. The exact dates of everything are murky, because Mick seemed to travel between Hull and London quite frequently during the period of 1965-68, and it's also possible that he bought the MK1.5 in Hull. Pete Townshend was still using the MKI by July of 1966, and according to Mick's thing in Melody Maker, there was an 'interim' owner of that MKI before Mick got it. There are a few photos of Mick performing with the Rats, with the MKI, and one of them was supposedly taken in 1968.
One thing that could narrow down the time frame would be establishing whether 'The rise and fall...' (recorded in October 1967) sounds like a MKI, or whether it could be a MK1.5...

It's certain though, that this is not a Bowie-era pedal - sorry! :smashed:
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Re: Mick Ronson's Tonebender

Post by squarewave »

Damn, sure is one handsome pedal
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vanguard
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Re: Mick Ronson's Tonebender

Post by vanguard »

Nick wrote: Thu Jul 08, 2021 11:36 am
HorseyBoy wrote: Thu Jul 08, 2021 3:46 am
Nick wrote: Wed Jul 07, 2021 7:33 pm According to the owner, yes :)

I spoke with the guy at length a few years ago when this pedal was featured in an exhibition about Ronno in Hull. I've got a little bit about the story on my website: https://fuzzboxes.org/transitionaltonebender
So Nick, in this chronology, Mick Ronson had and used a MK1.5 BEFORE he got the MKI he was famous for?
Yup. The exact dates of everything are murky, because Mick seemed to travel between Hull and London quite frequently during the period of 1965-68, and it's also possible that he bought the MK1.5 in Hull. Pete Townshend was still using the MKI by July of 1966, and according to Mick's thing in Melody Maker, there was an 'interim' owner of that MKI before Mick got it. There are a few photos of Mick performing with the Rats, with the MKI, and one of them was supposedly taken in 1968.
One thing that could narrow down the time frame would be establishing whether 'The rise and fall...' (recorded in October 1967) sounds like a MKI, or whether it could be a MK1.5...

It's certain though, that this is not a Bowie-era pedal - sorry! :smashed:
The Spiders record sounds like an MKI to me. There's that touch of crackle between notes and in the attack.

It was probably neither :whistle:
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Has anyone seen an Englishman called Gavin?
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Nick
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Re: Mick Ronson's Tonebender

Post by Nick »

vanguard wrote: Fri Jul 09, 2021 8:28 pm
Nick wrote: Thu Jul 08, 2021 11:36 am
HorseyBoy wrote: Thu Jul 08, 2021 3:46 am
Nick wrote: Wed Jul 07, 2021 7:33 pm According to the owner, yes :)

I spoke with the guy at length a few years ago when this pedal was featured in an exhibition about Ronno in Hull. I've got a little bit about the story on my website: https://fuzzboxes.org/transitionaltonebender
So Nick, in this chronology, Mick Ronson had and used a MK1.5 BEFORE he got the MKI he was famous for?
Yup. The exact dates of everything are murky, because Mick seemed to travel between Hull and London quite frequently during the period of 1965-68, and it's also possible that he bought the MK1.5 in Hull. Pete Townshend was still using the MKI by July of 1966, and according to Mick's thing in Melody Maker, there was an 'interim' owner of that MKI before Mick got it. There are a few photos of Mick performing with the Rats, with the MKI, and one of them was supposedly taken in 1968.
One thing that could narrow down the time frame would be establishing whether 'The rise and fall...' (recorded in October 1967) sounds like a MKI, or whether it could be a MK1.5...

It's certain though, that this is not a Bowie-era pedal - sorry! :smashed:
The Spiders record sounds like an MKI to me. There's that touch of crackle between notes and in the attack.

It was probably neither :whistle:
I meant this song :badteeth:

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HorseyBoy
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Re: Mick Ronson's Tonebender

Post by HorseyBoy »

^ The only thing I can definitively state is that it sounds like Mick Ronson. Up until the solo I was going to say it sounded more like a MK1.5, closer to the Fuzz Face sound of The Fleur de Lys. But then the solo kicked in and it sounded like the MKI on the "The Width of a Circle". So the correct answer is: Mick Ronson could make anything sound great.
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