Early Pro MKII Tonebender recordings etc.

[Sauniere]

any Yardbirds stuff that was definitely Tonebender ?????

Page era "Little Games" I believe is a MKII. Page definitely used it live with The Yardbirds. The fuzz tone on "Think About It" still ranks as my all time favorite fuzz tone and the whole reason why I searched long and hard for a really good clone. Ironically, my quest began with the purchase of the 90s Macari's MKII RI and ended with the Macari/D*A*M RI!

[get_with_it]

very pleasd to have been of service :)

[PlumCrazy]

+1 on "Think About It" absolutely a MkII. I don't believe the rebuilt circuit thing. If it did happen it was definately after Little Games.

[Cado]

Think About It was after Little Games. The proper Little Games album was recorded somewhere between March & May 1967. Think About It was recorded either in late 1967 or early 1968.....awaiting pinpoint accurate dates from Philip.

[Sauniere]

+1 on "Think About It" absolutely a MkII. I don't believe the rebuilt circuit thing. If it did happen it was definately after Little Games.

I don't believe it was rebuilt at all. The solo on "How Many More Times" sounds like a stock MKII.

[Sauniere]

+1 on "Think About It" absolutely a MkII.

Funny thing about that tone is how much spit there is on the fuzz! Must have been really hot in the studio or maybe he had the fuzz sitting on top of his amp. Closest I've ever gotten to that tone is with my rebuilt Supa Fuzz, which gates and spits in average temperatures. When it's really hot, it sounds like it's going to explode.

[Philip]

Think About It was after Little Games. The proper Little Games album was recorded somewhere between March & May 1967. Think About It was recorded either in late 1967 or early 1968.....awaiting pinpoint accurate dates from Philip.

I actually never knew Think About It wasn't on the original album until I read your post. No wonder Little Games flopped so badly.

Bearing in mind how much closer Stu's supa MKI build sounded to that particular tone my mind is totally open as to what was used in the studio.

[get_with_it]

yardbirds w mkii small.jpg (207.05 KiB) Viewed 4661 times

[melodichaotic]

yardbirds w mkii small.jpg

Here's some excellent examples (courtesy of YT) of the MK II in action. I think these are better examples than early live Zep since you can really hear more dynamics and the drums and bass aren't so huge sounding.
Also, it's important to note how Page's base sound already has some grit to it, and it sounds to me that he wasn't necessarily running the gain maxed out on the TB.

How hot those particular Tele pick-ups(stock or otherwise) and relative to how hard Page was digging in, string guage etc, equates to how much voltage that pedal was being hit with.
Whatever the reason, to me this is THE original violin tone...stinging, biting, frothy, sustaining, with single notes that bloom and blossom in the most awesome way.

"Train Kept a Rolling"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPfpUv4h ... re=related

Intro found it's way into Zeps "Dazed"

Fuzz on at 0:32, off at 0:47, on again at 2:12, off again at 2:30.


"Dazed and Confused"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58mQvW0R ... re=related

Fuzz on at 3:18

Listening to this version compared to Zep, it sounds SO neutered, and I almost fell off my chair laughing listening to Keith sing the first few lines!



"Shapes of Things"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTO7WVxj ... re=related

Fuzz on at 1:14


"Over Under Sideways Down"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLv7viCM ... re=related

Killer example where Page had the Fuzz on for the whole song.



And lastly, a little MK I gem from Jeff:

"Shapes of Things"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUZg6VHf ... re=related

Hilarious that he's got the pedal right behind Paul Samwell-Smith, having to pull-off a pre-Spinal Tap, Spinal tap move to kick it on and off!!

Of course he's using a Paul and his rhythm sound is already a bit gainy, but it certainly has a more uncontrollable, more raw razor-type blast than the MK II that sounds KILLIN"!

[Sauniere]

yardbirds w mkii small.jpg

Also, it's important to note how Page's base sound already has some grit to it, and it sounds to me that he wasn't necessarily running the gain maxed out on the TB.

If he was running the Echoplex in the chain, there would be some gain loss with the MKII. At first I thought it might have been the wah sucking some gain, but the early gray Voxes were all true bypass. That tone suck from Echoplexes and later Vox Wahs is often a overlooked ingredient.