Ronno Bender

Description

The Tonebender MK1 was used by Jeff Beck in the “Yardbirds” era, as well as Pete Townshend of “The Who”, “The Pretty Things”, ”Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich”, “The Merseybeats”, etc.. back in the sixties. But the most notable and dedicated user of the MK1 and with greater effect was Mick Ronson in the good old days of “The Spiders from Mars” with David Bowie.

Starting in March 2014 the pedal includes a cool addition: a bias switch. Located at the rear of the unit, it allows to choose between “Vintage” or “Modern”. Vintage: it leaves the circuit unaltered, so true to the original 1965 Tone Benders, the fuzz sound is gated and rough with all its clicks and noises between notes, just like many fuzz lovers (like me) love. Recommended when the “Attack” control will be set at maximum. Modern: it introduces a bias adjustement to the circuit. This will soften the decay of the notes and allow a better clean up with the guitar’s volume knob which is desirable for many players. An increase of the background noise will be noticeable with this setting. Recommended when the “Attack” control will be set low.

Characteristics:
-Handmade, point to point soldered.
-Carefully selected N.O.S Germanium Transistors.
-High quality Capacitors.
-Alpha Pots
-Bias switch (vintage/modern)
-True bypass switch.
-Two internal trimpots for user custom adjustments.
-Gold hammerite finish.
-Individually numbered / signed Pedal.
-9 volt battery, a brand new one is fitted in each as standard.
-It accepts DC current from an external power supply. Polarity is reverse (positive tip, negative sleeve)