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Thursday, 27 July 2017

Sola Sound MKIV Tonebender

I think the best description of the differences between the MKIII & MKIV tonebender comes from non-other than the captain:

The origins. Tone Bender MKIII, Tone Bender MKIV. Same party different frock. Aside from the obvious differences in the enclosure type of these pedals any true solid definition of which is what in regards to circuit type is and will always be a little bit of an ambiguous subject. The way I always made sense of it in my head was in regards to the biasing. The early MKIII's were choppy, heavy, clumsy, a fuzzy lump hammer. The later MKIV's were smooth, dynamic, articulate, a distorted boxing glove. In between, you have a foggy transitional period. Even with the those definitions in place it never always runs true.

Couldn't find a video of an original, so I figure the best example of the pedal is going to be the DAM version. Want to be clear, this layout is for an original Tonebender MKIV not the DAM one as travis pointed out.




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18 comments:

  1. Travis28 July 2017 at 01:59

    I have one of these and it is fantastic but I jumpered the output resistor in mine. Probably not too many people modding their DAM pedals out there xD

    So just a tip for everyone building this, if you want more than unity gain you should wire tone 2 directly to volume 3 instead of through the 220K resistor on the board

    That brings me to my next point. I'm not sure where this schematic came from but I'm seeing many discrepancies from my pedal. This schem is completely whack, if you build this it is in no way a clone of the DAM

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    1. Zach28 July 2017 at 02:50

      correct. forgot to add a note that the schematic came from an original MKIV not one of the DAM recreations. i just couldn't find a video with an original MKIV, but found one for one of the DAM versions.

      Delete
    2. Jacob10 August 2017 at 14:20

      Travis, could you elaborate on the differences between the DAM version and this one?

      Delete
    3. Travis11 August 2017 at 01:36

      No offense, I think there are already more than enough "DAM clones" out there. David is actually a cool guy that has shared a lot of valuable information with the DIY community, yet countless DIYers either badmouth him because his pedals are usually expensive or try to profit by associating themselves with his brand. The ones that badmouth him are usually clamoring to "clone" his stuff which is really weird. Not saying you fall into either category, but if I post this information I will inevitably be contributing to what I think is kindof a problem in the stompbox world.


      The changes are obvious things that anyone with a fundamental understanding of the circuit would make. Everyone wants this circuit to be louder and less thin in the bright setting. Nobody buys 6.8uf caps. Stuff like that.

      Delete
    4. Zach11 August 2017 at 05:32

      have to agree with travis. the reason i added the dam fuzzsounds is the information has been out there for a long time and the captain has been kind enough to share some of the info himself.

      Delete
  2. Zach11 August 2017 at 05:38

    corrected an error in the layout.

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  3. Unknown10 September 2017 at 01:04

    What do I do about this negative voltage? Because dont all power supplies give off positive voltage?

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  4. Equinox26 December 2017 at 20:26

    Looking forward to building this up. I need to know the type of transistors to use and Hfe gain of each. Can someone help me, please?? Merry Christmas!

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  5. Unknown18 January 2019 at 13:57

    hfe
    Q1: 35
    Q2: 35
    Q3: 35

    All transistors have leakage around 150µA
    Used OC74 on mine

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    1. Unknown18 January 2019 at 13:59

      For me higher Q3 hfe made the effect fart (too muddy, shitty)

      Delete
  6. Dave6 April 2020 at 12:19

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. Dave6 April 2020 at 12:43

      This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. Massatony7 April 2020 at 00:42

    Hi, does the 100nf and 220pf caps soldered to E2 and F2 and E3 and F3 respectively? Can't seem to get this one to work. Also what is a 25 uf cap? never seen one and is it that critical..... I used a 22uf cap. Thanks for any help.

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  8. Massatony7 April 2020 at 00:59

    Sorted, didn't notice the -9v connection. Works great. I put a switch between the 220k resistor ... gives a little more choice. Great pedal, Thanks.

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    1. etrangemaison8 March 2021 at 11:18

      Hi ! I can get mine to work, bummer. Does the -9v connection mean that it should be supplied by a positive charge ?

      Delete
  9. mgri23 July 2020 at 07:39

    where do i wire the output on this?

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  10. DoomOverlordWizard26 November 2022 at 20:11

    Built this with MP16 USSR germaniums. Did not have a 6.4 or 25 uF cap so substituted for a 4.7 and 22. Getting barely any sound out of this, I also did substitute the 1N270 for a 1N4148, which worked on the MKIII build on this site. Checked all my traces, and orientations. Everything is stellar and perfect. I get some sound, but its extremely low volume. I figure the substitutions are the cause for this, but if anyone did something similar, let me know.

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