Inspired partly by the thread re the new Boss pedal (and seeming unavailability thereof) and partly because I’ve been thinking about getting a TB style pedal in the last weeks... what would folk here recommend from personal use? I’ve trawled YT and gear sites of course, but I either can’t stand the playing styles used for demonstration or I can’t afford some high end collectible thing. Personally, I won’t spend more than £125-150 on a pedal. But that’s for realistic reasons not some moral code.
I like the look (and sound) of the Magnetic Effects Solar Bender. I’m not keen on anything too raspy or ‘splatter fuzz.’
What say you knowledgable people?
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Possibly slightly out of your budget, but not impossibly rare second hand. Fixes all the problems with running a vintage-style germanium fuzz on a modern pedalboard and has a couple of extra useful functions, as well as Mk1.5 (lower gain) and Mk2 (higher gain) settings.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
I think I’ll go for the Magnetic, smaller, cheaper and UK made.
That being said - of the ones I did look at, the Bonetender was my favourite sounding of the bunch. The Fulltone one sounded pretty good too.
https://www.williamsaudio.co.uk/
The JHS Bender is great but is a very good take on a Ge mk3 Tone Bender using silicon transistors. Both are around the £175 mark new.
http://www.theboxwoodchessmen.com/
https://www.facebook.com/tingiants/?view_public_for=231700547508938
It does have a control where you can get that 'splatter' fuzz thing, but then I do like that 'Jimmy's nine volt is dying half way through the solo on Shapes of Things' tone.
It's a superb pedal. I ought to use mine more, but it does everything from gnarly Yardbirds stuff to that massive sound Mick Ronson used to get. The other thing I like about the TB sound- which the Solar Bender does- is that it's got that properly intense, fuzz-like rasp, but it's also a full-frequency distortion box. Basically it's like having a serated knife through the ears while being kicked in the solar plexus.
And on that vile note, thank you and good night.
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