Original Zonk Machine on Evil Bay ( NOT MINE!! )

[capricorn_1]

wow, 2N4061 in there with a trimpot (to bias? looks like its possibly connected between -9v and the collector of q2? 10k trim?).

[Creepyfingers]

Neat

The fact that its the same transistor as the Treble Boosters seems to seal the deal that its original to me. The odds that it was factory installed are better than the odds that a person just happened to randomly select the same brand and transistor type Hornby Skewes was using at the time. If it was a replacement I would expect to see just some random TO-5 pnp germanium in there or some other brand of silicon. The trimpot seems to show the person was being purposeful about it and had some knowledge of the circuit. I bet it was possibly towards the end of the first Zonk machine's run before the Zonk II and Shatterbox. Maybe they were getting frustrated with the quirks of the circuit by then.

[Philip]

A simple way of taming the beast?

[bustaxlaw]

Thanks again for all your help. I was initally very confused with some comments I received on ebay regarding the silicon transistor which made me want to look into all this. I was lucky enough to get some feedback from Mr. Mint T. Fresh who discussed the whole issue with me and turned me on to your site. Needless to say it was disconcerting to find that my original Zonk did not appear to be "original" but now after reviewing old pictures of "original" zonks and your excellent feedback about the different components in my Zonk, I have a clear explanation for the components in my Zonk, and even better, its appears that my Zonk was a prototype with a unique modfication by Hornby that corrected bias errors, which makes it extremely unique. Thanks again.

[tigerdriver]

Coming soon from JMI: the Zonk 1.5

[jetofuj]

Coming soon from JMI: the Zonk 1.5

[Electric Warrior]

Thanks again for all your help. I was initally very confused with some comments I received on ebay regarding the silicon transistor which made me want to look into all this. I was lucky enough to get some feedback from Mr. Mint T. Fresh who discussed the whole issue with me and turned me on to your site. Needless to say it was disconcerting to find that my original Zonk did not appear to be "original" but now after reviewing old pictures of "original" zonks and your excellent feedback about the different components in my Zonk, I have a clear explanation for the components in my Zonk, and even better, its appears that my Zonk was a prototype with a unique modfication by Hornby that corrected bias errors, which makes it extremely unique. Thanks again.

In a way they were all prototypes Haven't seen too many identical ones..
That sure is an interesting new variant you got there..

Neat

The fact that its the same transistor as the Treble Boosters seems to seal the deal that its original to me. The odds that it was factory installed are better than the odds that a person just happened to randomly select the same brand and transistor type Hornby Skewes was using at the time. If it was a replacement I would expect to see just some random TO-5 pnp germanium in there or some other brand of silicon. The trimpot seems to show the person was being purposeful about it and had some knowledge of the circuit. I bet it was possibly towards the end of the first Zonk machine's run before the Zonk II and Shatterbox. Maybe they were getting frustrated with the quirks of the circuit by then.

Interesting theory. I always thought the (all germanium) PCB ones would have been made after the vero board ones, but who knows..

[DucRyder]

Wonder what a silicon beast Zonk sounds like... Anyone get a chance to jam through something like this?

[psycho*daisies]

Wonder what a silicon beast Zonk sounds like... Anyone get a chance to jam through something like this?

Back on the old forum Dave M had a Ge Zonk, which reportedly sounded really good...
but i think i remember him writing about a Si one (or was it a Si Shatterbox?).

I think i remember hearing report that the Si one
did not sound so good (shitty, iirc)

but maybe that was an ALL Si, so not like this one....
that was possibly a Si Shatterbox...it's been quite a while, so i don't remember...
(old forum daze)
... Maybe Dave will chime in with his speculation about this one...

[DucRyder]

Yeah, I thought I read "ShitterBox" as a description, but how similar is the zonk to the shitterbox?