Original MkI Tone Bender

Pics, info, thoughts on old and/or hairy gear.

Moderator: The Captain

Fuzzisthebest
Posts: 243
Joined: Sat Feb 10, 2018 7:20 am

Re: Original MkI Tone Bender

Post by Fuzzisthebest »

Nick wrote: Fri Aug 20, 2021 7:07 pm
mjkk wrote: Mon Aug 16, 2021 1:16 am So how many original MKI’s do you own now? That’s an incredible sounding device. Huge congratulations sir
hoover.jpg

They're all slightly different, but nevertheless, all ace! The bonus is that this Australian pedal doesn't leave dots of black paint/rust on my hands from handling it :smashed:

Not sure on the full back story of it yet, other than that it belonged to the father-in-law of the seller, who supposedly played in bands over there. This is actually the third instance of a MKI making it to Australia that I'm aware of, but that's doesn't necessarily mean yet that these things were actually sold there, because the other two (of which one supposedly still sort of survives) were actually brought over by the original owners from the UK...


I’m guessing that the ToneBenders were brought out under the Australian Government’s Assisted Passage Scheme, In the last few years there’s been three Burns Buzzaround’s for sale too

Info on the Assisted package scene .

The normal cost of a passage to Australia was about £120 pounds, the Australian Government subsidised £110 pounds of this, meaning immigrants were only paying £10 pounds to get here. The only catch was that if you took up the offer you had to stay at least two years before deciding to return or you would have to pay the full fare home yourself. You also had to pass a health check and be under 45 years of age. During the 1950s and 60s around 1 million Britons emigrated to Australia with some 25% deciding that life in Australia was not for them and returning home - these were always referred to by Australians as the 'whinging Poms' and many of them deserved the name! It was originally expected that 70,000 Britons a year would travel to Australia - but in the first year alone, 400,000 applied. During the 1950s wages in Australia were some 50% higher than those in England (especially for tradesmen) and this, plus the outdoor free and easy lifestyle Australia had to offer, was very attractive to many young men and women. 1968 was the peak year of immigration with 600,000 Britons arriving.
User avatar
HorseyBoy
Posts: 4133
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2012 10:48 pm
Location: Harlan County

Re: Original MkI Tone Bender

Post by HorseyBoy »

Bloody Ten Pound Poms…

The English side of my family always let it be known they came to Oz paying full freight. None of them brought a fuzz box with them though, probably because they came via India and Malaya.

Always loved Ray Davies' take on it all in "Australia":



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef3beK367tA
User avatar
Nick
The Artist Formerly Known As nightraven
Posts: 2234
Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:25 pm

Re: Original MkI Tone Bender

Post by Nick »

Fuzzisthebest wrote: Sat Aug 21, 2021 10:49 pm I’m guessing that the ToneBenders were brought out under the Australian Government’s Assisted Passage Scheme, In the last few years there’s been three Burns Buzzaround’s for sale too

Info on the Assisted package scene .

The normal cost of a passage to Australia was about £120 pounds, the Australian Government subsidised £110 pounds of this, meaning immigrants were only paying £10 pounds to get here. The only catch was that if you took up the offer you had to stay at least two years before deciding to return or you would have to pay the full fare home yourself. You also had to pass a health check and be under 45 years of age. During the 1950s and 60s around 1 million Britons emigrated to Australia with some 25% deciding that life in Australia was not for them and returning home - these were always referred to by Australians as the 'whinging Poms' and many of them deserved the name! It was originally expected that 70,000 Britons a year would travel to Australia - but in the first year alone, 400,000 applied. During the 1950s wages in Australia were some 50% higher than those in England (especially for tradesmen) and this, plus the outdoor free and easy lifestyle Australia had to offer, was very attractive to many young men and women. 1968 was the peak year of immigration with 600,000 Britons arriving.
Interesting idea, I wasn't familiar about that but it's still extremely unusual to see 60s-era British fuzz in Australia though. The Buzzarounds are a weird exception, however, where at least 10 of the 29 surviving Buzzarounds I'm aware of resurfaced there. None of the other British pedals come even close to that kind of ratio, so it's enough to strongly suggest that Baldwin/Burns must have had some sort of distribution going on down under.
User avatar
HorseyBoy
Posts: 4133
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2012 10:48 pm
Location: Harlan County

Re: Original MkI Tone Bender

Post by HorseyBoy »

Nick wrote: Mon Aug 23, 2021 9:48 pm Interesting idea, I wasn't familiar about that but it's still extremely unusual to see 60s-era British fuzz in Australia though. The Buzzarounds are a weird exception, however, where at least 10 of the 29 surviving Buzzarounds I'm aware of resurfaced there. None of the other British pedals come even close to that kind of ratio, so it's enough to strongly suggest that Baldwin/Burns must have had some sort of distribution going on down under.
Wish I could find something to back it up, but this is almost certainly the case. A lot of Burns guitars made their way into Oz in the 60s and into the 70s and 80s, and I'm sure I've read or heard there was a local importer/distributor at that time.
User avatar
Nick
The Artist Formerly Known As nightraven
Posts: 2234
Joined: Tue Dec 01, 2009 7:25 pm

Re: Original MkI Tone Bender

Post by Nick »

Oh, I forgot about this one, which also surfaced in Australia several years ago (not mine though). Sold on FB marketplace for something comically cheap like $100, which is still a pretty good deal, even if the guts are most likely completely replaced. No idea whether it was originally a MKI or an early MK1.5 (or something else altogether).
gold in Australia.jpg
gold in Australia.jpg (19.64 KiB) Viewed 1757 times
MK1.fucked.jpg
MK1.fucked.jpg (53.51 KiB) Viewed 1757 times
User avatar
mjkk
Posts: 2524
Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2010 7:11 am

Re: Original MkI Tone Bender

Post by mjkk »

Incredible sir!!
"Yes I remember a brave guy named Roger dancing around musicians and cleaning their shoes. Occasionally we gave him our broken pedals for repair to get peace for some hours."
User avatar
mjkk
Posts: 2524
Joined: Mon Mar 08, 2010 7:11 am

Re: Original MkI Tone Bender

Post by mjkk »

Doesn’t really look like the work of sola but who knows.
"Yes I remember a brave guy named Roger dancing around musicians and cleaning their shoes. Occasionally we gave him our broken pedals for repair to get peace for some hours."
User avatar
The Captain
Posts: 7014
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 12:05 am
Location: UK, Earth

Re: Original MkI Tone Bender

Post by The Captain »

Dig it. As requested. A few pics of 'the ashtray' AKA 'The Phoenix'. The modern sonic recreation being this. This is how she looked upon arrival, fresh out of a Nike shoebox. It's a shame scratch and sniff mode can't be implemented, as it was a most wonderful experience.

lol.JPG
lol.JPG (563.26 KiB) Viewed 492 times
dead.JPG
dead.JPG (466.84 KiB) Viewed 492 times
And then some time later...

PHX_10_22_001.JPG
PHX_10_22_001.JPG (456.28 KiB) Viewed 492 times
PHX_10_22_011.JPG
PHX_10_22_011.JPG (364.28 KiB) Viewed 492 times
PHX_10_22_002.JPG
PHX_10_22_002.JPG (419.36 KiB) Viewed 492 times
PHX_10_22_003.JPG
PHX_10_22_003.JPG (409.92 KiB) Viewed 492 times
PHX_10_22_014.JPG
PHX_10_22_014.JPG (417.64 KiB) Viewed 492 times
PHX_10_22_006.JPG
PHX_10_22_006.JPG (560.28 KiB) Viewed 492 times
PHX_10_22_009.JPG
PHX_10_22_009.JPG (354.87 KiB) Viewed 492 times
PHX_10_22_012.JPG
PHX_10_22_012.JPG (346.66 KiB) Viewed 492 times
PHX_10_22_005.JPG
PHX_10_22_005.JPG (428.8 KiB) Viewed 492 times
PHX_10_22_013.JPG
PHX_10_22_013.JPG (367.56 KiB) Viewed 492 times
PHX_10_22_018.JPG
PHX_10_22_018.JPG (364.29 KiB) Viewed 492 times
PHX_10_22_015.JPG
PHX_10_22_015.JPG (297.88 KiB) Viewed 492 times
PHX_10_22_016.JPG
PHX_10_22_016.JPG (293.37 KiB) Viewed 492 times
PHX_10_22_017.JPG
PHX_10_22_017.JPG (265.97 KiB) Viewed 492 times
PHX_10_22_019.jpg
PHX_10_22_019.jpg (277.43 KiB) Viewed 492 times
PHX_10_22_004.JPG
PHX_10_22_004.JPG (484.95 KiB) Viewed 492 times
Notes of interest:
1. the eagle eyed among you will notice the blob of solder at the top of the 220k resistor, most visible in image #019, this is due to it being altered from its original assembly. As in, Mr. Hurst would have populated the circuit board, say with a 470K resistor, realized it insufficient for the bias requirements clipped it out and then soldered the 220k on top in its place. You'll so notice the lower leg of 220k extends to the base junction of Q2 rather than being through hole with the electrolytic capacitor.
I find this type of thing fascinating as in shows that Gary was, in high likelihood, tuning by ear and also tuning the circuit on the fly. You'll see a similar process at work on the System MKI circuit board with the stacked 470k and 330k resistors to tune the bias and then the on top mounting of the 100nf capacitor in the circuit, which I assume is due to the removal of a second electrolytic as he learnt more about what it was actually doing to the behaviour of Q2. I also believe the nature of how the transistors are mounted are further evidence of this tuning procedure.

2. There is a high possibly that the Mullard transistors are both OC71's

3. Both potentiometers are of logarithmic taper and are stamped '10-5'

:party:
User avatar
squarewave
Posts: 1163
Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:20 am

Re: Original MkI Tone Bender

Post by squarewave »

So bloody bloomin’ cool
Insta @drewcifer01 @lavafangs @andrew_sings_solo
User avatar
fernieite
Posts: 919
Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2008 11:16 pm
Location: Toronto. Age: Early 60s

Re: Original MkI Tone Bender

Post by fernieite »

Wow, fantastic save on the old beastie! Well done, sir. :freakout:
Great deals with: Stu, Graham, Sickle, Devnulljp, SteveG, peps1, paine, fuzzface6669, jetofuj, sciencefriction, jerms, rafmax, Bigfoot2000, whiskeyfuneral, monolithfuzz.
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 10 guests