The New MKI Tone Bender+ More at the NAMM show w/ Photos!

[Mr. Min T. Fresh]

Well Day 1 is complete and I am tired like an old man ( I guess I am )

Went to the JMI booth and have a few updates for ya'all!!!!

First I have been told that the JMI team will be working with Gary Hurst to come up with a VERY VERY limited wooden box MKI ( just like the very first MKI prototype ) I have seen some pictures of this rare beast and it is not pretty but man it has the mojo factor times 10!

JMI has also stated that the standard MKI will be made but in very small batches by Gary in Italy.

The other REALLY cool news for all of you pedal nuts ( like me ) is that there are 2 new pedals in the works ( I have seen the working protos )

Are you ready................................................wait for it................................wait for

The Doubler and Fuzz King are going to reissued under the Hiwatt name with Gary at the wheel!!!!

What was that? I know.......................FUCK YEAH!!!!!!!

I also had a chance to hit the Dunlop Booth and there is new Way Huge pedal coming out soon called the Angry Troll

I about to head back to the show for day 2 and some vintage guitar shops later ( yeah this shit is like a drug!!!! )

Will post some photos when I get home. If you have any requests for photos please let me know I will be checking the forum often.

Thanks
Gino

[Philip]

The way you're talking implies the MKI's weren't ready for this show? Did you manage to get yours? Does it have actual MKI innards, it's not just the same as before - MKII circuit in a MKI case?

[Mr. Min T. Fresh]

There were 10 MKI pedals made by Gary.

JMI only brought 2 pedals to the show ( I purchased them last week and asked them to bring them to the show )

There are 8 more for sale ( I think ) and from what they are telling me the guts are true to the MKI. I did not get a chance to open the pedal so I can not tell you for sure.

All I can tell you is that there are only 8 left so if you want one better buy now because they said these are not going to be a regular production run from Gary.

The also had the proto MKII and treble booster at the show and they looked FUCKING AWESOME!!! The cases on those mofos looked tits!!! I have some gut shots that the shop sent me 2 days ago but I did not have a chance to post them ( VERY clean inside )

I will be picking up my MKI pedals tomorrow from the guys so they can show them off at the show to draw people in.

The REALLY funny thing is that Gary signed the back of the MKI pedals and put the wrong year on them ( 2008 Vs. 2009 ) How cool is that!!

The JMI gang had all kinds of vintage lit. on the MKI at the show. I will see what I can get from these guys and post it on the forum.

From what they are saying they are in the process of coming up with another tonebender I thought it was a MKIII ( there may have been something else )

Sorry I am still a bit foggy from last night.

[the_original_mr_nice]

The way you're talking implies the MKI's weren't ready for this show? Did you manage to get yours? Does it have actual MKI innards, it's not just the same as before - MKII circuit in a MKI case?

The idea of the casing and Gary Hurst making them tempts me but I'd probably need to hear one (or have a good recommendation) before committing and by then a limited edition may have sold out That's the beauty of anything that Dave (re)creates - you just know that it will be the best that is humaly possible

[kb892]

Thanks for the update, I prepaid for one of these too though I have no idea when it will actually arrive... if it turns out to actually be a true MKI I may just quit while I'm ahead and stop buying pedals altogether....

[Cado]

The way you're talking implies the MKI's weren't ready for this show? Did you manage to get yours? Does it have actual MKI innards, it's not just the same as before - MKII circuit in a MKI case?

The idea of the casing and Gary Hurst making them tempts me but I'd probably need to hear one (or have a good recommendation) before committing and by then a limited edition may have sold out That's the beauty of anything that Dave (re)creates - you just know that it will be the best that is humaly possible

+ 1 on that Mr. Nice! Yesterday, I heard a 1966 against an original Vox Tonebender. I preferred the D*A*M & it wasn't even a close call. Many thanks to Gino as well, for all the inside info

[Philip]

I ain't going to be buying any of those pedals because I simply don't dig Music Ground's shitty ways, but I hope you guys get the pedals you're hoping for!

It'll be real interesting to see/hear Gary's take on his old MKI design.

JMI have updated the Tone Bender page with a new pic, is this what you saw at the show?

http://www.jmiamplification.com/tonebender.htm

[the_original_mr_nice]

The Doubler and Fuzz King are going to reissued under the Hiwatt name with Gary at the wheel!!!!

As usual I am learning all the time from the forum so I now have to find information on these pedals - so much old is new to me !

I also had a chance to hit the Dunlop Booth and there is new Way Huge pedal coming out soon called the Angry Troll

Any new Way Huge is good news as the originals are out of my price range (I was lucky to get a few back in the day before they became collectable !). Better to have an Angry Troll on your side in case of trouble

[Graham]

Well it's really good to hear Gino so enthused - he'll most likely be a basket case by the time he's finished the guitar booths tonight!

From what he says I imagine that Gary made and signed this batch of the "Reissues" last year - do they still have the screen printed signature on the top?

As far as I can tease out (and I have had some correspondence with a few people who are on top of this thing) the facts of the mismatch between the actual innards in those reissues and the original Mk1 has only really been something that MG themselves were properly aware of fairly recently. I hope for your sake G that it is a proper Mk1 and that it is tuned nicely - but I held off grabbing one because despite my enquiring - and having several slightly vague phone conversations with them - nobody managed to convince me that this batch was anything other than the same deal as before - which I imagine is precisely what we'll see inside these proposed JMI pedals (which I have ordered) Had I had any verbal mention of it being an actual mk1 built by Gary Hurst then I would of course have grabbed one in a heartbeat - if you have gotten the real thing then I tip my hat to you sir!

These other proposed "wooden" bodied pedals sound more enticing but if there are only ten to be had I'd imagine they will already be long gone - so jolly well done on getting one promised - I will watch with interest what they turn into and at what price MG put them out - it most definitely won't be in the same range as the JMI pedals nor even the metal mk1 "reissues" .

It seems to me that MG have woken up to the interest - and potential market for - high end copies of Garys original pedals - the future may well be good for fuzz lovers - I would think theres a little way to go yet though - as has been said turning out quantities of pedals with a consistently good performance is hard enough in small runs let alone in the larger "commercial quantities" that will appeal to an overhead heavy business like the MG group

Fortunately I have my own originals though I am also fortunate in having Davids copies and have to say that they really do stand up to the most rigorous criticism and comparison with the nicer sounding examples of the originals - bear in mind that by no means all the early pedals sounded as good as each other!!


I wish everyone involved - builders, buyers, orderers, even MG the very best in their veture and await eagerly any further info or pictures!

Graham

[dazed and confused]

Well said Graham
I was about to post a similar reply.