VOX MKII PROFESSIONAL - GRAHAMS NICE REFERENCE PICS

[Graham]

Now I already put some of this on the Datadump section where I plan on posting various evolutions of the Sola Mk2 tonebender that I have but thought I would have a try here at uploading a few pictures directly

I'm not entirely sure if we put specific pedals individually here and use the Data section for collective pedal variant information ie Mk2's - SupaFuzzes - Big Muffs etc. I am sure I have either misunderstood or not read where it is clearly explained but I can always come back here to this post and remove this bit or modify the post as I get the hang of things - I have got a lot of pictures to stick up here in the comng months and will hopefully be able to relist (and improve on) all the reference postings I had loaded onto the old site.

I am trying to show the overprinting of the Vox specific lettering I mentioned in the other post on the data section. Bound to make mistakes though so bear with me!!

From what I can see these are loading as pretty large files (I only took them at the lowest option on the camera honest - I set it at 2mb it can go to 10 I think but from what I can see that would be particularly unkind let alons I'd soon lose interest watching them upload) Would somebody pm me or send me a link to where I can see what to do to get it the way its best - I really dont want to waste a load of time just screwing things up!!
G

[Graham]

Some more pics of the Vox - I am guessing that someone can help me to shrink them or otherwise present them in a more user friendly manner!

With the 4 pics a post limit I am planning on sticking up another three or four "replies" to give a nice reference set of this unusual pedal - no I havent pulled the board yet that will need to wait but I can show you some hard core circuit board shots - I have inspected the metal can trannies with a jewelers loupe (strong lens) and can see no sign of any pre-existing print so cannot say definitively whether they are OC81 or OC81D's - have had some considerable discussion with David and we have decided that the circuit is effectively identical to the one that John (madcap) has in his lovely early Marshall Supafuzz - also that it is unlikely that they would have been plain 81's for a whole range of reasons which doubtlessly will be explored here in due course. From what I can see just about all is as it should be and although the battery clip has been added (and I will restore to the proper type!) the only other work would only perhaps be the odd reinstatement of a dodgy wire - otherwise I think its all straight.

From a performance perspective it is astonishingly gainy, this is perhaps indicative of the trannies being Drivers (81D's) - Psycho Davey has a "normal" style Vox mk2 pro for comparisons and Dave has a slightly more beat but similar pedal - I am hoping that they will both kick in with their own comments and pics (perhaps seperately but we can combine on the data dump or do we stick them all straight into the one thread?). I had her set up daisy chained with my mk2 Rotosound into a favourite little Matamp with nice old tubes into a couple of superb 1 x 12 cabs (the usual mix I run with that amp of one early sixties Goodmans Alnico and one mid sixties Celestion G12H Greenback - a ceramic magnet model so balancing the alnico one nicely) and spent several hours just switching between them looking to make objective comparisons .

At first it struck me that there was noticeably more volume on tap with the Vox but slowly I realised it wasnt so much volume as a difference in the overall sound - sure there were great similarities as I'm certain there would have been if I had brought a couple of Davids great Mk2's into play as well - no mistaking the "family" characteristic BUT the Vox seems a lot more expressive - perhaps a touch less bottom end or "rumble" that I get from the Roto when dimed - realistically probably only a shade more volume off the Vox but its the nature of that volume - there is a marked increase in string definition - don't get me wrong this is a MKII at full tilt into a little Mullard EL84 (or maybe theres a 6V6 in that one right now (bloody mice little amp anyway) but it doesn't mush out retaining a little fizz and sparkle all the way through the decay (and bloody nice note decay too!!) - imagine grafting just a hint of one of Dave 66's (say 10%) onto one of his mk2#s and I'm talking that kind of vibe - you might get the same with a hint of a treble booster or a Klon clean boost to "open things up" a bit - unlike the mk1's no gating as such and a nice reasonably long sustain when through a clean amp (say 10 -15 seconds) but through a cranked amp longer and then dying down slowly on the decay curve before gradually increasing and regally -(like that word??)- swelling back up into a beautifully toneful harmonic feedback - very nice inded! As I already said it has a chewy and liquid voice both at the same time (hard to grasp but those words are what came to mind - she can sing through a midway cooking amp like a canary (but that would be a bad MF canary pumped on steroids and crystal!)

On rhythmn or chordal work the metal can trannies definitely allow a bit more air around the notes compared to the Rotosound - individual strings can still be heard so were not talking of its going "mushy" unless into a fully cranked amp - on the little matamp theres a boost circuit that I have run through s non latching footswitch - an enjoyable trick was to play a lead part of some fuzzy kind and then towards the end kick in the boost which sent the whole thing down the bad boy route of immediate speaker overload and really enjoyable "almost controllable" feedback fun. A final descriptive - think Claptons "Woman" tone - the Vox with the attack pulled back just a touch - nailed it ---- Cream on tap (and that was me using a baby Matamp with my trusty early sixties Fender Duosonic2 - wonderful guitars - hugely underrated! ask PD) not a humbucker or 335 in sight (ok not in use then!)

As I think I already mentioned without removing the board I can only make out one of the potentiometer date codes properly (it should be just about visible in a couple of the pictures - I chose some that would blow up enough to show it) that one is stamped 266 which I understand to be Febuary 1966 (or just possibly the second quarter of '66 although I favour the first interpretation - that would seem about right as they (Sola) bought "little and often" and are generally date coded to within three to six months of pedal manufacture - make this pedals birth date sometime in the first half of '66 and as such amongst the very first of the MkII's - the use of these transistors and board layout being from before they standardised the use of OC75's or whatever - Doubtless David will want to kick in here - I have his detailed comments and explanations on file in emails but with some better pictures and the benefit of a few weeks to have thought about it he'll probably be able to put it more clearly than in the mails!

There will be one more quad of guts shots ---- yawn yawn!!

G

[Graham]

OK here's the last quad of guts shots until I summon up the nerve to spring the board to show the "tinkerers" and "nonbelievers" the dirty bits.

As I watched these loading just plugged in again and shes sweet thats for sure! A degree of cleanup from the guitar volume but not total and only really effective on the upper strings although knocking back the vol gives a useful boost in reserve for soloing - with the pedal controls itself - unlike many germanium tonebenders where its all happening in the last eighth of a turn on the attack control - this one has a nice useable taper without screwing up the output levels too much - Graham Likes!!

[Graham]

Heres a couple pics of the Do;a made Rotosound MkII Fuzz Box (Tonebender) I made the above comparisons to:





I will make a decent reference dump (is that the right terminology!!) whenI get the technique nailed - right now its either Photobucket (at too nig a bandwidth
scene or monster big pics from my pc maybe I can work out a way to send over the photobucket shots I already loaded up there for the o;d forum BUT at a
more manageable and one off transfer at manageable size rather than linked and therefore needing an additional load each time - anyone know how to do that -
not talking of editing or optimizing shots already on my pc but a way to make the best use of the six hundred odd good pics I have stashed over on PB

[theemadcap1]

Graham-
WOW!! Puuuurrrdy!
I know how it must sound! You're descriptiveness is great!
That was what I have been trying to say my SupaFuzz sounds like...
Well, someday maybe we can A/B them! I wonder how close the two really sound?
All hail the great 'un-Named' silver can (probably OC81D) transistors!!
I, too am going to 'brave' taking mine apart and take pics of the underside...though I am not in a big hurry to mess...
Cheers!
John

[psycho*daisies]

Good Gravy, Graham! Those are gargantuan pics! haha...
my poor little laptop with only 512 mb RAM almost keeled over...!!

Yes, i will post some pics of the old lady soon, possibly this weekend...

It's funny, you could say that you, Dave and I have the 3 Vox MKii sisters....
and Theemadcap1 has their ugly cousin! (jk, man -- she's a real brute, i mean a beaut!)



I'm sure you've already detected this, but i'm pretty sure i can make out the words,
"SOLA SOUND (LONDON)" underneath the black strip on yours....a re-badging for the Vox prototype?
...there's a story behind this one for sure....very cool!

[Graham]

Hi D - yes it's overprinted on an already screenprinted case for a regular Sola Mk2 - I realise I screwed up with such enormous and unfriendly pictures but I did write down a very detailed discussion on the whole thing either further back on this thread or else on the "Data Dump" one. G

[psycho*daisies]

Here's a blurry teaser of a guts pic of my old lady and a bit of D*A*M history:

Dave used this shot (from the auction) to visually copy it for his late 2004 MKII's...

I know cause i bought one (in a SS RI case) from an auction in Dec. 04 and told him
i had the VOx and he was like, "You have that?! that's the very fuzz circuit i was looking at
for reference in building this one!"....I've been DAM'ned ever since!






Twin sisters with different lifestyles: the Old Spinster & Dave's Tawdry Tart!

[Philip]

Don't forget, Stu has one of those Vox's too, damn they look fantastic! He won it on ebay for 200 quid or so!

[Graham]

Don't forget, Stu has one of those Vox's too, damn they look fantastic! He won it on ebay for 200 quid or so!

Hi Phil - do you mean he has one like Daves and the Captains or my new one with the black bar?? If the latter then that's 3 of them I know of instead of 2 -- I was talking to another vox head inthe southern states earlier today and he and I agreed that the only real question on what was pretty obviously a "try it out" run of a handful of fuzzes would be whether :
A/ it was an entrepreneureal [man thats a long -and probably misspelt - word ] effort by the Macaris to try to sell Vox on the idea of buying pedals from them or
B? if it was a "trial run" that Vox had requested Sola to make up for them

I was over the moon to find it and it sounds even better than it looks! Mind you I'd have been particularly happy (well my wife would have been) if I had paid £200 for mine!!

g 8-)