Mk 1 Tone Bender: Building My Own Clone Part Two

[ThyKingdomComeBand]

This really was amazing. About how much did this cost you to make?

[blondegraemey]

@ThyKingdomComeBand

It's hard to say?? 60 quid??

[monkeyxx]

thanks for doing this. does your bias trimmer work on Q1 or Q3? I needed both in my build to get rid of the "horrible noise" which is how I tuned mine, as well

[blondegraemey]

Hi, the trimmer is for q3. G

[mouldeck]

could you post a link to the schematics in the info section please?

this unit you built sounds ace, and i can only find schematics and layout for the MK2 versions, and i'm not even talking about the germanium transistors you used...

[lofi73]

Which connections should be made with shielded cable??.Oh and what type of footswitch is that?

[blondegraemey]

The off-board wiring to the switch and sockets. The foot switch is a standard DPDT. G

[lofi73]

@blondegraemey "Sockets"??...

[JohnnyEggzTheII]

Thank you! This video has given me the courage to build a fuzz pedal!

[rizzavich]

great videos mate.. exactly what i needed to see.. thanks muchly

[san5a89]

what do you used to paint the case? Just a can of paint or you put a gloss finish?

[blondegraemey]

Gold car paint with clear coat to protect the lettering. G

[san5a89]

@blondegraemey What do you mean with car paint? Is it nitro, acrylic, polyurethane or something else?

[blondegraemey]

Think it's nitro?

[san5a89]

@blondegraemey lucky you that you can buy nitro cans! I have to take 1l of that!!

[jonnyburgo]

sounds amazing, definitely making one!

[DystopianEmpire01]

I like this model better than the MK II's.

[yobhsiFehT]

Sorry, where is part one?? I did a search on your channel and didn't see it.

[blondegraemey]

There is a link to part one on this page. G

[yobhsiFehT]

@blondegraemey

I still don't see it, but I saw it elsewhere. Thanks:)

[MotoMotoSSB]

awesome sound!

[TheFloydGiver]

How did You put the writing onto the pedal?

[blondegraemey]

I used Lettraset dry transfer lettering.

G

[TheFloydGiver]

@blondegraemey Thanks!

[Zangoose69]

SOUNDS GREAT

[stratmaniac]

wich resistor does the bias knob replace? i'm kind of balancing between a mk 1 and a mk2 for my next project

[amast3rMind69]

can you please make a list of the electronics you used for this. I cant seem to find anything on that. or you can always direct me somewhere

[blondegraemey]

Do a google search for "tone bender mk1 schematic" click the first link. G

[amast3rMind69]

@blondegraemey thanks bro

[zirelon]

Great pedal, great tutorial, great guitar and absolutely great playing!!!!

[zedrein18]

I am VERY new to the idea of building one's own pedal. Can I get tones that are of as high quality making my own compared to the original? Is it significantly cheaper?

[blondegraemey]

Simple answer to both question, yes and yes. G

[zedrein18]

Wow, I don't know why but that concept just seems so unrealistic to me. My thought-process works like this: (1.) These high level gear manufactures (The Ibanez's etc) surely have higher quality conditions to create this gear, how can a dude with a soldering iron make something just as good if not better?

[ckyvick666]

@zedrein18 because these components are available to everyone that knows where to find them, check out byoc, ggg, and other diy sites for more info.

[cristcap]

Mate, how much costs it? What amp have you used on this video? Could you ship it to Brasil? Thanks a lot for attention!!!

[thetraincatcher]

mate, do you sell these? make them to order i mean? fucking amazing sound!

[blondegraemey]

I have just built five Mk2 Tonebenders. Check my latest video and drop me a message if you are interested in one of them. G

[bgtocak]

can you make me a clone of maestro fuzz that billy gibbons is using?

[mikante]

oh that's good, now that I know you're good I can ask you to build one for me.

Ah I'm just kidding, congrats, you did a great job!

[Ombrenuit]

this is weird of me to say, but it almost sounds like there is a "flanging" like effect in the upper frequencies. Either way, I love this and I really want to make one for myself! Love how it sounds on a strat.

[atthebottomofyourcup]

These days if you would like to build you own pedal it is very easy to build the basics. general guitar gagets has it all. or antique radio supply has some pedal kits forsale. I build and sell fuzzers. there is tons of info. on the internet. join a forum if you want to talk to pedal geeks. just keep searching the internet with the information you gather.

[ericohman]

Nice job!

May I ask how you did the "transfer on top of the gold paint". Always wondered how the get white decals, DIY-style. How did you do? Please don't say screen printing :)

Also, where did you get that huge enclosure? Do you know what the box model is called?

[blondegraemey]

The lettering was done with some on dry transfer sheets that I had lying around from years ago, you can't seem to buy it now. Best to buy some water transfer paper for your inkjet printer and make your own. The enclosure came from the Maplins web site. G

[ericohman]

thank you! do you know if there are waterslide decals that can make white decals? Because I believe ink jet printers do not have white coloured ink? // Eric

[blondegraemey]

you can buy the paper in clear or white. G

[added23]

i dont kno anything about building electronics. how long do you think it would take me to start at the basics and learn all this stuff and build a pedal. do you think i could do it in my 4-month summer holiday?

[blondegraemey]

You could work hard at learning the basics and build say, a fuzz face or treble booster in four months. This Mk1 Tonebender is a bit of a tricky build. G

[added23]

awesome, thanks for the help

[CamRonb68]

was this bought as one whole kit?

[blondegraemey]

No, it's not a kit. G

[richardg1968]

Excellent video. You are very generous passing on your knowledge. Thanks so much.

[duafa]

this sounds incredible! and i love your point to point in the first part... i never thought to do it like that. im going to from now on though. ha. seems so obvious now... haha.

did you have a lot of trouble placing the transistors with that point to point?

[blondegraemey]

It was a bit of a stretch but thats just because I made the board just a little bit too big. Glad you like the video! G

[kdjfnvjvd]

@blondegraemey how do u get the little circut board with all the caps and transistors????

[blondegraemey]

All the components can be ordered (or bought) from an electronics store. G

[kdjfnvjvd]

@blondegraemey i want to build one too though! how do u know exactly what to buy and how to build the circut thing???

[blondegraemey]

Ok, honest answer: You need to start at the beginning. Buy a book about simple electronics for beginners and study it. Learn the basics, there are no easy short-cuts here.

After that, use your search engine and find some easy projects for guitarists and work your way through them.

Pretty soon you'll be building things like this Tonebender but you must WORK HARD and learn the basics. Good luck with it, it's well worth the effort. G

[kdjfnvjvd]

Ok awesome thanks!

I shall also,build my own tone bender. I'll call it the billbendur. I plan to build a tremolo pedal too. U ever do that? I shall call it the billotrem!!

[wedrinkmountaindew]

don't adjust it again.i think you just found the perfect mojo sweet spot for all tonebenders

[huneprut]

Sola vs. clone shootout coming?

[blondegraemey]

Hi, I don't have a Mk1 Tonebender to compare this clone too. I have an old Mk2 and I plan to build a copy of it soon, keep watching! G

[taygoo13]

can you do a demo of your MK2 please

[guttersnipephil]

hi im looking into building my own pedals soon. do you recommend a good starting one? would this be easy to start?

[blondegraemey]

This is a hard one! Getting the bias right is a pain. Start with a Fuzz Face perhaps? That's quite easy. G

[jrichardaybar]

yeah david bowie! at 4:47 haha

[kitano123]

Hi, great job o. This! One q, I have to replace the switches of an line 6 dm4, do you know the model I need to buy? Thanks a lot

[blondegraemey]

Those switches are not normal mechanical switches they are non-latching and the switching is done electronically. Why do you need to replace them? G

[XVeriandomNess]

What kind of spray paint would you recommend? and what can I use to make the paint STICK and stay?

[blondegraemey]

You need to prime the box with grey spray primer then apply the paint. Check part one of this video. G

[Lordofthethings2]

If you are in UK where did you get the pots with shafts to fit those chicken head knobs in? bitsbox?

[blondegraemey]

Maplins online. G

[SameOldS]

dude i've saw some of your videos....

first question, whats your favorite pedal out of all your collection (it was the first think that pumped my mind when i saw that huge mountain of stompboxes lol)

last, whats that guitar? i guess i've awnsered this too many times but i was wondering if that is a tokay or an fender...

[blondegraemey]

My fave of all time is the old EHX Deluxe Memory Man. The guitar is an early 80's Tokai Strat. Thanks for watching! G

[TheDriveMaster]

Fucking brilliant!!!

[TheBlackCrayon77]

Hey brother,

Alfie here, not bad, not bad at all. Sounds authentic and spot-on. You're gonna have to shoot one of those out to us for an article someday. Stay in touch.

Peace

[BH4462Z]

Refreshing to read you studied hard just a few years ago. Watching this vid I figured you've done this kind of thing for a long time. Very inspiring.

[cjpolitzki]

Great Video... love watching your stuff here!

[smurp]

Wow! Great job Graeme! The pedal came out great. It has a nice balance, good rude tone and seems very usable. Also it really looks great, really nice job on the box! I'm always psyched when you post a new vid and this was the best yet. Do you have any advice for a beginner as to how to get started learning about circuits (i.e. books or kits)?

[blondegraemey]

3 years ago, when I wanted to learn a bit about this stuff, I bought the Electronics for Dummies book. I studied it hard and used the internet to learn more. No short cuts, you have to teach yourself and work hard. When you have this knowledge, you have it forever and it is VERY worthwhile. G

[guitarkidprevost]

do you sell these?

[blondegraemey]

Nah, this is the only one I've ever built. G

[PapaKenny777]

Great lead sounds!

[tbizzleshizzle]

One of the most badass video I've ever seen on Youtube.

[PeterRosenqvist]

Brilliant, SOUNDS GREAT !! .... Thanks for posting !!

[Gomagomes]

very nice, u did a great job =D

[scorpguitar79]

looks and sounds incredible!

[gunnargeir79]

Nice job :)

[alterdcrash]

beutiful!

[stratsnfuzz]

Sounds great. Thanks for posting.  Did you have to go through a lot of trouble finding the germanium transistors?

[blondegraemey]

The AC125's are very common. The OC75's are harder to find and not as reliable. I bought 6 and only 1 was usable. G

[ohdeasu]

would love to see how you mount the board to the case. any chance you can show us in your next vid?

[blondegraemey]

I just cut a piece of foam and placed it behind the board to insulate it from the pots and stop it shorting. It works fine. G

[calzar1001]

| really like how you did this video can we expect more?

[blondegraemey]

Yes, Im always thinking of the next one...

[OnlyByFishStandards]

nice shoes :D

[blondegraemey]

How true!

[Adji87]

Very good man, I enjoyed watching these videos. This was something I was really into about a year back. I was just a beginner though and a lot of projects didn't work and my soldering was messy, so it put me off.