Supa fuzz marshall tone bender vintage kit iskra philips. A history of marshall the illustrated story of the sound of. David gilmour of pink floyd was also a fan of the fuzz face, using it heavily throughout the late 60s. Cleaned the jacks and the switch as much possible too. Tone bender fuzz box pete townshends guitar gear whotabs. The marshall supa fuzz the marshall supa fuzz is an almost twin of the tonebender mkii. So, the vox sound is, numberwise, a threetransistor mkii that is identical to the sola sound ones and slightly brighter than the marshall ones. A very loud, cranked non master volume marshall with a fuzz face will be closer. Built by sola sound in the 1960s for marshall amplification, the supa fuzz was one of the most popular incarnations of the tonebender and famously used by pete townshend amongst many others including jeff beck. Pete was primarily using the marshall supa fuzz mark ii tone bender along with an. They were way off on the history in the analogman book if this really came from the book verbatim.
It shows some wear but it works fine and sounds incredible. Gibson maestro fz1a fuzztone fuzz box pete townshends. The supa fuzz was popularized by the likes of pete townshend. So the story goes there are several versions, an accident causes a. I always combine shipping, if you make multiple purchases ask always for the invoice before to pay. I understand they are one of the best fuzz pedals around. Marshals and their deputies have served as the instruments of civil authority by all three branches of the u. Marshall supafuzz pete townshends guitar gear whotabs. I was thinking of dirty pots and cleaned them now but its still there.
Since i once acquired it, it always had that rustling noise when engaged. Featuring an accurate early style cast metal case and 3x oc 75 transistors. Marshall supa fuzz there is a scan of a receipt from a sound city music store in london from january 1967 showing that jimi purchased a marshall supa fuzz. The williams supa fuzz is a very faithful recreation of the legendary marshall supa fuzz pedal. The sola sound tone bender professional mkii was produced between 1966 and 1968. Two of these prototype supa fuzzes are known to exist. The longestrunning production version of the mkii circuit, the supa fuzz was made from 1966 to the early 70s. Recreation of the rare marshall supa fuzz smoother, bassier variant of the mark ii tone bender famously used by justin hayward of the moody blues. This was the second supa fuzz version, a rebranded tone bender professional mark ii made by sola sound of london for marshall. Oct 24, 2016 a brief history of fuzz in july of 1947, a weather ballon crashed on farmland near roswell, new mexico. Fuzz is one of the oldest and most simple of all effects, but that doesnt mean picking any old box. Intense midrange grained texture make it perfect for fuzz, but not so easy to implement often leaky, not easy to bias, but can sound great.
The mkii tone bender is a three transistor circuit based on the mki. A history of marshall the illustrated story of the sound of rock. In america the guitar company mosrite brought the ed sanner designed fuzz. Billy gibbons guitars and gear william frederick, or billy gibbons, was born on december 16, 1949, in houston, texas. However, especially at the professional level, many solutions involve two parts. The tone bender was being produced by sola sound in london, and sparked the uks entry into the fuzz pedal market. V version, but with an additional amplifier gain stage. Marshall supa fuzz, vintage from the late 60s youtube. These pedals were used by legendary players including jimi hendrix, jeff beck and pete townsend. Identical to a sola sound mkii, the marshall is a onetrick ponyin the best sense of the expression with a bestinshow trick, as it absolutely masters and dominates a fullrange and evenly balanced fuzz spectrum. Unfollow marshall supa to stop getting updates on your ebay feed. First, it had the mark i tonebender circuit, then the mark. This model was based on the tone bender mki circuit, with a modified tone circuit to give the marshall version a different sound.
Nowadays, naming a fuzz pedal has become a more evocative exercise. So it certainly has pedigree but as far as delivery of amazing fuzz tone, the supa fuzz is very hard to beat. A third iteration of the tone bender, called the mkii supa fuzz. The big muff history of all versions part 1 kit rae. Oct 10, 2017 significant early british fuzz boxes included the vox v816, the rangemaster fuzzbug, the arbiter fuzz face hendrixs favorite, although his were often modified by mayer, john hornby skewes zonk machine, wems pepbox, the vox tone bender, the baldwinburns buzzaround, marshalls supa fuzz, rotosounds fuzz box, and the selmer buzztone. Before we get deep into the history of fuzz pedals, lets take a look at.
Initially made for marshall by sola sound, the marshall supa fuzz was essentially a tone bender mkii, as it had identical specs to the sola. Based on the mk2 tonebender, the supa fuzz had a boomy low end, with a lot of sustain, however, the pedal was not as saturated as some of its contemporaries. I read a guys article about achieving the classic rock tones and he stated that if you want to sound like that then you have to use the equipment of. The supa fuzz was made for marshall by sola sound, the maker of the original tonebender fuzz pedal, which pete had used in 1965 and 1966 on stage the tonebender mki.
The marshall supa fuzz initially made for marshall by sola sound, the marshall supa fuzz was essentially a tone bender mkii, as it had identical specs to the sola sound version. The earliest supa fuzzs actually used a version of the mki circuit and boasted a tone filter and preset gain levels. Oct 22, 2008 heres one from the first batch made by sola sound for jim marshall. With minor alterations, the mkii was also sold as the marshall supa fuzz, park fuzz sound, and rotosound fuzz box. Ultra rare original copy not a repro of the 1967 marshall catalogue.
Those examples were built by sola sounds gary hurst chiefly using the tonebender mkii circuit. This oc75 sometimes oc81d design became one of the most popular and widelyused fuzz circuits. Vox tone bender professional mk ii effects database. Does anyone happen to have an old marshall supa fuzz. He is best known as the guitarist of the texas bluesrock band zz top and also as the lead singer and composer for many of the bands songs. The pedal is working very well and very hard to find in this condition, and very hard to find in this price. The fuzz face was used by many, including eric clapton, but was made famous by jimi hendrix.
Justin haywardmoody blues talks gear the gear page. Created in 1966 by gary hurst for jim marshall s amplifier company. Forgot the name, but they are very hard to come by these days. The jimi hendrix experience, a collection of original sound city receipts 1966 1967 this receipt was recently auctioned off, alongside another receipt for a for fender telecaster bass. It was a continuing part of the moody blues guitarist justin haywards set up in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Used in some historical three transistors fuzzboxes like the marshall supa fuzz and some 2 transistors tone benders. During 1967 and 1968, pete was primarily using the marshall supa fuzz, along with an occasional dallas arbiter fuzz face, before switching permanently to the. The new gibson les paul standard 60s is it worth buying. Marshall supa fuzz distortion 1970s effect for sale.
The typical format for a marshall amplifier is a single box that contains everything necessary to generate sound. The supa fuzz only received circuit changes when the strip board construction was abandoned in the late 1960s for pcb construction. The historythe original superfuzz first went on sale back in 1968 and again marked a significant advance in the field of the fuzz. It should be noted the marshall supa fuzz is the exact same circuit. Accurately modelled on the marshall supa fuzz, the vpw supa fuzz recreates the vibe of the classic 60s marshall fuzz.
This briefly summarizes the classic era of the tone bender. Supa fuzz text, the other is branded with marshall, like the production units. Items must be returned in original, asshipped condition with all original packaging and no signs of use. With the right kind of setup it is one of the finest sounding british fuzz boxes ever made. Three oc 75 germanium transistors, batteryoperated unit contained in smart gravitymoulded metal case. Sola later made a mark ii version for vox, and yet another version for marshall called the supa fuzz. The first fifty years tells the story of jim marshall s remarkable life and documents the many innovations of marshall amplifiers, from the famous stack to the most current offerings. The circuit contained a single mullard oc75 and two texas instruments 2g381 devices, true bypass switching, and used a 9volt power supply. Introduction pete townshend gear history full timeline smashed guitars signature series. The fuzz face featured a smiley face round configuration of its two controls volume and fuzz and footswitch, housed in a red housing. The marshall supa fuzz is identical in every way to a mkii tone bender except for the housing. Most vintage fuzz connoisseurs consider the marshall supa fuzz to be the most musical and expressive fuzz pedals ever made. Heres for sale an ultra rare marshall supa fuzz distortion from the 70s.
How to shop for a fuzz pedal a beginners guide gc riffs. The fuzz tone itself was the basis for the sola sound tone bender that pete had employed in 1965 and 1966. Shop marshall university apparel, textbooks, merchandise and gifts at the thundering herd bookstore. Nov 11, 2012 heres an all original supa fuzz by marshall. Pete townshends marshall model 1975 supafuzz fuzz pedal, courtesy. Vintage pedal workshop supa fuzz based on marshall supa fuzz williams audio supa fuzz based on marshall supa fuzz. One of sola sounds most popular mkii side lines was the mighty marshall supa fuzz. These units were named vox tone bender professional mkii, marshall supa fuzz, rotosound fuzz box. This was the second supa fuzz version, a rebranded tone bender. Vox tone bender professional mkii, marshall supa fuzz, rotosound fuzz box. By the end of that year, the transistor was invented, a revolutionary device unlike anything before it, made of a strange crystal substance called germanium, sparking a period of exponential technological advancement and paving the way. Sola sound produced the circuit for vox, marshall and rotosound as well. Knobs are volume and gain and, unmarked in the center, bias which lets you tun.
Pete would next go on to use the marshall supa fuzz, which was in fact manufactured by sola sound for marshall and was based on the tone bender mkii. The earliest supa fuzz s actually used a version of the mki circuit and boasted a tone filter and preset gain levels. One is marked only with the supa fuzz text, the other is branded with marshall, like the production units. A history of marshall the illustrated story of the sound of rock doyle, michael on.
The supa fuzz was based on the sola sound tone bender mkii. The early history of fuzz pedals the hub musicians friend. Great savings free delivery collection on many items. Fuzz to 11 the original supa fuzz were made for marshall by sola sound. A part from this the mkii and sola sound made supa fuzz were identical. The original fuzz face schematic is identical to the earlier sola sound tone bender socalled mk 1.
The very first examples of the supa fuzz actually featured a mki circuit variation with a crude tone filter and preset gain levels hence the fuzzattack control on all later models actually being labelled as filter. These examples also have a different enclosures casting and do sound a little darker. Vox wah 1970, colorsound supa tone bender steve hackett edition1988 marshall supa fuzz 1970, apollo fuzz which is the same as his original, now rare shaftsbury duo fuzz see pic below ernie ball volume pedal mxr script logo phase90 1974 offcamera courtesy of. Very good condition with light wear and a fantastic sounding pedal. It had a complex, saturated fuzz tone that was loud and in your face, making its american counterparts sound anemic, thin and buzzy. In the early days, there was the fuzz face, marshalls supa fuzz, the univox superfuzz, the shinei companion fuzz.
There was also a later one, his number 2, which had an mxr phase 90. An idiots guide to choosing the right fuzz pedal happy mag. Later in 66, gary hurst refined his threetransistor design further in the tone bender professional mkii, still manufactured by sola sound as well as licensed to other companies in the form of the marshall supa fuzz and again as the vox tone bender. The same company making the tone bender, one of the most sought after pedals on the planet. Marshall made supas tend to have more upper midrange like the short board mkiis, which lack that cap on the input like the supa. Electronics engineers at the time often used these text book circuits in fuzz and. When marshall asked them to be made, there was a slight variation made to the circuit it is a bit darker, but its still essentially a mkii, also made by sola sound but called the supa fuzz.
Oct 31, 2016 in production for over a decade starting in the mid1960s, the marshall supa fuzz bounced through several iterations during its run. Ace tone fuzz master fm1 a clone of the maestro fz1a, made in japan by ace tone circa 196667. From the photo above we can see that jimis supa fuzz was a 1966 version, or mki, with control knobs closer together than on the mkii model. The design for both pedals is claimed by gary hurst, though doubt over the mk 1. Plan9 suppa fuzz ge based on marshall supa fuzz teixeira heaven 17 based on marshall supa fuzz thunderbird fuzz box based on marshall supa fuzz toetags electronics supa fuzz mkii model 1975 sustainer. Vox by sola sound tone bender mark iii with treble n. A third iteration of the tone bender, called the mkii supa fuzz, became a part of jimmy pages signature sound on the earliest led zeppelin recordings. Fuzz face was made incredibly popular by one james marshall jimi hendrix, who began using the pedal in late 66 to overdrive his alreadycranked marshall super lead amps.
This was the forth catalogue ever produced by marshall and features early endorser john ethwistle of. Very very rare pedal in mint condition marshall supa fuzz 1971 guitar effects. As i know its worth some money and i never use it i was preparing it for a sale. This could explain why pete went to that pedal first after using the marshall supa fuzz in 196768. Made from 1966 right through into the 1970s it was the longest living mkii variant. Used 196768 on stage, often paired with a grampian reverb the supa fuzz was made for marshall by sola sound, the maker of the original tonebender fuzz pedal, which pete had used in 1965 and 1966 on stage the tonebender mki. Beautiful creamy fuzz with a slight synthy edge at max gain. Justin haywardmoody blues talks gear discussion in the sound hound lounge started by billywade, sep 3, 2010. The sound of the pedals should be nearly the same, although the supa fuzz will probably be bassier since the input capacitor is quite a bit larger, especially with that 0. The marshall supa fuzz was only ever made with oc75s. But the most important thing to realize is that jimi was using a cranked marshall plus a fuzz face. It had a colorsound octivider, marshall supa fuzz, shaftesbury duo fuzz, cry baby wah, a preamp, a schaller f121 volume pedal, and the echo, which i think was an echoplex. Tone bender news newspapers books scholar jstor april 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message.
This marshall supa fuzz was made in the late 1960s. Im using a 56 relic strat into a 66 princeton reverb. No surprise that the marshall supa fuzz internal code 1975 is almost a twin of the tone bender mkii. Modeling amps that simulate famous units from history using onboard computer chips are also available. Understandably, mentioning fuzz in the title is pretty important if you want to sell the damn things.
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