Posted on

Tone Bender MKII Fuzz Pedal Build and Fuzz Demo

Tone Bender MKII OC75

I originally built this Tone Bender clone way back around 2010 but the wiring was sloppy and it ended up just a circuit board in a box. More recently I decided to rewire it and give it a permanent enclosure.

The OC75 transistors were in some of the original units and they truly sound fantastic in this build. I got them matched from Small Bear Electronics way back in the day.

The MKII circuit can go from splatty gated fuzz to something smooth and violin-like depending on how you bias it and where the controls are set.

Here are three videos of this Tone Bender. First the build, then some demos.

Tone Bender MKII Fuzz Build:

Tone Bender with a Stratocaster Demo:

Tone Bender MKII with a Les Paul

Posted on

Seymour Duncan 59 Neck Pickup and Jerry Donahue Lead Tele Bridge Telecaster Pickups

Telecaster Pickups

I wanted to make a versatile Telecaster that could really do a jazz gig, but also still sound like a telecaster so I put a Seymour Duncan 59 in the neck position. It’s a truly fantastic humbucker… warm but clear. I always prefer PAF style humbuckers and this one checks all the boxes.

I originally had a Fender Original Vintage 52 pickup in the bridge… great pickup set by the way. They really had the Telecaster twang thing going on. The pickups I have came in the red box and I don’t think the newer Fender OV 52 Telecaster pickups are the same.

The bridge pickup from the 52 set didn’t match well with the humbucker so after a lot of research I landed on the Seymour Duncan Jerry Donahue. The Jerry Donahue is hot and punchy but still sounds like a telecaster and has plenty of twang.

You can still get these on Amazon:
Seymour Duncan 59 Neck: https://amzn.to/2I1LUvx
Jerry Donahue Lead Tele: https://amzn.to/2TEXnDH
Humbucker Pickguard: https://amzn.to/2WtbyNK

Posted on

Jordan Bosstone Fuzz Demo, Build Video, and Parts Haul

Jordan Bosstone

This was my second time building a Jordan Bosstone Fuzz. The first one was one of the best fuzz circuits I had ever played, but somehow I misplaced the board after having it in a multifx box. I wanted to recreate that magic so I built this one.

What a cool sounding fuzz! The trumpeting is spectacular, and depending on where you set the controls you can get quite a few distinct sounds.

There are three videos here… one video is the build, one is the demo, and the other is from when I received the parts in the mail.

Jordan Bosstone Parts Haul:

Jordan Bosstone Build Video:

Jordan BosstoneFuzz Demo:

Posted on

Building A Dumble Overdrive Special Clone

Dumble Amp Build

In this video, I documented the entire process of building a clone of Dumble Overdrive Special #102. It took me about a month of soldering in all of my spare time to go from parts to a guitar amp.

This was my second Dumble clone build and I am really proud of how it turned out. I’ve been playing it for over a year now and it’s still my favorite amp (don’t tell the Twin Reverbs). It’s such a versatile guitar amp… great cleans and a killer overdrive.

Posted on

Mickey Baker Jazz Guitar Book 1

Mickey Baker Jazz Guitar Book 1

My first jazz guitar book was Mickey Baker Book 1. I was working at a music store and I think I only paid a couple of dollars for it. Turns out, this book is priceless.

I still use the chords from this book all the time, and the way the exercises are laid out and they build on each other taught me a lot about how to get good at something new on guitar.

I also bought book 2 right around the same time, but it sat for quite a while because the chord voicings were too hard for me back then.

Mickey Baker Jazz Guitar Book 1: https://amzn.to/2URFZwI