The legendary pedal that Sano first encountered: "TONE BENDER MkI"
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TCGAKKIThe TONE BENDER MkI has arrived.
When I first received this offer, I was so flustered that I couldn't hide my shock, thinking, "Could this possibly be a dream...?" It was about the fact that they sell over 2,000 units a year.EffectorEven for me, who has been involved with them for over 10 years, this was a first encounter.
And for good reason: the TONE BENDER MkI, a pedal so rare it's practically legendary, has unexpectedly come into our possession.
The previous owner (Mr. A), who acquired this unit from us, primarily works in the music industry. He was initially inspired by Jimmy Page's guitar sound from Led Zeppelin, which sparked his interest in the Tone Bender. He described it as having "an incredibly raw distortion," and his search for "how to recreate that sound" led him to delve deeper into the history of the MkII. As a huge Beatles fan and someone who had even had the opportunity to work with George Martin, he began searching for the top-of-the-line MkI, hoping to one day acquire it. After searching for about three years, he finally managed to get his hands on one!
"They don't even exist in the UK."
The journey to get there was not easy. When I asked around, some people told me, "There are hardly any in the UK," and some even said, "I've never seen one." Finally, after being introduced to someone through a series of introductions from acquaintances in the UK, I managed to reach someone who happened to be an acquaintance of Gary Hurst, who lives in London!
He said that around 2010, he received two MkI guitars from that person at the same time: a wooden MkI and a metal-case MkI! He said the sound was so good that he still remembers the excitement he felt when he first played it. He particularly likes the wooden version of the MkI and has never been able to part with it until now.
Considering the future, I realized that I would gradually have fewer opportunities to use this pedal myself. Rather than keeping it for myself, I strongly wanted to pass it on to future generations. That's why I asked Mr. Sano, who knows the quality and value of this pedal very well, to let me have it.
About Gary Hurst
The creator of the Tone Bender, his rich imagination and unparalleled talent have made him "today'sEffectorHe is said to be "the man who laid the roots of [the genre]," but his detailed profile remains largely shrouded in mystery.
He learned from his father and started by building radios, but he always had a great interest in music. Around 1963, he went on to build a valve tape echo, and in 1965 he started working on the Tone Bender.
In 1968, he left England for Italy, where he designed keyboards for Crumar and Elka. In the mid-1970s, he founded Electronic Sounds, a company that manufactured keyboards and guitar pedals. This brand continued until the early 1980s.
In 1968, he left England and went to Italy, where he designed keyboards for Krummer and Elka. In the mid-70s, he worked on keyboards and guitars. EffectorHe founded Electronic Sounds, a company that manufactured [product name]. The company disappeared in the early 1980s when digital instruments became widespread and affordable.
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About TONE BENDER
The Tone Bender is a Gibson Maestro Fuzz-Tone.BassThis pedal consists of a circuit equipped with three transistors. Countless replicas are still being made today, and it has had a tremendous influence on later fuzz pedals and other devices.
Engineer Gary Hurst began manufacturing and selling these around the summer of 1965.
Early models were housed in a wooden case said to have been made by his brother. This was a prototype, and later models used a gold-finished, foldable steel enclosure. Production of the MkI is said to have ended in December 1965. This was followed by the Mk2 and Mk3 (Mk4), famous for being used by Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, and in between, the Mk1.5, which featured two transistors.
This time, we'll be focusing on the MkI, which is considered the most valuable of the three.
In 1965, in a back room of Macari's Musical Exchange at 22 Denmark Street in London, guitarists were seeking a new sound from their amplifiers—a sound with more distortion and sustain. Vick Flick of the instrumental rock and roll group The John Barry Seven owned an original Maestro Fuzz-Tone and requested a pedal with more sustain. So Gary Hurst created a new fuzz box for him.
He named it the "Tone Bender." The very first few "Tone Benders" were housed in wooden boxes and cost 14 guineas. Jeff Beck was one of his first customers, and the Tone Bender was used on many singles, including the Yardbirds' hit song "Heart Full of Soul," Gary Hurst recalls.
Gary Hurst first created 10 wooden prototypes before moving on to making the steel units. He added a small "SOLA SOUND" logo to the cabinets of the units he made to sell under the SOLA SOUND name, even though he made them himself.
What we know so far is that guitars with instant lettering (no small "SOLASOUND" logo on the shoulder / "TONE BENDER" font is sometimes thin, sometimes thick, and slightly horizontally compressed) tend to have lower output, while guitars with silkscreen printing (with a small "SOLASOUND" logo on the shoulder / "TONE BENDER" font is thick and slightly vertically elongated) tend to have higher output. It is thought that the former may have been used by Jeff Beck, and the latter by Mick Ronson.
However, there are variations in appearance and sound from one unit to another, so I don't think these statements apply to all cases.
Gary Hurst TONE BENDER MkI Wooden Case
Size: 20 × 15 × 5 (cm)
Weight: Approximately 275g (very lightweight for a pedal)
The material is unknown, but the wood grain is very prominent, and it's extremely lightweight. It's not exactly of a high-quality feel, though. However, it certainly has a strong presence!
First of all, I was surprised that the dimensions of the casing were so perfectly precise: 20/15/5 (cm).
It's unpainted and lacks any logos, giving it a warm, natural feel characteristic of wood. The casing is assembled using wooden pegs, and it's virtually impossible to examine the internal details of the top surface, where the parts are assembled, without completely disassembling it. Therefore, taking photos of the inside was quite challenging.
The battery cover, including the foot switch, is secured with four wood screws. To replace the battery, you remove these four screws and open the cover. There is a reinforcing metal plate on the back of the battery cover, but it loosens slightly when you turn the switch on and off, making you worry that it might break.
I've seen images where the knob is silver, but this unit has a black plastic one.
The surface has a pleasant feel and is polished to a smooth finish. However, since it is simply assembled from thin pieces of wood, it feels fragile and seems like it could break at any moment, requiring extreme care when handling it.
First, what do you think a wooden tone bender sounds like? Here are my honest impressions after playing one myself.
The level is quite high, and the ATTACK (right side) control starts to distort sufficiently at around 9 o'clock. Turning it further doesn't seem to make much difference in the amount of distortion. Turning it all the way up unleashes a shocking fuzz sound that feels like it's piercing your brain. The sound, especially with the front pickup, is sweet and mild, and its real, organic nuance transports the player back to the music scene of the 1960s.
The gain and sustain are ample, and the very clear, gated, crunchy, and flavorful sound left a strong impression. I've tried many MkI replica models before, but this sound is clearly in a league of its own. The response to the guitar's volume is excellent, and the bell-like clean to crunch sound when the volume is turned down is absolutely superb. Personally, I've never experienced anything better! (Incidentally, since it uses germanium transistors, I've confirmed that the gate effect becomes stronger when the temperature is quite low.)
About the interior
Three transistors were identified. There appears to be no circuit board, and it's almost entirely point-to-point wiring. Due to structural limitations, it cannot be disassembled, so the model number cannot be confirmed, but it uses germanium transistors with black caps. Incidentally, the battery snap is not original and has been replaced. Other than that, some modifications have been made, judging from the soldering.
The foot switch is secured with four Phillips head screws, so if you remove them...
A photo from the front. You can immediately see the OUTPUT jack, and on the left you can see the germanium transistor (black cap). The area behind that is not visible due to its special design!
This is about all you can see even when it's upside down. It's equipped with parts that are typical of the '60s. It's exciting!
Since it's made of wood, it's structurally impossible to ground it, so it's probably unavoidable that it will produce noise.
"The battery cover uses wood screws, so repeated opening and closing will widen the screw holes and prevent them from tightening properly. This is what it looks like after repeated attachment and removal." → Image name: Condition of wood screw holes
The control knobs are positioned in what's known as a "cross-eyed" configuration. This is the original Tone Bender!
Gary Hurst(SOLA SOUND) TONE BENDER MkI
Dimensions: 20.5 × 10.5 × 6 cm (including protrusions on the base)
Weighing 970g, it gives a very substantial impression.Material: Steel → Logos are available in instant lettering and silkscreen printing options. This machine uses the silkscreen printing method.
It features a folding steel construction, a luxurious gold finish, and a silkscreened logo. The gold isn't a solid color; it sparkles and reflects light depending on the angle. It's reminiscent of the gold top finishes seen on Les Pauls.
The "TONE BENDER" lettering is vertically elongated and somewhat thin. The words "SOLA SOUNDS LTD" are written in small letters near the left shoulder. It can be removed by unscrewing the four small screws on the side. There are no rubber feet on the bottom; the casing itself has four round protrusions. It has a heavy and very solid construction, so it remains stable no matter how hard you step on it, and it's sturdy enough that it won't break even if you roll it over.
About the sound
The "ATTACK" control is already distorted at 0, and like the wooden-cased version, it distorts rapidly from the 9 o'clock position, with little difference in distortion beyond that point. Overall, it produces a mild, gated, rounded high-gain fuzz sound, and when the guitar volume is turned down, it becomes more like a mild overdrive than a bell-like clean tone.
It has a different kind of distortion compared to the wooden case version, and gives the impression of a wild sound that is completely different from a replica.
About the interior
The unit is equipped with one OC75 (Mullard) transistor and two 2G381 (Texas Instruments) transistors. Other components include 500kΩ (LEVEL)/50kΩ (ATTACK) potentiometers, CLIFF IN/OUT jacks, a bulky black HUNTS A337 capacitor, WIMA 25/15 and 0.01/400 capacitors, and Allen Bradley resistors. The battery snap has been replaced. There are also some minor repairs visible in the soldering and other areas.
Here are some other points that caught my attention.
The word "SOLASOUND" is inscribed on the left side of the angled shoulder section of the enclosure. This is a special unit made by Gary Hurst specifically for sale by "SOLASOUND". In terms of its gated, mild fuzz sound, it's not much different from the wooden-case version, and it's clearly an evolved, finished version of the Tone Bender, surpassing the wooden-case prototype.
First, I removed the back cover and found that the jack is the type that is fixed to the casing.
The impressive parts really give it a vintage feel. If you're a pedal enthusiast, this alone is enough to make you want to eat three bowls of rice!
One of its distinctive features is that it doesn't have rubber feet; instead, the four raised areas on the underside of the casing serve as the feet.
The following are some of the main artists who use this service.
John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Steve Winwood, Mick Ronson, Pete Townshend, etc.
Four great songs where you can hear the sound of the Tone Bender MkI!!
Jeff Beck - Yardbirds/Heart Full Of Soul(1965)
https://youtu.be/TvMy6cF7XeM
Jeff Beck, one of Gary Hurst's first clients, plays here. The memorable intro refrain remains timeless even today.
Steve Winwood - The Spencer Davis Group/Keep on Running(1965)
https://youtu.be/kamXvqoL_JA
This is Steve Winwood's playing from his time with the Spencer Davis Group. You can hear his heavily distorted, destructive fuzz sound in the riffs, middle section, and ending.
Paul McCartney(Bass) - Beatles/Think for Yourself(1965)
https://youtu.be/vtx5NTxebJk
Even Paul McCartney of The BeatlesBassI used it there. It's that song that everyone has probably heard before.
Mick Ronson - David Bowie/Ziggy Stardust(1972)
https://youtu.be/G8sdsW93ThQ
Mick Ronson, David Bowie's right-hand man, is famous for continuing to use the MKI even into the 1970s. He tends to use it more as an overdrive.
The "TONE BENDER MkI" had the ultimate sound that would make every pedal enthusiast happy.
Having encountered numerous replicas (reissues), I can say with certainty that no matter how closely an item is reproduced to be identical to the original, it will never sound exactly the same. It may seem obvious, but the original has its own unique sound, and unfortunately, a perfect reproduction is impossible.
It was incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to touch this legendary pedal, which was produced in a very short period of at least four months, from around the summer to December of 1965.TCGAKKIEffectorThis was a valuable experience that I can utilize in my future work as the person in charge.
This column is dedicated to Jeff Beck, one of the first users of the Tone Bender, who passed away suddenly in January 2023.
The person who wrote this article：TCGAKKIStore Manager's Assistant, Sano - ManiacEffectorAppraiser
He is known as one of the industry's biggest record enthusiasts, specializing primarily in '70s hard rock and progressive rock. His favorite guitar is a Gibson Flying V. He is also well-known in the retro video game community as a collector.
TCGAKKIUnmovingEffectorAs the person in charge, I handle over 2,000 units per year.EffectorTo assess and inspectEffectorMaster.
Qualifications and experience: 20 years as a musical instrument appraiser, contributing articles and supervision to Guitar Magazine and other publications.
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