Few names have more renown for fuzz fiends than the Tone Bender. But getting to the essence of what a Tone Bender really is is a labyrinth that can claim the sanity of even seasoned fuzzologists. Different versions abound, rebranded specimens and copies lurk at every turn, and even within specific types, differing components can make individual units sound worlds apart.
That said, some basic guidelines serve stomp archeologists well when it comes to Tone Benders. For most, the guidelines that serve best are the five generations known as Mk I, 1.5, II, III and IV, but these classifications do little to establish which is the definitive Tone Bender. In fact, the multitude of variations underscores the fact that there’s a Tone Bender for just about every player. Which leads us to the subject of this review—a boss-looking unit from Rotosound. The U.K.-built Rotosound Fuzz is clearly intended to make vintage-fuzz collectors twitch, and this take on the lesser-known but brawny-sounding Tone Bender Mk III inhabits a pretty unique expanse in the fuzz universe.
Her Majesty’s Battleship Fuzz
Rotosound is best known as the string company that made Swinging London rumble. And when John Entwistle became an informal endorser in the mid ’60s (The Who Sell Out had a faux Rotosound radio advert), the brand became the string of choice for English bassists. To expand brand reach and capitalize on the newfound cachet, Rotosound started dabbling in fuzz boxes, too.
The first was a version of Gary Hurst’s Sola Sound Tone Bender Mk II, and it didn’t sell especially well. Nor did the company’s second fuzz—a rebranded version of the Tone Bender Mk III that’s the model for our review pedal. In fact, both pedals might have faded into total obscurity were it not for a brief period in 1969 when Jimmy Page used the second-generation Rotosound fuzz (including for the performance on the French television program Tous en Scene shown on the 2003 DVD Led Zeppelin DVD).
If you’re a stickler for pedalboard space conservation, you can stop reading this review right now: In authentic ’60s style, the Fuzz is a beast—the size of wah, with a tapering profile like a less corpulent Vox or Sola Sound Mk II Tone bender or the Colorsound Mk III Tone Bender. Players who are less space conscious will likely think the Rotosound’s battleship/tackle-box gray hammerite finish is a thing of beauty. And there are practical benefits to its size. For one, when you’re stomping on it, you probably won’t miss it (though the lack of an LED arguably offsets this advantage). But the real plus is that there’s a lot of room to manipulate the volume, treble, and fuzz knobs with your feet, which is critical to making the most of the pedal’s sonic potential.
Big, Bad, Boss Tones
The Rotosound is, in general, about as subtle as a revved-up GTO burning rubber through an intersection. With all three controls cranked and a Les Paul and a blackface Fender Tremolux at either end of the line, the Rotosound generates girthy, buzzing garage-psych fuzz on lower strings and biting higher notes that trade buzz for a spittier, more fractured rasp. A little less tone from the Rotosound goes a long way toward smoothing things out though, and a little less treble input from the Gibson massaged things even further.
The biggest payoff with the humbuckers comes when you use the neck pickup and roll back the guitar and Rotosound tone about two-thirds of the way. Here, the Fuzz is articulate, warm, and violin-like—like a more white-hot version of Clapton’s Cream-era woman tone. Working the Rotosound’s volume with your foot at these settings—particularly in conjunction with lazy, pitch-down bends—yields a subtle , almost phase-y swoosh that sounds amazing for leads up past the 3rd fret. Below there, things can get muddy fast. In most cases, though, retaining definition is simply a matter of rolling back your guitar’s volume and increasing the Rotosound’s tone a notch.
In general, single-coils fare better in terms of definition and control—particularly when it comes to chords. A Rickenbacker 330 generated the richest, most pleasingly growling first-position and power chords when all three Rotosound controls were cranked—a combination that will thrill freakbeat fans. Stratocasters sounded nearly as good with chords, coaxing defined and buzzing lead tones, though they tended to sound slightly more anemic and less capable of generating sustain.
Ratings
Pros: Authentic vintage-germanium fuzz tones. Beautifully built. Searing lead tones and rich, growling power-chord potency.
Cons: Could be more responsive to guitar-volume adjustments. Expensive.
Tones:
Ease of Use:
Build/Design:
Value:
Street: $299
rotosound.com
If there’s a drawback to the Rotosound, it’s that it isn’t as responsive to changes in guitar-input volume as a Tone Bender Mk I or II. This could be attributable to the presence of the treble control, so it’s a good thing that it’s as rangy, versatile, and easy to manipulate as it is. The Rotosound isn’t a high-gain fuzz, and like a lot of vintage and vintage-style germanium fuzzes, it works best with the volume dimed. And if you drop the treble control too much, you can lose the fuzz in a busy mix.
The Verdict
The Rotosound Fuzz isn’t perfect for every rig—few ’60s fuzzes were. But that’s easy to forget in an age when Tone Bender, Fuzz Face, and Big Muff-style circuits are being refined with more gain and midrange control. It’s also not the most versatile fuzz—even by Tone Bender standards. But when the Rotosound is dialed in and paired with the right rig (humbuckers and 12” speakers are a nice fit), it will growl, snarl, and sing with a feral, late-’60s/early-’70s fuzz attitude.
Because of its size, I used the Fuzz in very streamlined rigs. But in doing so I was reminded of the thrilling variety of tones available through crafty use of your guitar’s controls, picking dynamics, and a toe on any of the Rotosound's responsive knobs. Team this pedal up with a good analog delay and a wah, and you have just about every tone a ’60s- or ’70s-geared rocker could ever need.
Watch our video review:
Sandberg’s high-end J-styles are in the latter camp. These German builders have long been the darlings of the European bass scene, and in more recent years the company has garnered attention around the globe with its wide selection of vintage-style and modern basses. One of their most recent offerings, the Electra TT4, is a J-style that offers a lot of the features Sandberg is famous for but at a more wallet-friendly price.
Pre-match Inspection
Although most of the TT4’s components are made in Korea, Electra series instruments are assembled and quality controlled at Sandberg’s Braunschweig, Germany, workshop. While many elements of the test bass affirmed Sandberg’s reputation for skillful craftsmanship, a crack in the upper horn’s finish, slight exposure of the unfinished neck pocket, and a couple of unfinished fret edges did raise an eyebrow. In what was probably another cost-saving decision, Sandberg eliminated the 4-dot company insignia that’s typically inlaid between the upper horn and neck pocket on higher end basses.
Those familiar with Sandberg basses will notice that the Electra TT4 has a look similar to the company’s vintage-inspired California series. The basswood body of our review model has an attractive creme finish that’s complemented by a tortoiseshell-pattern pickguard. The satin-finished maple neck is crowned with rosewood and 22 frets, and it’s anchored by six bolts that provide plenty of stability. Sandberg kept the look classic with clover tuners and their take on the traditional headstock. While it’s commonplace to find string trees on the 1st and 2nd strings, the TT4 has Sandberg’s proprietary retainer, which puts the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd strings at an angle consistent with the 4th string. This uniformity may not precisely deliver the benefits of an angled headstock, but it is a much better alternative than the typical circular retainers.
The Electra’s chrome bridge hints at influences from G&L and Hipshot hardware, and the saddles offer plenty of string height and spacing options, along with a locking mechanism that keeps them where you set them. The cutaway for each string slot makes for convenient string installation, and players who have tangled with a broken string onstage will appreciate the quick-release feature. Meanwhile, the uniquely tapered strap buttons provide unforced fastening of straps in all shapes and sizes—and keep them securely in place.
The TT4’s wonderful low-end vibrations are transmitted by Sandberg-designed single-coils with alnico 5 magnets. Tones are shaped by a 2-band preamp that’s also designed by Sandberg. Aimed at the player who desires both modern and vintage tones, a push-pull pot in the volume knob allows toggling between active and passive operation.
Sparring with the Sandberg
My first impressions playing the Electra TT4 were quite positive. Its weight and balance were excellent, and there was never any hint of neck diving or shoulder stress, regardless of the angle. Speaking of the neck, it’s super smooth and is really the center of the TT4’s savvy design. Moving up and down the fretboard was virtually effortless, and on many occasions I found myself not even thinking about the instrument—focusing instead on just making music. Simply put, the Electra TT4 has one of the most comfortable necks I have ever felt on a bass at this price point.
I tested the TT4 by plugging it into a Phil Jones D-600 amp pushing a Glockenklang Quattro 410. One can most certainly expect some 60-cycle hum when soloing single-coil pickups, but the Sandberg units were particularly noisy—especially the bridge pickup. When I popped the volume knob into passive mode, the bass delivered a taste of characteristic J-style tones, though they were a little timid in the low mids. This was alleviated to some degree in active mode, where the bass knob could supply more lows and low-mid punch—but active mode also changes the Electra’s tonal characteristics to more of a clean, scooped sound. Boosting the treble knob provided ample brightness and put some teeth on popped notes, or warmed up the tone with a downward dial.
Ratings
Pros: Nice design with fantastic playability.
Cons: Unusually noisy pickups. Difficult to conjure classic J-bass tones. Minor finish issues.
Tones:
Playability:
Build/Design:
Value:
Street: $995
sandberg-guitars.com
Circuit Fighting
I tested the Electra TT4 in a few different live settings and styles. On
a blues-trio gig, I boosted the bass and significantly cut the highs to
deliver deep, round sounds with the neck pickup. The treble knob really
came in handy at a louder rock covers gig: A slight boost provided a
pick-like attack to fingerstlye playing, allowing my lines to cut
through overdriven guitars and a bombastic drummer. A horn-band setting
was where the Electra performed best, though. The TT4’s timbre was
fitting for a wide range of R&B and soul classics—from barking
bridge-pickup lines to snappy thumb-slinging fills.
In all of these settings, the Electra’s playability shined—sometimes outshining its tonal traits. On some occasions its sound lacked a little authority, and I shied away from soloing the pickups due to the hum. But the TT4's super-comfortable design definitely made for a very pleasing experience for my hands and back.
The Verdict
In the realm of J-style basses, there’s a lot of competition. And though the Sandberg Electra TT4 may not wow vintage purists with its tones—which could use more punch, and also suffer from some noise issues—this bass will work well for a variety of modern music, as well as for slappers looking for a nice, moderately priced instrument. Overall, the Electra TT4 plays better than many in its class, and it offers many of the great features and characteristics that have long made Sandberg a standout bass company.
It has been 18 years since the Fuzz Factory appeared, yet the pedal continues to be wildly popular amongst experimentalists, noise-makers, and guitarists looking to add more—and more daring—flavors of fuzz to their music. But with the exception of the Theremin-like Fuzz Probe, the Fuzz Factory hasn’t really been updated with any new abilities for generating additional tones. And this explains why the new Fat Fuzz Factory is creating so much excitement.
The Fat Fuzz Factory builds upon the same core components and tone-generating capabilities of the standard Fuzz Factory—using new-old-stock (NOS) ’60s germanium transistors and a highly sensitive set of controls—but also includes a switch that greatly expands the low end and shifts the range of its famous oscillating feedback to much lower registers. This switch not only makes the Fat Fuzz Factory a beastly fuzz generator for guitar, but also helps it enhance the lower-register output of basses with Earth-shattering results.
Boss Hogg
Just like the original Fuzz Factory, the heart of its new portly brother is a pair of high-gain, NOS germanium transistors, which are attached to a hand-assembled and populated circuit board. It also uses true bypass switching and runs on either a 9V battery or a Boss-style power adapter, but because it only pulls 4 mA—which is astonishingly small—it will be a long time before you have to replace the battery. The pedal comes in two flavors—a handpainted version that’s completely assembled in the U.S. and a more affordable Vexter edition that’s partially built in Taiwan and sports a silk-screened motif.
The pedal uses five highly interactive controls for volume, gating, compression, drive, and a menacingly labeled stab knob, which can either change the pitch of the pedal’s oscillating squeal or the tone of the fuzz, depending on where the other controls are set. Because moving one control can have a drastic effect on how the others react, dialing them in can, at first, seem challenging. Thoughtfully though, the manual provides a few sample settings to get you started with high-gain compressed fuzz, Velcro-ripping tones, and cleaner Octavia-type effects. Above the drive and stab knobs lies a three-way switch for setting the low-end frequency range. When set to 1, the pedal is in standard Fuzz Factory mode. Moving it to positions 2 and 3 add more sub-harmonic intensity, and gradually darken and thicken the fuzz to degrees well beyond what the standard Fuzz Factory is capable of.
Tubby Tone
Even though the Fat Fuzz Factory was designed to add more low-end muscle to the classic Fuzz Factory sound, the fact that you can operate it as a standard Fuzz Factory is one of its best features. Putting the mode switch in position 1 yields the pedal’s brightest and sharpest tones, and its clear and uncluttered tonality make it the best setting for newcomers, as well as the best way to hear how the controls interact and affect the tone.
I found that with a Les Paul and a Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier, Z.Vex’s pre-prescribed compressed fuzz setting—gate at 3 o’clock, comp at 9 o’clock, drive and stab maxed, and volume to taste—yields a bright and gated fuzz tone that’s a great place to begin crafting your own sounds.
Pushing up the comp control softens the highs and the attack, which also causes the gate control to squelch the sound harder, resulting in a cool, 8-bit video game-sounding fuzz. Dropping the comp and drive to their lowest settings and turning up the gate to around 2 o’clock applies a low-gain, upper-octave effect to each note. These are only a couple of examples that can be discovered fairly quickly. Deeper tweaking, however, can reveal all sorts of otherworldly tones—smooth fuzzes that drop notes down an octave after holding them for a few moments, motorcycle engine revving, space-age ray gun bursts, and much, much more.
Ratings
Pros: Enormously versatile. Can be run in standard Fuzz Factory mode. Minimal battery draw. Massive volume capability. Can produce warm Moog-like emulations with both guitar and bass.
Cons: Relatively steep learning curve. Finicky with pedal-chain placement. Switching to modes with more low end can introduce sudden oscillation.
Tones:
Ease of Use:
Build/Design:
Value:
Street: $329 (handpainted) or $199 (Vexter)
Moving the switch to position 2 adds considerable lows to the tone and makes the pedal darker sounding. There are still plenty of the Fuzz Factory’s characteristic sizzling highs in the mix, but you’ll hear a meaner, less razor-like edge than before. In this environment, sustained single notes from the Les Paul’s bridge pickup had nearly as much body as full chords, and heavily gated low notes played with the neck pickup shook the room with a fat, synth-like snarl. Lowering the gate control dropped the pitch range of the fuzz oscillation too, making it easy to dial up droning, gut-shaking whines that alternate pitch like a demonic Theremin.
With some settings though, it was pretty obvious that changing modes also had an effect on the range of various controls. Switching to position 2 caused some of my favorite non-oscillating tones from position 1 to instantly oscillate—requiring me to tweak the pedal’s gate and comp controls to get rid of the whine.
The pedal’s most corpulent tones come from the bottom-heavy position 3. This mode works particularly well when matched with a high-gain setting and single-note runs on higher strings, which receive a pronounced bump in presence. Adding more gating to higher-gain settings yields a grinding synth-like tone that dies with a gnarly sputter—almost as if someone directly hard-wired a dual octave-down pedal to a circuit-bent Casio keyboard. Because of the very dense and complex tones you get in this mode, it’s easy for chords to turn into a jumbled mess. It’s best for single notes that need a little extra kick, or bassists who need more depth and intensity in their lines.
The Verdict
The Fat Fuzz Factory offers a huge range of fuzz tones. The mode switch’s position 1 has all the endless fuzz variations of the standard Fuzz Factory. But the switch’s additional positions open the gates to two very different-sounding harmonic ranges that deliver everything from tubby stoner fuzz to total low-end Armageddon. It’s a touchy pedal that requires some patience and willingness to experiment, but with persistence it’ll reward you with a level of flexibility and tone that exceeds its formidable and very influential predecessor.