Wren and Cuff MK II Germanium Bender V2 – Tonebender

Wren and Cuff Mk II Germanium Bender V2 – Tonebender

The Wren and Cuff MK II Germanium Bender is based on the “Bender” style fuzzers from the 60’s and 70’s.

It is a liquidy 3 transistor germanium fuzz which makes it chock full of vintage tone and a smooth attitude.

Controls

• Volume
• Pre- Gain
• Fuzz

I’ll be honest… Tone Benders are not my favorites to build.

The transistors are very, very, finicky, and finding just the right combo can be time consuming.

The input transistor choice is essential for getting just the right amount of clean-up when the volume rolls back on the guitar.

Wren & Cuff test each transistor, one at a time, in individual sets sets of three.

That way there is no hoping for a good pedal, each one sounds the way an MKII should, every time.

The Bender uses true vintage stock germanium transistors from the 60’s and 70’s. We measure each transistor for leakage, hfe gain, and audio tested for excess noise and/or other anomalies.

Yes, they’re a pain to sort.

Once we find the right set, it is obvious the work is definitely worth the reward.

As an added bonus, you’ll notice the “pre-gain” knob.

This is a super simple, and super useful little addition to the circuit which allows you to mimic the effect of rolling back the volume on your guitar.

This way, you can dial in that tone without having to worry about actually rolling back the volume on your guitar to find that sweet spot on your axe whenever you kick it on.

For your convenience, there is an additional mini circuit, allowing you to use a standard negative tip 9VDC power supply,  because 99% of today’s effects power supplies are centre negative. The original 60s model have positive grounds which is common when pnp transistors are used