Benson Amps Benmaster – with Filtertrons! | Feat. Gronlund Guitars SC-18
Germanium fuzz. Germanium boost. A tube-driven Uni-Vibe. And one of the most coveted boutique amps ever made. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
An all-Benson Amps signal chain — the Benson Germanium Fuzz and Germanium Boost, through the Effectrode Tube Vibe, into the Benson Benmaster. The Gronlund Guitars SC18 with TV Jones TV Classic Filter'Trons carries the tone throughout.
The Benmaster is Benson's masterful take on the 5E7 Bandmaster circuit — a 35-watt, 3x10" combo running a pair of 5881 power tubes through a custom Soursound transformer set, housed in a dovetailed pine cabinet with birch ply baffle. Chris Benson describes the 5E7's character as everything the 5F6A Bassman is not — a semi-mythical tweed circuit with a gutsy, pure personality that rewards touch and dynamics at every level of the dial. At 35 watts it has ample clean headroom and takes pedals like a champion. Explored across a genuine gain sweep: cleaner tones from 00:47, amp volume to noon at 03:26, 2 o'clock at 05:37, and fully cranked at 08:20 — with extensive volume knob cleanup and Uni-Vibe from 09:10.
The Benson Germanium Fuzz is built around two matched germanium transistors in the classic 1960s circular fuzz topology, and is the first fuzz pedal with automatic thermal bias technology — staying locked in regardless of temperature. A Class A input buffer feeds a passive pickup simulator circuit, followed by an Impedance control that simulates rolling back the guitar volume for a tight, sparkly response without touching the guitar at all. The circuit spans from clean boost to aggressive fuzz with octave overtones, with Impedance and Gain deeply interactive throughout. Explored from 17:00.
The Benson Germanium Boost uses the same voltage-controlled error correction circuit developed during the Fuzz's design process — a stable germanium clean boost impervious to component drift, leakage, and temperature, with increased input headroom and impedance that keeps the signal full and natural. Notes take on a simultaneously smoother and more detailed character, like a compressor but different. Explored from 14:52.
The Effectrode Tube Vibe's preamp, mixer, and phase-shifter sections run on triode tubes at real amp plate voltages, with a 1MΩ input impedance that keeps single coil pickups open and clear. Dual LFOs: Classic mode for deep, swampy Uni-Vibe throb, Smooth mode for dreamy, ethereal chorus voicings, with a Chorus/Vibrato switch moving between Hendrix-style vibe and detuned pitch-bend vibrato.
Filter'Trons into germanium into tubes into tweed. This is the session.
🔊 Benson Amps: https://www.bensonamps.com/guitar-amplifiers 🎸 Gronlund Guitars: https://www.gronlundguitars.com
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🎸 Gronlund Guitars SC18 | TV Jones TV Classic Filter'Trons 🎛️ Benson Amps Germanium Fuzz | Benson Amps Germanium Boost | Effectrode Tube Vibe 🔊 Benson Amps Benmaster | 5E7 Bandmaster Interpretation | 35W | 2x 5881 | Custom Soursound Transformers | 3x10" | Dovetailed Pine + Birch Ply Baffle
