Cunningham Amps Zonk MKI Fuzz Pedal
The Cunningham Amps Zonk MKI Pedalboard Edition returns — this time with humbuckers, to show the other half of what this NOS germanium dual fuzz can do. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
In this episode the Cunningham Amps Zonk MKI Pedalboard Edition takes a second run — featuring the Frank Brothers Arcade with Seymour Duncan Antiquity Humbuckers, into the Benson Amps Vincent via the Boss Waza Tube Amp Expander with Benson Tall Bird Reverb in the effects loop. The Strymon Volante, R2R Electric Vintage Wah, and Effectrode Tube Vibe also feature.
Watch the first Zonk MKI Pedalboard Edition demo with the Giordano Guitars single coils here: https://youtu.be/jsbdWrYMtho
Get on the Cunningham Amps email list and follow Tim on Instagram — limited drops go extremely quickly: https://www.cunninghamamps.co.nz
Quick recap: the Zonk MKI Pedalboard Edition is Tim Cunningham's compact-format dual fuzz housing both the Hornby Skewes Zonk Machine and Sola Sound Tone Bender MKI circuits in one enclosure. This run features NOS Texas Instruments 2N1307 (Q1), Black Glass OC45 (Q2), and Texas Instruments 2G308 (Q3) germanium transistors, hand-matched and individually biased. The MKI input capacitor is ten times larger than the Zonk's — fuller bass and midrange, throatier attack. The Zonk is more angular, more gating, more gnarly character. Mode switch selects between them. Fuzz/Attack and Swell/Level are the two controls.
What humbuckers reveal here that single coils don't: the Seymour Duncan Antiquity's higher output — particularly in the neck position — pushes the germanium transistors earlier into saturation, giving the MKI mode a fatter, more compressed character at identical fuzz settings. The Zonk mode's gating behavior is less dramatic with the higher-output humbucker signal, which paradoxically makes it feel more controlled and usable across a wider portion of the Fuzz sweep. The octavia-like tones that emerge at 08:01 with the Strymon Volante and guitar volume rolled back are a direct result of the humbucker's output interacting with the NOS transistors at a specific bias point.
The "cannot set it wrong" moment in this demo — 13:11, adjusting Fuzz and Volume in different amounts across both modes — is the best demonstration of the circuit's essential character. Two knobs, two modes, infinite useful results.
🎛️ Cunningham Amps: https://www.cunninghamamps.co.nz
🎸 Frank Brothers Guitar Company: https://www.frankbrothersguitars.com
🔊 Benson Amps: https://www.bensonamps.com/guitar-amplifiers
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🎸 Frank Brothers Arcade | Seymour Duncan Antiquity Humbuckers
🎛️ Cunningham Amps Zonk MKI Pedalboard Edition | NOS Ge (2N1307 / OC45 / 2G308) | Zonk Machine + Tone Bender MKI
🎛️ Also: Strymon Volante | R2R Electric Vintage Wah | Effectrode Tube Vibe
🔊 Benson Amps Vincent | Benson Tall Bird | Boss Waza TAE
Recording: Universal Audio Apollo x4 | Lauten Audio LS-208 | Royer R121 & R10 | Sennheiser E906 | Ableton Live 11
