Fix Your Humbucker Lead Tone! | Cunningham Zonk MKI Fuzz | Feat. Giordano Guitars & Sunbear Pickups
The Cunningham Amps Zonk MKI in a stunning blackout finish — paired with the Giordano Guitars Veloce and a genuine 1966 Fender Princeton Reverb. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
The Cunningham Amps Zonk MKI Fuzz (Blackout Finish) pairs with the Giordano Guitars Veloce — Sunbear Pickups SB-62PAT# Archive Humbuckers — into the 1966 Fender Princeton Reverb (black panel). The Effectrode Tube Vibe joins for modulation.
The Zonk MKI is Tim Cunningham's hand-built take on the Hornby Skewes Zonk Machine — a close cousin of the Tone Bender MKI, but with a distinct input capacitor value that rolls off low end before the fuzz stage, producing a more angular, midrange-forward, and characteristically gnarly character compared to the fuller MKI. This particular unit's blackout finish is a genuinely striking departure from Cunningham's usual builds — same hand-wired NOS germanium construction underneath, just dressed differently.
The Sunbear SB-62PAT# Archive Humbuckers in the Giordano Veloce reference the brief transitional era when Gibson swapped from the "Patent Applied For" decal to the Patent Number decal — construction unchanged, short-length Alnico V magnets. Bridge 7.7K / Neck 6.8K. Bright, spanky, and vocal like the best vintage SG pickups, with a chime in the neck position that makes chords ring like a bell.
The 1966 Fender Princeton Reverb's black panel AB763 circuit is one of the cleanest, most neutral platforms in the vintage Fender catalog — no inherent grit baked in, just headroom, chime, and that signature mid-scoop, giving the Zonk MKI's gnarly midrange plenty of room to develop without fighting the amp for space. The Effectrode Tube Vibe rounds things out with rich, three-dimensional Uni-Vibe modulation.
🎛️ Cunningham Amps: https://www.cunninghamamps.co.nz
🎸 Giordano Guitars: https://www.instagram.com/_giordanoguitars_/
🎸 Sunbear Pickups: https://www.sunbearpickups.com
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🎸 Giordano Guitars Veloce | All-Mahogany | Sunbear SB-62PAT# Archive Humbuckers (AV Bridge 7.7K / AV Neck 6.8K)
🎛️ Cunningham Amps Zonk MKI Fuzz (Blackout Finish) | Effectrode Tube Vibe
🔊 1966 Fender Princeton Reverb (Black Panel AB763)
