R2R Electric MKI Pro Fuzz
Two legendary fuzz circuits from the dawn of British rock, both inside one hand-wired NOS germanium box. The R2R Electric MKI Pro is over the moon. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
In this episode the R2R Electric MKI Professional Tone Bender / Zonk Machine takes center stage — featuring the Frank Brothers Ultralight with Lollar Low Wind Imperial Humbuckers, into the Benson Amps Vincent, with the R2R Electric Vintage Wah, Effectrode Tube Vibe, and Strymon Volante later in the demo. A Strat demo is coming separately.
Chris Vincent (@djlavalamp) describes the MKI Pro as his pedalboard-friendly evolution of the MKI Fuzz — the same 100% vintage and NOS hand-wired point-to-point eyelet board construction as all R2R builds, now in a compact enclosure with an LED indicator, true bypass switching with pulldown resistors to eliminate pops, and the defining new feature: a toggle switch between Tone Bender MKI mode and Zonk Machine mode.
The Tone Bender MKI and Zonk Machine are two circuits from 1965 that are close relatives but distinctly different characters. The MKI is Sola Sound's original three-transistor design — the fuzz that Jimmy Page used before the MKII existed, fat and sustaining and full. The Zonk Machine is John Hornby Skewes' version of a similar circuit — more angular, more texturally quirky, a slightly more aggressive and gnarly character. In one pedal, both voices are footswitch-accessible and directly comparable in the same rig.
Components: hand-matched set of Philips/Mullard OC75, Texas Instruments 2G308/303 germanium transistors. Vintage CTS or Stackpole 500K and 50K potentiometers. 1960s Aerovox mouldseal and paper-in-oil input capacitors. NOS ERO KT1801 or STC paper-in-oil .1uf capacitors. Every component tested, measured, and matched individually. Every R2R build is unique in parts used but verified for tonal consistency before it leaves.
Controls: Attack (gain) and Volume. Two knobs. The interaction between Attack, Volume, and your guitar's volume knob is the entire tonal palette.
Get on the R2R Electric mailing list: https://www.r2relectric.com/how-to-order
Follow Chris: https://www.instagram.com/djlavalamp/
🎸 Frank Brothers Ultralight: https://www.frankbrothersguitars.com
🎸 Lollar Low Wind Imperial: https://www.lollarguitars.com/lollar-pickups
🔊 Benson Amps: https://www.bensonamps.com/guitar-amplifiers
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🎸 Frank Brothers Ultralight | Lollar Low Wind Imperial Humbuckers
🎛️ R2R Electric MKI Professional | NOS Germanium | OC75 + 2G308/303 | Tone Bender MKI + Zonk Machine Toggle
🎛️ Also: R2R Electric Vintage Wah | Effectrode Tube Vibe | Strymon Volante
🔊 Benson Amps Vincent
Recording: Universal Audio Apollo x4 | Lauten Audio LS-208 | Royer R10 & R121 | Sennheiser E906 | Ableton Live 11
