The Best Tone Bender MKI?! | Cunningham Amps MKI Fuzz
Cunningham Amps returns to the channel with the MKI Fuzz — Tim Cunningham's take on the iconic Tone Bender MKI circuit, and one of the best-sounding recreations of it around. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
The Cunningham Amps MKI Fuzz pairs with the Gronlund Guitars SC18 — vintage-style TV Jones TV Classic Filter'Tron pickups — into the Greer Amps Mini Chief and Greer Smallblock 1x12" loaded with a pre-broken-in Scumback S75-PVC speaker. The Effectrode Tube Vibe joins from 05:07.
The Tone Bender MKI is the original British fuzz — the 1965 Sola Sound circuit that predates the Fuzz Face and produces a distinctly saggy, compressed, explosive character compared to the two-transistor circuits that followed. Tim Cunningham's take on the MKI brings vintage-inspired fuzz tone with his own modern refinements — the same raw, expressive attitude that made the original a favorite of the earliest British Invasion players, built to hold up in a modern rig.
This demo pushes the circuit and the Greer Mini Chief's 3-watt Class A EL84 power stage together — thick sustain, gated breakup, and plenty of character at every setting. The Attack knob's sweep from 01:23 shows the range from tighter, more controlled fuzz to fully gated and spitting. Volume knob and guitar dynamics interact heavily with the MKI circuit — as demonstrated across both bridge and neck TV Classic positions.
The Greer Mini Chief already runs at the edge of breakup on its own — a genuine 3-watt Class A amp gets pushed into natural distortion at usable volumes far more easily than a higher-wattage head. Stacking the MKI Fuzz on top of that (explored from 04:39) produces layered breakup — amp sag and fuzz sag compounding on each other — which is a different animal from running the same fuzz into a cleaner, higher-headroom amp.
🎛️ Cunningham Amps MKI Fuzz: https://www.cunninghamamps.co.nz/effect-pedals 🎸 Gronlund Guitars: https://www.gronlundguitars.com 🔊 Greer Amps: https://www.greeramps.com
Subscribe for more boutique tone explorations.
🎸 Gronlund Guitars SC18 | TV Jones TV Classic Filter'Trons | Honduran Mahogany Semi-Hollow 🎛️ Cunningham Amps MKI Fuzz | Tone Bender MKI Circuit | Attack + Level | Effectrode Tube Vibe 🔊 Greer Amps Mini Chief | 3W | Class A | 12AX7 + EL84 | Greer Smallblock 1x12" | Scumback S75-PVC (Pre-Broken-In)
Recording: Universal Audio Apollo x4 | Ohma Ribbon | Lauten Audio LS-208 | Royer R10 & R121 | Ableton Live 12
