The Best Zonk Machine Fuzz!! | Electric Machine Pro | R2R Electric
The R2R Electric Electric Machine gets a deep dive — Zonk Machine circuitry made famous by Jeff Beck, Mick Ronson, Marc Bolan, and early Jimmy Page, tested across clean and pushed amp settings. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
The R2R Electric Electric Machine pairs with the Tone Ranger Guitars Desert Star — Lollar Regal Wide Range Humbuckers — into the Greer Amps Mini Chief at multiple gain stages. The Effectrode Tube Vibe joins from 16:44.
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The Hornby Skewes Zonk Machine is one of the rarest and most sought-after British fuzz circuits of the 1960s — a close relative 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, characteristically gnarly tone. The Electric Machine is Chris Vincent's take on the circuit, built in his Professional format with Texas Instruments, OC75, and OC44 transistors — the same NOS set found in the full-size wedge version — and Mustard caps throughout.
Two controls: Attack and Level. This demo runs the full range across a clean-ish amp first — bridge pickup at unity fuzz volume from 01:28, neck from 02:40, and extensive volume knob cleanup from 03:50 showing off the glassy, controllable cleanup that separates a well-built Zonk Machine from a muddier fuzz circuit. Pushing fuzz volume above unity slams the clean-ish amp from 05:25, with increasing compression as the level climbs from 06:53.
The amp is cranked from 10:45 with fuzz volume brought back to unity, and the Attack knob's sweep is explored in depth from 11:33 — lower Attack settings producing a more compressed, gated character, returning to max Attack at 13:56 for the fullest, most open fuzz tone available. Bridge pickup cleanup into the cranked amp from 15:23 shows how the Electric Machine's volume knob response holds up even when the amp itself is contributing significant gain.
The Tone Ranger Guitars Desert Star's Lollar Regal Wide Range Humbuckers — Fender's original Seth Lover-designed Wide Range voicing — give the Electric Machine a fuller, rounder foundation than a standard PAF, with enough single-coil-like clarity to keep the Zonk Machine's midrange character articulate rather than muddy.
🎛️ R2R Electric: https://www.r2relectric.com 🎸 Tone Ranger Guitars: https://www.tonerangerguitars.com 🎸 Lollar Pickups: https://www.lollarguitars.com/lollar-pickups 🔊 Greer Amps: https://www.greeramps.com
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🎸 Tone Ranger Guitars Desert Star | Lollar Regal Wide Range Humbuckers 🎛️ R2R Electric Electric Machine | NOS TI + OC75 + OC44 | Mustard Caps | Zonk Machine Topology | Attack + Level | Effectrode Tube Vibe 🔊 Greer Amps Mini Chief | 3W | Class A
