The Most Beautiful Tone Bender MKII Fuzz I’ve Ever Played | Reeves Electro
Classic Tone Bender bite with modern control. The Reeves Electro Red Dot Sound Fuzz is a deeply considered homage to the legendary Tone Bender MKII circuit, expanded with an external bias control that completely reshapes the pedal's feel and aggression. Welcome back to Edge of Breakup.
The Reeves Electro Red Dot Sound Fuzz pairs with the Gronlund Guitars SC18 — TV Jones TV Classic Filter'Trons, Treble Bleed — into the Greer Amps Mini Chief and Smallblock 1x12" cab with a Scumback S75-PVC speaker. The Effectrode Tube Vibe joins from 09:40.
Built true point-to-point, the Red Dot Sound Fuzz uses a carefully selected set of vintage NOS silicon transistors: a matched pair of ME C1016 "Red Dot" TO-106 transistors from August 1975, and a single RCA 2N3053 from 1977. This delivers unmistakable classic Tone Bender character — tight bass, aggressive mid focus, and a fast, articulate attack that pairs beautifully with Filter'Trons and humbucker-style pickups. Silicon doesn't mean sterile here — with carefully measured components and intentional biasing, the difference between silicon and germanium in this circuit is far more subtle than the myths suggest.
The Bias control is the defining feature. Clockwise: thick, chewy, open, loud, dynamic fuzz — explored from 03:19. Mid sweep: classic MKII bite with vocal mids and authority — the starting point at 01:33. Anti-clockwise: brighter, cutting MKI-style aggression — explored from 04:49. To dial the classic MKII "edge-of-collapse" tone, mute the strings and slowly turn the bias until the background hiss disappears — the transistors are technically switched off, but the instant you touch the strings they roar back to life. Push further and the attack becomes spitty, stop-start, unstable, until the signal collapses entirely.
Unlike the Black Hat Sound Fuzz, the Red Dot cleans up very differently from the guitar's volume knob. With bias fully clockwise, the volume knob behaves almost like a gain control for the first quarter turn — clear, dynamic, articulate. As bias moves anti-clockwise, cleanup gets more brittle, raw, and spitty. Explored extensively from 08:44 for high gain clarity, and again from 10:39 with Bass Cut mode engaged.
Bass Modes are compared directly from 07:05 — the Bass boost/cut switch adds weight without turning the low end to mush, explored on both neck (01:33) and bridge (08:13) pickups. Through the Mini Chief and Scumback S75-PVC, the fuzz stays tight in the lows, forward in the mids, incredibly responsive to right-hand dynamics — think Mick Ronson on Ziggy Stardust: biting, present, aggressive, never thin.
Every Reeves Electro pedal is entirely hand-built in a garden workshop in Northamptonshire, UK — drilled, painted, acid-etched, true point-to-point construction using JB and Vishay capacitors, Lumberg jacks, and Alpha pots. Each pedal tested by ear, not meters. Boss-style 2.1mm center-negative DC jack only, no battery — stable, reliable, and immune to the power quirks that plague germanium circuits.
If you love your fuzz biting, reactive, vintage-correct, and alive under your fingers, this one delivers.
🎛️ Reeves Electro Red Dot Sound Fuzz: https://reeveselectro.co.uk 🎸 Gronlund Guitars: https://www.gronlundguitars.com 🔊 Greer Amps: https://www.greeramps.com
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🎸 Gronlund Guitars SC18 | TV Jones TV Classic Filter'Trons | Treble Bleed 🎛️ Reeves Electro Red Dot Sound Fuzz | ME C1016 Red Dot x2 (Aug. 1975) + RCA 2N3053 (1977) | Tone Bender MKII Homage | External Bias | Bass Boost/Cut | Point-to-Point | Effectrode Tube Vibe 🔊 Greer Amps Mini Chief | Greer Smallblock 1x12" | Scumback S75-PVC
