{"product_id":"operations","title":"operations","description":"\u003cp\u003ethis is the fuzz I want to be buried with when I die.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI can not explain the weight of how special this circuit is to me.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHonestly, most will just brush past it as just another fuzz.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut I beg you, to stay and read my words, in attempt to allow your imagination a semblance, of what this circuit makes me feel.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis right here, is a rite of passage germanium fuzz unit, specifically to me.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI had tried to build one for years but failed miserably, could never find the right transistors or get them to bias correctly.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI persisted, and here we are. The endless hours getting nowhere then somewhere led me to develop my own personal recipe for this circuit that allows a germanium platform of endless, amplification goodness.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eoperations, is an mk1 tonebender, 3 transistor germanium fuzz circuit.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ewith my recipe of course.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ewhy the build process is unique\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eit feels like a spiritual undertaking everytime I build one of these. Because you have to pay attention, and actually spend time with each unit, listening, playing, tuning, tweaking. You can not simply throw parts together with this fuzz circuit and have it sound good.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI audition transistors inside of the actual pedal it is going into, and once I find the right trio, they get permanently soldered in.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGermanium transistors are highly variable, expensive per unit, and often you need to buy batches only to get a few good ones.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ewhy the sound is unique\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ethis is one of the few units that actually feels like a cranked amplifier.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eit feels actually alive. like a soul lives in it and uses your amp to materialize.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eit sounds different every day. the germaniums are so temperamental, you get a new tone on the daily.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI like to tune mine to be more distortion like- every builder tunes their tonebenders different, but I like how extremely articulate, and clear this circuit sounds while have the most gorgeous texture you have ever heard.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003efor germanium transistors, I squeeze out an INSANE amount of volume and gain with these pedals. I like to tune them for maximum output, I mean insane volume jumps- because I think they sound best when they are driving an amp so hard that the power amp itself is what starts to become driven.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ethe history\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003efirst off, if you want to get deep into the history, click this \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.bigmuffpage.com\/The_Tonebender_Timeline_2.html\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"\u003elink here\u003c\/a\u003e and it will tell you all about it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is the same architecture as the first fuzz unit ever invented, the Maestro FZ1- however the MK1 has some small tuning and component value modifications.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis circuit has ancient DNA. I do believe that this inherently holds some weight and life into the circuit itself- it is like how certain things carry a weight due to their history- the same is here. It feels like channeling the old rock and roll spirit when this box is on.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003emy features\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003estock, this circuit is just volume and attack. attack is sort of a gain control, but it really is more of a bias that functions as a gain control. It does not work linearly in the way other gain controls work- it controls the gating, artifacts, dynamics, saturation, and texture all in that one control.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI like to generally tune mine so that the attack is clean toward minimum, gritty and bitey toward the middle, and overbiased, gated, and fuzzier when maxed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ebias\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI have add a transistor 3 bias knob. It sort of works like the attack knob was described, where it will also affect \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003egating, artifacts, dynamics, saturation, and texture all in that one control, however it feels much more like a texture knob and less of a gain knob.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e3 way mode switch\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003emiddle is zonk mode. bright and bite, not a lot of low end, gets cleaner easier\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eleft is stock MK1, fuller, more rounded, fuzzier.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eright is twilight's bloom mode. So much fuzzy, thick low end, and a blooming dynamic, where the transistors choke\/compress, then release and bloom into its full textured note, varying with pick attack. Almost like an envelope compression. Beyond magical to feel in the hands.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003enoise filtering\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ethis circuit squeezes so much gain out of the transistors, it can be inherently noisy. Not always, but sometimes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eI do design the circuit board for extensive filtering and controlled power routing for minimal noise potential, and also I integrate controlled signal routing to minimize noise injection into the signal path.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Twilight Audio Electronics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51654844350770,"sku":null,"price":249.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0908\/1906\/8210\/files\/1_26efef98-2e9b-406a-842e-58328cf575ab.png?v=1787723121","url":"https:\/\/twilightaudioelectronics.com\/products\/operations","provider":"Twilight Audio Electronics","version":"1.0","type":"link"}