Formula B effects (Italy) "Mini Bender" mk1

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Formula B effects (Italy) "Mini Bender" mk1

Post by øøøøøøø » Wed Aug 30, 2017 12:14 pm

seems to be very limited production, which I did not realize when I placed my order (which was motivated, truthfully, as much by the unit's small footprint as anything else). But my unit is numbered 24 of 50, so obviously not many of these will be made.

Man. It sounds amazing. I'm not a Tone Bender connoisseur, but I think I might become one. This thing is addictive! I know plenty of people make germanium tonebender copies but this one is just crushing me at the moment.

Just such liquid sustain with these harmonics that pop out all over the place... SO expressive and interesting and cool. But I'm new to the mk1 tonebender world in general... Maybe they're all like this? How did I miss this my whole life?

Pedal construction is charmingly small-shop. I can still smell the rattle can enamel, carefully applied (looks good!) lettering is done with some sort of transfer letters. Very homespun, but I like it. Circuit constructed on a small turret board. Came with a proper carbon-zinc battery (those sound the best in these, and it really does matter in a fuzz face or tone bender!) but it also sounds great with a standard 9v supply.

So psyched! But since there are likely to only be 50 of these in the world ever, maybe I shouldn't tour it? Or buy a second to keep at home? I always do this to myself, fall in love with the stuff that was intended to be merely "utilitarian."
Last edited by øøøøøøø on Wed Aug 30, 2017 1:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Formula B effects (Italy) "Mini Bender" mk1

Post by MechaBulletBill » Wed Aug 30, 2017 1:34 pm

I wonder why he charges 10€ more for the mk1.5 vox bender clone. They've got one less transistor than the mki/ii mki's are, as far as I've heard from some experienced builders, a bit of a pain in the butt to dial in and very sensitive to transistor values.

Either way, glad to hear you're happy and it's nice to see more pedals in interesting enclosures!

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Re: Formula B effects (Italy) "Mini Bender" mk1

Post by øøøøøøø » Wed Aug 30, 2017 1:58 pm

MechaBulletBill wrote:I wonder why he charges 10€ more for the mk1.5 vox bender clone. They've got one less transistor than the mki/ii mki's are, as far as I've heard from some experienced builders, a bit of a pain in the butt to dial in and very sensitive to transistor values.

Either way, glad to hear you're happy and it's nice to see more pedals in interesting enclosures!
Good question! Maybe the selection process for the transistors is labor-intensive?

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Re: Formula B effects (Italy) "Mini Bender" mk1

Post by mijmog » Thu Aug 31, 2017 1:00 am

I really, really want to try one of these - heard a lot of good things about them. Its so hard to find a good Tonebender with the qualitites you described - the harmonics and the resonance. I've been through what feels like so many now...

I would gig it and just add it your insurance if you have any. If a fuzz sounds good, use it, as finding a gigging version to replace this one would be futile - if it works and interacts with your instrument and most importantly feels musical - a rare quality not found in lots of clones - I'd use it.

I go through phases where I get drawn to utilitarian things, but with everything post-2000 any replicas of supposedly utilitarian objects are now highly priced, hand made artisan boutique items - so I question my reasoning but then become slowly drawn back in, the cycle repeats and I become sad and angry as I realise I'm up late at night looking at pictures of small grey boxes with weird names.

#firstworldproblems

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Re: Formula B effects (Italy) "Mini Bender" mk1

Post by øøøøøøø » Thu Aug 31, 2017 3:53 am

Yeah. I mean, I've toured with an original Klon Centaur for years-- but even though that's worth more, I could always find another on eBay. But a limited run of 50? That could get hard to replace especially down the road

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Re: Formula B effects (Italy) "Mini Bender" mk1

Post by Jaguar018 » Thu Aug 31, 2017 9:27 am

This company has some cool stuff. Thanks for the GAS. :? >:( :D

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Re: Formula B effects (Italy) "Mini Bender" mk1

Post by OffYourFace » Thu Aug 31, 2017 9:29 am

øøøøøøø wrote:Yeah. I mean, I've toured with an original Klon Centaur for years-- but even though that's worth more, I could always find another on eBay. But a limited run of 50? That could get hard to replace especially down the road

The thing is, you could buy 5 more of these limited mk1 TBs and they'll all sound a little different. There are TONS of mk1 TBs always available. For small ones, check out the Manlay Sound Ronno Bender.

Don't fall into the 'tone bender trap' as I call it. The grass can always appear to be greener. Consider yourself lucky that you got a great sounding pedal that you're very happy with and just enjoy it.

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Re: Formula B effects (Italy) "Mini Bender" mk1

Post by fuzzjunkie » Thu Aug 31, 2017 5:42 pm

OffYourFace wrote:
øøøøøøø wrote: Just such liquid sustain with these harmonics that pop out all over the place... SO expressive and interesting and cool. But I'm new to the mk1 tonebender world in general... Maybe they're all like this? How did I miss this my whole life?

The thing is, you could buy 5 more of these limited mk1 TBs and they'll all sound a little different. There are TONS of mk1 TBs always available. For small ones, check out the Manlay Sound Ronno Bender.

Don't fall into the 'tone bender trap' as I call it. The grass can always appear to be greener. Consider yourself lucky that you got a great sounding pedal that you're very happy with and just enjoy it.
The expressive dynamics and those harmonics are a MK1 hallmark. The liquid sustain not so much. There are some; like yours, that are tuned that way, but others will have a gated or sputtery decay, and some will have sustain, but it's a raw and raging beast instead of liquid. The Ronno Bender is good and consistent from what I understand. All builders have a formula/sound in their head that they shoot for depending on the stock of transistors they have. My favorite tone benders are the MK1 and MK4, but some guys want MK2 or nothing. The tone bender trap is a deep one to fall into and will take all your Benjamin ls to fill it.

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Re: Formula B effects (Italy) "Mini Bender" mk1

Post by StevenO » Thu Aug 31, 2017 6:41 pm

OffYourFace wrote:
øøøøøøø wrote:Yeah. I mean, I've toured with an original Klon Centaur for years-- but even though that's worth more, I could always find another on eBay. But a limited run of 50? That could get hard to replace especially down the road

The thing is, you could buy 5 more of these limited mk1 TBs and they'll all sound a little different. There are TONS of mk1 TBs always available. For small ones, check out the Manlay Sound Ronno Bender.

Don't fall into the 'tone bender trap' as I call it. The grass can always appear to be greener. Consider yourself lucky that you got a great sounding pedal that you're very happy with and just enjoy it.
I was thinking the exact same thing, reading this thread.

I could also see Brad buying another Formula B Mini Bender and loving that one but realizing it sounds way different than the one on his current board, but just as good, and wanting to have both on his board. :whistle:

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Re: Formula B effects (Italy) "Mini Bender" mk1

Post by øøøøøøø » Fri Sep 01, 2017 4:55 am

Mine does have a bit of that "sputtery underbiased gating" thing in the decay... At the very tail end, if I let the note die all the way out

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