steve-bbb Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 been sat in the attic since it was last gigged in about 1982 - dug it out at the weekend placed new battery in and not working anybody any ideas at all what can go wrong with these when they are sat doing nothing at all for 27 years? ive checked the footswitch and give it a clean but apart from the three pots there are no other working parts and in its life between new in 1976 and me last gigging it in about 1982 it had very minimal use ta muchly (previous thread was started on the effects for sale board but going to have to get it repaired/serviced now before sale) [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/158129-colorsound-tonebender/"]http://basschat.co.uk/topic/158129-colorsound-tonebender/[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Could be a bad solder joint(s). It looks to be a very basic circuit design and a fault could be easily traced by someone with minimal skill. But then that puts you in a quandary, does it lose it's "silly money" value if you start re-soldering the joints? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-bbb Posted October 25, 2011 Author Share Posted October 25, 2011 [quote name='Ou7shined' timestamp='1319535856' post='1415216'] Could be a bad solder joint(s). It looks to be a very basic circuit design and a fault could be easily traced by someone with minimal skill. But then that puts you in a quandary, does it lose it's "silly money" value if you start re-soldering the joints? [/quote] well personally if i was going to keep it and gig it the first thing to happen woul be a complete overhaul of the wiring - its dreadful ! dont know how they had the nerve to charge £26.00 or whatever it was back in the 70s for this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroman Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Last time my early Tonebender packed up, it was down to a dry joint on one of the battery wires. Fantastic vintage fuzz pedal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-bbb Posted October 25, 2011 Author Share Posted October 25, 2011 [quote name='retroman' timestamp='1319543304' post='1415409'] Last time my early Tonebender packed up, it was down to a dry joint on one of the battery wires. Fantastic vintage fuzz pedal [/quote] thanks will make that the first point of checking as mentioned on my previous for sale thread i did leave the 9v battery inside but it stayed clean and didnt leak - i cant think that a 9v battery slowly discharging over time would have caused any problems - the only other working parts inside it are the pots themselves and from what i recall it was fairly clean with no crackles - theyd be a bugger to replace authentically anyway too but a wee bit of re-soldering on dry joints should be ok to sell it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroman Posted October 25, 2011 Share Posted October 25, 2011 Saw a Tonebender for sale a while back at a vintage giutar fair.......Was a horrendous amount of money. Don't see them about too much anymore. Think it was the one with the brown/ orange/ white enamelled casing. Mine has the Silver/ blue/ white enamelled casing. Keep mine for home entertainment purposes only now. Closest I have found is the Tortouga Sasquatch, which is a bit more versatile, but not quite as wolly as ye olde Tonebender Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-bbb Posted October 27, 2011 Author Share Posted October 27, 2011 [quote name='retroman' timestamp='1319543304' post='1415409'] Last time my early Tonebender packed up, it was down to a dry joint on one of the battery wires. Fantastic vintage fuzz pedal [/quote] does yours still have the original wiring? that stuff is so thin and brittle im worried it will break just looking at it ! im still at a loss to comprehend hw something so jawdroppingly basic and tacky can produce such a unique sound - guess it must be down to the specific charateristics of the components used Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroman Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 Think its mostly down to the fact that it is the old skool germanium transistors that give it that sound. the Sasquatch comes close, as that is a Germanium fuzz also. My Tonebender sounds fat and huge!! You're right about the wiring inside though.............Probably worse than the wiring in a 70's scalextric car! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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