Tonebender MK III - what's the difference really?

[StopReferencing]

So what makes some MK III's more equal than others?

I have a Tone Reaper and a Britbender 3-knob - the Tone Reaper's darker, less harsh, a little fuller. What makes SkinPimp so great, sonically?

etc.

[seiko]

Originally Posted by StopReferencing

So what makes some MK III's more equal than others?

I have a Tone Reaper and a Britbender 3-knob - the Tone Reaper's darker, less harsh, a little fuller. What makes SkinPimp so great, sonically?

etc.

I've owned a few original MKIII tonebenders, the clips of the Reaper I've heard sound pretty close to me. The MKIIIs pretty much cop the sound of classic UK glam and Eno's pop albums, to me, anyway. A bigger more liquidy sound than the MKIIs.

This is a good representation of a MKIII, possibly a tad brigher than the Tone Reaper but that would be splitting hairs in a live mix:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NR0ST5L8-WE&feature=fvw

[mrbluetone]

OC81's or OC75's set it apart

[JLee]

There's more gain with the Skin Pimp. Also more range with the tone knob. It's not meant to be a faithful clone of the original MKIII. It's Ryan's tweaked take on the circuit.

[TMock]

Originally Posted by mrbluetone

OC81's or OC75's set it apart

I'm going to have to disagree that it's the transistors that make SkinPimp's MKIIIs (or anyone's for that matter) great.

Lots of guys build with these trannies, and yet their builds often sound and feel different from each other. That's because the nuances of transistor selection, component values, wiring, tweaks to the circuit, etc. all change how the final build sounds and feels. The transistors are only a canvas, a platform from which to tune and tweak.

Ryan at SkinPimp is just one of the guys who has a real ear for tuning pedals, plus a creative ability to impart his own fingerprint to the sonics and the visuals. He's certainly not the only guy doing this, but I think he's one of the best.

As for his MKIII specifically, I like it for a couple of different reasons. His three-way switch and the bias-like tone control allow a huge range of flexibility. You can go from almost MKII-like tones to biting and thin early MKIII tones to thick and smooth late MKIII tones. Ryan's build also has an addictive balance of compression and bite, oomph and clarity.

It's good stuff. But at the end of the day, it's just one choice among many.

[seiko]

Originally Posted by TMock

You can go from almost MKII-like tones to biting and thin early MKIII tones to thick and smooth late MKIII tones.

The late ones were silicon as I recall. None of the ones I had sounded exactly the same anyway. I'm surprised that no one has started doing Jumbo Tonebender clones yet, those things are like the naplam bomb of the fuzz world.