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What ToneBender model did Jeff Beck use on Truth/Beck-Ola ?

ezra1

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Jan 28, 2020
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I still admire his tone back then with a Les Paul.
Does anyone know what he used on those records ?
 

fernieite

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Jan 3, 2010
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He was a using a Marshall Supa Fuzz at that point, I think. There are photos of him using one live around that time.

However, if my memory is correct, a Supa Fuzz could have a MK1 or an MKII Tone Bender circuit in it.
 
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fernieite

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609
Yes, @Stu is the man!

Yes, he famously used a Sola Sound MKI during the Yardbirds, and possibly a MKII as well. Therefore, if you have a MKI pedal AND a MKII, you should be able to sound like Jeff Beck back then! šŸ¤£

Jeff Beck circa 1969 (Truth/Beck Ola days) with a Marshall Supa Fuzz. (Sola Sound MKI or II circuit)




beck 1969 supa fuzz.jpg
 

mdubya

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Tonebender MK II into a solid state Rickenbacker Transonic? šŸ¤”



A Vintage JTM45 or AC30 might do the trick, too.
 

JLee

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During Truth, he used a Supa Fuzz with the MKII circuit.

The Supa Fuzz was used sparingly. Only 2 or 3 songs. Most of the record is an overdriven AC30.

The Supa Fuzz pictured above is a derivative of the MKII circuit. Uses larger input and output caps. Technically speaking, it should have more low end, but I have a ā€˜68 that is leaner sounding than my old ā€˜69 and my Pigdog MKII replicas.

I donā€™t hear fuzz on the Beck-Ola album. Probably just a cranked Marshall.
 

EpiLP1985

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During Truth, he used a Supa Fuzz with the MKII circuit.

The Supa Fuzz was used sparingly. Only 2 or 3 songs. Most of the record is an overdriven AC30.

I remember as a teenager, before ever having heard the album, I read the Allmusic.com review of Truth, and the following line stuck out to me then and does now as you bring up this point:

"...and Beck's blistering lead guitar, which sounds like his amp is turned up to 13 and ready to short out."

The Supa Fuzz pictured above is a derivative of the MKII circuit. Uses larger input and output caps. Technically speaking, it should have more low end, but I have a ā€˜68 that is leaner sounding than my old ā€˜69 and my Pigdog MKII replicas.

I know we are talking minutia here, but save for a few early Supafuzz's at the beginning of the Sola Sound run, ALL later Supafuzzs are technically MK II Tonebenders. The circuit topology is exact, even down to most component values for nearly the entire Sola Sound run. When Sola Sound ceased production of the units and Marshall took it on, they did swap the 5 uf nominal input and emitter caps for 10 uf like you mentioned.

With respect to your comment on more low end, the reason it is a bit of a wash is due to the fact that they also removed the 0.01 uf cap to ground from the input of the circuit. This cap of course was there to dump highs to groundin the Standard MK II circuit, so its removal in the Supafuzz restores some high end content.

I donā€™t hear fuzz on the Beck-Ola album. Probably just a cranked Marshall.

"Truth", for me at least, is my desert island recording. I love so much of the music I have in my library but if I had to choose, it would be this. It's just so inventive and dirty and continuously exciting.

"Beck-Ola", on the other hand, doesn't have the same impact for me. Maybe it's the combination of delay sounds, cranked combo, clean and filthy Wah and MK II fuzz tones that draws me back to "Truth" whereas I am not attached as much to the straight ahead Marshall sound of "Beck-Ola". "Plynth" is an obvious highlight for me but outside of that and the Elvis covers, there's not as much startlingly fresh playing on that album.
 

ourmaninthenorth

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Truth, in full, gets included in the British & Irish thread. A worthy addition, and a glaring omission in the same breath.

A respectful tip of the hat towards the contributors here for reminding me what a fantastic album it is.
 

spidey

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As a side note, i tried a vintage Marshall Supa-Fuzz with a les-Paul through a cranked vintage Marshall 1987 (model) 50watter once. It sounded amazing...
 

EpiLP1985

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I really urge everyone to buy the expanded edition of "Truth".

The bonus tracks are a revelation. "Blues Deluxe" has what I believe to be a more interesting solo and sits Nicky Hopkins more appropriately in the mix. "Rock My Plimsoul" gets a faster take with a very dynamic and interesting solo. "You Shook Me" gets a more in your face and present take, without the mud of the mastered version, and again Hopkins is downplayed in favor of an absolutely filthy, fuzz laden guitar part.
 

beeflin

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Truth, in full, gets included in the British & Irish thread. A worthy addition, and a glaring omission in the same breath.

A respectful tip of the hat towards the contributors here for reminding me what a fantastic album it is.
I got lucky as a teenager and found Truth in a junk shop for a few pence. I'd never heard of Jeff Beck but saw it had two members of Faces on it, so I thought it must be worth a try. Fantastic album, it should have been a quadruple. Beck never sounded like that again, but Blow By Blow was released soon after and I love that too.
 

CK6

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I donā€™t hear any fuzz on that record (Truth), but maybe itā€™s me? What track does he use it on?

The JHS Supreme is supposed to be based off of the Supafuzz but it doesnā€™t sound like that to meā€¦ I have the Bender and if youā€™re looking for those tones it may be the ticket!
 

EpiLP1985

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I donā€™t hear any fuzz on that record (Truth), but maybe itā€™s me? What track does he use it on?

While no one can be sure of anything with respect to recording, equipment, etc., I'd say it's a fair assumption that something akin to a MK II/Supa was used all over the album. There's quite a bit of oomph and kerrang on many of the songs that just does not sound like simply killing an old Vox combo. Specifically, I would say songs like "Shapes of Things", "You Shook Me", "Beck's Bolero", "Rock My Plimsoul" and "I Ain't Superstitious" all have the fingerprints of the MK II/Supa tones in them, but even other songs like "Morning Dew", "Blues Deluxe" and "Let me Love You" have that extra bit of dirt that doesn't seem possibly with just a cranked amp.

Who knows though. I know this: When I'm trying to cop these tones at home, this style of fuzz, i.e. the MK II type, helps greatly.

Keep in mind, despite it's reputation as some crazy fuzz freakout, the MK II circuit is really a rather refined sound. With careful biasing and a reverse log Attack pot, there are tons of shades of fuzzy overdrive in there. It is not a garage rock, fuzz freakout type pedal.

The JHS Supreme is supposed to be based off of the Supafuzz but it doesnā€™t sound like that to meā€¦ I have the Bender and if youā€™re looking for those tones it may be the ticket!

The JHS Supreme is in the spirit of the Univox Super-Fuzz not the Marshall Supafuzz.
 
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CK6

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While no one can be sure of anything with respect to recording, equipment, etc., I'd say it's a fair assumption that something akin to a MK II/Supa was used all over the album. There's quite a bit of oomph and kerrang on many of the songs that just does not sound like simply killing an old Vox combo. Specifically, I would say songs like "Shapes of Things", "You Shook Me", "Beck's Bolero", "Rock My Plimsoul" and "I Ain't Superstitious" all have the fingerprints of the MK II/Supa tones in them, but even other songs like "Morning Dew", "Blues Deluxe" and "Let me Love You" have that extra bit of dirt that doesn't seem possibly with just a cranked amp.

Who knows though. I know this: When I'm trying to cop these tones at home, this style of fuzz, i.e. the MK II type, helps greatly.

Keep in mind, despite it's reputation as some crazy fuzz freakout, the MK II circuit is really a rather refined sound. With careful biasing and a reverse log Attack pot, there are tons of shades of fuzzy overdrive in there. It is not a garage rock, fuzz freakout type pedal.



The JHS Supreme is in the spirit of the Univox Super-Fuzz not the Marshall Supafuzz.

Ok cool, thanks for the insight. I guess it does sound pretty hairy on some tracks - I always thought he had used a Marshall on that album and not a Vox.

I didnā€™t know that there was a Univox Supafuzz and a Marshall Supafuzzā€¦
 

nightraven

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While no one can be sure of anything with respect to recording, equipment, etc., I'd say it's a fair assumption that something akin to a MK II/Supa was used all over the album. There's quite a bit of oomph and kerrang on many of the songs that just does not sound like simply killing an old Vox combo. Specifically, I would say songs like "Shapes of Things", "You Shook Me", "Beck's Bolero", "Rock My Plimsoul" and "I Ain't Superstitious" all have the fingerprints of the MK II/Supa tones in them, but even other songs like "Morning Dew", "Blues Deluxe" and "Let me Love You" have that extra bit of dirt that doesn't seem possibly with just a cranked amp.

Who knows though. I know this: When I'm trying to cop these tones at home, this style of fuzz, i.e. the MK II type, helps greatly.

Keep in mind, despite it's reputation as some crazy fuzz freakout, the MK II circuit is really a rather refined sound. With careful biasing and a reverse log Attack pot, there are tons of shades of fuzzy overdrive in there. It is not a garage rock, fuzz freakout type pedal.



The JHS Supreme is in the spirit of the Univox Super-Fuzz not the Marshall Supafuzz.
'Beck's Bolero' was recorded much earlier than the rest of 'Truth', and well before the SupaFuzz was available, from what we know. Beck probably used either his 'MKI', or possibly a 'MK1.5' Tone Bender on that recording.
 

EpiLP1985

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Ok cool, thanks for the insight. I guess it does sound pretty hairy on some tracks - I always thought he had used a Marshall on that album and not a Vox.

I didnā€™t know that there was a Univox Supafuzz and a Marshall Supafuzzā€¦

The Univox is an octave Fuzz. Iā€™m almost 100% sure the base tone throughout ā€œTruthā€ is a Vox AC30. Cranked to the heavens of course.
 

EpiLP1985

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'Beck's Bolero' was recorded much earlier than the rest of 'Truth', and well before the SupaFuzz was available, from what we know. Beck probably used either his 'MKI', or possibly a 'MK1.5' Tone Bender on that recording.

I would agree on that point. I donā€™t know the Tonebender timeline by heart but it is very likely an earlier, non MKII model.
 

DrewB

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Jul 15, 2001
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I really urge everyone to buy the expanded edition of "Truth".

The bonus tracks are a revelation. "Blues Deluxe" has what I believe to be a more interesting solo and sits Nicky Hopkins more appropriately in the mix. "Rock My Plimsoul" gets a faster take with a very dynamic and interesting solo. "You Shook Me" gets a more in your face and present take, without the mud of the mastered version, and again Hopkins is downplayed in favor of an absolutely filthy, fuzz laden guitar part.
Totally agree! You failed to mention, however, the track that Jeff himself likens to "having a pink toilet seat hanging around your neck," that being, "Hi Ho Silver Lining." They don't come a lot catchier than that ear-worm.
 

EpiLP1985

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Totally agree! You failed to mention, however, the track that Jeff himself likens to "having a pink toilet seat hanging around your neck," that being, "Hi Ho Silver Lining." They don't come a lot catchier than that ear-worm.

Thatā€™s a terrible song. Blame Mickie Most!
 
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