Is the Tampco All-Bender the ultimate Tone Bender-inspired fuzz?
The French boutique pedal company puts a silicon twist on a classic germanium recipe and packs Four Tone Bender-inspired circuits into one pedal
The Tampco All-Bender is a new four-in-one fuzz pedal that arrives with a bold claim behind it. This, says the French boutique guitar effects pedal specialist, is “the only tone bending fuzz you'll ever need!”
But there’s reason for Tampco to be confident. As the name suggests, the All-Bender is an omnibus fuzz comprised four Tone Bender-inspired circuits, each available at the touch of a dial. Just turn that chickenhead rotary knob choose from the “acid bark of the MkI, the warm cushion of the 1.5, the harmonically charged screech of the MkII and the fluid, gain-laden Mk3”.
Besides the global Level control and four-way circuit selector, each of the fuzz circuits has its own independent gain control, with the Mk3 having its own dedicated tone control as per the original units.
The appeal of all this means you can journey through the evolutionary phases of early British Invasion-era fuzz pedals, and for a lot less money than buying vintage replicas with NOS germanium transistors. The silicon transistors will also be less sensitive to temperature changes.
The All-Bender is priced €199 and available direct from Tampco. Does it sound authentic? Check out the demo videos and judge for yourself.
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Jonathan Horsley has been writing about guitars and guitar culture since 2005, playing them since 1990, and regularly contributes to MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitar World. He uses Jazz III nylon picks, 10s during the week, 9s at the weekend, and shamefully still struggles with rhythm figure one of Van Halen’s Panama.
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