ilovefuzz.com

I'd go for a clone. I have owned and tried at least 10 originals way back in the pre-internet time when prices were not bloated. Not one of them sounded the same and the majority of them sounded shitty / weird / out of spec. The problem these days is that originals are hard to find locally and cost a fortune. Ideally you want to try at least 5 benders and pick the one that sounds best.
I have built a few clones from with both NOS Mullards and new germaniums and they all sound like Tone Benders. It's a pretty generic circuit with minimal parts count. If you buy a clone thats more or less true to spec it will be ok.

I have a Tone Reaper, and it's been a bit problematic. the amount of output is so far above unity gain that i have to keep the level nearly off. and now it's started self-oscillating, which some of you would love but which i don't care for. the problem is that i love the sound more than anything else i can find in demos. i still don't know what to do with it. is it possible to fix it so it doesn't oscillate?

A buffered bypass pedal in front of the Tone Reaper may solve the oscillation problem, though it may also make it sound more sputtery. I'm basing my suggestion on how a Fuzz Factory and my Tonebender MkII clone behave.

I had a Wilson fuzz I used on some recordings. That sounded really good, but the size of the box had me try out the Basic Audio Scarab Deluxe... the scarab hasn't left my board since (3 years?). The bias knob on that thing is kick ass for dialing in gate, sputter, or sustain. I have also tried the EQD tone reaper and liked that one, but now I'm pretty hooked on a bender with more knobbies

i have an MJM Britbender that i absolutely love. it's an early one from the 90's: two-knobs, big box, label maker graphics. sounds incredible.

Fucking awesome^^^^

That's sweet!