Demarco Bassbender. Can someone build me one??

[cluster]

Hello fellow FuzzHeads, I just tried a Demarco Bassbender today and loved it. It's supposed to be a Supa Fuzz close and it sounded amazing. It uses OC107 transistors instead of AC75s. Here is a gut shot. I know Demarco is deceased so he won't be building anymore. I'm wondering if there is someone out there that could build me one??

Demarco Bassbender

[devnulljp]

Supa Fuzz is essentially a MkII Tone Bender.
I'd talk to Ian Sherwen/Ghost, he'll sort you out.

[eatyourguitar]

OC107 transistors

I see an AC107 in the photo you posted

[cluster]

OC107 transistors

I see an AC107 in the photo you posted

Your right. I meant AC107 and not OC107.

[whoismarykelly]

That looks to be a straight up Supa Fuzz circuit with the exception of the two right-most greenies in the picture. I haven't used those caps in a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG time but based on the sizes and what I remember, the 100nf in a stock Supa Fuzz is either 220nf or 470nf there and the output cap looks to be more like the 100nf size.

The cap to roll off highs on the input is the stock MKII value of 10nf. Those aren't normally found on Supa Fuzzes except for the very early models. Primarily that cap rolls off high end white noise and Marshall did away with it in the later models. Probably just to reduce costs or add a bit of brightness since their amps are relatively dark.

So basically build a stock Supa Fuzz and change the 100nf coupling cap to a 220nf and the 10nf output cap to a 100nf and you should be good to go. I doubt the transistors make a huge difference. I imagine they are just what DeMarco had on hand at the time.

Edit - if you are looking for someone else to build you a similar pedal send me an email - montgomeryappliances@gmail.com

[eatyourguitar]

I have those exact caps from tayda. it looks like 470n and 47n. I think the one on the left is 22n or 33n. I'm pretty confident in those guesses.

[Scruffie]

I have those exact caps from tayda. it looks like 470n and 47n. I think the one on the left is 22n or 33n. I'm pretty confident in those guesses.

The left one says 103... 10n

And they're just mylar caps, I have mylar caps in that size that are 220n, 470n etc. and if we're just going by size, the one on the right is smaller than my 47ns from that range so it'd probably be a 22 or 33n, but this is just speculative, mylar caps come in lots of sizes and values.

[Jero]

It uses OC107 transistors instead of AC75s.

At this point it doesn't matter, but those prefixes should be switched I believe

Based on the caps I have used, you guys are right on with the values...22, 47

[cluster]

I emailed Michael at MJM in Montreal (the guy who makes the MJM fuzz boxes) and he said that the AC107s are obsolete but could be replaced with OC81s. I also asked if he could build me one, but he quoted me a price that was out of my range. I believe these originally sold for under $200. One thing I noticed about this pedal when I played it is that it cleaned up with the guitar volume much better than any MKII Tone Bender I played before. MKII don't clean up that well. I have a MKII with OC81Ds that cleans up better that the OC75s. It's like that total out of control fuzz tone comes on just in the last 10% turn of guitar volume. Could that be attributed to the type of transistor used or is it in the circuit design??

[Scruffie]

I emailed Michael at MJM in Montreal (the guy who makes the MJM fuzz boxes) and he said that the AC107s are obsolete but could be replaced with OC81s. I also asked if he could build me one, but he quoted me a price that was out of my range. I believe these originally sold for under $200. One thing I noticed about this pedal when I played it is that it cleaned up with the guitar volume much better than any MKII Tone Bender I played before. MKII don't clean up that well. I have a MKII with OC81Ds that cleans up better that the OC75s. It's like that total out of control fuzz tone comes on just in the last 10% turn of guitar volume. Could that be attributed to the type of transistor used or is it in the circuit design??

That's less the transistor type and more the transistor hFes, leakage, matching & biasing, you gotta work on Tone Bender MkIIs to get the best out of them, each stage reacts differently to what's put in it and all the stages work differently together would be the best way I can describe it.

So yeah... just takes time, work and patience to get a good one.

[whoismarykelly]

I have those exact caps from tayda. it looks like 470n and 47n. I think the one on the left is 22n or 33n. I'm pretty confident in those guesses.

The left one says 103... 10n

And they're just mylar caps, I have mylar caps in that size that are 220n, 470n etc. and if we're just going by size, the one on the right is smaller than my 47ns from that range so it'd probably be a 22 or 33n, but this is just speculative, mylar caps come in lots of sizes and values.

I was basing my guesses on knowing that specific brand and line of film caps. They are all different sizes based on value.

[whoismarykelly]

I emailed Michael at MJM in Montreal (the guy who makes the MJM fuzz boxes) and he said that the AC107s are obsolete but could be replaced with OC81s. I also asked if he could build me one, but he quoted me a price that was out of my range. I believe these originally sold for under $200. One thing I noticed about this pedal when I played it is that it cleaned up with the guitar volume much better than any MKII Tone Bender I played before. MKII don't clean up that well. I have a MKII with OC81Ds that cleans up better that the OC75s. It's like that total out of control fuzz tone comes on just in the last 10% turn of guitar volume. Could that be attributed to the type of transistor used or is it in the circuit design??

If you bias the second stage of the circuit properly and use transistors with the right gain and leakage values, you can get a MKII that cleans up extremely well. The specific model of transistor is unimportant compared to the gain and leakage values.

Edit - its also funny that MJM recommended that you choose to replace an obsolete part with ANOTHER obsolete part that is at least as difficult to find

[cluster]

I emailed Michael at MJM in Montreal (the guy who makes the MJM fuzz boxes) and he said that the AC107s are obsolete but could be replaced with OC81s. I also asked if he could build me one, but he quoted me a price that was out of my range. I believe these originally sold for under $200. One thing I noticed about this pedal when I played it is that it cleaned up with the guitar volume much better than any MKII Tone Bender I played before. MKII don't clean up that well. I have a MKII with OC81Ds that cleans up better that the OC75s. It's like that total out of control fuzz tone comes on just in the last 10% turn of guitar volume. Could that be attributed to the type of transistor used or is it in the circuit design??

If you bias the second stage of the circuit properly and use transistors with the right gain and leakage values, you can get a MKII that cleans up extremely well. The specific model of transistor is unimportant compared to the gain and leakage values.

Edit - its also funny that MJM recommended that you choose to replace an obsolete part with ANOTHER obsolete part that is at least as difficult to find

Maybe he has a secret stash...

[whoismarykelly]

That is always possible. I just dont think I've ever seen an MJM pedal with OC81s. Transistor model isn't of much consequence though. As long as you have good quality parts with good gain and leakage measurements the resulting pedal will sound awesome