Over the course of 2019, SolidGoldFX teased and tweaked a new pedal that packs two different Tone Bender–style fuzz circuits into one stompbox. Today, that pedal—the Communication Breakdown—is finally released, and available exclusively on Reverb.
Original Tone Bender fuzzes came in a few variations throughout the late '60s and early '70s, and were used by the likes of Mick Ronson (while he was lead guitarist in David Bowie's Spiders from Mars), Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. Its rich saturation provided something of a secret weapon for the guitar tones Page achieved on Led Zeppelin's first two records.
Taking its name from the Led Zeppelin track, the SolidGoldFX Communication Breakdown offers that same snarling tone heard on Page's lead—and lets you double up with a slightly more modern Tone-Bending fuzz as well, if you feel so inclined.
According to SolidGoldFX: "Fuzz A is born out of the fire and flames of the rare Tone Bender MK1.5 [an unofficial name for the vintage variation that appeared between the MKI and MKII], but brings it into the modern era by using hotter silicon transistors than the original. This results in a wide range of extremely powerful yet refined fuzz tones."
The straight vintage tone can be found on Fuzz B. "Fuzz B, on the other hand, takes a page (see what we did there) from the book of the classic Tonebender MKII, and preserves everything good and great about that snarling, saturated, and compressed box of fuzzy wonder," SolidGoldFX says. "But as an extra bonus, we added our JFET pre-amp to the equation in order to breathe more stability and tonal clarity into this legendary circuit."
With each of the two fuzz circuits controlled by its own independent footswitch, switches, and knobs, you can find the exact mix of screaming frequencies that sounds best to your ears.
The Communication Breakdown is available now on Reverb. Click here to order yours.