MichaelW
Well-known member
- Build Rating
This one I built because it's such a rare pedal. Much like the Dan Coggin's Tube Bender (PPCB Pipestretcher).
The Tube Bender was Dan's pedal that was supposed to be a cross between a Tube Screamer and Tone Bender. (Although circuit wise it doesn't really have much to do with either, except maybe the transistor based gain part).
The OPA-101 was Dan's update to the Tube Bender, and like the Tube Bender is extremely rare as only a handful were actually made (like 150 or so).
While the Tube Bender is an all discrete circuit, the OPA-101 uses an opamp stages for input and output buffer.
The middle gain stages remain transistor based and is the same as the Tube Bender. Hence they sound very similar.
Aion's take on it adds an available mod for a bit more gain and output, which I did.
Aion, also added a Tone control instead of a fixed resistor. However, I found that I liked it best with the tone control set to the stock position.
So I kinda feel the same about this as I did the Tube Bender. It's really neither a TS or a Fuzz although the gain can get a bit fuzzy.
I'm also not hearing that mid-hump of a YATS.
Having said that, it's a cool overdrive with some fuzzy qualities. I liked it the best set with the tone control on the warmer side and the gain below 10 o'clock.
The gain can sound a bit harsh to me when it's cranked higher.
Interesting pedal and piece of Dan Coggins history.
Like most Aion builds that have a buffered bypass, Kevin usually puts this on a switch so you can toggle between True Bypass and Buffered Bypass.
I've never touched that switch on any of the Aion builds that have used them.
So I just hardwired this one to Buffered Bypass.
The Tube Bender was Dan's pedal that was supposed to be a cross between a Tube Screamer and Tone Bender. (Although circuit wise it doesn't really have much to do with either, except maybe the transistor based gain part).
The OPA-101 was Dan's update to the Tube Bender, and like the Tube Bender is extremely rare as only a handful were actually made (like 150 or so).
While the Tube Bender is an all discrete circuit, the OPA-101 uses an opamp stages for input and output buffer.
The middle gain stages remain transistor based and is the same as the Tube Bender. Hence they sound very similar.
Aion's take on it adds an available mod for a bit more gain and output, which I did.
Aion, also added a Tone control instead of a fixed resistor. However, I found that I liked it best with the tone control set to the stock position.
So I kinda feel the same about this as I did the Tube Bender. It's really neither a TS or a Fuzz although the gain can get a bit fuzzy.
I'm also not hearing that mid-hump of a YATS.
Having said that, it's a cool overdrive with some fuzzy qualities. I liked it the best set with the tone control on the warmer side and the gain below 10 o'clock.
The gain can sound a bit harsh to me when it's cranked higher.
Interesting pedal and piece of Dan Coggins history.
Like most Aion builds that have a buffered bypass, Kevin usually puts this on a switch so you can toggle between True Bypass and Buffered Bypass.
I've never touched that switch on any of the Aion builds that have used them.
So I just hardwired this one to Buffered Bypass.
