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Benson Amps Stonk Box - Automatic Thermally Biased Fuzz Effects Pedal
Distortion & Gain
South
2 in stock.
North
Out of stock
STONK BOX
Like the Germanium Fuzz before it, the Stonk Box attempts to take a classic 1960’s fuzz design, and bring the sound into the modern world without bringing any along the flaws and inconsistencies of the original. In this case, the MK1 fuzz (which is itself a modified version of the very first fuzz ever). The original controls have been kept (FILTER and VOLUME), and new controls added (TONE and TRIM) to expand the palette of sounds available.
The Stonk Box is Benson's second Automatic Thermally Bias fuzz pedal. After plugging it into power (9vdc only), it will take 2-3 minutes on average to sound correct. The color of the LED indicator light might change. Don’t turn the internal trimmer. THAT’S IT. The Stonk Box is also buffer and pedal order friendly.
The bias of the transistors in this pedal is automatically regulated by a circuit that GENTLY warms the Germanium transistors (2N404 OR 2N527) to a preset operating point using analog components, and ensures a consistent sound, no matter the external temperature. When the LED is amber, the transistors are warming up to increase their hFE (transistor gain) and to shift the bias point to the correct voltage. When the LED turns green, the warmer is off because the correct bias and hFE have been set. Expect the LED to toggle back and forth every so often while the pedal is on...that is how you know its working. The heaters will warm the transistors enough to still be effective on a summer stage, but far cooler than anything that would harm the transistors. This pedal is designed to operate between freezing and 100F but might still sound fine outside this range....up to about 120F where germanium straight up ceases to function...which can happen if it’s left in the sun.
Controls:
TRIM
Trim is a gain control right before the two amplifying germanium transistors...turned all the way up is how the stock design is all the time.
FILTER
Filter manipulates both the gain and the bias point of the first gain stage. When turned down it will take away gain, bass frequency response, and will bring in to a gentle dynamic expander type effect (where quiet notes will be quieter than normal, the opposite of a compressor) TRIM and FILTER are interactive and there are many different flavors of fuzz and distortion to dial in. This pedal will not clean all the way up, even at low trim volumes there will be some distortion (in a nice way). This control will crackle a bit when turned, since there is some DC across it.
TONE
Tone is a low pass filter at the end of the circuit, carefully designed to act almost like a tilt EQ to balance the bright attack and full body of the sound, made possible by the original circuit being WAY brighter than the bypassed guitar signal.
VOLUME
Volume is the output level...which is increased many orders of magnitude from the original, so you can push the front end of your amp into sonic madness (if you want).
| Model: | STONKBOX |
| Manufacturer: | Benson |
