THE TONEBENDER Electronic Fuzz Unit.

The Year was 1965. The place - Macaris Musical Exchange, 22 Denmark Street in the heart of London where the new music scene was blossoming.

Guitarists were demanding a new sound from their amplifiers - a sound with more distortion and sustain. After listening to the views of regular customers Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend and a host of others the TONEBENDER MK I was designed and a few months later went into commercial production.

THE FUZZBOX WAS BORN.

MUSIC WOULD NEVER TO BE THE SAME AGAIN.

Indeed Larry and Joe Macari along with their designer Gary Hurst had created something that would revolutionize music. The MK I TONEBENDER was a simple affair made in a pressed steel case with two Vox style knobs - one controlling volume and the other the intensity of the fuzz. It sold for 14 guineas - £12.32 in today's money

THE TONEBENDER MK II

As the word spread, more and more groups began to want the new sound, and so production had to be modified and increased. A die cast metal case was produced and a more modem looking pedal made. By the beginning of 1967 THE PROFESSIONAL MK II was selling well and the TONEBENDER's list of endorsees was growing longer.
Also, other companies were becoming interested In the product and soon Sola Sound were making THE VOX TONEBENDER for Tom Jennings' company and THE MARSHALL FUZZ UNIT for Jim Marshall .

THE COLORSOUND TONEBENDFR

Such was the success of the MK II that by the end of 1967, it was decided that a full manufacturing facility should be set up to accommodate ever increasing demands.

On one fateful day in '67, in 'The Golden Egg' Restaurant (now a Deep Pan pizzeria) in Charing Cross Road, Larry and Joe sat down and decided to produce a range of effects pedals that would be called COLORSOUND. All the pedals would be different colors (an idea later mimicked by every fx co. worldwide), the range would be vast and they would be the top effects company in the world!

By 1972 the range had grown to include the famous COLORSOUND WAH-WAH (another story) plus other previously unheard of effects such as the DOPPLATONE, RING MODULATOR, OCTIVIDER and such classics as the WAH-FUZZ-SWELL,

OVERDRIVES, SUSTAlN and of course the new-look and now infamous TONEBENDER.

The COLORSOUND TONEBENDER was perhaps the most successful and certainly the most recognizable of all the TONEBENDERS made . It now boasted a tone control as well as the level and fuzz controls of the old MK II and the words HIT IT underneath the on/off switch. The HIT IT idea was soon to be dropped!

The Colorsound user list had now grown from its original five names to a huge inventory of bands and artists including JEFF BECK, JETHRO TULL, LED ZEPPELIN, SUPERTRAMP, ERIC CLAPTON, 10 C.C., GROUNDHOGS, ROLLING STONES, STATUS QUO, MOODY BLUES, FAIRPORT CONVENTION, STEVIE WONDER, THE BEATLES, SANTANA, WISHBONE ASH, PINK FLOYD, HAWKWIND, ROXY MUSIC, THE WHO, ALICE COOPER, ELTON JOHN, QUEEN, GRATEFUL DEAD, GENESIS and MARC BOLAN. Sola Sound had now grown from their humble beginnings, supplying custom built pedals to musicians, into a large company exporting to 48 different countries.

THE SUPA TONEBENDER and JUMBO TONEBENDER

In 1974 Sola Sound moved to bigger premises in Edgeware, the move coincided in the TONEBENDER becoming THE JUMBO TONEBENDER - this may sound exciting but it was basically a cosmetic change - the case was widened and the lettering changed from the old bright orange to a pale blue. This case was later to house THE SUPA TONEBENDER which did have a newly designed circuit giving it a richer sound with more sustain. These appeared around 1977 as the colorsound range reached its peak in diversity. The company now produced a larger array of pedals than any other manufacturer as well as a range of brightly colored microphones pick-ups, guitar amplifiers, p.a. systems, mixers, electric pianos, their famous curly guitar leads and other accessories.

The effects range now included TREMOLO, OVERDRIVER, OCTIVIDER, VOCALIZER, WAH-WAH, SUPA TONEBENDER, FLANGER, CHUCK-AWAH, V.C.F. ,WAH-FUZZ, WAH-FUZZ-SWELL, WAH-WAH SUPREMO, JUMBO TONEBENDER, SUPA SUSTAIN, DIPTHONIZER, RING MODULATOR, WAH-SWELL, ORGAN WAH-SWELL, PHAZEX, ELECTRO ECHO and FUZZ PHAZE .

THE CLOSURE OF THE EDGEWARE FACTORY

Colorsound have always been hand built: perhaps this factor, plus the over diversification, that led to the closing of the factory in the early eighties . Due to the changing trends in music and taste, the demand for the original 'get with it sound' began to decline and with it the production of the Colorsound Tonebender ceased.

The other side of the Macari business, however, was thriving. Their retail outlet, now at 122 Charing Cross Road, was breaking ground in the vintage guitar market and due to the great history behind the family had long since established itself as London's most famous Music Shop . And so, along with their friend Dick Denny (the designer of the VOX A(30)) The Macaris now joined by their sons Anthony and Steve continued production of their most salable pedal THE COLORSOUND WAH-WAH . Still totally hand sprayed, wired and assembled, the pedal sold steadily throughout the eighties and kept the Colorsound flag flying.

NOBODY EVEN DREAMED OF WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT

THE 1990s -

1989 saw another relocation of the Macan store. 92/94 Charing Cross Road became the seventh Macaris Musical Instrument shop, opposite what used to be 'The Golden Egg' where the Colorsound dream was hatched.

Being the sole agents for the COLORSOUND WAH WAH Ant and Steve could not help noticing the demand for the pedal once again growing, not slowly but in leaps and bounds. Production was stepped up and a WAH FUZZ was added to the new range and then . .........

THE COLOR.SOUND TONEBENDER 1994

In August of 1994, the first '94 COLORSOUND TONEBENDER arrived at Macaris. The new pedal looked and sounded exactly like the 1972 'orange print' pedal, but in the Jumbo case for ease of use. Since then, the demand for this pedal has been nothing less than phenomenal; once again Colorsound are in the export business as well as doing their best to satisfy the home market . Pedals are being used by the big names once again with pedals going to PAUL WELLER, PRINCE, ZZ TOP, LENNY KRAVITZ and SUEDE to name but a few.

THE TONEBENDER MK II 1995

Plans are afoot for the production of the old die cast TONEBENDER built for Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck . This should be ready by January 1995, will be a strictly limited issue and will carry a certificate of authenticity. In England, it will only be available from the Macari's shop .

THE FUTURE

Ant and Steve are busy collecting all the old Colorsound products together and going over them with a fine tooth comb. Anything Colorsound produced will always be handmade to give the original British 'get with it' sound . There are several projects on the drawing board which, at the time of writing, they are reluctant to unveil but let's look forward to once again hearing some of those supersounds of the sixties and seventies.'

The origin of this artice was Kiss My Amp