Boss TB-2W

The Boss TB-2W Tone Bender is a limited-edition fuzz pedal in Boss's premium Waza Craft series, built in collaboration with Sola Sound, the London firm that made the original Tone Bender pedals of the 1960s¹²³. Boss describes it as an authentic sonic recreation of the Tone Bender MK II, built with hand-selected, rare germanium transistors, a three-way voltage selector, and selectable true or buffered bypass⁴. The "TB" stands for Tone Bender and the "W" marks it as part of the Waza Craft line⁵.

Rather than simply copying a schematic, Boss went to the source. Working with Sola Sound, the engineers used a "masterpiece" Tone Bender MK II with serial number 500, taken from Sola Sound's own archive, as the benchmark reference for the pedal's tone⁶⁷. Premier Guitar reported that the template unit was picked from Ant Macari's personal collection of vintage pedals for its smooth-but-nasty character⁸.

A three-germanium-transistor Tone Bender MKII fuzz

The original Tone Bender MKII was a three-transistor fuzz circuit, and the TB-2W follows that topology with rare germanium transistors that Boss tested for optimum tone²⁶. Germanium transistors are the heart of the circuit and the reason the pedal was limited: Premier Guitar reported that the whole project hinged on a reliable source of germanium transistors with consistent, matched values, and that Boss engineer Ikegami and his crew sourced enough to reliably build 3,000 TB-2Ws⁸⁹. MusicRadar noted that circuit enthusiasts can presume the transistors are a trio of Mullard 0C81Ds as per the reference pedal, though this was never officially confirmed¹¹.

The pedal keeps the look of the original. Guitar.com described the same silver textured finish on Boss's classic compact pedal enclosure, chicken-head knobs, and the same script livery as the vintage Tone Benders², and Pedal of the Day noted Boss even matched the font used on the originals⁹. Gearnews reported that Boss used a refined circuit design for better consistency across the production series than hand-built originals could offer¹².

Controls are simple, in the spirit of the original:

The voltage switch

The three-way voltage selector is a Waza Craft addition the original never had. It simulates different battery voltages of 7V, 9V or 12V, giving three distinct tones⁹. Delicious Audio described the positions as 7V for starved, gated fuzz, the standard 9V, or 12V for more headroom¹³. Premier Guitar's reviewer found it adds dynamic range by emulating the tone variations of a fading battery versus a fresh supply⁸, and MusicRadar's roundup of standout stompboxes for 2021 described it as a way to add headroom or choke the fuzz for more extreme tones¹⁵.

History: Sola Sound's MKII No. 500 and the limited run

Sola Sound's Tone Bender MKII was most likely developed around mid-to-late 1966, as Sola Sound's successor to the earlier MK1.5 design¹⁶. The firm also manufactured the MKII circuit as an OEM for other companies, and built the Marshall Supa Fuzz at the same time as the Tone Bender MKII in England¹⁶¹⁷. Fuzzboxes.org documents several versions of the Sola Sound-branded MKII, including 1966 MK1.5 conversions and "short board" units, 1966 to 1968 conventional "large board" units, and a two-transistor 1966 variant¹⁶.

The TB-2W was announced in December 2020¹²¹², with Boss stating availability in Q2 2021¹, and Gearnews reporting it would physically ship from early May 2021¹². The production run was limited by the availability of the germanium components¹, and only 3,000 units were made⁸⁹. Boss's later FZ-1W Fuzz grew out of the same work: Boss says that while developing the limited-run TB-2W Tone Bender, it explored and analyzed many vintage fuzz pedals¹⁸.

What reviewers said

Premier Guitar's reviewer found the TB-2W exceptionally well behaved for a classic three-germanium-transistor fuzz, writing that "for a classic three-germanium-transistor fuzz, it generates copious gain"⁸. Their verdict:

Pedal of the Day was even more effusive, calling it "possibly the finest Tone Bender recreation EVER" and crediting Boss with solving problems the originals had, including power supply considerations and resistance to environmental changes⁹. They described a smooth, musical tone that responds to playing dynamics and guitar volume⁹.

JHS Pedals took a more measured view in its assessment of high-priced fuzz pedals, scoring the TB-2W 4 out of 8 on its checklist⁵:

JHS noted that the sound can be replicated by other pedals for $100 to $200, so the price is driven by rarity as much as tone⁵. Premier Guitar also observed that at $349 there was no shortage of competition from good Tone Bender clones⁸.

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