John Hornby Skewes Zonk Machine

The John Hornby Skewes Zonk Machine is a British fuzz pedal made in Leeds, England, launched by the end of 1965 and built in very small numbers. Its circuit was almost identical to the Sola Sound Tone Bender MKI: three germanium transistors in a design tracing back to the Gibson Maestro Fuzz-Tone FZ-1 and the Tone Bender¹². Where the MKI wore a golden wedge, the Zonk Machine was painted a fashionable baby blue, and stompboxes.co.uk calls it "the freakier, weirder looking cousin to the Tone Bender MKI," ultra bright and searing³².

A brighter, weirder cousin of the Tone Bender MKI

The Zonk Machine sits squarely in the first wave of British fuzz. The Maestro FZ-1 inspired Gary Hurst's Tone Bender, which was modified to produce more sustain than its American counterpart, and the Zonk followed as one of the more famous MKI-influenced fuzz boxes⁷. Fuzzboxes.org notes that its circuit resembled Gibson's Maestro Fuzz-Tone, but the model was much more similar to the Tone Bender, likely its true inspiration⁵.

What set it apart was its character. Vintage Guitar magazine describes Ramskirr's design as providing "more boost and a slight but pleasing oscillation" compared with the MKI². Builders who have traced the circuit agree on its brightness: on the Guitar FX Layouts blog, Zach writes that "the Zonk is very bright," and suggests input capacitor values between .001uF and .01uF to tame it⁸. A verified PNP build documented on the blog used Q1: OC75 (~80 hfe), Q2: NKT275 'reissue' (~100 hfe), and Q3: OC75 (~80 hfe)⁸.

The enclosure told the same story of a budget cousin. TONEHOME describes the Zonk as only made in small numbers before the pedal was updated with a more modern, easier to produce unit, and not as heavy duty or robust as the MKI⁴. One unit examined by stompboxes.co.uk was Veroboard loaded, described as the first such unit its author had seen³.

Who designed it, and who built it

John Hornby Skewes, the Leeds firm behind the pedal, approached Charlie Ramskirr of Wilsic Electronics in Doncaster to build its new fuzz box⁶. Skewes recalled in 2015 that the Zonk Machine was designed by Charlie Ramskir, though Fuzzboxes.org treats that recollection as unreliable⁵. Either way, the Wilsic connection is consistent across the histories: the pedal carried the Hornby Skewes name, and the building happened in Doncaster⁶⁵.

The pedal ran on a 9 volt battery, like the Tone Bender⁵. Early examples had a battery clasp fastened to the main chassis, while later units had the clasp attached to the removable cover behind the controls⁵.

Versions of the Zonk Machine

Original Zonk Machines were built in at least three construction phases, and the parts changed along the way⁵:

Within the PCB version, earlier examples featured brown carbon composite resistors before Hornby Skewes started fitting yellow, likely Iskra, types⁵.

The pedal was then re-engineered as the Zonk Machine II in 1967, an extremely rare unit based on the Sola Sound MKI Tone Bender circuit⁹. Vintage Guitar reports that Skewes asked Wilsic Electronics to develop a less-expensive option². Where the original Zonk is very bright, the Zonk II is more stable, smoother, and less dark sounding than the Zonk Machine I⁹. Both the I and II were built in original PNP and original NPN layouts⁸⁹. The Zonk Machine I itself was made between 1965 and 1966 in Leeds⁸.

Why originals turn up in Canada

John Hornby Skewes was reported in Melody Maker in August 1966 to have been exporting fuzz boxes, and original Zonk Machines overwhelmingly resurface in Canada⁵. That export trail explains why so many surviving originals are found in North America rather than in the U.K.

The pedal's run ended in 1968. Fuzzboxes.org and the British Pedal Company both report that the Zonk Machine was discontinued after Ramskirr's death that year⁵⁶. Vintage Guitar adds that the products had had their day, with more sophisticated products from the U.K., Italy, and the U.S. appearing on the market². Production figures are small under every account: very few of the original units were produced between 1965 and 1968⁶, with other histories giving the span as 1965 to 1966¹⁸.

Players and reviewers

David Gilmour reportedly used a Zonk Machine during the early years of Pink Floyd, according to Tru-Fi's history of the pedal¹⁰. On That Pedal Show, in an interview with Guitar World, Mick Taylor named it his pick as the greatest fuzz pedal after the FZ-1:

MusicRadar, covering 2024's fuzz pedal releases, noted that the original Zonk Machine "was produced for a short period between 1965 and '66, yet became something of a legend in the world of fuzzboxes," famous for its bright fuzz¹².

Reissues

The Zonk Machine's circuit has been revived more than once:

• JHS: two of its own versions, a Vintage Series pedal in the larger wedge-style enclosure and one in its Compact Series¹².
• British Pedal Company: a Zonk Machine reissue made in England in 2013⁴.

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