Ramble FX Twin Bender UNProfessional Mk II / I.V Fuzz

The Ramble FX Twin Bender UNProfessional Mk II / I.V is a fuzz pedal that puts two classic Tone Bender voices in a single enclosure. Where the vintage Sola Sound pedals it draws on had just two controls, the Twin Bender adds a Bias knob, an input impedance control called Impede, and two toggle switches, one for the circuit mode and one for EQ. Pedal of the Day called it "a brilliant effect to have if you want to conjure up some vintage sounds"¹.

Two Tone Bender voices in one pedal

The heart of the pedal is a two-way toggle that Delicious Audio sums up as making it "two 'Benders in one"². The Mk II side is based on the same circuit as Sola Sound's Tone Bender MKII Professional, the pedal that Jimmy Page and many others used, according to Delicious Audio². The Mk I.V side uses only two of the three transistors and therefore does not reach the later version's extreme fuzziness². Pedal of the Day puts the same split in player's terms: Mk I.V uses two transistors and produces less fuzz, while Mk II uses three transistors for massive amounts of fuzz and sustain¹.

Because the pedal uses NOS germanium transistors and premium capacitors, Pedal of the Day found it "able to accurately reproduce two of the most beloved and popular fuzz tones ever created"¹. Delicious Audio, profiling the pedal amid fresh interest in Tone Bender clones, described it as having "a long list of features that make it the most versatile and user friendly Tone Bender available"².

The controls

The original Tone Bender, as Delicious Audio's buying guide notes, "had just two controls: level and attack, or fuzz"³. The Twin Bender keeps those and adds more:

Bias. Beyond the sputtering effect at low settings, Pedal of the Day explains that the Bias knob "aims to recreate the variations in fuzz and tone from the original units, as temperature would greatly affect the germanium transistors"¹. In the buying guide, Delicious Audio notes the bias knob "can starve the voltage" alongside the impedance control that lets the pedal sit anywhere in your chain³.

Impede. Germanium fuzzes are famously picky about what feeds them. Impede changes the pedal's impedance by adding resistance at the input, which "helps to restore tone that may be lost by a buffer or wah," according to Pedal of the Day¹. Delicious Audio frames it as allowing the Twin Bender to be used after a wah, buffer, wireless and so on, something the original circuit does not allow².

The EQ toggle. The second three-way switch alters the tone: FAT for enhanced bass frequencies, MIDS for enhanced mids, or STOCK for the pedal's stock voice¹. Delicious Audio describes the same switch as offering two extra EQ flavors, a Mid boost and a Fat option, with the center position delivering the stock tone².

What reviewers and players have shown

Pete Thorn demoed the pedal on his YouTube channel in 2016, introducing it as a "Twin Bender uh from Rambo Effects fuzz pedal"⁴. The demo walks through both modes and the pedal's range of vintage fuzz textures.

!Pete Thorn demos the Ramble FX Twin Bender⁴

Where it sits among Tone Benders

Delicious Audio's buying guide on Tone Bender pedals lists the Twin Bender among the options built on the Mark 1.5 and Mark 2 iterations of the circuit, crediting its impedance control with letting the pedal be placed anywhere in your chain³⁵. For a player deciding between a straight two-knob replica and something more flexible, the Twin Bender's pitch is simple: the same germanium Tone Bender voices, with the Bias, Impede and EQ controls that the originals never had²¹.

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