MJM Guitar Effects Britbender

Simple pedal - it has just TWO knobs for attack (fuzz) and volume, a high quality switch to turn the effect on or off, an a/c adaptor input, 9 volt battery clip, input and output jacks. True bypass switching also.

This is an exact recreation of the heavy fuzz used in the mid to late 1960's by the British rockers. Les Paul or Tele into a Marshall amp is standard operating procedure for this pedal. No one else makes this pedal except MJM since Dick Denny of Colorsound has died, and Fuller only makes the later 3-knob version (early 1970's -Soulbender).
A 3-knob version with a tone control is also made by MJM.

Built very well, very solid.

Pleasant fellow up in Canada makes these pedals by hand, uses top shelf high quality parts, and builds pedals that look and sound great! His electronics have a pretty good vibe to them. Musictoyz.com and 30th Street Guitars in NYC (where I bought mine) carry his pedals.

Worth every penny since the Colorsound version sold for alot more money than this MJM pedal. This pedal is pretty raucous sounding, with aggressive tones that are heavy but still smooth and musical, fat and complex.
If you want more versatilty for playing chords and rhythm, then the 3-knob version with the tone control is the way to go since the 3-knob version is a little more tame, but if its pure unadulterated lead guitar you are after, if you want a box that you can step on to deliver authentic over the top tone lead tones, look no further. This is a traditional fuzz that uses 3 germanium transistors, its not an IC op-amp overdrive. Best way to use this pedal is to set your amp clean and loud to the point where the speakers break up if you strike the guitar strings hard- at that point when you step on this pedal it will overdrive your amp and smooth out the rough edges, giving you a musical tone. This pedal, this exact version will become a collectors item in the future as the entire analog technology, especially the use of Ge transistors, becomes obsolete in the face of digital modeling devices. Im all for analog and am stocking up on the best pedals currently available, which include the Maxon OD-808, Reverend Drivetrain, Banzai Cold Fusion, Austone Millenium Overdrive, and the Roger Mayer Spitfire and Axis fuzz pedals.

Ummm, gee? can it be any simpler to use? input-output-level-attack
seems simple enough for me.

Ahhh! now for the goodies. this pedal is AWESOME! for all the gain on tap it remains remarkably quiet. in fact, this pedal has way more gain than i'll ever need or most likely use - but the tone is SWEET!
for my particular setup(all Marshall - JTM45/50wt.Plexi/SL-X ...my three amigos!) i use the Brit primarily with the JTM45. this pedal allows me to work with my amp at lower volumes while maintaining great
tone! i have found that i have to really roll back on the guitars volume to make it work for me - it's just to blistering a pedal at full up. the sonic-print of the fuzz is definately old school ala Page/Beck ..... and with the help of my Marshall it throws me back some 25/30 years to when tone was tone boys and not all the oversaturated mush it has become with todays mosh-pits! this pedal grinds very nice and smoothly with it's fangs at an instant with the tweak of a volume knob. this pedal rocks but you got to know your stuff and have the feel for using something like this. if you just want to make rude over-da-top gritty-distorto tone ..... this pedal will do that for you too. but really now, this pedal is way better than to be used in that manner. this is a players pedal .... for those who are refined and know tone/feel/breath to a note. you can make one hell of a loud noise with this thing and drive people away -
or, you can make it sing baby if you have the soul for it. this pedal
is a keeper and sure to be an all time favorite by mature/disciplined
players.

Built very sturdy. I dig the hand craftmanship that went into this thing and the selection of components used - this revealed somebody's care and maturity as a player and as one who knows how to get to the end result.

N/A

I've been playing 25 years easily - i know gear and i know tone. this pedal lets me revisit my younger days as a teen learning all the
Led Zep i could handle and everything else that was early '70s. i always held a bias against fuzz pedals because i never really had one like those of my heros - what i could get my hands on was too far inferior .... so i wouldn't use'm. i really dig the thoughtfulness that went into the choosing of parts (carbon comp resistors, polycaps,
germanium transistor, etc,) this pedal was designed to deliver an authentic flashback in fuzz usage - it delivers the goods and then some! in short, a must have pedal for old schoolers who know taste, tone, and feel.

Two knobs, one for Fuzz attack and the other for level. Pretty darn easy. No LED.

I play a Les Paul or an old 67 reissue Stratocaster through a myriad of boxes into a Budda Stringmaster 4X10. I usually more of an overdrive guy, but I love this little box. It's great for fat, full lead tones. Roll back you guitars volume and it cleans up well. I have no problems nailing my own takes on Allman Brothers and Page tones. I also found like the way it interacts with humbuckers more than single coils. It doesn't sound bad with singles, it's that just it sounds GREAT with humbuckers. Very violinish. I heard a live recording of Jessica and was looking for something that had those kinds of tones in it. This does it for me. It's not very noisy at all, for a fuzz anyway.

I have had it for about 1 month, and don't own a backup. Looks like a solid piece of craftsmenship. Nice gold hammertone paint job on a very reliable looking case.

Here's the thing. I ordered it from www.musictoyz.com and it didn't come with a manual, or any papers except for my sales receipt. I have no idea how to contact Mike. I heard he is great about customer service, but I may never know. I tried searching for a site on the web and didn't find anything. I don't think I will need any help judging from the product, but it would be nice to have some contact info just in case.

I play any kind of rock music, and I dabble in blues. I think any rock solo that needs a fat smooth tone could benefit from this pedal. I've been playing about 9 years (I'm only 22) and this one of the best fuzz boxes I've heard. I have tried a few Fulltone boxes (Soulbender, 69, and 70), and this is way more pleasant sounding to my ears. I have never found a Fulltone box I liked anyway. I would buy it again if anything were to happen to it. The price isn't that bad either. Compared to some other crap selling for much more. Although it doesn't have an LED, it doesn't need one. You can tell when it's on by the great sound you are making. I don't think I'll take off a point over the manual/papers issue. It's no big deal. Maybe Mike or someone else will read this and let me know how to contact him. He builds awesome pedals either way. Gotta give em a 10.

Very easy to use. I was getting great sounds out of this pedal the moment I plugged in! I have the two-knob version, where the attack knob controls the intensity of the fuzz, and the level knob controls the signal volume output. There is a three-knob version of this pedal which has a tone control, but I chose this model because it is a sonic clone of the pedal Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck used in the late 1960's.

Sounds very intense- the attack knob varies the amount of fuzz from moderate to heavy. If you set the attack knob to minimum, and back off your guitar's volume control the sound cleans up nicely. The sound cleans up less dramatically at higher attack (fuzz) settings, but that is to be expected considering the huge amount of gain. This pedal is not noisy- I get no extra noise using my Gibson Les Paul Standard and a Marshall AVT 50 watt combo.
This pedal sounds tremendous- the lead guitar tones are searing hot, fat, sweet and smooth, with lots of sustain, not too much compression or mid-range boosting, a very well-balanced tone overall. I have the orange Roger Mayer Axis Fuzz and this MJM Britbender sounds better when I patched them up together and compared the two pedals. With chords and lead solos the Britbender sounded better than the Axis Fuzz. Chords ring clear enough to be used with the Britbender, much better sounding than my old Big Muff. The sound of my string bending and vibrato above the 10th fret was stunning. One of my friends said instantly that I sounded like Jimmy Page from the double live Led Zep album. This is the sound of the best 1960's fuzz units that were ever produced. I can easily get Hendrix and Allman Brothers tones as well as that punchy Jimmy Page/Led Zep sound. This Britbender has a lot of volume output and can be used to slam the pre-amp section of your amp and help push your amp's front end into overdriving. I have only tried this pedal out using my amp's clean channel, and it sounds awesome that way, but I suspect that if I lower this pedal's attack knob I can also use it to overdrive my amp's lead distortion channel.

This pedal is made from the finest components, the best switches and jacks, and should last a lifetime if you dont abuse your equipment. The on/off switch looks very good, very reliable.

Excellent- responds to e-mail questions within a day or two.

This is one of the best boutique fuzzes available, along with the Austone Textone and Roger Mayer Spitfire. I have been playing blues/rock for 20 years and have fallen in love with this pedal very quickly. If it were lost or stolen I would replace it immediately. This Britbender is better than the Roger Mayer Axis Fuzz, and most other fuzz pedals. I have retired my old original vintage Electro Harmonix Big Muff because its a piece of crap compared to this Britbender pedal.
The Britbender is not expensive considering that drummers spend 200 dollars on a single cymbal, and this pedal sounds alot better than their cymbal. I have analyzed all the fuzz pedals that are available from the 75 or so effects pedal manufacturers that exist, and have concluded that the pedals I listed above are among the very best available. To put my money where my mouth is I bought each of the pedals that I mentioned, and am completely satisfied with all of my purchases. Peace.