IN STOCK (Limited availability)

Reuss Copenhagen Bender

Stylish and beautiful sounding tonebender mark 1.5 based germanium fuzz-box

Sounding somewhere in-between the mellow softness of a good germanium Fuzz Face and the big, strong fuzztone of a vintage Tonebender mark II, this is the Copenhagen Bender.

The pedal is based on the much sought-after vintage sixties two-transistor tonebender mark 1.5.

I am building the Copenhagen Benders with a pair of carefully selected and matched US made KRC brand vintage new old stock OC140 germanium transistors, which are the NPN equivalents to the PNP OC75/OC81 used in vintage original pedals.

The sound is 100% vintage authentic, and the NPN properties of the transistors makes it possible to power the, otherwise unmodified, circuit with modern, negative ground polarity. This is a big advantage over vintage original pedals, which can be tricky to integrate in a modern pedalboard because of their reverse power polarity (positive ground).

OC140 NPN germanium transistors are VERY expensive parts, costing more than 10 EUR/each at suppliers, if available at all. This is why you don't see them in other boutique pedals. Too expensive. PNP germanium transistors are much cheaper and easily available.

Only 25 pedals in the first batch!

Here's the Copenhagen Bender in a demo by Budda Guedes, comparing it to the Reuss Germanium Bender and Purple Faze pedals:

Reuss Copenhagen Bender features and specifications:

• True to vintage circuit based on the 1960s tonebender mark 1.5
  
• Carefully matched vintage new old stock OC140 germanium transistors*
  
• Extremely high build quality. Completely handmade in the European Union
• No SMD parts. Only vintage-style ’through hole’ construction
• Compact aluminium enclosure in a white/gold "vein"powder coat finish with silk screen printed graphics
  
• High quality Neutrik jacks,
  
• Upgrade quality footswitch (good for at least 50000 stomps)
• Runs on a standard ’Boss-style’ 9V DC 'negative centre' guitar pedal power supply or a 9V battery. Please note that due to the pedal's true-to-vintage circuit, modern 'switch mode' power supplies (SMPS) can induce a high pitched noise to the sound. I recommend using an old fashioned 'linear' power supply or a battery
  
• 24 months warranty against manufacturing faults
• Packed in a cardboard box and linen draw-string bag
• Fast worldwide shipping via DHL Express from Denmark. Your pedal is only few days away, no matter where you live.

Download the Copenhagen Bender manual here

Please note: Being a vintage circuit, the fuzz wants to see a high impedance input signal to sound correct. Any low impedance signal from a buffered bypass pedal (like a Boss or Ibanez or similar type) will make the fuzz sound wrong. It will loose punch and fullness and sound thin and fizzy. Not as intended. Always put a vintage fuzz-circuit (tone benders, fuzzfaces etc.) first in your chain.

ALSO PLEASE NOTE: Prices at the webshop are listed without VAT. For customers in the European Union 25% VAT is added at check-out.

*EU-customers please note: Your pedal ships with the OC140 germanium transistors removed. These parts sits in sockets, and you’ll be receiving them separately to install yourself. This is in order to ship a product which complies with EU environmental regulations (CE-marking/RoHS compliance).