Boss partners with Sola Sound to reinvent the Tone Bender with the Waza Craft TB-2

Boss has finally lifted the veil on the mysterious Waza Craft pedal it’s been teasing since last month, and the result is something nobody expected – a recreation of the iconic 60s Tone Bender Mk II fuzz pedal called the Waza Craft Tone Bender TB-2W, designed in collaboration with Sola Sound.

Designed by Gary Hurst and sold through Macari’s Musical Exchange shops, the original Sola Sound Tone Bender is one of the most important guitar pedals ever made, with the circuit (based on a Maestro Fuzz-Tone) being used as the basis for the Vox Tone Bender, Dallas Arbiter Fuzz Face, Dallas Rangemaster and more.

The Mk II version is the cream of the crop, however – Jimmy Page got one in 1965 and the Tone Bender became an essential component of the early Led Zeppelin records, while it and identical units made for other brands (including Marshall’s SupaFuzz) featured on scores of other iconic songs during the period.

The TB-2W Tone Bender is described as an “authentic sonic recreation” of that legendary pedal, created in collaboration with the modern Sola Sound, which is still owned by Macari’s, and has been producing painstakingly accurate high-end recreations of the company’s original pedals for over a decade.

The TB-2W references a “masterpiece” Tone Bender MK II from Sola Sound’s archives, and visually tips its hat to the Mk II with the same silver textured finish to the classic compact pedal enclosure, plus chicken-head knobs and the same script livery as on the original.

The TB-2W will be available in a limited production run; with each unit featuring rare germanium transistors “carefully tested for optimum tone” as well as a three-way voltage selector, true/buffered bypass operation options and a “refined circuit design” for ultra-consistent performance between pedals.

This isn’t the first time that Boss has collaborated with a boutique pedal company – back in 2017 the Japanese giant teamed up with JHS to produce the Angry Driver in celebration of its 40th anniversary – but this is the first time that a collab has happened under the brand’s high-end Waza Craft banner.

Already, the guitar playing world has reacted with immense surprise to the Waza Craft Tone Bender; many were expecting the pedal to be a Waza edition of the FZ-2 Hyperfuzz. Previous Waza incarnations have been high-end reinterpretations of classic Boss pedals, so doing a vintage recreation of another brand’s pedal in a Compact Pedal enclosure is quite the departure.

“Well. I honestly did not see that coming,” The Tone Mob wrote in an Instagram post. “But I’m here for it. Let’s get weird and fuzzy good people.”

Popular guitar podcast 60 Cycle Hum added, “A Waza tone bender. That’s pretty wild.”

More information on the pedal is set to be revealed, but Boss have announced that it will become available in Q2 of 2021, keep an eye on Guitar.com for all the information as it becomes available.

Learn more at Boss.info

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