Reeves Electro Z1 chases MK1 Zonk bite on NOS silicon
A hand-built UK fuzz that rebuilds the three-transistor MK1 Zonk Machine on matched NOS BC108C silicon, with a bias-style Attack and a Zonk/Thick toggle.
A matched set of new-old-stock Mullard/Philips BC108C transistors sits where the germanium used to be. The Z1 from Reeves Electro is the workshop's homage to the John Hornby Skewes MK1 Zonk Machine, which the maker calls a close cousin of the MK1 Tone Bender, and it keeps the original three-transistor MK1 Zonk circuit with a couple of extra components added.
Temperature is the stated reason for the swap. Reeves Electro says the silicon build holds that cutting MK1 tone at any ambient temperature, where hot germanium units can turn farty, and argues that with carefully chosen and measured parts the gap between silicon and germanium in this circuit is far subtler than most players expect. Don't confuse it with the two-transistor MK2 Zonk, either. That one already lives in the range as the ZO.
The panel goes further than a stock layout. Swell is volume, and there is a lot of it. Attack behaves more like a bias control: back it off for less compression and a more dynamic feel into a gainy amp, or push it past noon for an increasingly crumbly decay. Sensitivity sets how subtle or aggressive the crackle at the front of each note gets, the primitive gate the original circuit is known for. A Zonk/Thick toggle picks between a bass-cut Zonk voice and a fatter MK1 tone.
The big enclosure is on purpose. Pack the parts and leads too tightly, the maker explains, and the circuit turns to noise and sizzle. Inside are Alpha pots, JB capacitors and Lumberg jacks on a vintage-style brown phenolic board, with power through a Boss-style 2.1 mm centre-negative DC jack. Acid etching leaves each box with its own gunmetal patina, and every unit gets played through a Telecaster before it leaves the garden workshop in Northamptonshire.
Reeves Electro builds in small batches of 10 or 20 pedals, and the Z1 currently shows as sold out on the Reeves Electro Z1 product page. New batch dates go out through the workshop's mailing list.
Video: Reeves Electro Guitar Pedals, “Z1 - Zonk Machine MK1 - Walkthrough and Comparison”.
