MAGNETIC
EFFECTS
SOLAR BENDER V2
REVIEW BY FLETCHER STEWART
STREET PRICE $155.00
IT’S HIGH-SWOON
ON MY SUNDIALS
Ah yes . . . yet another
pretty face from Christian
Livingstone, my favorite
London pedal builder.
Now, one might think that
I am a bit biased toward
his creations at this stage,
and one would be right
in suspecting my ability
to remain objective in
reviewing my friend’s work,
but I assure everyone that
Christian has a very keen ear
for fuzz. I’ve said it before
that I attribute his ability
to create usable flexible
fuzz circuits to his years—
and ears—of experience
on big stages and studios.
Christian was rocking
58
GEAR REVIEW
//
professionally before the
boutique boom, so he knew
all the issues to resolve in
vintage fuzz circuits before
he even started engineering
his own gear.
wider from low-to-high
in comparison with other
Benders I have been on.
Speaking of engineering,
this new Solar Bender has
been fine-tuned so much
that it can now be classified
as an original Magnetic
Effects circuit. The fabled
Tone Bender MKII now acts
as a spiritual guide for this
new evolution of Bender.
Buffer-friendly response,
temperature stability and an
external Bias knob are the
utilitarian upgrades, but the
musical midrange has been
re-voiced and the sound
spectrum sounds much
I must admit that I love all
the tones on classic records
achieved with the old MKII,
but I have always wondered
why so many cloners insist
on remaining faithful to
the old circuit. There are
so many potential pitfalls
in that design—a volume
drop upon engagement,
extreme low-end cut and
inconsistent tone dialing has
plagued every variant I have
played and owned until
now. The oldies have been
undermined.
Magnetic Effects Solar Bender V2
THE RISING SUN OF
RA—DAWN OF THE
HARMONICS