# Canadian made Foxx Tone Machine clone???



## LowWatt (Jun 27, 2007)

Very simple, is there a Canadian pedal builder making a Foxx Tone Machine style pedal?


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

No, and no point either. The Danelectro French Toast is an exact clone, and costs peanuts. How can the danelectro pedal be an exact clone? Easy. The guy who now runs/owns Danelectro used to run Foxx.

But that being said, you desire to purchase a Canadian product *first* is commendable.:smilie_flagge17:


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## LowWatt (Jun 27, 2007)

mhammer said:


> No, and no point either. The Danelectro French Toast is an exact clone, and costs peanuts. How can the danelectro pedal be an exact clone? Easy. The guy who now runs/owns Danelectro used to run Foxx.
> 
> But that being said, you desire to purchase a Canadian product *first* is commendable.:smilie_flagge17:


Thanks. You should see my pedalboard ...MJM, Blackout Effectors, Dr. Scientist, Solid Gold FX, Diamond, and Empress, with some Retro-sonic hopefully in my future.

My issue with the Dano is that I want a pedal with a foot-switchable octave. I definitely want to be able to go straight grimey fuzz and then stomp on the octave to bring it over the top. Looking at the Fulltone Ultimate Octave and Retroman Wolf Machine so far. Both have a second stomp for the octave. Still, if I can keep it Canadian and make no sacrifices on tone and quality, I will.


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## Ti-Ron (Mar 21, 2007)

Is MJM is Canadian??


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

LowWatt said:


> Thanks. You should see my pedalboard ...MJM, Blackout Effectors, Dr. Scientist, Solid Gold FX, Diamond, and Empress, with some Retro-sonic hopefully in my future.
> 
> My issue with the Dano is that I want a pedal with a foot-switchable octave. I definitely want to be able to go straight grimey fuzz and then stomp on the octave to bring it over the top. Looking at the Fulltone Ultimate Octave and Retroman Wolf Machine so far. Both have a second stomp for the octave. Still, if I can keep it Canadian and make no sacrifices on tone and quality, I will.


Well, if it means that much to you, buy a Danelectro French Toast and hire someone locally to re-install it into a different chassis with the extra stompswitch. Might even cost you less than buying a boutique version.


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## LowWatt (Jun 27, 2007)

mhammer said:


> Well, if it means that much to you, buy a Danelectro French Toast and hire someone locally to re-install it into a different chassis with the extra stompswitch. Might even cost you less than buying a boutique version.


I'm confident enough with a sodlering iron that it might be a cheap experiment to do myself.


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## LowWatt (Jun 27, 2007)

Ti-Ron said:


> Is MJM is Canadian??


He is, but to the best of my knowledge he doesn't make a Tone Machine style pedal.


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## Voxguy76 (Aug 23, 2006)

I have a Dano French Toast. Great sounding pedal, but its built like a toy. Small, tiny, and all plastic. Would love to rehouse it in a proper case, but not sure if it would worth the cost.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I hasten to remind folks that almost ANY pedal that uses a momentary switch for bypassing (Dano, Boss, DOD, Yamaha, Ibanez, etc) can be easily adapted to remote switching with some form of switch you find easier to aim at, positioned more conveniently, and more resistant to your intoxicated Doc Maarten bashing. One of these days, I should do a photo-tutorial on how to do it.

The advantage of this approach is that it doesn't have to deface the original pedal much (just a small hole for a mini phone jack), leaves the original absolutely 100% functional on its own, and lets a secondary bypass switch be placed in a fashion you prefer, or even that others (e.g., sound man) can operate for you while you're busy with other stuff.


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

forgive me for bringing back this thread, lowwatt-
but did you end up doing anything with this pedal?
i ask because i bought one too-(first fuzz pedal ever, and ive been playing for 30 yrs lol)
i dont mind the box, but cant deal with the tiny knobs and switch.
fantastic sounding little thing however-
loving it.
thinking about trying this-
http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/content/view/50/26/


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I've made several for myself, one of which was purchased and (still) enjoyed by one of the members here. If you decide to go the GGG route, drop me a PM. I have several productive mods for it that expand the tonal possibilities, and actually "correct" an error in the original. 

Note that the GGG layout/board will not fit into a Hammond 1590B-style box, unless you rotate it 90 degrees (i.e., Z-Vex style, rather than MXR-style). You will likely need a 1590BB style, which should be available from many distributors in the region. The larger chassis will also permit use of a stompswitch for octave/no-octave, although my mods need to use a 3-way toggle.


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

mhammer said:


> I've made several for myself, one of which was purchased and (still) enjoyed by one of the members here. If you decide to go the GGG route, drop me a PM. I have several productive mods for it that expand the tonal possibilities, and actually "correct" an error in the original.


How does this pedal compare to the French Toast? I stupidly sold my Dano. I tried the Fullton UO but actually prefer the French Toast.

BTW, anychance you would be willing to rehouse a Dano for a fee?

TG


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

The board at GGG is no different than the original Foxx TM. The difference between it and the French Toast is that the FT uses electronic switching and the GGG board assumes a stompswitch. I'm of the view that each type of switching has their pros and cons, but certainly nothing is sonicly lost by using the one or the other.....at least not when we're in the realm of distortions. Do I know how it compares sound-wise? No. Never tried a French Toast. I only know that the guy who ran/owned Foxx now runs Danelectro and uses the same schematic (with the addition of electronic switching).

Optimal octaving comes about when the two half-signals being combined are in equal proportion. In the FTM and FT, the key components for doing that are labelled D1 /D2 in this diagram, and to a lesser extent , R9 and R10. Later issues of the UNivox Superfuzz (which used a related, but slightly different, means for generating octave doubling) came with a trimpot on the board for fine-tuning of the octaving to achieve perfect balance, but the Foxx never had anything like that. Consequently, unit-to-unit variations in octaving quality can arise from simple normal component tolerances.:









I made myself a clone of a Z-Vex Octane III recently (check out the Poindexter at the Madbean site: madbeanpedals.Home ), and it's essentially an improvement on the original Univox Superfuzz, with a decidedly stronger octave-up. Not *quite* as robust an octave as the Foxx for my tastes, but certainly much more in that zone than the original.

As much as I'd love to be able to honour requests from folks who would like to have pedals rehoused, and such, I have such a long backlog of things I owe people, and projects I keep meaning to get to, that it is unwise of me to take on yet more promises I can't keep.


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## LowWatt (Jun 27, 2007)

fraser said:


> forgive me for bringing back this thread, lowwatt-
> but did you end up doing anything with this pedal?
> i ask because i bought one too-(first fuzz pedal ever, and ive been playing for 30 yrs lol)
> i dont mind the box, but cant deal with the tiny knobs and switch.
> ...


I ended up getting an Octron for a good deal from a member here and that in combination with my Dr. Scientist Frazz Dazzler gives me enough of what I was hoping for with the Foxx clone (and many more options) that I never considered grabbing anything else.


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## fraser (Feb 24, 2007)

> I've made several for myself, one of which was purchased and (still) enjoyed by one of the members here. If you decide to go the GGG route, drop me a PM. I have several productive mods for it that expand the tonal possibilities, and actually "correct" an error in the original.
> 
> Note that the GGG layout/board will not fit into a Hammond 1590B-style box, unless you rotate it 90 degrees (i.e., Z-Vex style, rather than MXR-style). You will likely need a 1590BB style, which should be available from many distributors in the region. The larger chassis will also permit use of a stompswitch for octave/no-octave, although my mods need to use a 3-way toggle.


thanks for that info mark-
if i do go the ggg route, ill definately pm you about that.
im kinda up in the air about it. id like to rehouse it, but since im liking it so much, i think i should get another just in case. then i figure why not get the kit. 
and then i think, i should get something a bit different.
bah, theres too many options.
i do like the french toast though, very much.
all kinds of good fuzz, right up to a great screaming mess- then hit the octave, punch in the crybaby, and im piloting some crazy space machine. how come i never thought that would be fun? people used to give me fuzz boxes and id give them away again without even trying them. geez.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

It is a simple matter to install a jack for remote switching of Dano and other pedals that use momentaries. It lets you stick the pedal where it makes sense, and stick the stompswitches where THEY make sense. For pedals that are less gig-friendly, like Dano, Rocktek, et al., it lets you keep the sound you like without having to rehouse.


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