Feedback & Reviews

Here are just a few of the great things people have been saying about Williams Pedals. I hope you find some of these reviews useful when deciding on a pedal.

Review of Supa Tone - received by email 12/2011

Nick, how can I ever thank you enough. Your Supa Tone sounds better than my original ever did.  There are so many sounds and tones hidden in that box. I have spent a large portion of the day trying out Strat's, Les Paul's, Tele's and  a 335 through an AC-30, '60's Bass Man and three little Gibson Amps from the early '60's and all combinations sound fabulous.  The Supa works  really well in front of a clean amp, but it is truly exceptional when the amp is  overdriven .  The little Gibbo's with the Les Paul sound like a wall Marshalls at a reasonable volume. I am just so impressed.

Review of Vintage Tone MK11 OC81 Classic and Williams FZ-1 Fuzz Tone - received by email 06/2011

"Hi Nick.......... WHERE can I write a review of this incredible, incredible pedal? Infinite sustain. Sweet harmonic overtones. Smoothness when you want it and snarl when you need it. A lot of pedals just thin out when you back off the guitar volume. But this pedal just takes it up a notch for all of us Jimmy page wannabees. Backing off the volume makes the pedal downright nasty. As in Led Zep nasty. I have four different Stratocasters and a Les Paul Custom. My amps are a Mesa MK IV, Fender deVille Tweed with 4 x 10’s, and my newest addition a limited edition Deluxe Reverb Reissue with Alnico Jensen. No matter which combination that I use, the pedal growls, snarls, spits and mauls. It truly is all that you promised it would be. The workmanship, materials and wring are the best that I have seen. And yes I do have other “boutique” pedals."

Review of Vintage Tone MK11 OC81 Classic and Williams FZ-1 Fuzz Tone - received by email 06/2011

"Pedals are just awesome. Exactly what I was after, never understood the meaning of the phrase 'the sound in your head' until now.  I can't wait to get them going at proper volume with the band over the weekend."

Follow-up email a few days later.......

"Hi nick, Thought I would give you a bit of an update..... Quote from the bass player yesterday. "have you been going to guitar lessons or something?" Me - "no why?" Bass player - "because you sound like, you know, like a proper guitarist if you know what I mean" I laughed and pointed out my new gear. "

Review of "Whole Lotta Fuzz" OC81D Tonebender received by email 02/2011

'I finally got the pedal today, and honestly, I'm blown away. I try to keep a level head on new gear acquisitions, but this one is so obviously a cut above that I can't help but be giddy by the tone coming out of my amp. I have another boutique MKII pedal, but your MK11 sounds completely different. With my other pedal, the fuzz is very buzzy; it's like a digital distortion. Your MK11 is a very smooth fuzz that is incredibly sensitive to the volume control, something I don't get with my other pedal. This just nails the thick distortion on Led Zeppelin I, and I'm just in love with it. Thank you!!!'

Please also check out a great review on The Gear Page left by the same person: The Gear Page - Williams MK11 Review

Review of "Whole Lotta Fuzz" OC81D Tonebender received by email 01/2011 from Japan

'Hi Nick, I received MK II Tonebender. I plugged and played. Overall, it's really great. I am so satisfied. I have never owned original Sola Sound MK II, but I have ever owned many clones.
Some of clones sounds like Early Zeppelin, but not similar. Your pedal is similar. My Telecaster screams "Dazed and confused" with help from your pedal.... I love it. ......'

Review of Williams MK111 Fuzz received by email 12/2010

I received my MkIII and it is fantastic! It has such a great tone and exactly the sound I've been looking for. Its versatility is beyond what I could have imagined ranging from vintage rock to modern crunch and makes the perfect addition to my setup; it is by far my favorite pedal. Thank you for making such a professional grade pedal and for delivering 100% satisfaction.

Review of 'Whole Lotta Fuzz' MK11 Vintage Tone w/ OC81D's left on The Gear Page 14/10/2010:

.'...I chose the rarer OC81D model... named in a web link as "the one you want" to get "that sound". That said, I expected a "very good" simulation of the sound we all know and love from, most notably, Jimmy Page on the first Led Zep album. Plugging my new pedal into a variety of amps these past 24 hrs, I got that classic Led Zep "Whole Lotta Love" tone, and a whole lotta more... the pedal is amazing, the most musical fuzz/OD I've ever played (and I own several).

The pedal is simplicity, two knobs - level and attack. In front of a non-MV amp, like a Plexi, the level becomes the MV. The attack is called sustain on the original Mk IIs... and that is exactly what it is. Think violin... it's a glassy feeling as the note sustains... sweet. The odd thing about using one of these is the counter-intuitive act of turning the guitar down to get the searing lead... but who am I to argue with Mr. Page... besides, it works!

The touch sensitivity of the beast allows the guitarist total control of the gain and fuzz at the guitar. The pedal is set it and forget it.

Running it with a Strat, a Tele, and an LP yielded wonderful results... and not just with Plexi-type amps, but with my Fender PRRI and Swart AST Mk II. The pedal, for me at least, replaces the need for a separate OD, a separate dirt box, and/or a separate fuzz box. It is all of those things and much more.'

Full review can be found here: The Gear Page - Vintage Tone MK11 Review

Feedback Received by Email - 'Whole Lotta Fuzz' MK11 Vintage Tone w/ OC81D's - 08/2010

'Hi Nick, I really love my Vintage Tone MKII with OC81Ds. Sounds amazing, it's´s a bit less aggressive, warmer and louder than my other MKII's. Sounds great with my P90 Les Paul and my Tele. Thank you very much.'

Review of MK111 Tonebender - Received by email 06/2010

'Hi Nick. I got the Mk3 the other day, and WOW.. another superbly dialed in bender. real rich, warm but still has the searing  aggression, and the tone control is great. Played it live Sunday and it cut thru well. Real versatility. Thanks again Nick....'

Review of MK11 Tonebender left on The Gear Page 05/2010

'This post is a review of Williams Audio's mkii tonebender (williamsaudio.co.uk and TGP user alteredsounds). *I ordered this pedal from Nick Williams the first week in April and it arrived from Great Britain about 2 weeks later.

I was so happy with the transaction, that I decided to write a review of Nick's pedal and his business.

First the pedal...I ordered the custom OC81 mkii, played it and then waited for the honeymoon to end. The long and short of it is this, this is what I always dreamed a mkii tonebender would sound like. My very first pedal back in 1995 was a black wedge of cheese shaped Vox tb reissue. The Williams tb is what I always wished the Vox would have sounded like. The Williams sounds like rock stardom, it is the sound that we all have in our heads. It is less wild, less ballsy than my Hudson and much smoother and fatter than my Vox ri. It is the smoothest tonebender that I have played. It sits wonderfully in front of my Dr. Z amps, and (surprisingly) cleans up better with my guitar volume than any mkii I have tried. It has a great cello-like quality to it. It doesn't sound like a cello, but it has a haunting resonance and grittiness in the lower mids that I love. The Williams has a refined sound compared to the other mkii's that I mentioned, making it my top fuzz for nearly the past month.

As a pedal maker Nick Williams stood out to me in a couple of ways. *First, he never took more than a few hours to answer an email, despite the time difference between England and Kansas. Secondly he has stayed in contact with me after the fact to make sure that I am still happy with my purchase. I guess what makes Nick stand out in a world of boutique pedal makers who generally provide stellar customer service though is this, the man can flat out tune a fuzz pedal. *There are a million mkii's out there, all with fanatical attention to detail, but I can't imagine that there are more than a handful of people who have more of a knack for tuning one than Nick Williams. I think that Nick might be the next big thing (line forms to the right).'

Review of VTB Tonebender left on The Gear Page 05/2010

'Just wanted to share a great discovery i've made recently. You know, and it's been said many times before on this forum that it is a great time to be a Fuzz junkie, with so many good builders offering great products. A couple of weeks ago i was looking around this forum to shop for another Tonebender type pedal. Accidentally i stumbled upon a tread from Williams Audio, (alteredsounds), offering some Tonebender's variant (vox tonebender MK2). I decided to contact the builder to ask questions like we all do.

From there i was treated with the best customer service i've had in a long while. Nick (the builder) is a great guy to deal with and very knowledgeable. He answered all my questions and left me very confidant that i wanted to purchase a product from him. I ordered a VTB (Vox tonebender MK2) and also his MK3.
He is located in the UK and his web site is :http://www.williamsaudio.co.uk

I received my pedals in a very reasonable delay and boy was i pleased with the result. It is looking great and the inside is pure work of art. I know that a pedal can sound great without the inside being pretty but it sure doesn't hurt (!!).

I will report on the MK3 in another post later on but for now i'll concentrate on the VTB. I was lucky enough in the last 3-4 years to have owned or tried some great MK2 variant : a DAM, Skinpimp MK2, Soulbender (MK3 i think ?) an original Sola sound Tonebender, a re-issue (90's) Vox Tone Bender and a real 60's Vox Tone Bender. I will not do direct compare because i didn't have them side by side at the same time and it is also a matter of taste but i will say this.... the VTB belongs with the best vox tone bender examples i've tried and that's for sure. I will try to shot a little video in the next couple of days to illustrate better then with words but i'll try to describe a little. It had that great MK2 tone we all know but (to my ears anyway) was warmer then some and also a bit more refined. It still has that very addictive sustain but also can clean up to some very usable overdrive'ish Zep tone. Not a Fuzz Face clean up but a very nice and usable tone, so not a one trick pony.

I also want to add that i have no affiliation with the builder, but i just wanted to share a great experience, both in the interaction with the builder and with the product itself. Also to give Nick a bit of exposure that i think is well deserved. He is a one man operation and i expect he will be getting very busy (if not already...) very soon !!

So more to come on the Mk3 and also some vids to come (both on the VTB and on the Mk3)'

FF also made a demo You Tube video for his VTB Tonebender: VTB Demo

Review of VTB Tonebender left on The Gear Page 05/2010

I'ts here and in the words of that bird on friends........OH.......MY.......GOD!!!!!!! I am going to see Dinosaur Jr tonight.......but now i want to stay in and fuzz out! (its that good!)
I bought the last VTB from ebay and it has to be the most pleasant buying experience i have had, Nick has been helpful and i got the very same VTB in the you tube demo AND got my name wrote on the insides! This really is a FANTASTIC fuzz! '

Feedback Received by Email 05/2010 - MK11 Tonebender OC81

'What a great tonebender. It's much like the old ones...nice taper on the pots, allowing more regions of the tonebender saturated sound. The OC81's are really rich but hang together nice, allowing guitar volume knob usage. Great mids, lower mids, not too woofy, and the sizzle on top. One of the best mk2's I've heard, and I have lots of them.'

 

I have many more great reviews and Emails and will add more over the coming weeks. Thanks to everyone for providing these reviews and feedback.