Monday 13 February 2012

Klon Centaur

[Updated 4th July 2014 - correction to treble control resistors]

Note: A new revision of the Klon layout has been done which is smaller and makes better use of the space, so if you want to build this I'd suggest using that layout instead which will also be easier to fit in a 1590B for those wanting to use a smaller box.

Based on Madbean's Sunking schematic.  At 21 x 26 it at least has the potential to fit in a 1590B, so I'll be really impressed if someone can manage that, especially with the dual gang pot.  Don't forget to sprinkle fairy dust over the diodes.










Video of Geiri's build:




True bypass version:






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(kit is for the original buffered bypass version)

247 comments:

  1. Hi Mark, I built one of these recently but I used 1N34A's in place of the OA91's. Is that a reasonable substitute to use? The version I built (Bajaman Sagittarian Charger) called for this diode in the layout, but it isn't as loud as I thought it would be. Will using OA91's be better? Milkit.

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    1. It won't make that much difference. It's because the germanium diodes have a low forward voltage so a lot of the signal is dumped to ground. If you want it louder you'd be better using silicon diodes like the 1N4148. On a switch maybe to flick between the two options.

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  2. Hi Mark, could I trouble you to point me in the direction of a diagram for wiring up the diodes on a switch please duder? I trust I'll need a DPDT toggle. Is it just a case of soldering two piggy backed GE diodes to the top two lugs, two P/B silicon diodes to the bottom two lugs & the two middle lugs wired to the respective points on the board? Thanks bud.

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    1. Yes that's exactly right. Pins like this:

      1---4
      2---5
      3---6

      Back to back pair between pins 1 and 4, and 3 and 6, and pins 2 and 5 back to the board.

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    2. Thank you buddy, appreciate it greatly dude! :0)

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    3. Hi Mark, me again! So, I pretty much finished the sag-charger tonight, but then I noticed that "squeal" that so many hate, it's fuckin annoying. (apologies for my language). Do you know of any mod to fix this please dude?

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  3. What voltage converter IC are you using? And you don't have to apologise to me about language, I'm exactly the same when these things start pissing me off! :o)

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  4. Just tried my charge pump & it's slapped the squeal right outta there!

    Thank you again buddy. Smashing!

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  5. Tag it.

    Finished: http://mirosol.kapsi.fi/varasto/boxes/Klone.jpg
    And the guts: http://mirosol.kapsi.fi/varasto/boxes_other/Klone_guts.jpg

    I had to try a few TL072s to get it working. Don't know if some in the batch i recently acquired are bad, or is the design really picky about it's opamps :)

    This one sounds good, so it's no wonder it's comparable to a holy grail of pedals. Clean side is also great. The buffering really makes a difference here. So one could use this as a buffer only:) Wouldn't spend $1500 for an original though...

    I personally wouldn't recommend this for anyone's first build. Took me little over five hours from scratch to finish. I'm just glad that i built it.

    Thanks Mark!
    +m

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    1. Oh! I used CV7130/OA91s that i bought for very salty price from ebay. Stamps say they are manufactured in may 1966 by John Dickinson & Co. :)

      Didn't forget measuring and my desk is still shining from all the magic dust :)
      +m

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    2. Awesome, you are my hero! Thanks for verifying and for the pics. :o)

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    3. Well. I just played with it for an hour or so. Goddamnit. Only now i really understand Briggs' phrase "from humble tubescreamer to holiest klon". It really is that holy. I was wondering if should try to verify one more tonight, but i'll let it go. Nothing's going to sound any good after this. Not tonight i mean. Tomorrow is a new day.. :)

      And i'm pretty much floating on some sort of cotton candy cloud myself. It feels like a whole new league or level after succeeding in this.

      Thank you Mark. It's always painless to verify your layouts.
      +m

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  6. Well finished this for a friend and a bit of an anti climax for me... All worked perfectly first time though which is the buzz I get from pedal building :o)...

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    1. Funny isn't it. Sometimes people can get trouble from 8 part fuzzes, and then a 60+ part overdrive works first time! :o)

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    2. Agree!.. I've come to NEVER assume my build will work, even if I've made hundreds of the same thing.. ;o)

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    3. There is always that tiny bit of hope in the air, just before you hit the strings for the first time on a circuit :)

      We must have completely different taste Vince :)
      +m

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    4. BTW Vince, what diodes did you use?
      +m

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    5. Yes Mirosol, It's almost heaven when you hit the strings and it works perfectly :)

      I used the suggested diodes in the layout.. had to wait a while for them to arrive though.

      It is a nice pedal but my problem is that I compare all pedals to my amps (Blackstar) natural drive and nothing even comes close.... I have just booted the WZ44 for a Blackstar valve boost. I can honestly say my search for tone has ended :)

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    6. I can say the same thing for Klon. With JCM running hot on clean channel, it's the best thing i've ever had.

      Centaur should distort more with silicon diodes like 1N4148 or 1N914, but i think it would lose something really important. I just love it for being so articulate and the fact that i can't get any frequencies mushed no matter what levels i use.
      +m

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    7. I agree about the diodes losing something, I'm glad you found a gem.... I'll be sticking with SG - cable - Amp ;o)

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  7. I'm a fan of using higher quality IC's- does the klon really use plain old tl072's? any alternative suggestions? I've got some opa2134a's and some tlc2272's

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    1. The TLC2272 would probably be a nice choice, and Burr Brown's are always good to try, but the TL072's were definitely in the original so it's just a matter of taste. Experiment and see what you think are best.

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  8. which one is the buffer IC? and would the other one be part of the clipping circuit?

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    1. The buffer is the left hand channel of IC1, the gain circuit uses the right hand channel of IC1, and the clipping diodes are between that and IC2. IC3 is just used to provide the 18V and -9V used by IC2.

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  9. I built this and I know I have a problem. But first, I read somewhere that the gain pot has no effect on the volume of this pedal... My gain pot definitely has an effect on the volume. Is something wrong then?

    Also- I somehow screwed up the buffer. I get bypass signal and the pedal works fine and sounds good. But in bypass the circuit is actually sucking high frequencies. what area of the vero layout should I look at to try to troubleshoot this? Maybe I used a wrong value cap in the buffer area or have something else messed up? Just thought someone might be able to help me narrow it down!

    Also- the circuit seems a bit noisier than I thought it would be. Could this be due to using the max1044? Or did I screw something else up?

    When i turn the gain pot all the way down i get no signal coming through (this has actually happened on quite a few of my builds- could it be the pots I'm using... several gain pedals I've built have this happen) And when I turn the gain down and the volume all the way up it gets pretty noisy for the amount of volume I'm getting- which isnt that much really.

    Also,,, (heh sorry) just curious...does the charge pump in this circuit actually function as a voltage doubler? or is it doing something else?

    Thanks so much guys!

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  10. I've never used an overdrive pedal where increasing the gain didn't give at least a perceived increase in volume. The gain pot in this down all the way shouldn't mute the sound so there is obviously a problem there, take a measurement of all the IC pin voltages to see if anything obvious sticks out, but by the sounds of it if the pedal is (sort of) working then it may be something small like a short or wiring error. Don't worry about silence in the counter clockwise position of the gain setting happening in all pedals, there are plenty where the gain pot dumps the signal to ground in the ccw position and with those you would expect silence in that setting.

    The charge pump provides +18V and -9V to the circuit and can introduce noise, so if you have a few then it's worth swapping just to see if that could be the cause of any problems.

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  11. Just finished this one, worked straight away! And I must say, it's by far the best overdrive i've tried. The OA71 diodes were bought from ebay, NOS 1966 mojo. Had to do some tweaks for the 390pf and 422K ones, 390 was substituted with 2pcs of 820pf in series which measured 392pf so close enough, same with resistors, just 390K+33K in series to get to 423K which is more then good enough. Thanks mark as always!

    https://dl.dropbox.com/u/2828668/reaperpedals/teklanika%20overdrive/IMG_3864.JPG

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    1. Excellent, really nice looking build mate. One thing though, you've made that from the old layout and I realised the the zener diode was misplaced. It's supposed to go from the 9V supply to ground, but I realised I connected it to an 18V rail instead of 9V (IC2 pin 8). This will limit the voltage to that IC to 12V when it should be getting the full 18V which will alter the response of the IC. So I'd snip that and solder it in to the row above as shown in the latest layout. Or even leave it out completely as it's just used to limit the supply to 12V but I think it's pretty much irrelevant as most people will be using a fairly well regulated 9V supply anyway and so are unlikely to be getting anything like 12V out of it.

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    2. Although you may always find that you prefer the sound as it is, it'll be interesting to see what you think of the differences, before and after snipping the diode.

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    3. Changed the diode as of the updated scheme, couldn't really hear any noticable diffrence so i thought that 18v might give it more headroom at highter volumes maybe.
      anyway, heres a demo i made of my build :)
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kap6bO64Epk

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    4. Klon does metal! Love it! :o)

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    5. actually it sounds insanely good, so happy with it! the "clean" is a bit overdriven already so it's sort of stacking, not overdriven but boosted, it's a simulated jcm800 on the pod hd 500 with just a tiny bit of drive on. and as always a big thank you mate :) like the eyes of the owl? ;D

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  12. Well, built and "working" :P I mean, in bypass works fine, like this buffered sound. Effect on: yes, it overdrives, all voltages on all ICs are ok but.....no diode cliping XDDDDDDDDDDD. I can take the OA91s (D1 and D2) and the sound is just the same.

    I finished very late, so could not debug, the only thing I could see is that voltage dissapears on the Cap 1Uf at the end of the row of IC1 Pin 7, so no voltage on 1k resistor leading to D1 and D2.

    Something weird as all the rest works fine (buffered bypass, tone, volume, Gain works too, more as a volume than other thing, correct voltages...).

    This evening I'll try to check, any hint by the way?

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    1. Hmmm, well positive to 7 is the correct orientation, are you sure the cap is ok? Even without the diodes though you should get a change in gain as you turn the pot, because it increases the gain from the opamp so double check the connections to the Gain pot and around there.

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    2. Sorry Mark, yes, gain pot increases overall gain, from slightly buffered to overdriven, but the most noticeable effect is volume.

      Yes, I removed the cap, tested it (0,98 uF reading) and anyway, I put other different cap reading 1.02uF, so the problem is not the cap.

      I think that today's evening I'll catch the problem, as yesterday was really late and my head was not as fresh as would have desired.

      By the way, I'll buy some more TL072 as have seen (Miro included) that some of this IC's get problematic in this circuit.

      Let's see what happens!

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    3. Well, sometimes, building effects late at night, when the kids and my wife are (finally!) in bed, gets bad results. The socket of D2 had a cold solder, and I used 100uF electrolitics instead of 47uF ones (same colour, size and not full atention, as the bigger electrolitics are the last ones to be populated and soldered.

      Wel, the effect sounds like a dream, wonderful overdrive that will get my TS808 boxed after many years of service.

      Just two notes:

      - As D1 and D2 tried OA91, 1N4148, BA282 but finally the winner was ... AA143! Yes, in this effect they sound just wonderful!

      - You can use a ICL7660CPA, withut the "S". You just have to take off pin 1 from the sochet and solder it to ground. No whine, scream os buzz at all!

      Best regards! (Whenever I finish the bos, I'll post the pics)

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    4. Good stuff, glad you got it going. I've heard people use the ICL7660 perfectly well with this and other effects, I think the problem comes if you get a noisy build as you do sometimes, and then because the oscillator is in the audio frequency range you can hear the whine. Good to see it worked ok for you though.

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    5. Well, pedal finished! Pics here to increase your collecion :)

      http://guitarrasimportacion.foroactivo.com/t519-capinc-effects-12-the-truth-klon-centaur#7156

      Best regards!

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    6. Great looking build, thanks for the pics. It seems that Guitfan isn't very happy though! :o)

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    7. By the way, when opening today the box in order to re-arrange the wires, i realised that the diodes are oriented with the stripes facing the same direction and not opposite directions as in the layout.

      I replaced to fit the present schematics and..... no gain!, just clean sound with a bit of overdrive coming from the opamps!

      Taking a look to the Madbean's pcb, diodes are placed the same than I have.

      Anyone that has build this vero have had the same issue?????

      BR!

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    8. The madbean scheme definitely has them in opposite directions, it wouldn't make sense if they were both facing the same way. Try re-flowing the solder, or you may have damaged them de-soldering.

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    9. Oh, excuse me, Mark, I'm a bit stupid. Had painted when i bought the AA143s some of them with a black marker on the cathode as they're very old and I mismarked at least one... after this, was looking at the wrong diodes on the Madbean (D1 D2). The prize to "Total Asshole of the year" belongs to me, no way.

      I'm afraid that the previous problems here were due to this marked diode instead cold solders...

      Thank you once and again, and accept my excuses.

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  13. One "strange" issue with this effect once again. It seems that the surrounding components around the ICL7660SCPAZ are not very critical.

    As you can see on this pic:

    http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/5176/centaurplaca.jpg

    I had the 1uF cap at the left of D4 and D5 in reversed position... and the effect, voltages, and so on were all ok.

    I noticed it today taking a look at the picture, and desoldered the cap to place it in a correct way.

    No difference in voltages (just 0,2v in IC3 pin 4. Sound is the same than with the reversed one. Maybe is still less noisy, but really if I did not notice this issue looking at the pic, it would have stayed reversed with no apparent problem.

    BR

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  14. Also, I just checked out the idea in the comments about adding a dpdt switch to choose diode options. In terms the the wiring from the dpdt back to the board, is it a case of wiring the center lugs of the dpdt back to D1 on the vero and jumpering D2?

    Thanks

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    1. If you want to be able to switch diode types, remove D1 and D2 from the board and solder 2 extra wires to the rows they connected to on the board. The switch is numbered like this:

      1----4
      2----5
      3----6

      Solder the two new wires to 2 and 5
      Solder the first diode pair (back to back) between 1 and 4
      Solder the second diode pair (back to back) between 3 and 6

      The switch can either be a DPDT 2 or 3 position. If you opt for the 3 position (on/off/on) then you'll have a centre "diode lift" position which would potentially be good for a clean boost setting.

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  15. Thanks Mark, you rock. Keep up the awesome work!

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  16. hmmm.. finished soldering and wired up for a testdrive and..... only static sound with every 2 seconds or so a squeel sound. Very tired right now, its getting late so im not going to debug more till´ tomorrow. What should the IC´s read in voltage? im suspecting i might have overcooked(yeah i know i should use sockets, but i ran out) or blown IC.

    Thanks

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  17. Hi Mark,

    Ive built one and Im getting normal OD as expected with the silicon diodes but the OA91's are going really fuzzy and clipping at 9 o'clock and beyond and sounds horrible. Heres a few pics. Ive soldered the silicon ones back to back and straight to the switch and vero'd the OA91's and connected them to the switch.

    Im wondering if thats the reason but I cant figure out why.

    Can you take a look and see what you think?

    http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/1485/img4182t.jpg
    http://img835.imageshack.us/img835/1669/img4181y.jpg
    http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/2294/img4189h.jpg
    http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/790/img4192k.jpg
    http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/7066/img4193tl.jpg

    Thanks

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  18. Hello,

    Built it with the Kit.
    Awesome, responsive, juicy and low noise circuit. Even when turned off with the fabulous buffer. My guitars are better now !
    Here is a bad photograph. It fits in the little box with the holes like that.
    http://imageshack.us/a/img405/8899/centaurus.jpg

    Thank you very much for that nice share ! And tchin-tchin ! ;)

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  19. Hi Guys, I'm in search of a little assistance. I've finished the build and it worked perfectly first time (a pleasant surprise), I've now boxed it up and I've run into a problem. The foot switch doesn't seem to be working, no matter which position it's clicked into as soon as I insert a cable into the stereo socket the led lights up and the pedal comes on, everything works fine except for the footswich which won't bypass the pedal. I've checked the wiring a bunch of times and it all seems fine but I had to adapt the off board wiring for use with a battery and DC socket, this is the first time I've wired up a DPDT for non true bypasss so I may have messed up. I wired the battery ground to one of the sleeves on the stereo input socket, the other sleeve to the sleeve on the output socket and daisychained that to the DC socket which in turn linked to lug 2 on the DPDT and then onto the ground connection on the board. Can anyone see any problems with this before I resort to swapping out the footswitch? I've never had a problem with them before but I guess it could be a faulty one. Thanks in advance if anyone can help.

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    1. If you have the ring and sleeve wired in reverse, that could cause the mentioned behaviour. The sleeve is connected to ground (the box) all the time, but the ring is insulated and connects to ground only when there is jack plugged in. That would be my first guess.

      I had to read the description a few times before i got it...
      +m

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    2. Thanks Mirosol, you are a true gent. Unfortunately I tried swapping the sleeve and ring and the result was the pedal always being active with or without the input jack inserted so it looks like they were right originally. The foot switch still didn't work either way so I'm going to swap it out in the morning, if I do it now I'll probably brick the thing as I'm going cross eyed from having looked at this thing for so long ;-) To be fair it sounds so good on I'm not sure if it needs a working 'off' switch, I just want to check out that famous buffer!

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  20. Built it. Shorted two strips, broke 7660s pin, had to wait for another one. Now it sounds great :). Anyone care to share a drilling template for BB box?
    Niki

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    1. Hey Niki, I've uploaded the template I used to a site I use for testing code but I'll keep the page up permanently. There's two files, one for the top of the box and one for the jacks at the back. Just drill the points where the lines cross, I used a 8mm bit for the pots (alpha), 10mm for the dual gang pot and the 1/4 inch jacks, 6mm for the LED bezel and 12mm for the stomp switch and DC jack, the DC hole needed to be filed down until I got the perfect size. Hope this helps.

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  21. Hello and a happy new year to everybody , i have a very complicated problem with a klon , i built one klon centaur for a friend ,this is the second build , so this pedal sounds and play great on my hiwatt in my house with my strat , when my friend take the pedal to hiw house and plug it on a marshall or a mesa boogie amp he own the pedal when buffered it is ok but when engaged it has a terrible noise and it could not be used , could someone advice about this type of problems

    thank you very much

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  22. I've just finished mine, it sounds very nice and it's a very quite effect even with volume and gain maxed out.
    Thank you so much!

    http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff176/pm7300/01-1_zpsa25f6dc9.jpg

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    1. Great looking build Rob, thanks for the pic

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    2. Looks cool!

      What did you use to build the Tubescreamer here:
      http://s242.beta.photobucket.com/user/pm7300/media/02-2_zps894b2fc1.jpg.html

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    3. Sorry for the late reply, I've been out of the loop a bit... The Tube Screamer is the Musikding "Der Screamer" with some mods.

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  23. Glad to know you like this build! BTW any hint about D1 and D2? I bought the kit you suggested from Bitsbox but I've got a couple of 1N34A instead of OA91 - 1N277.........
    http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff176/pm7300/05-1_zpscc21d316.jpg

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    1. Yes the 1N34A is just about the only germanium diode that you can still buy in quantity for reasonable prices. I just bought 100 for about £6. If you can source some OA91's or 1N277's to try then it's always worth experimenting, but the way it distorts is largely down to the forward voltage of the diode, and all the germanium diodes will have a similar forward voltage. Personally I'd use the 1N34A in there because I have loads, but I'd probably also consider adding a diode selector switch so I could choose germanium in one position and silicon in the other, to give it a bit of variation

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  24. Sorry, I've just read the 1st post and I've got my answer.....

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  25. Just Built this pedal and it worked first go. A must Build and a Great Pedal. Thanks Mark & Miro.

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  26. Hello,

    I Think i'd need a little help...
    I just finished my build and it looks like i've got a buffer problem.
    Effect off, i've got a very weak sound. Effect on, it seems to be the same but i can compensate with the volume knob (tone and gain are working fine).
    Any idea where i should start to search ?
    Thansk for the help ! :-)

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    Replies
    1. Well if it is happening both in bypass and when the effect is on you need to check hardware and components that are common to both states.

      First thing is the input, output sockets and switch. Check for cold solder joints and reflow anything that looks suspect, check for any stray bits of wire touching something it shouldn't. Make sure you're getting good continuity with your meter between all points of ground, i.e. input and output sleeves, DC adapter, Sw2 on the stomp and Volume lug 1.

      Then the components to need to check for the same issues is from the input, the 1M resistor to ground, 10K resistor, 100n cap, 1M resistor to Vbias, soldering at IC1 pins 1, 2, 3, 4 and 8. Also check all the rows these components are on for poor joints, unwanted bridges and cleanly cut tracks.

      That covers the hardware and components that are in circuit during effect on and bypass and so where there must be at least one issue.

      If you socketed the IC consider swapping that too just to make sure it isn't damaged in any way. It's probably worth checking the voltages between all the IC pins and ground to see if something looks amiss.

      That should give you enough to start off with, but failing that I think it would probably be best to make an audio probe to tie down exactly where the problem is introduced which should make fault finding easier.

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  27. Damn !
    Thanks for your VERY quick and complete answer. I'm a bit ashamed i posted so fast... as i already found the mistake myself !
    It just was the fifth component at the upper right (1.5K resistor)... that was soldered in the wrong hole !
    I spent a lot of hours (it's not a joke) verifiyng everything (continuity, component values, resisntances accros the board lines...) and i still suceeded missing this ! Shame.... :-/
    Anyway, i replaced it (not easy when the build is finished) and everything works jsut perfectly !
    I'm very happy both for having solved the problem and for the sound of this pedal. I absolutely love it !
    Thanks Mark for the work on this site and for the help !

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    1. Aah if you took it to ground that would be affecting the output of the first opamp which is used in both bypassed and on states, so that would explain it. Glad you got it sorted.

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  28. Just finished building this....wow! Worked first pop and sound lushous. I love how the notes decay. A truly fantastic one. Thanks for the top layout guys and have a sweet day!

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  29. http://mirosol.kapsi.fi/varasto/boxes/KLC.jpg

    It was a real pain to squeeze that in to 1590B. I wouldn't recommend doing it. :) I have another board and box waiting for my order of 2PDT stompers, so i'll be doing this again soon..

    By the way. I think i should celebrate. This is my 150th finished build to date.
    +m

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    1. Nice job squeezing it in there mate, and congrats on 150! :o)

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    2. Thanks man! It was a lot more painful than i imagined :) Second one will probably be a bit easier.

      150 feels really good too. Finished this moster on friday
      http://mirosol.kapsi.fi/varasto/boxes/BN.jpg
      and sighed that my desk is finally empty from all made-to-order stuff.. Noticed today that i have 4 things to build for friends :)
      +m

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  30. I feel like punching someone in the face!! GRRRR


    Turns out, that BOTH TL072CP-s i had were..dunno, i guess, faulty, or from a wrong batch??? I gradually removed each, first the bypass got perfectly clean, then the other one, and the effect with gain at 0 was pristine clean..haha

    Uut of curiosity socketed some RC4558 and JRC ones..the problem went away entirely.

    The batch of tl072 (only 10 pcs) went straight out the window.

    This means that my build was perfect from the start...pffff


    Thank you all for your patience. F*ck the people that make these batches

    Now i know what mirosol said about ,,testing a few until it got right''

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  31. I finally got around to building and testing this one. I used the slightly larger 21 x 27 layout that was posted previously. it works and sounds great. I replaced the 3n9 cap with an 8n2 (as per some that recommended it in madbean's forum) and socketed the clipping diodes. I've tried approx. 20 types of them, including a pair of the somewhat rare LM313H's, & ICL8069's,as well as a pair of 1N270's, 1N276's, 1N277's, 1N695's, 1N34A's, BAT41's, and two types of 1N60P's (large vintage glass & smaller orange glass ones) and for my taste, I think that I like the smaller orange 1N60P's the best so far.

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  32. I went back to the original 3n9 tone cap (it socketed on mine) and like it even more now.

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  33. after a couple of mods for more low end and more gain, I love mine now. ;-)

    pics:

    http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/Effects/Fuzz-ODs/KLONKlone/KLONe-01.jpg

    http://johnkvintageguitars.homestead.com/Effects/Fuzz-ODs/KLONKlone/KLONe-01\2.jpg

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  34. i'm also running two OPA2134's instead of the TL072's.

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  35. Sure. The other way around you may run into problems, though not in this field (HF applications, inductivity etc..).

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  36. I finished mine this week-end, worked right away.
    I used a 1590B, no battery obviously. Very nice od
    http://www.casimages.com/img.php?i=13071502142414005911383132.jpg
    http://www.casimages.com/img.php?i=13071502142414005911383133.jpg
    http://www.casimages.com/img.php?i=13071502142414005911383134.jpg

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  37. Mark, from what I read your layout comes from the Madbean's schematic.
    I checked Martin Chittum's one on FSB :
    http://www.freestompboxes.org/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=2559
    http://freestompboxes.org/members/soulsonic/schematic/KlonCentaur-5-24-08b.gif
    From what soulonic says, this is the true schematic that comes from a traced Klon unit.
    After checking with your layout, there are a few resistor (1) and capacitors (7) values that differ (and you have 1 extra 1µf cap that is not on the schem, the one between IC2/4 and IC3/3).
    I built mine with your layout and it sounds awesome, but maybe it would be interesting to add a modified one with this "final" schematic ?
    Cheers
    Denis

    ReplyDelete
  38. Here's my Klon (iKlon) built: http://instagram.com/p/esIxjjQBa8/

    ReplyDelete
  39. Hi all,

    First of all, i would like to thank Ivlark for this site, it's awesome!!! To all active participants for contribution on info....

    About my experience: i've build a Kalamazoo, Deep Blue delay, AMZ and Klon Buffers.... Mad prof autowah and Kelley comp are on the way as well. All taken from this site. Aside, i've finished recently a Ceriatone's OTS kit, beautiful Amp.....

    KLON PROBLEM

    I've finished the vero and wired pots, LED and switch. My buffer is working properly. turning the effect on gives me popping noises, popping is maybe 7hz-10hz. No guitar at all.

    I've read these posts and found my IC3 maybe not viable. It's a LMC7660IN (JR11ABE3 LMC 7660IN)
    Should i source the ICL7660S first and see what happens or is there something else to try?

    I'm using OA91's, soldered some parallel caps for 390nf and series resistors too...

    Here are some pics.... I know, 2W resistors, 630v caps and other strange stuff there but they are what i have... Any suggestion for troubleshooting?

    Thanks in advance :)

    https://plus.google.com/111104462108188400949/posts/Jz8BMje2L5V

    https://plus.google.com/111104462108188400949/posts/E5DnR6RJ4LV

    ReplyDelete
  40. After a few simple builds (SHO, buffer), a few more advanced builds (Zendrive, Timmy) I thought I was ready for the mighty Klon. I tried the true bypass version and it was total crap. Could not get decent sounds at all, mostly hiss! It was a really good lesson in debugging for me, and in the end I found the problem: the link in the top left corner should be one row higher, connecting pins 1 & 2 of IC1 and not pins 2 & 3. It is correct in the buffered original.

    Anyway, pedal sounds great, I really like what's going on here! Thank you :)

    ReplyDelete
  41. I've just built true bypass layout and am getting white noise at full gain. Clean on minimum but no drive tone just hiss at full gain. Sounds similar to RyanNo3's problem but he obviously sorted it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vince - Did you check the location of the jumper between Pins 1 and 2 on IC1? That was my culpret... That and the wire to the pin 2 on the dual gang pot was disconnected. Let me know. Did your voltages on the pinouts look similar to mine?

      Delete
    2. I was using an old layout and it was the link!... All working perfectly now. I've A/B'd next to my 'complete' version and I can't tell them apart. If anything the true bypass sounds warmer?!.. That might be down to component/diodes etc though but at least it's working!.... onto the Maxon OD820 next..

      Cheers Ryan

      Delete
    3. Nice one matey, I like the OD820 much better than the Klon which I've never been that impressed with as an overdrive, so I'll be interested in what you think about it.

      Delete
    4. I agree about the Klon. My cousins nephew wants one so I said I'd make him one and thought I'd try the true bypass version. I've actually got an original OD820 making it's way to me but I want to build one too. I'll do a demo of the clone & original side by side. Just have to wait for my 250k dual pots to arrive..

      Delete
    5. after a couple of mods on mine for use with a bass, the Klon that I built from IvIark's layout is one of my favorite OD's. I actually like it better than the OD820 (which is also very good).

      Delete
  42. Hello.
    Can I build the OD820 adding the 18v charge pump provided all the caps are up to it?
    I was wondering that about any OD/DIST pedal. i.e adding a chrg pmmp to boost performance. Is there a rule to follow as to what build will work with an added 18v pump?
    jeff

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The OD820 already includes a charge pump and works on -9V to +9V and so already the equivalent of an effect running at 0 - 18V.

      Delete
    2. True that. So basically feeding 18V to ICL7660s (or equivalent) of the 820 will result in burning the chip. Those chips are capable of taking maximum of 12V..
      +m

      Delete
  43. I have info on lovepedal high gain tweed twin.im new to this blogging thing so how can I reach mirosol or ivlark to send this info to you?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Chris. Email me on guitarfx@hotmail.co.uk and I'll have a look. Cheers

      Delete
  44. A couple of questions. What are the specs on the LED? Also I want to build the true bypass version but on the layout there aren't any directions on where to wire the switch or the negative side of the LED. Is it the same as the buffered version?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The LED can be anything you want. If you want it brighter reduce the 4K7 at the LED+ connection on the board, if you want it dimmer increase it. If you look at the bottom is says LED- goes to Sw3. For the true bypass version just use the diagram on the Offboard page linked in the menu for the usual LED wiring.

      Delete
  45. I spotted 2 pcs of 1M resistors though the BOM says only 1x. Also looks like the Bitsbox kit comes only with one pcs too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the heads up, I'll alter the BOM and let bitsbox know. If you don't have a 1M resistor you can use send your name and address to guitarfx@hotmail.co.uk and I'll post you one out.

      Delete
  46. Layout changed back to the older one? Seems to be 21x27 in the picture...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oops. Corrected. So many layouts in the folder that I'm seeing things :o)
      I spoke to bitsbox by the way and they tell me they corrected their parts list a while ago and have been shipping 2 x 1M resistors, so you should find two in there.

      Delete
  47. Can I substitute ICL7660SCPA with LMC7660IN? Pin 1 is N/C in the LMC one but will it matter in this case?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No I wouldn't use that one. It doesn't have a boost function so the oscillator works at an audible frequency, so you'll very likely get a high pitched whining from the pedal.

      Delete
  48. Sheet:

    http://pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/view/9133/NSC/LMC7660IN.html

    ReplyDelete
  49. Just built 2 of these. Both sound ugly. Gating decay and harsh distortion. Tried 1n34a´s and 1n4148´s as D1 and D2 and a couple of Tayda´s TL072´s. Mirosol or somebody said in this thread that he had to try many opamps before it worked. How did your build sound like with "bad" opamps?

    All components in these two I built are the cheapest Tayda stuff, could that be the problem? Or is there some measurements or something to do to get a clue where the problem is?

    It would be nice to get these working as these took quite a long time to build...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've read a lot of complaints recently about Tayda ICs, so I don't think I will be getting any more from them. Check the voltages anyway, just in case anything else may be the problem.

      Delete
    2. ic1:

      4,4 8,6
      4,4 4,3
      1,1 4,4
      0 4,2

      ic2:

      4,3 7,5
      4,3 4,4
      4,3 4,4
      0,5 4,5

      ic3:

      8,6 8,6
      0 7,6
      0 8,1
      0,5 0,5

      Delete
    3. oh, and it´s the buffered version with 8.7V battery and with 1n4148´s as D1 and D2.

      Delete
    4. Looks like something is wrong with your charge pump. It should be providing around +16V at pin 8 of IC2, and you should be getting around -8.4V (ish) on IC2 pin 4 and IC3 pin 5. But I see the pin next to it is also at +0.5V, are you sure the cut between is complete?

      Delete
    5. Cuts seem complete. Both builds sound quite identical, it´s (very much :) ) possible, but unlikely that I´ve made the same mistakes twice. Any way to check if the icl7660s itself is OK? Have to check the cuts etc anyway tomorrow again with fresh eyes. Thanks a lot anyway already.

      Delete
  50. Yep, new eyes in the morning and spotted the other 68K resistor one row too low (yes, on both of the builds, isn´t that something?). At least this other build has now a healthy sustain, but gain seems too low. Have to fire up the other build and see how it compares. Here´s the voltages from this first one:

    battery 8.2V

    ic1:

    4 --- 8,1
    4 --- 4
    1,1 --- 3,9
    0 --- 3,9

    ic2:

    4,1 --- 14,4
    4 --- 4
    4 --- 4
    -7,7 --- 5,1

    ic3:

    8,1 --- 8,1
    2,6 --- 3,4
    0 --- 3,9
    -5,2 --- -7,7

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i'm not sure if you are familiar with the original, but even at the highest gain setting they are still considered to be a medium gain overdrive..

      Delete
  51. Voltages are similiar on both ones I build. They still don´t sound right. Sustain is ok, not gating, but clipping is quite harsh. Is the IC1 pin3 1,1V ok? Others seem to have higher values there. Sound is like bad "digital" clipping and not sure if there´s as much gain as there is supposed to be.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, IC1 pin 3 is the only one to me that looks wrong. I would expect it to be closer to 4V, so to me something isn't quite right there, and as you're getting the same result from 2 builds is suggests a faulty or wrong value component

      Delete
  52. Spent 2 hours looking for what could be causing that low voltage on IC1 pin3, but found nothing. I´m running out of ideas. Measured the resistors, visually cheked all the caps etc. If anybody wants to take a look:

    https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1053764/klon.jpg
    https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1053764/klon2.jpg

    As after 20 hours of building these it could be something like a missing component somebody can spot in 5 seconds.

    Would the 100n cap next to pin3 be worth swapping? Or is there any other component that could be causing that low voltage?

    ReplyDelete
  53. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1053764/klon%20volts.jpg

    ReplyDelete
  54. Could that too low ic1 pin3-voltage cause lack of gain too or what is the funtion of that pin in this one? I still can´t get what is causing that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes a low voltage could stop a pedal working entirely, it could certainly affect gain. At the end of the day it shows that something isn't as it should be about the build, and the cause of that something could be something or nothing, or something more serious. Have you tried different opamps?

      Delete
  55. Yep, tried that too, no differences worth mentioning between any of them (072´s, 4558´s, 5532). I thought that that side of IC1 was only used by the buffer, but it still affects the amount of gain somehow?

    What makes this ever more weird is that it many people seem to be reporting that 1.X volts at that pin (including some people in this thread) and also some that built from different layout (like http://www.sabrotone.com/?p=729?iframe=true&width=900&height=450).

    ReplyDelete
  56. I´m quite stuck with this. Measured all the resistors and the caps seem to be right. So any tips to help me where to begin swapping components would be appreciated... Could any of the diodes affect those voltages if they were burnt when soldering?

    ReplyDelete
  57. Hi,

    Why is my gain pot acting more like a volume and sounds muffled when not maxed? All the wirings to pot seem ok and everything else works fine.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If it's fine with the gain up, but doesn't sound right with the gain down then there must be a problem around the clean path of the circuit. Check placement, values and soldering around the Gain 2-2 connection, and so the 12K and 27K resistors, 27n cap and the connections along IC2 pin 2 row. Also check the 5K1 and 68n connection to Gain 2-1.

      It is also possible that the clean side of the pot is faulty and so that may need checking if the other suggestions don't get anywhere. An audio probe should help a lot with tying down exactly where the problem begins.

      Delete
  58. Thanks for the info. Checked everything you mentioned, but found nothing wrong. Only that the 27K resistor measured only 22K, but assumingly that wouldn´t cause the problem?

    ReplyDelete
  59. Can something in the pot/footswitch wiring cause that gain pot acting as a volume? I checked many times all the wiring and went through the whole board too and all was ok like I supposed as I spent a lot of time building this knowing that debugging would be a pain... Also tried swapping the upper and lower rows in the gain pot to see if its the pot itself thats broken, but it made no difference. Any tips anyone?

    ReplyDelete
  60. Hi guys, I'm a newbie here but I have built couple of effects from this fabulous website, thanks IvIark to share all these layout!

    I have built the true bypass version, works tiptop but something weird ; the diodes D1&D2 have no effect on the overdrive!
    I socket them to try silicon 1n4148 and germanium 1n34a and there is no difference with SI and GE and any difference without diodes at all! But everything works great and I've got a nice OD
    Anyone know what I did wrong?
    Ps: sorry for my English :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What position was the gain pot in when you were testing the diodes? The will only do anything if the gain control is fully clockwise, and even then the amount the diodes clip will depend on how high the signal level voltage is at that point.

      Delete
  61. Thx for extremely quick answer ^_^
    I will try with gain full clockwise
    Newbie question, sorry!
    How can I control thevoltage

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. With the gain pot, the voltage is coming from the opamp before the diodes and the gain pot sets the gain of that stage. If you want to increase the voltage you'd need to increase the gain of that stage by upping the 422k resistor, but then it's not really going to be a Klon. So personally I wouldn't worry about that too much, the design may simply sound similar with different diode types. I don't really like the Klon with the gain up anyway and so the diodes never mattered too much to me.

      Delete
    2. Ok thx!!
      I put a switch dpdt on-off-on with si and ge diodes
      And try it with gain fully clockwise ; no differences!
      But for me it's sounds great ^_^

      Delete
    3. How did you wire up the switch?

      Delete
  62. Hey IvIark,
    Is it possible to use the soft switch layout by Paul for this one?

    http://www.paulinthelab.com/2013/04/soft-latch-true-bypass-relay-switch-for.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can but there's no point in building the original which has buffered bypass, so you may as well build the true bypass version which omits the buffer components.

      Delete
    2. Do I cut the led wire out of the layout and then connect the wire that says "input jack" to the bypass board or to the jack itself?

      Delete
  63. I wired the switch like this :
    Lugs 1-4 : diodes 1n4148 back to back ( cathodes to the lugs)
    Lugs 2-5 : wires to the board
    Lugs 3-6 : 1N34A back to back (cathodes to the lugs)

    http://hpics.li/a014318
    http://hpics.li/91f3acd

    Something else there is a lot of volume when I switch on the effect.
    I can't put turn the volume pot more than 4 or 5

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aah that will by why they sound the same then. You've put them back to back in series, they need to be back to back in parallel (each lug with a cathode and anode attached to it). Check out the switch in the Rous layout I posted yesterday

      Delete
  64. Thx I'm still a newbie :)-
    I will try this !!
    The place I sold the wire on the vero is ok?
    It's possible to sold it anywhere on the good rows?

    ReplyDelete
  65. How would I go about increasing the bass response just a tad? I know it probably would take away from the original "Klon" sound but I would like just a bit more bass.......... Any help greatly appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. socket the 15K resistor and experiment with lower values until it adds the amount of low end that you like. I've seen some people replace it with a 1K5 resistor for more low end

      Delete
    2. Thanks for the reply! Will definitely try it out!

      Delete
    3. 1k5 did it! Just the amount of bass i was looking for!!
      Thanks !!!!!

      Delete
  66. I'm building the bass knob mod version and I don't see a link to Bass1. Where does it go? Also I notice the regular version has electrolytic but the bass mod doesn't so I should use film box for the 1u's? Oh and the parts list is missing the 150n next to D1 and I count 33 cuts instead of 32.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OK I see the picture was updated with 33 cuts and the parts list removed but still no Bass1?

      Delete
    2. The parts list and number of cuts was an offshoot of the original Klon layout. The Bass pot is a simple variable resistor and so only two lugs are needed. I did it as per the Madbean schematic, using the same lugs.

      Delete
    3. Thanks! After building this (bass knob version) it sounds good except for a high whine that's always there unless i turn it way down. I saw earlier someone had a whine using a "no S" 7660 but mine is definitely the ICL7660SCPA from Mouser. Could this be caused by using non polarized 1u caps on this layout? The regular layout has polarized. What about using 16v caps for the 4.7 and 47? If this is running at 18v do I have to have 25v caps? I'm pretty new to this but here are my voltages. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

      IC1
      4.55 9.10
      4.55 4.59
      3.58 4.56
      0.00 4.54

      IC2
      4.56 17.50
      4.56 4.56
      4.55 4.56
      -8.81 4.55

      IC3
      9.11 9.10
      3.61 7.04
      0.00 4.62
      -5.28 -8.81

      Delete
    4. Non-polar caps are fine, but the 1u directly to the left of IC3 needs to be rated higher than 18V, but that's the only one in the layout that needs to be that high.

      Your pin voltages look pretty much perfect to me, so I'd look over your soldering for any less than perfect joints or bad connections.

      Is the effect boxed yet? If not you may find that the shielded provided by the box sorts out any noise you were getting.

      Delete
    5. One thing I will add is that I've always thought a 1u for that filter cap is ridiculously low. Personally I'd put a 100u in there (negative leg down) as I don't think 1u is any benefit at all.

      Delete
    6. Yeah it's not boxed yet. That was my next step since I've gone over this thing a hundred times. I'll try swapping that cap too for the heck of it but i'm using a 100V film box cap now.

      Delete
    7. ARGH! Turns out it was the power supply. After days of debugging I tried a battery and it sounds fine and also sounds fine on my one spot. This power supply is just a regular center neg 9v 800mA i got for testing but i guess it's garbage. How could it introduce so much noise?

      Delete
    8. There's no easier way to introduce noise than through the power supply. It's almost certainly the biggest reason for noise in these things.

      Delete
    9. Good to know. Also just wanted to say thank you for this site! I am just starting out but have already built a few pedals solely because this site exists. What started out as mild curiosity has blown into full blown obsession. I have learned so much in the last month and your and other's willingness to help out makes it that much better. Thanks!

      Delete
  67. HI I'm new here.

    Does anybody know why my gain pot might work in reverse. As far as I am aware I've wired the pot the correct way round - looking at the rear with the connectors upwards, 1 is on the left isn't it?

    Many thanks

    PJ

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes that's right. The pot lug numbering convention is shown here:
      http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/offboard-wiring.html

      But the layout numbering is definitely right, so if it's working in reverse for you, you may have entered the Twilight Zone :o)

      Delete
    2. Thanks for the reply, sorry didn't realise that thid had been posted and I needed to hit the load more option. I have entered the twilight zone now.

      Delete
  68. Hi,

    I've just built (for the second time) the non-true bypass version and it's still not working. I accept that I've alomst certainly done something wrong but am hoping that somebody will be able to direct to right area of the board to concentrate my efforts on.

    All voltages are correct (i've matched them agaisnt those already confirmed by others) but I have two main problems:

    1. Gain - on zero if fine, but as it increases the distortion gets harsher and harsher then once it hits 10 the volume drops suddenly to almost nothing.
    2. Tone - It's having no effect but the general sound is quite shrill already which I guess points to it possibly being on full all of the time (despite the pot position).

    Can anybody just point me to where in the circuit I might have a problem. I'm guessing it's in the area marked VB on the Sunking schematic, which seems to join half of the board together.

    I've checked the compoentns several times and the cuts and bridges but can't see anything wrong. I know it's there somewhere though.

    Many thanks

    PJ

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In case anybody has a similar problem, I found the issue - 2 poor connections on resistors taking the tone out of the circuit. Now all working well.

      Delete
  69. Has anyone had luck with the bass knob? I built this bass knob version before the v2 and I can't tell that the bass knob does anything. Maybe just a tiny bit of low end added turned all the way up. Any suggestions to get more out of it?

    ReplyDelete
  70. I built this bass knob version before the v2 and I can't tell that the bass knob does anything. Is there a way to get more out of it?

    ReplyDelete
  71. Mark, I've built this according to the original klon centaur layout you've done, and when bypassed everything works as it should. When the effect is on, there is a volume drop, even with the level knob completely up; and on top of that, the gain and tone knobs do not function at all. I appreciate any guidance you can give me! Thanks! Joel

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It could be absolutely anything and we could only guess without more information. The absolute minimum we need is all the IC pin voltages to give us a clue where the problem area is, but this layout has been built many times and a lot of the times people have had results like you it was down to a bad connection, misplaced link or an unwanted bridge making a short somewhere, so that should be the first thing you check closely.

      Delete
    2. Problem solved! All it was was a bad link that was hidden under one of the op-amps

      Delete
  72. I have heard others mention this and it always seems something simple, but I can't seem to find anything. My gain knob is reversed. CCW, pretty thick distortion (especially with the tone pot maxed) CW, nothing. Tone and volume seem to work well. I have built two and both have this problem, so I know it is something I have done wrong. I have checked the resistors and all looks good. I did substitute a 4.7K for the 5.1K, otherwise it is stock. I have checked for solder bridges as well. Looks OK. Please give me some suggestion as to where the problem my be.

    Here are the voltages:

    IC1

    4.25 8.41
    4.25 4.22
    1.17 4.22
    0 4.18

    IC2

    4.27 14.82
    4.21 4.14
    4.16 4.19
    7.94 4.13

    IC3

    8.28 8.15
    3.31 3.25
    0 3.78
    4.63 7.79

    The second is similar. This is the TRUE BYPASS version. Any help would be appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well something seems to be wrong with IC3, you should be getting about -9V at pin 5 not 7.79V, which then links to pin 4 of IC2 and so should also be at around -9V. Check around IC3 for any errors, bad connections or bridges, and if you can't find any you're going to need to swap it for a new one to see if you're getting the same voltages or whether that corrects it.

      Delete
    2. Will do. Thank you for your fast response and all you do.

      Delete
    3. Thanks again. I rechecked and IC2 pin 4 was negative -7.94.
      IC3 pin 5 was -7.79. The link joining the two was the same. Also, IC3 pin 4 was -4.58. All the lugs of the dual gain pot are around 4.15. I'm pretty sure (based on the pot diagram you supplied earlier) that it is wired correctly. Coluld a bad IC cause the reverse gain? This is the case with both. I'm going to keep working with it, but please let me know if anything else jumps out at you. Thanks.

      Delete
    4. Fixed it. After checking it with my audio probe, I discovered I had placed a 1M where a 1k should have been. I guess it was filtering out most of the signal which was resulting in a reverse effect. Anyway, thanks for the help and the great site.

      Delete
  73. Back again. All debugging was done with the vero hooked up to my breadboard. I always do this to make sure it works before adding the potential pit falls of off board wiring to the mix. Can you point me an off board diagram that is known to work with this one. My set up is dc only with no battery. I looked at the one on here but I don't know where the second ground wire coming off the board needs to go. This one is clearly above my skill level, but I'd like to get it past me. Thanks for any help.

    ReplyDelete
  74. hey mark, just put this buffered version together from your kit.
    when bypassed the buffered signal sounds great but when i engage the pedal the sound has muddy, boosted mids tone (though treble pot works as it should) and there isnt much overdrive or clipping until the gain is at max. the volume is much louder than unity at 9:00 even with the gain low. it doesnt sound crisp and sustainy like the videos. I checked ic voltages and they are all normal. i checked for bridges and reflowed all my solder and checked the components for the proper value (as much as i could with the layout being assembled) and checked all my wiring and it is correct. any ideas what it might be? maybe a bad cap somewhere? thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Could be a faulty component(s). If you can, take a close up pic of the front and back of the board and post links to the pics, then we can at least see if anything obvious jumps out at us.

      Delete
    2. thanks for the quick reply mark. heres the front and back:
      http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v355/tomkogut/photo1_zps62f2e1cb.jpg
      http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v355/tomkogut/photo2_zps6f77941a.jpg

      Delete
    3. after probing around a bit i found that the gain 2 side of the pot has no signal on it except a little clean in the full ccw spot. that whole row with gain2-3 gain1-2 has no signal on it. is this normal?

      Delete
    4. Yes that's normal. The Gain 2 side is the clean side of the rotation, and that row is vref and so a virtual ground and you wouldn't expect to get any signal there.

      Delete
    5. okay, im still getting a lot of volume even at low gain. my unity volume with the gain all the way down is like not even 9:00. then i dont get overdrive or break up until the gain is almost maxed. with my audio probe i get good crunchy overdrive until the tone knob section of the circuit after that it gets quite midrange heavy and less crispy. maybe the tone caps are off a bit? all my resistors are correct value and in the right spots. ill keep checking. dont know why the volume is so high tho. im so determined to get this pedal to sound like the demo. a week of trouble shooting already. my girlfriend thinks im crazy. perhaps i am

      Delete
    6. All our wives and girlfriends think we're crazy, but then I just remind mine that I don't need 100 pairs of shoes :o)

      Are you sure all your voltages are as expected? If they are then it really points towards a bad connection, or if the sound is wrong an incorrect value or faulty component. That may unfortunately mean swapping them out until you find the culprit. But if your voltages are right in means that the circuit must be very close to being correct, so I don't think you'll have anything misplaced. Do you have any other opamps that you could put in the sockets just to test? Plenty of people have had problem builds that were caused by faulty opamps.

      Delete
    7. haha thats true abut the shoes...
      i measured all the resistors as they are on the board and they are all correct except the 100k's read around 68k in the circuit. then i removed a few and alone they read 100k. i assume this is because they were connected to other resistors while in the circuit?
      i tried two different sets of tl702's and two different sets of 4558's and they all sound the about the same midrage wise and gain wise. and i still have the volume problem.
      heres my voltages;

      ic1
      1: 4.78
      2: 4.78
      3: 3.78
      4: 0
      5: 4.76
      6: 4.78
      7: 4.78
      8: 9.46

      ic2
      1: 4.74
      2: 4.77
      3: 4.76
      4: 0
      5: 4.76
      6: 4.76
      7: 4.92
      8: 18.28

      ic3
      1: 9.46
      2: 2.93
      3: 0
      4: -6.35
      5: -9.24
      6: 5.31
      7: 6.58
      8: 9.46


      i guess i could unsolder and repalce each cap with a new one. one by one to see if it changes.

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    8. oops ic2 pin #4 is actually -9.46

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    9. well i sucked it up and just built a whole new one. this time i used the newer layout since it was a bit smaller. sounds great! it must have been a bad cap somewhere on my first build, and i think i might have ruined the oa91's when i soldered them in because when i desoldered them to use in my new layout they pretty much crumbled in my fingers (yes, glass in my fingers). on the new build i used 1n34a's and non polarized box 1u caps. sounded best with some old 4558's i had laying around.

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  75. Hey Mark. Would I be able to build Rev 2 of the Klon using the kit linked on this page? Would it just require resizing the vero?

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    Replies
    1. Yes no problem. You have to cut the board to size anyway and so it's just as easy to build the V2 layout as this one. Just remember to add any extras you may want to include like the Fat switch, diode switch etc if you want to hotrod it a bit.

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    2. Thanks Mark. My local guitar shop just got an original Klon in so i'm hoping to get this built before it sells to I can compare ;)

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  76. Hi! i want to add more bass to pedal. I read above to change 15k resistor. Which resistor is?from IC1 or IC2?both have one.

    Sorry for me english. I'm from Argentina.

    Thanks!

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  77. Any other options besides 7660 for IC3? cant find one at my place right now. :((

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    Replies
    1. 7762 and MAX1044 are the only equivalents.
      +m

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  78. Is anyone still answering problems on here, there's been no posts since August. I just bought the kit from Bitsbox and it is obviously for the older version of the circuit and they didn't include the 12V zena diode and don't supply the jack sockets which are an essential part of the build. Just wanted to know if it is possible to add the Bass control to the older circuit, the new circuit looks so different with far fewer electrolytic capacitors, tricky for a novice like myself to figure out. Help would be appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bitsbox did the kit for this one a couple of years ago where as the later version is from the middle of this year and they have obviously had no requests to update the layout. The zener diode is definitely in the kit list and so you should have it, if it's missing I'm sure they will send you one no problem.

      Yes you can add a bass control but you'll need to add a 150n cap and a 50K linear pot. If you want to do it then I'll do a little diagram of where the cap and pot connections need to be made.

      I replaced many of the electrolytic caps used in this version of the layout with poly caps in the later version, simply because that would be my preference for the 1u values. I wouldn't get too hung up about that though, the original used electrolytics and so they can't have too much of a negative impact. Like I said that is just a preference thing for me.

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    2. Hi Ivlark, thanks for such a rapid reply and sorry about the post in the revision 2 thread.

      Bitsbox were terrific, emailed them at night about the missing diode and they replied at 8.30am the next day confirming they had posted it to me, excellent service.

      Thanks for the explanation about the changed electrolytic caps and please do post the information for connecting the bass pot to this version,

      One other thing you could help me with, can you give some detail of the pin numbers for the foot switch and the pots. I am guessing the foot switch pins 2 & 5 are the common contacts and they switch to pins 1 & 3 and 4 & 6 respectively. and that pin 1 of the pots is to the left looking from the shaft side with the pins at the bottom. If you could just confirm that it would be most appreciated.

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  79. I now have the circuit board almost complete, so when you have a moment to spare to give me the info for the bass pot connections it would be most appreciated.

    Those glass diodes are a bit sensitive to heat, had one of them shatter, so fitted the second one with some more lead length, raising it off the board, and it was fine, just waiting for a replacement to arrive to get the job done.

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    Replies
    1. I also ruined my diodes when I soldered them in. The circuit didn't sound right and after troubleshooting for like 3 days I replaced the diodes and it fixed it.

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    2. Glad to hear it wasn't just me and I'm sure I saw a post on one of the Klon threads where someone else had them crack and fall apart. Obviously a good warning for anyone else that may read this before making the pedal.


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    3. If you're getting diodes shattering, you have a couple options. You could use a heatsink (a little alligator clip clamped between the diode and the end you're soldering should work). You could socket the diodes, so you never have to apply heat to them.

      Or you could turn up your soldering iron or get a hotter one...that's right, turn it Up. High temperatures over short periods of time are better than low temperatures over long periods of time.

      My rule of thumb is that if it takes longer than 3 seconds after touching the component to make a solid joint, back off, let it cool, and try again, turning the iron up if necessary.

      Hope this helps,

      -Ryan

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    4. Thanks for the advice Ryan. I think I'll go for the socket in the future to play safe as my 25W soldering iron isn't adjustable. I need a few sockets for another project so will get some in.

      lvlark, if you're reading this I would really appreciate the info you offered for connecting the bass pot, when you have the time.

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  80. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  81. I build it and its awesome !! I have a question! How can i put a bass pot?
    Thnx for your great schematics you are awsome man!

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  82. You would need to work it out from the Rev 2 version here: http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com.es/2014/05/klon-centaur-with-optional-bass-control.html

    lvlark did say he would post the diagram, but I'm still waiting. You only need a 50K Lin pot and a 150n capacitor. I tried to post the diagram on here but couldn't figure out how to do it.

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    Replies
    1. It didn't take me long to figure out...

      The hole directly above the Gain 1-1 wire (below the 1u electro) is your Bass 2 connection. Directly below the Gain 1-1 wire you'll see a row with the bottom leg of a 2k resistor on it. You need to put your 150n cap between that 2k resistor and your Bass 3 wire.

      If the legs on your caps and resistors are thin enough (like Tayda's), I would just stick one leg of the 150n in the same hole as the 2k's bottom leg, add a cut to the Right of that, and in the final hole put the other leg of your 150n as well as the Bass 3 wire. It's a little thrown together, but space is tight on this layout.

      Hope that helps. If you need an illustration, I can throw one together in the morning (about 8 hours from now).

      -Ryan

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    2. Here it is, if you want it. As said before, it isn't the most elegant solution, but it works and space is tight.

      http://gyazo.com/226f68380486860469e16d0c6617dab4.png

      (Note that this is just a cross-section of the important part of the layout)

      -Ryan

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