Sunday, 5 February 2012

Lovepedal Kalamazoo

Update: aegert on FSB has experimented with the circuit and has found that putting a low value cap like 820pf between pins 1 and 2 of the opamp really improved the pedal.  He also suggests that a 500K log pot is much better for the Gain control, so give that a go.

Update 2: daz at FSB has corrected some values from an original pedal he examined.  New vero layout below, and it may still be worth adding that 820p cap between opamp pins 1 and 2 to see if there is still an improvement.  You can also try something lower like 47 to 470p if the 820p cuts too much high end, or socket and swap to taste maybe.



Posted by at 18:50
Tags: , , ,

88 comments:

  1. Unknown6 March 2012 at 17:41

    Got this built up today, really nice overdrive. Thanks for the layout!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IvIark6 March 2012 at 21:17

      No problem, did you put in the 820p cap?

      Delete
    2. Benno20 March 2012 at 03:23

      Hi mate, I had the 820p on a socket, but since soldering in the new values I don't think it's needed, seems a bit sterile with it. Cheers.

      Delete
    3. Unknown25 May 2012 at 11:33

      I just saw this update yesterday.. I ordered the parts and have made the corrections this morning. I also included a socket for the 820p cap (which I omitted originally), and swapped the gain pot for audio. I bought a selection of opamps to try out as well. I can't test it yet though, I'm waiting on a delivery for a new power supply (it's out for delivery as we speak). As soon as I have tested it, I'll let you know what I think.

      Delete
    4. Unknown31 May 2012 at 09:49

      Did the mods, it sounds much better now.. far smoother, the tone/glass knobs have a better range - it was on the ice pick side of things before. I added the 820p cap, it just seemed to increase hiss - so I removed that. The gain pot is better as linear, audio gives you less control in my opinion. Different op-amps made little to no difference at all, at least to my ears - I can't even remember what I left in there. Cheers for the layout, and the updates IvIark.. appreciated muchly.

      Delete
    5. Unknown6 October 2012 at 23:22

      Hi Danny. I too noticed a ceramic 820pF cap increases the hiss, so I swapped it with a Wima film cap 1000pF and it made a little difference and no more hiss.

      Delete
  2. Dom30 April 2012 at 04:50

    I'm new to pedal building. When you state: Tone 2&3 and Glass 1, are the solder lugs for Tone 2,3, and Glass 1 connected and then soldering to that hole?

    ReplyDelete
  3. IvIark30 April 2012 at 09:14

    Yes exactly that. Using the pot numbering shown here:

    http://tagboardeffects.blogspot.com/2012/02/offboard-wiring.html

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dom30 April 2012 at 14:32

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Krik1 July 2012 at 17:34

    Hi IVIark,
    Built this one as well and put into the same box with eternity. Nice sounding overdrives. My only problem is that glass makes hardly audible difference while tone works well. Checked a couple of times the wiring and a board but everything seems to be fine. My last try will be replacing the pot, but what else could cause that?
    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tbacc3 July 2012 at 18:47

      I am having the same problem. I can hardly hear a difference. It is nothing like the glass on the Eternity which has a nice sweep.

      Delete
  6. Unknown16 July 2012 at 23:03

    Hey Ivlark, first time posting and it's my first veroboard build. I've down plenty of PCB builds, so this is a little embarrassing, haha. I built the Kalamazoo today but I'm getting no gain at all and I have to crank the volume just to get it close to unity volume when the pedal is off. Any ideas? I'm going to go over it with fresh eyes tomorrow so I'll try to diagnose the problem, but if you have any ideas I'm all ears. In any case, thanks for the layout! This is one I've been dying to build for quite some time.
    Sub question:
    When you say a point goes to "tone 2 and 3 and glass 1" do you need to run separate wire from that point to each, or can you simply run a wire to tone 2 and then chain tone 2 to tone 3 and glass 1? I hope that makes sense.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Unknown17 July 2012 at 01:38

    yeah man, I'm at a loss. I've checked it over a dozen times. All the electrolytics are faced properly, all the diodes have negative pointing correctly, everything is grounded properly, no solder bridges... I'm stumped. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Unknown17 July 2012 at 03:15

    I guess the 13th try is the charm. I got it sorted... AND THIS THING SOUNDS INCREDIBLE! Thanks again for the layout. I'm excited to get to my next build.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IvIark17 July 2012 at 09:16

      Nice one Ty. Did you spot a mistake or rebuild it completely?

      Delete
    2. joão9 August 2012 at 23:31

      Hi,

      In this link here:
      http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zCbjKeMgiMU/TxV1NCf2s7I/AAAAAAAAAlA/-tcZqYkHh3c/s1600/lovepedal_kalamazoo.jpg

      I see 5 poly caps (grey rectangles) and three electro caps (round).
      Is this last scheme a modded version? If so could you point out the original?
      I do not know much about this, so I am only describing what I see... and could be wrong.

      Thanks,
      João

      Delete
    3. IvIark9 August 2012 at 23:53

      In every pedal Lovepedal always include a 100n capacitor in parallel with the main power supply filter cap (47u electro on the right). I always omit this because I think it's irrelevant, but if you want to include it just put a 100n between 9V and ground (next to the 47u would be the obvious place but you'll need a extra column). Alternatively you could solder it straight across the lugs on your DC adapter. I think if you listened to the difference you'd probably agree that it's a lot of messing for no difference whatsoever.

      Delete
    4. joão21 November 2012 at 21:09

      Hey Ty, do you know what you had done wrong with your pedal? I have the same problem. My drive does nothing and the volume at full is lower that the volume with the pedal turned off...

      Thanks

      Delete
    5. Unknown28 December 2012 at 14:38

      Me too, same problem !

      Delete
    6. Raphiro12 May 2016 at 05:46

      same problem here...

      Delete
  9. joão10 August 2012 at 23:26

    Cool,

    Thank you for your quick reply!

    ReplyDelete
  10. JK28 September 2012 at 22:05

    Hey IvIark, i got this built and it sounds great. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Unknown5 October 2012 at 18:50

    Ok, got this built today. All the knobs work perfectly, glass has a good and usable range, tone as well. I put the 820pF cap in, IC is a 1458 and I combined two resistor to achieve that 2k74 value.... A nice sounding overdrive, thank you for sharing and c'mon guys, let's build this amazing stompbox!
    Again thank you so much Ivlark.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Gc6614 October 2012 at 07:26

    I cannot thank you enough for this one. Best od I own right now. Any suggestions for my next build?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Gc6614 October 2012 at 07:26

    I cannot thank you enough for this one. Best od I own right now. Any suggestions for my next build?

    ReplyDelete
  14. Pablo4 December 2012 at 03:37

    Hi,
    So I bought what I thought would be a LP Kalamazoo clone on E-Bay.
    It seems to be more of a boost pedal when using level and drive knobs, and tone and glass dont seem to do much at all except make a rather unpleasant squeal when glass knob is turned all the way up.
    I showed it to a pal and he said it shouldn't be to hard to solve with a little expert advise...
    So,
    Is there a kind of step by step guide out there for diagnosing probs?
    Although I have never built a pedal, I do have some electronics skills and understanding....
    Could anybody give some pointers??
    Thanks in advance...

    ReplyDelete
  15. Unknown27 December 2012 at 23:12

    Hi ! I need help !
    I tried 3 times to do this pedal. No sound coming from this i checked the layout, everything is the same. When I i cut the vero's ground i'm getting the input signal and the ground, just the volume pot's working. I can't figure out where the problem is coming from.
    Please help me !
    By the way, thank you Ivlark for your amazing work !
    Georges

    ReplyDelete
  16. Dimitri Georgaras6 March 2013 at 23:06

    When you say "Consider 1N5817 or 1N4001 for D5" do you meen that the diode can be either 1N914, 1N4001, or 1N5817. Also, is there any difference between them ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IvIark6 March 2013 at 23:39

      D1 to D4 are 1N914, for D5 use either a 1N5817 or 1N4001. The 1N5817 is preferable because it's lower voltage drop means you'll be closer to 9V (a series protection diodes reduces the voltage by the diodes forward voltage drop), but I mentioned both because more people are likely to have 1N4001s and may not want to get the other type in specially. Or omit D5 entirely along with the cut if you're not bothered about it.

      Delete
  17. Dimitri Georgaras7 March 2013 at 01:19

    Ok, thanks for clearing things up. I'm going to be ordering the parts for this, the Red llama, and the ep booster at the same time, so I want to get all the info I can get

    ReplyDelete
  18. Unknown7 March 2013 at 13:33

    Worked for me using the update #2 layout. Thanks guys!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Dimitri Georgaras29 March 2013 at 12:13

    Is it ok if I use a 2.7k in place of the odd 2.74k and also a 330ohm in place of the 332ohm
    I ordered 1% metal film resistors and they didn't have those values in stock

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IvIark29 March 2013 at 12:23

      As long as you're somewhere close you can always use a different value. Tolerances in carbon film resistors can be as much as 5% or sometimes even 10% and so that's a good guide as the how close you want to be to be acceptable deviation, even for component accuracy.

      Delete
    2. Dimitri Georgaras29 March 2013 at 12:50

      So in my case of using 1% tolerance I should be ok right

      Delete
  20. Dr No11 April 2013 at 23:53

    Somehow in my unbiased opinion I am thinking Sean Michael at Lovepedal designed the hell out of this pedal and it hits a Klon tone on lower gain which is just outstanding. Why mess with the circuit? Would be a nightmare for me to lose the magic it has going on.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Unknown21 April 2013 at 01:21

    Ok I'm very new to pedal building and have been wanting to build a klon clone but parts are hard to get in my country(South Africa). From all the demos I've seen the klon and kalamazoo sound indistinguishable to my ears. Would this build satisfy my klon needs? oh and here we seem to only have RC4558 chips not JRC4558 is this the same thing? heres a link: http://za.rs-online.com/web/p/operational-amplifiers/0303444P/

    Sorry for the silly questions and thanks for the amazing layouts! There's about 20 I already want to build.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Madferret21 April 2013 at 10:22

      I've never built a Kalamazoo but the demos sound excellent to me. All the other Lovepedal circuits I've built have sound great too, so even if this isn't exactly the Klon sound you'll still be getting an excellent sounding pedal. Plus this will be a lot easier to build as a first pedal.

      To answer your question, an RC4558 and a JRC4558 are the same chip but made by different manufacturers. The RC and JRC are the manufacturer code. Some people get really caught up in try to get the exact version of a chip and pay a fortune for them but in my experience the difference is minimal. My advice would be to put a socket where the chip goes, get the most reasonably priced one now and then you can always experiment later by swapping the chip.

      Delete
  22. Unknown21 April 2013 at 11:52

    Thanx so much! So I can probably guess that if I see a dual op-amp with 4558 in its part no its most likely right.

    Another question when I search op-amps for instance a TL072 I'll get a bunch of variations like TL072CP or TL072IP are these last digits negligible? should i just aim for any low noise op-amp out of the range?

    Again apologies for the elementary questions. Hopefully it helps some other newbies like me too.

    Oh and lastly is there any sort of component substitute chart or site where one can compare and see what to experiment with?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IvIark21 April 2013 at 12:39

      Opamps have different suffixes for a number of reasons, but they usually just denote things like ROHS compliance, the form (DIP8, SOIC8 etc) and operating temperature range. So as long as it's DIP8 I wouldn't worry about the suffix.

      Delete
  23. Unknown23 April 2013 at 14:40

    Thanx Mark I appreciate the clarification! Excited to start building the Kalamazoo!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Jarrett Trezzo25 April 2013 at 04:45

    This one sounds great so far as I can tell by my initial tests (at low volume due to it being somewhat late). However I did notice as some others did that the glass knob seemed to do hardly anything. I don't think this is normal... Any ideas?

    ReplyDelete
  25. Dimitri Georgaras8 May 2013 at 01:18

    Just finished this thing up and it is INCREDIBLE!!!!!
    This thing sounds killer
    In mine, the glass knob works great and I used a 2.7k instead of a 2.74k
    It's just a great sounding overdrive

    ReplyDelete
  26. Dimitri Georgaras16 May 2013 at 23:35

    Here are some pictures of my build
    http://pedalprojects.blogspot.ca

    ReplyDelete
  27. Unknown21 May 2013 at 15:18

    Hi All,
    I've just assembled this project, unfortunately i cannot get it to work... I've rechecked the whole circuit and found a couple of mistakes, but still i only get a sine wave type of pitch coming from the amp.
    Bypass is working, input voltage and ic voltage seems ok; diodes and condenser polarities ok as well. IC socket and polarity are ok...

    I have bought some larger components for my 1590B box (pots and condenser) Should i look for ground problems?

    Thx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unknown3 June 2013 at 03:05

      Already done! i've reset the whole circuit, works like a charm -
      Love it:)

      Delete
  28. marcuspl11 July 2013 at 15:07

    I am getting a devastating POP when this thing is switched on or off on my pedalboard. I know most circuits have a 1M or 2M pulldown resistor at the beginning and sometimes at the end to stop this. For this pedal - i see the 1M at the input, but i don't see any pulldown before the output to Vol 3. Would sticking a 1M from the empty hole right before the Vol 3 to the ground strip stop this? or might there be something else going on.

    Once the pedal is engaged, it is one of the best sounding overdrives i've ever played through. Couldn't be happier with the layout or the build. I didn't have any 150n or 220n caps either.. just put 100ns in both places and nothing seems to be adversely affected. I gather those are part of the tone or glass controls anyway, so they aren't super critical.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mirosol11 July 2013 at 15:28

      I'm guessing your pop comes from the LED. The 1M at the input takes care of the input switching, and volume pot takes care of the output. That pot is in fact a 100K resistor from output to ground. Snip the LED and see if that helps. If it does.. Well. http://www.muzique.com/lab/led.htm
      +m

      Delete
    2. marcuspl11 July 2013 at 15:41

      never mind - i see an article from the AMZ guy on some wiring ideas to stop the pop. I was using one of these super-brights too, maybe the good old red ones will be a little quieter.

      Delete
    3. marcuspl11 July 2013 at 20:37

      I went through the AMZ techniques for stopping the LED pop. Makes no difference. Taking the LED out of the circuit makes no difference, so i'm stumped.

      On think I do notice - if the volume knob is turned all the way down, there is no pop - it is related to the overall output level. Also - when the pedal is on, every other pedal down the chain pops. It's like the signal coming out of it is too hot. not sure what that is all about.

      I suppose it's possible that my capacitor substitutions could have affected it? but swapping a .1u for a .15u i wouldn't think would cause an issue - those are part of the tone circuit anyway, so i'm thinking that is unlikely.

      Delete
  29. marcuspl11 July 2013 at 15:35

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Collared Man30 August 2013 at 05:13

    Hi ! Very nice sounding pedal, however my drive pot does absolutely nothing ! All other pots work, though it sounds as if the tone pot works in reverse...
    What should I check for the drive pot ?
    Thanks |v|ark !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Collared Man2 September 2013 at 21:00

      Found it ! The 10K pot was lifted. Must've happened while boxing it.

      Thanks again |v|ark !

      Delete
  31. Harry Maes29 September 2013 at 09:06

    Built the Kalamazoo with the Boost Tiger (and added master volume) in one enclosure here: http://instagram.com/p/e1j6o6wBWQ/

    I recently created a demo for the Kalamazoo and comparing my built to the original one I only noticed a difference in the range of the glass knob. The original has more treble in the highest setting and less bass in the lowest setting. I didn't add the 820pf cap, would that make it brighter?

    ReplyDelete
  32. Harry Maes29 September 2013 at 09:07

    Built the Kalamazoo with the Boost Tiger (and added master volume) in one enclosure here: http://instagram.com/p/e1j6o6wBWQ/

    I recently created a demo for the Kalamazoo and comparing my built to the original one I only noticed a difference in the range of the glass knob. The original has more treble in the highest setting and less bass in the lowest setting. I didn't add the 820pf cap, would that make it brighter?

    ReplyDelete
  33. Unknown17 October 2013 at 11:11

    Built the corrected version, not bad at all. Nice blues overdrive. Got to test this with the big rig. Tried the 802p cap but didn't really like it. I think it's fine as it is.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Unknown17 October 2013 at 21:46

    Tested with the big rig - fell in love and it found a place on my board. The best thing I've tried so far for spanky bluesy cleans with juicy overtones.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Unknown11 February 2014 at 09:12

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Unknown15 February 2014 at 13:28

    build it today.the 2nd update with no 820p cap...nice od.seems like tone works backwoards, but no big problem.just used 1m for 500k pot for drive....does anyone know what does this do to the gain? so if it's so much difference i'll change it in the future when i'll get a 500k pot...thanks again for the great layouts mark!

    ReplyDelete
  37. Adam22 February 2014 at 02:11

    Here's my build, I call it "The Griffin"... since it is supposed to sound like a Klon I thought another mythical creature was appropriate.

    http://imgur.com/a/PsIoO

    You can see 3 resistors in parallel trying to get as close to 2K74 as possible and another spot in series for getting close to 332R. I know it probably didn't make much of a difference anyway though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IvIark22 February 2014 at 04:18

      Nice job Adam, thanks for the pics. Those resistors remind me of my mates and me trying to walk home from the pub :o)

      Delete
    2. Adam25 February 2014 at 18:57

      ... doesn't madbean have a similar design called "drunken dragon"? maybe you're on to something!

      Delete
  38. horseman14 May 2014 at 11:50

    Doesn´t reach unity gain even at full volume... Something obvious I could have missed? Otherwise it works perfectly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IvIark14 May 2014 at 11:53

      More often than not low volume is a poor connection somewhere, but if you post voltages it will give more information that may suggest a problem elsewhere.

      Delete
  39. horseman15 May 2014 at 07:26

    4.7 --- 9.4
    4.7 --- 8.5
    2.4 --- 7.9
    0 --- 0.2

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IvIark15 May 2014 at 08:04

      Definitely something wrong with the right hand channel then. Check all around pins 5, 6 and 7, make sure there are no unwanted bridges between rows. Re-do all the cuts including the ones underneath the IC, and if you're still having problems after that lot post a front and back pic of your build.

      Delete
  40. horseman15 May 2014 at 08:15

    Thanks. Found it. Got to get myself a white stick. An unsoldered IC pin. And not the first time that happens. And such a simple build and I really checked it multiple times. I guess it just helps when somebody points something out to narrow the search. Thanks!!

    ReplyDelete
  41. FkmBlogs20 May 2014 at 10:43

    greeatings from a newbie here. I made a mistake and used 1N914 for D5. should I consider removing it and replacing with the specified 1N4001? or can I just go with it? thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. IvIark20 May 2014 at 10:56

      No that will be fine, don't worry about it.

      Delete
  42. Unknown23 August 2014 at 08:00

    What´s the difference between the Gold and the Silver Kalamazoo (except the color)?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nanananah Giroud21 December 2014 at 20:59

      I had the same question. From what I've read it sounds like the main change is the opamp. Someone above posted about trying a range of them and hearing no difference?

      Delete
  43. Unknown3 September 2014 at 09:27

    Hi, I've built this pedal last night.
    It's working great !!!
    But, the problem is that i didn't see much different beetween Tone and Glass.
    Also, the Tone pot is reversed, i'm sure i already connect exactly like the pict. pin 1 goes to 1K, pin 2 & 3 is linked and goes to pin 5 of JRC4558.

    I have a question about noise. Is cabling from potentiometers, input/output jack, 3PDT switch, DC input to the veroboard can make noise? If so, what should i do? change the cable quality? avoid using cable? or is there any options?

    Thanks, this pedal is so great!!!

    ReplyDelete
  44. Marc30 November 2014 at 16:31

    Wow, thanks again for a wonderful layout! Just boxed it. Sounds amazing.
    It doesn't cut as much of your tone as my tubescreamer, and is much smoother than my RAT. Very transparant, but enough grain to make your guitar sound just that little bit more 'electric' or 'amplified'.
    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  45. JB835 February 2015 at 03:16

    I'm getting the following voltages:
    1-.08 8-8.11
    2-.07 7-6.22
    3-7.38 6-2.03
    4-0.00 5-.28
    Any suggestions?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ξεναγός νεκρόπολης5 February 2015 at 13:34

      your voltages are wrong in both sides of ic.check for unwanted bridges.take a razor and clean all your cuts and rows.you can also check again if you've put any component in the wrong place.
      if problem remains then post some pictures of both sides of your board to see if someone spots the mistake.

      Delete
    2. JB838 February 2015 at 20:06

      Success! Had a couple bad solder joints and missed a cut. Now I just have to box it up without damaging the circuit, haha.

      Delete
  46. Unknown19 March 2015 at 18:46

    Today I started the building process. I am looking forward to hear it.

    ReplyDelete
  47. Unknown19 April 2015 at 17:11

    working like a dream!!!!!3rd pedal and with no problem at all from this site!!!just to ask what can i change?capacitor maybe to cut some of the mids???or try a different opamp???im thinkin to try Ge diodes.Have anyone tried?opinions???

    ReplyDelete
  48. Unknown2 May 2015 at 19:47

    pedal works very good!but i get a very big pop at engage.in the big rig it something like an explosion.no led connected.what to do please?

    ReplyDelete
  49. Unknown21 September 2015 at 20:48

    So I had the same problem with the Tone working in reverse and the Glass not doing anything. Wasn't sure if the tone was supposed to work in reverse as I can't find a demo that clearly shows just tone knob adjustments. Switched the Tone 1 & 3 and the Tone knob works like a traditional tone knob and the Glass seems to turn up the Highs. Not 100% sure this is correct though as the pics of the original board seem to be wired up just as the layout above. Is it possible that the original smaller pots (Tone and Glass) are just backwards? If so should we be wiring the Glass pot backwards as well? Just thought I would throw that out there if anyone still needed Tone or Glass pots troubleshooting.

    ReplyDelete
  50. clive.hawnt@gmail.com27 March 2016 at 12:20

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  51. John Butcher23 August 2017 at 05:20

    Old thread, but has anyone tried this with 9v AND 18v like the lovepedal?

    ReplyDelete
  52. ThumpTwang13 March 2018 at 04:22

    Hey, did you ever try this? It seems like it should be fine? The JRC4558 datasheet says it can handle it. I’ll build it sometime in the next week or so and try it if I don’t hear back.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Kyle O'Hare28 August 2018 at 05:53

    Sounds great, a nice darker sounding overdrive flavor for sure. I just realized I didn't ground the Volume pot (lug 1) and so that wasn't working at first. Tone control was also reversed, because it seemed backwards to me. Have not tried the optional pF capacitor. Seems to be very versatile, and can work in a lot of circumstances.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Noodle Hammer 24 November 2018 at 23:13

    Little help. I've never seen the blue circle cutout on a layout before. Is it a cutout? Is it just the orientation of the Ic? Is it 2 jumpers connecting?

    ReplyDelete
  55. Unknown1 January 2022 at 22:24

    I've checked this board multiple times, everything seems correct but when it is engaged it has a significant volume drop but is functional. Any ideas?

    ReplyDelete
  56. e_man_8930 June 2023 at 15:27

    This build sounds good! I skipped the 820p cap and didn't have any problem with the sound. The bass roll-off and the glass work together well. They help with changing pickup style.

    Thanks IvIark.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)