17 posts
Building this for FB... easiest build in a long time, because I had a pre-fabbed circuit board. Interesting design, one of the few designs out there that really doesn't copy anything else directly. Sounds fantastic, too. Box is drilled and first test run at a jam is tonight, after that powdercoating.
The Klon, most say, is all about the "magic" Germanium diodes. Most people agree they are in the 1n34 range. I tried 9 different types of Germanium diodes and a couple schottkys... in the end, these weird Russian diodes were the best. And it wasn't subtle... nothing else was even really close.
Dude I can't wait! I'm so excited.
Are these like, or really close to, the original?
DreamTheaterRules — May 24, 2013Are these like, or really close to, the original?
Duh.
The definition of the word "clone."
Craig, thanks for the input. I was a bit confused.
On a serious note, the Klon is one of the most cloned pedals ever. It is also the pedal that is MOST OFTEN commented about that the clones DO NOT SOUND AS GOOD AS THE ORIGINAL. Charger already knows this. All mojo BS aside, parts make a difference. Some parts make a LOT of difference. Clones using exact "parts values" but different "types" of parts many times sound a little different. Some times they aren't even close. I've seen TONS of thread in the DIY community about Klon clones. Many love their pedals but people who have had real ones say the clone doesn't have the magic the original has. SOME do claim to sound as good and many go to great lengths to match exact parts because so much has been written about this.
Just so we are clear. I have never played an original NOR built a clone. Just reporting what I've read. But of all the clones, this seems to be the hardest one of all to completely duplicate the original in the one thing that matters. TONE. I've read so many of these comments, that it was the single reason I didn't build one.
That said, Charger knows all this, has done some homework, and I can't wait to hear it.
It depends on whether you believe in magic or not, DTR. The "Lore of the Klon"--the magical story is that the Klon has "magic" diodes... that the guy tried a million and found the perfect diode, and then he bought them all, and of course they were out of production so none of you can ever have any. So that's the lore. The rest of the parts are very standard--in fact, he's doing the reissue with surface mount parts! The circuit is identical, except the buffer is removed, but I'm adding the buffer as a switchable, self-contained effect on the output. I'm not selling it as a Klon for $500, and I don't have a Klon to compare it to, but it sounds really good. I don't sniff corks, only rosin.
and I applaud your use of the buffer on a switch. While normally shunned, many people say that bugger IMPROVES the tone in most pedal boards, as opposed to TBP like you would normally prefer. The way you are building it, you can choose which works better on your board, which is an excellent choice and feature.
p.s. I will probably have you build me one of these. What do you charge? Side note (we can take this to email if you prefer). I have some nice, undrilled powder coated cases I'm not going to use. Maybe we can work out some trades. These are new, still in wrapper. Email me if you want to want some and we'll work out something. I can get you pics, etc.
p.s. where did you get the board?
I got the board from guitarpcb... had to tweak a couple values to make it more Klon-accurate but it's a nice board. I'm willing to build more and I'm interested in trying the madbeans version. I can also build it completely from scratch (veroboard)... and there are lots of variations. Most people strip the charge pump and bipolar supply (it doesn't do much in this circuit). Most people also strip the buffer but like I said it's not a bad option. I've already got a ton of powdercoated enclosures I'm not using... because every time I build an effect I powdercoat my own... but if you want me to throw it in one of your enclosures I will. I'm generally charging parts +50% for labor (which sounds like a lot, but parts are damn cheap, as you know).
Internals. I've reworked things a bit in here... the buffer is on veroboard, taped to the bottom of the case. All my plans for neatness went to hell when I added the buffer... ended up having to fly more wires around. But it's electrically and physically solid. This is the first effect from a pcb I've built in a while.
The top... transparent red to a more opaque sparkle blue.
Switch on the left is the buffer, and yes, I added "the" hallowed Klon buffer to this. The buffer actually works great... I tested it with two 18-foot cables and a strat, and I could definitely hear the difference with it on and off in the high end. Difference was not noticeable with a higher-output humbucker guitar. The jury's out on having the buffer and effect engaged at the same time... I could not hear a difference no matter what I did in that scenario.
Switch on the right is a bass boost. It really adds a serious whomping of bottom end, and it's not something you'd ordinarily need to use.
Controls are gain/tone/volume.
charger — Jun 03, 2013The top... transparent red to a more opaque sparkle blue.
Switch on the left is the buffer, and yes, I added "the" hallowed Klon buffer to this. The buffer actually works great... I tested it with two 18-foot cables and a strat, and I could definitely hear the difference with it on and off in the high end. Difference was not noticeable with a higher-output humbucker guitar. The jury's out on having the buffer and effect engaged at the same time... I could not hear a difference no matter what I did in that scenario.
Switch on the right is a bass boost. It really adds a serious whomping of bottom end, and it's not something you'd ordinarily need to use.
Controls are gain/tone/volume.
That thing looks better than I imagined in my head.
Alright. So I got the Klon today and I finally get to sit with this baby and see what she has.
I set it up like I intend to use it. a lot of volume and the gain backed way the fuck off. This beautiful little box does EXACTLY what I hoped it would do tonally. There is this harmonic character and grit just the perfect amount. The amp is just breaking up ohhhhh so nicely. It's EXACTLY the sound I was shooting for....EXACTLY
This pedal is VERY dynamic. Pick softly and your guitar is squeeky clean.....dig in the right amount of dirt is present. I use the volume on my guitar a lot for tones and this thing responds perfectly to what I like about using the guitars volume to get sounds.
It certainly has usable sounds with the gain cranked up but that is not at all why I wanted this pedal. The buffer switch was something I requested and that worked out better than I planned. I like it either way and to my ears you certainly have a difference when its on and off.
The bass boost is really nice too. That's more of a Jamie thing.....but....he has certain tones that he does that I like and this bass boost takes me straight into Jamie singing tone.
This thing plays well with pedals too. I don't have THE spot figured out for it yet. I need to buy some more George L's cable and find it a home on the board.
To give you an idea of how much I love this pedal.....I could dump all the pedals I have and live with just my Fulltone Fulldrive II MOSFET that I bought off of Howie years ago. That has been my desert island pedal for ages. It's so musical and flexible and I can get a shit ton of tones out of it. This Klon just made a really good case for it being my desert island pedal and I don't even have it all figured out where I need it in the signal path.
Charger.....I cannot thank you enough. There has been an elusive tone that I have spent years trying to get and I got it in less than 5 seconds with this Klon. I cannot tell you how happy I am and am just tickled to death about this pedal.
Pictures DO NOT do this thing justice either. This thing is way more beautiful in the sun light than the pictures even suggest.
Outrageous son. When I get back from vacation.....I have another pedal that I need you to build. But we can talk about that later.
This thing is the tits! I am sooooooo fucking thrilled. I can't believe how good this thing is.
Dude. If you turn the tone all the way off.....crank the gain to about 3:00 put the volume at unity......Bass boost off......HOLY SHIT. Such a lushious open clear dirt. Like all this break up BUT you can hear EACH note by itself. Separation!!! I love this thing. Holy fuck dude. This thing exceeds all my expectations.
Are you serious dude? You totally under played this thing. It is AWESOME. I've only played it on the Strat. Which I have modified since last you saw it. I took the TBX out and the original pickups and put the David Gilmour EMG's in it. It's fucking awesome man. It's late here now. Tomorrow....fucking humbuckers and the Klon are gonna date. Gonna try to cop some Warren Haynes shit.
I agree. After playing that thing for a week, I could see exactly why people like it so much. Something elusive about that pedal that I don't get with other pedals. And with the volume pushed and the gain backed off, it is like having all the good parts of a Fender amp at your command. But the cool part is that it does good things with the gain up too. It's crunchy and a little raw, but still pretty tasty. Could easily replace a tubescreamer, and without the big mid hump. I'm not sure it would be my first choice for gain, but the gain for me was pretty killer.
And there are a couple mods I can do that really change that thing. I've got it in my head to build a more flexible version that has a switch for different diodes... the two pairs I chose were pretty different and it would be nice to switch between them. The installed diodes are more gainy and thick, the other diodes I included are cleaner and a little sweeter. The other mod is to switch between two different feed resistors. The high value in there keeps the pedal from being really gainy but gives you that big clean gain range. Dropping the value of the feed resistor increases the gain--a lot. It gets into thick Marshall character with that change, but at the expense of the clean side of the gain. Right now on your pedal it's socketed, I included two good values, installing either resistor will give you different tastes of that gain. But the real magic is to put them on a switch, then you can choose, real Klon style, or gainy Klon. I think my next version will have both those switches, and the value of the bass boost cap lowered to make it less extreme. But yeah, great pedal, I think it will serve you well!
