Klon Centaur (Aion Refractor) Help!

[mickeybellinello]

Hi to all,

some times ago I built a Klon Centaur clone using the Aion Refractor PCB.
The main "issue" are two, got not much gain/distortion and the output is so so high level (for having +- the same bypassed volume, the volume knob is at 1/4 - 9hour).

Never have had the opportunity of playing with a real Centaur pedal but after seeing some YouTube video I noticed that the volume knob is usually on mid position (12hour).

Is my situation normal? Or could it be something wrong?

I play it with a bass and using an Ampeg SVT4Pro.

MY voltage measurement are:

IC1

Pin1 4.67
Pin2 4.67
Pin3 3.28
Pin4 0
Pin5 4.65
Pin6 4.67
Pin7 4.70
Pin8 9.38

IC2

Pin1 4.71
Pin2 4.68
Pin3 4.66
Pin4 -9
Pin5 4.66
Pin6 4.67
Pin7 4.64
Pin8 16.90

IC3

Pin1 9.38
Pin2 4.66
Pin3 0
Pin4 -4.46
Pin5 -9
Pin6 4.87
Pin7 7.26
Pin8 9.38

DATASHEET voltage measurement are:

IC1

Pin1 4.92
Pin2 4.92
Pin3 3-4 drifts
Pin4 0
Pin5 4.90
Pin6 4.92
Pin7 4.97
Pin8 9.86

IC2

Pin1 4.96
Pin2 4.92
Pin3 4.92
Pin4 -9.49
Pin5 4.91
Pin6 4.92
Pin7 4.87
Pin8 17.99

IC3

Pin1 9.86
Pin2 5.02
Pin3 0
Pin4 -4.66
Pin5 -9.49
Pin6 4.95
Pin7 6.35
Pin8 9.86

thanks so

[willienillie]

What clipping diodes did you use?  Those will have an effect on how much distortion you get.  I have no idea what it should sound like on bass either, the one I built was very much a guitar-midrange crunch kinda thing.  Your voltages look good.  If you built yours with a linear taper volume pot like the originals, the volume will come up fast.  You can switch to audio taper and smooth that out.

[mickeybellinello]

What clipping diodes did you use?  Those will have an effect on how much distortion you get.  I have no idea what it should sound like on bass either, the one I built was very much a guitar-midrange crunch kinda thing.  Your voltages look good.  If you built yours with a linear taper volume pot like the originals, the volume will come up fast.  You can switch to audio taper and smooth that out.

Thanks for reply. At the moment I use two old 1n34a diodes (fv .25 +-). I also tried a batch of d9e diodes (with my multimeter I read a value fv .25 +-) but with d9e I get less drive.
So by the reading all works right?

[willienillie]

So by the reading all works right?

Seems like it to me.  If you're watching YT demos and they're plugging it in to a dirty (saturated, compressed) guitar amp, the pedal will mainly add distortion rather than volume, and more when the pedal volume is turned up.  Plug the same pedal into a clean, powerful bass amp, less distortion and the pedal volume knob will make a bigger difference in actual volume.

[mickeybellinello]

So by the reading all works right?

Seems like it to me.  If you're watching YT demos and they're plugging it in to a dirty (saturated, compressed) guitar amp, the pedal will mainly add distortion rather than volume, and more when the pedal volume is turned up.  Plug the same pedal into a clean, powerful bass amp, less distortion and the pedal volume knob will make a bigger difference in actual volume.

Thanks so so much!