Landtone Klon Needs Troubleshooting

[willdethrill]

Hi all, hope someone can help me. I bought and built one of those Landtone Klon Klone kits from Amazon. The finished product produces sound, which makes me think it is working. But when off it noticeably reduces a lot of tone and volume from my signal. When it is on, it sounds like it is underwater. I am able to get a good tone by boosting it with my Archer but I am sure something is off. The problem is I am too new to this to know what the problem could be. Any tips/tricks you can suggest or anything you notice in this pic? I can confirm that the solder joints all look shiny, full and there are no shorts. I do get sound but the sounds should be better IMO. Hoping this group of experts can help. I was told that the solder needs to fill up both sides of the hole by someone. I dont know if that is a thing or not. Again I can confirm the backside is full and shiny. Anyway, really appreciate the help here all!

[willdethrill]

The other thing that I notice is that the knobs dont have a huge impact when I turn them. I mean output can go all the way to zero no problem and there is marginal difference when I adjust the treble and gain but maybe there is something in there that I goofed on? Thanks again!

[Carlinb17]

I'm not an expert however I have build dozen of pedals, guitars and amps... I would definitely reflow the solder joints to start with it's hard to tell but it looks like the ones especially around the diodes need more. Do you also have a picture of the other side of the pedal?

[willdethrill]

I'm not an expert however I have build dozen of pedals, guitars and amps... I would definitely reflow the solder joints to start with it's hard to tell but it looks like the ones especially around the diodes need more. Do you also have a picture of the other side of the pedal?

That's interesting. I had thought I only needed solder coverage on the back side to complete the circuit. Are you saying both sides need to be covered? I had a pretty tidy solder on the back. I am however noticing that the solder is not complete on the pots but I had thought those were more anchor positions. Maybe Ill give that a go and a few of the smaller solders and go from there. Anything you see here though?

[willdethrill]

So quick update... I removed and resoldered a few of the joints that looked a touch less filled in as the rest. Not much improvement afterall. Im also starting to pickup some fizzle on my clean channel on bypass. Weirdness..

[cctsim]

I can't tell from the pictures you posted but in my kit there was an error and the 560 and 100k resistors near the clipping diodes needed to be swapped. This will have a big impact on the sound.

Also, the (+) side of 12V diode and (-) side of the second from the left 47uF electrolytic cap are floating and need to be connected to the ground. 

This is how it looks on my pedal:



Although it says 100k on the pcb you need to solder the 560 Ohm resistor there and vice versa.

They have corrected this typo on newer kits.

[cctsim]

I can see also that you mixed up the 3n9 and 394 caps. These need to be swapped as they will make a huge difference in the sound.

[willdethrill]

I can't tell from the pictures you posted but in my kit there was an error and the 560 and 100k resistors near the clipping diodes needed to be swapped. This will have a big impact on the sound.

Also, the (+) side of 12V diode and one of the (-) side of the 47uF are floating and need to be connected to the ground. 

This is how it looks on my pedal:

That is an amazing catch, thank you!! I am seeing the same thing re the 560 and the 100k when I look at the model I followed online. Ill try swapping those parts and see if that helps. Also, ours say 560N and theirs says 560R for that spot. Assume just a typo?

Im not following your guidance on the 12V diode and the (-) of the 47uF. Do you mean just make sure they are soldered in place or is there something else?

Thank you so much!

[willdethrill]

I can see also that you mixed up the 3n9 and 394 caps. These need to be swapped as they will make a huge difference in the sound.

Oh wow!! Thank you again! Ill give that a go as well!

[cctsim]

Im not following your guidance on the 12V diode and the (-) of the 47uF. Do you mean just make sure they are soldered in place or is there something else?

Thank you so much!

You need to use a piece of wire and connect to the nearest ground connections.

See the picture below:

[willdethrill]

Im not following your guidance on the 12V diode and the (-) of the 47uF. Do you mean just make sure they are soldered in place or is there something else?

Thank you so much!

You need to use a piece of wire and connect to the nearest ground connections.

See the picture below:

How did you figure that one out? I think you may have exceeded my ability levels here. I cant seem to map your circuit to mine in that picture.

[cctsim]

The connections in the picture are below the ICL7660S chip and the 47uF caps on the lower left side of the pcb near the switch.

The (-) side of the second from the left 47uF cap (looking from the top) is not connected anywhere on the pcb. The wire link link connects it to the nearest ground connection which happens to be one of the 1uF caps that produces the -9V.

If you want to assure yourself you can use a digital multimeter to see if this is a ground connection by pinging it against the enclosure which should also be grounded.

The (+) or anode electrode of the 12V diode (1N4742) is also floating. This is connected with a wire link to pin 3 of the ICL7660S chip which is also grounded. This change will not affect the sound but provides reverse polarity protection.

If you can find a schematic of the Klon Centaur pedal it will make these connections more clear.

[willdethrill]

So I did the first changes (swapping those capacitors and the resistors that were mislabelled) and wow that was a huge difference! Its almost too loud now if that is even a thing. I crank the output down a good amount to compensate but I can only imagine getting out of the bedroom and a chance to let it loose.

Ill take a look at the grounding suggestion next. Thanks again!

[cctsim]

It is indeed a very loud pedal. I barely used the volume above 9 o'clock.

I think this is because of the linear 10k volume pot. Unfortunately, it will be a mess to swap it with a log one once it is installed.

[duck_arse]

I can't tell from the pictures you posted but in my kit there was an error and the 560 and 100k resistors near the clipping diodes needed to be swapped. This will have a big impact on the sound.

Also, the (+) side of 12V diode and (-) side of the second from the left 47uF electrolytic cap are floating and need to be connected to the ground. 

This is how it looks on my pedal:



Although it says 100k on the pcb you need to solder the 560 Ohm resistor there and vice versa.

They have corrected this typo on newer kits.

I think with this post, cctsim, you have nominated yourself as the landtone klon expert guy. and boy! did we need one around here. excellent work.

[cctsim]

I think with this post, cctsim, you have nominated yourself as the landtone klon expert guy. and boy! did we need one around here. excellent work.

No expert but glad to help a fellow Diy-er in need. The landtone klon kit is of very good quality for the money but who knows how many more small errors are still undiscovered on the pcb.