Has anyone made Markm's Klon Booster? Is it "verified".

[dap9]

I put this together over the wknd.  It was my first perfboard project.  Maybe a little ambitious for a first project, but I diagramed it out on paper in addition to using his layout and I have a bypassed signal, but my ground wire (on the left side of the layout) hums when I touch it to the adapter jack's hum.  When I touch it to the in (tip) of the input jack, the signal gets louder and the volume pot works, but I don't hear any difference on the gain pot.  I'm still messing around, but if anyone's made this and has some ideas, that'd be great.

Here's a link:  http://www.aronnelson.com/gallery/v/MarkMs-Gallery/album15/album76/KLONBoost_LAYOUT.png.html

I can take some pics later.  Unfortunately I thought I'd be able to jam all the components on a small enought perfboard to fit into the "Japanese Apartment" enclosure.  Close, but no cigar, LOL.  So the pics may be a little tough to see what's going on.

Lastly, if I get this thing working, is there a diagram for using a 3dpt switch?  I think I have an idea based on the 4ms Tremulus lune diagram I have, but I just want to make sure.  I plan on making a few of the various boosts so I'd like to know how to hook it all up to a swtich. 

Thanks in advance,  Dap

[dap9]

Ok, I think I'm starting to figure out what's going on here.  I brought the "pedal" with me to work and spent more time looking at the diagram, my wiring, and how I was trying to wire the perf to everything.  The good news (so far) is my wiring seems to be correct.

I think that the way I had things in my head as to how to wire up the jacks and pots was wrong.  I also got on Dano's sight and found his pic of wiring up a 3PDT switch so I'll try that.  The only thing is, I won't be using a battery - just the adaptor, so I'll just leave the snap out of it.  Sorry for the rambling - I hate being a noob - but it does help to rattle these thoughts out there and get whatever help people want to offer.

If I get it working (fingers crossed), I'll let you know that it's Verified as no one has so far indicated otherwise.

[theundeadelvis]

I've had threads that were just me replying to me until I figured things out. It definitely helps the thought process, and later on down the road it will help someone else who's in the same boat you are in now. Another great source for all of your off board wiring is Tonepad. They have drawings of about every combination of DPDT, 3PDT, with DC Jack, without, etc. I have them printed out for quick reference. Good luck!

[mnordbye]

If a thing doesn't work, i always disconnect any switches, just to make things simpler. A wrong-wired 3pdt switch can be a pain in the ass sometimes. 

Magnus Nordbye

[dap9]

If a thing doesn't work, i always disconnect any switches, just to make things simpler. A wrong-wired 3pdt switch can be a pain in the ass sometimes. 

Magnus Nordbye

Yeah, that makes sense.  Now that I have a better idea of how to wire up the pots and jacks, I'll prolly do it that way and us a 9v battery to power - just to make sure I have a properly working circuit.  thanks

[dap9]

Ok, the MarkM Klon Boost is OFFICIALLY VERIFIED!!  After a while of figuring out the RIGHT way to wire up the perf board, and then some trouble shooting, I found that one of my connections wasn't quite there... add a jumper and some solder, and BAM!

There is a definite boost in signal and the Gain gets pretty dirty sounding.  I've only been able to try it via a POD and headphones b/c the wife is in the other room watching TV.  After I get a chance to rock it through my trusty Epi Valve Jr. I'll write more.  So far it seems a little bassy.  I didn't have any .05 caps so I used .047 caps.  Anyone know what components affect the tone?

More to come...

[John Lyons]

The input cap will have the most effect on the tone. (the first cap in the circuit right after the input jack)
I don't think this circuit adds any bass but usually it's a good idea to make a booster a little more trebly going into a slightly distorted amp so the distortion tone will retain clarity.
(Without looking at the schematic) ..you could try a .01 or smaller cap to make sure the bass does not get too sloppy if it turns out that the bass is too sloppy with you amp and this boost.

John

[squidsquad]

FYI....no difference in .5 or .47....or .05 & .047....etc.

[dap9]

Thanks guys.  I figured the .047s would be fine so I didn't bother ordering more caps (I just got a huge order - I accidentally got some higher voltages than I needed so I have a few big boys to get rid of, LOL.

This doesn't seem to be a clean boost, but like I said, I haven't gotten it through a real amp yet.  So through the POD, it seems to darken things up as you turn it up and the gain is a little muddy.  But it may have take on a different life through an amp... we'll see

[dap9]

Alright fellas, I had a chance to plug my finished product into my Epi Valve Jr. head/Mesa 2x12 open cab.  Overall... Meh!  W/ the gain all the way down and just the volume, the tone is darker, less defined, and rather disappointing.  When you start adding the gain, I feel the overall tone is still too dark and I was really only happy w/ using just the bridge pup (I'm playing an ESP LTD EC-400AT w/ Seymore Duncan JB/59 combo).  The gain all the way up is pretty gnarly, but not totally unuseable.  Overall, it's a neat circuit, but I doubt I'll be using it for anything.  I'm glad I tried it, and it was a great first build.  But I think I'm gonna try some other ideas now.

I hope this was helpful to people!  I know I'm a noob here.  I've learned a lot and I hope to contribute back!

[DougH]

I suspect the Klon stuff might be tuned for Fender amps, but I don't remember.

Anyway, you could try tuning yours to be less dark, so it works better with your amp. That's one of the nice things about DIY, you can tune things to work with your rig.

[John Lyons]

Is "Ra" resistor a 1M or higher on your build? If it's  much lower than that you'll get some dullness....
The effect shouldn't be dull with the gain down. Maybe there is a problem somewhere or a wrong value component.

Lower the input cap to .01 and it should brighten up the sound. (Cutting some muddy bass)
No need to trash the build so fast. See what you can do to make it better (or fix it).

John

[DougH]

10u seems like overkill for C5 too. I would try a 1u film or even .1u there.