Klon Centaur

Klon Centaur

The original Klon Pedal is no longer produced and hence very expensive (+7000$ range and up). Thats why there are many clones of the Klon, many different DIY projects, for example the Kliche overdrive, the Kherion Klon from PCB Guitar mania and the AionFX refractor.

Ive used the refractor project because it has some things ive wanted and I like:

• Fits into 125B Enclosure (maybe even a 1590B)
  
• PCB mounted pots
• Switch between buffered bypass and true bypass
• Circuit based on the original / KTR, same parts values etc

I also liked the extra PCB for the 3PDT switch and that not much wiring has to be done.

Build Notes

I ordered a Refractor Kit from musikding. For the charge pump it contained a ICL7660SCPA chip, but with the Refractor schematic values this would cause a high pitch hissing noise. I have replace it with a TC1044SCPA and everything is quiet and works smooth like a charm!

Also for the audio jacks i needed to cut off the third connector, since it would have directly touched the pot and / or the pcb. I have used the pre-drilled enclosure from musikding.

 

I have used germanium D9E diodes, sounds great! You can also use BAT41, 1N4148 or 1N914. Even LED is possible. You can socket the diodes and experiment. 

 

If you want to build a Klon with most every mod that are all switchable, the Kheiron Klon is the project to go.

For labelling the enclosure i used a printable vinyl sticker foil and finished it off with epoxy resin.

Great sounding pedal. Its very transparent, has a lot of volume / headroom and is more in the low gain range, great for blues and rock.

Was a lot of fun to build. Please check out the AionFX homepage for documentation and schematic. Its extremely well documented.