king of tone (single channel build)

[owlexifry]

next on the build list was this king of tone layout.

- soft clippers - yes, supposed to use MA856 - but these days, almost impossible to buy a guaranteed genuine.
- the accepted BA282 substitute i could get, but wasn't keen to spend about $30 just to get some (to australia) to try on a circuit i might not really like.
- the ideal forward voltage for these diodes is about 0.82, doubled in a pair, target = 1.64.
2x1N914/1N4148 will only get to about 1.2/1.3, so i decided to do add Ge diodes to bump it up, ended up with around 1.5 (2x1N914+1xD9E).

- hard clippers are supposed to be another rare/obscure diode but supposedly 1n4148/1n914 are close enough.
- i like the smoother character of hard clipping red LEDs so i chose a pair of those instead.

- IC is supposed to be a JRC4580. meh.
to decide, i recorded the same riff for each and compared 4558, TL072, NE5532, and LF353.
i liked 4558 most, so left that one in. (usually prefer TL072).

(yep, still on the altoids crusade)

1st cinnamon build

I can see why this is popular.
It really does have this 'transparent' thing were it just sounds like the amp, cranked and rich/saturated without too much EQ shifting.


Got motivated this afternoon and recorded some demos comparing this KOT with a klone and a ts808

(all into the same amp, tried dial them to roughly the same level of drive, dark sounding amp so i cranked the treble on these drives a fair bit (maybe a little too much... amp speaker output into fryette ps100 reactive load -> DAW -> mesa recto 4x12 cab sim/IR only)

5W tweed amp, baseline control - 'clean'


KOT (soft clipping engaged)


Klone (https://www.tdpri.com/threads/klon-centaur-clone-veroboard.1092927/)


TS808 (https://www.tdpri.com/threads/ts808-altoids-edition.1095618/)



which overdrive sounds best to you?

 

[owlexifry]

ordered a new label maker (dymo cutter stopped working)
arrived the other day

very pleased with this motex version - with it’s changeable wheels.
the lowercase text wheel is fantastic, can actually fit words on things!
(haven’t tried the other wheel yet)

 

[Si G X]

Cool stuff.

What's the LGW? I'm sure I should be able to guess that but it's not coming to me.

 

[owlexifry]

Cool stuff.

What's the LGW? I'm sure I should be able to guess that but it's not coming to me.

thanks!
it’s this one

bjfe/mad professor - little green wonder (altoids)

didn’t have much idea about this circuit. supposedly a TS variant, but looking at the schematic/layout, things get interesting, with distinctions like green LED soft clippers, a dual gang/pot ‘body’ control (in place of a tone control), and no output buffer. first impressions: pretty...

www.tdpri.com

 

[Si G X]

Nice, I've never heard one of those before, sounds good.

What's next on the list?

 

[owlexifry]

Nice, I've never heard one of those before, sounds good.

What's next on the list?

neither had i.
turns out its very different to the usual tubescreamer type drive

for an altoids?
fulltone ocd
proco rat

 

[Si G X]

neither had i.
turns out its very different to the usual tubescreamer type drive

for an altoids?
fulltone ocd
proco rat

I love the OCD, before I built one I thought all the hype around the originals was just that... hype. But it is a really great sounding overdrive/distortion. There's nothing about it I don't like. I guess it's very 'rock' and full sounding but that's a good thing to me.

 

[omahaaudio]

Isn't a single channel King Of Tone just a Prince Of Tone?

 

[owlexifry]

Isn't a single channel King Of Tone just a Prince Of Tone?

not quite.
KOT/POT circuit mostly the same, POT obviously single channel, but also:
- POT has a 3-position DPDT to switch between the 3 modes, clean boost/ OD(soft clip)/ DIST(hard clip)
- KOT uses internal SPST DIP switches for this.
- POT also has internal DIP switches, but for different additional features:
(from analogman website)
DIP1 : LO-MID lift switch: “The tone from your lower strings will be enhanced a little.”
DIP2: TURBO switch: “with higher gain settings you’ll hear deeper compression, especially in DIST mode”

so you could say a POT has more features than a ‘single channel’ KOT.

I love the OCD, before I built one I thought all the hype around the originals was just that... hype. But it is a really great sounding overdrive/distortion. There's nothing about it I don't like. I guess it's very 'rock' and full sounding but that's a good thing to me.

well, that’s good to know. keen to give it a try soon.

 

[omahaaudio]

so you could say a POT has more features than a ‘single channel’ KOT.

Doesn't that depend on the options ordered with a KOT?

 

[owlexifry]

Doesn't that depend on the options ordered with a KOT?

no, KOT does not have those options that POT has. it has internal DIP switches for hard and soft clipping only (but there is an option to change this to a panel mounted dpdt switch, like the POT)
POT uses a dpdt switch for the clipping modes, and uses DIP switches for the additional features mentioned above.

the POT circuit is slightly more complex as a result (vs. 1ch. KOT)

a POT circuit would not fit inside an altoids tin. the single channel KOT does.

POT 19x18

1ch. KOT 18x12

you can see the KOT options here:

King Of Tone

 

[Si G X]

I bet you wished you'd called it the Queen of Tone now?

 

[owlexifry]

I bet you wished you'd called it the Queen of Tone now?

haha.. or Pauper of Tone.. Tin of Tone was another good one

 

[omahaaudio]

no, KOT does not have those options that POT has.

Okay. I guess I can ignore what Analogman's website says about it.

"The POT is pretty much the same as half of the King of Tone, with an external MODE switch standard. It is the same as the KOT with HIGHER GAIN option, so you can use the full range of the DRIVE knob and it has a little more drive at the top than a normal gain KOT."