Catalinbread - Katzenkönig  [traced]

General documentation, gut shot, schematic links, ongoing circuit tracing, deep thoughts ... all about boutique stompboxes.
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ksenanekro
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Post by ksenanekro »

hi there!
here is a layout i drew.
read the whole discussion before start building
http://guitar-fx-layouts.42897.x6.nabbl ... 24613.html

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cdeschenes
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Post by cdeschenes »

MoonWatcher wrote:Word has it that this pedal has an unusually high level of hiss. The schematic looks kind of crude, and like it would indicate as much. I don't expect quiet operation, but are there any changes to be made that might reduce any noise?

I'm talking about hiss - there seem to be a lot of reports of really noticeable hiss.
I built storyboardist's layout and only had any "noise/hiss" from the pedal when the input was turned all the way up on single coils. There was also some noise with humbuckers but it was more like a BMP with the sustain all the way up kind of noise when the input was turned up all the way. I am really happy with this pedal and plan on boxing it up soon.

I used 2N3904's with a Hfe around 380 on all 4 transistors.

Cody

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michaelballard
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Post by michaelballard »

Also built storyboardist's layout and it sounds good. There is a little hiss if turned all the way up, but it's to be expected as others have said.

As a side note, I opened up a friend's production Katzenkonig. The actual trannies are BC550B, but I built mine with PN2222A's and it actually sounds a bit better to me - a touch less gating at higher gain settings.

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MoonWatcher
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Post by MoonWatcher »

michaelballard wrote:Also built storyboardist's layout and it sounds good. There is a little hiss if turned all the way up, but it's to be expected as others have said.

As a side note, I opened up a friend's production Katzenkonig. The actual trannies are BC550B, but I built mine with PN2222A's and it actually sounds a bit better to me - a touch less gating at higher gain settings.
That sounds cool, then. I guess I misunderstood what I heard from some others - they made it sound like there was a very noticeable hiss even with the gain set pretty low. I think one guy said that the input control didn't have much of an effect on the level of hiss - since it's a pre-gain type of control, I guess that makes sense.

I think some of these guys are A/B'ing the Katzenkonig against either a Rat pedal or others that are op amp-based (that's just a guess on my part), so it's bound to have more hiss in comparison.

I guess I'm always curious about hiss with transistor-based designs, because you can't dial that out with power supply filtering. It's a reality of Johnson-Nyquist noise combined with the gain levels that we are shooting for.

Thanks for letting us know about the BC550B's used in the real deal. I don't think I've ever owned any of those, or had a need for them. I think I've got at least 70 PN2222A's though. :thumbsup

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edy_wheazel
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Post by edy_wheazel »

My build:

Image

Image

Image

Details in the attachment. Didn't box it yet.
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Catalinbread Katzenkonig.pdf
(55.2 KiB) Downloaded 508 times

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Dingleberry
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Post by Dingleberry »

Hi.

I also got my vero version done and boxed up some time ago. Been busy with day job and gigs so I haven't got much spare time to hang out here in the forum. I tied different transistors and best results sound wise were with BC107B, 2n222A and 2n3904. Low gain silicons didn't sound nice at all and high gain ones were way too noisy. I'm pretty sure I have a bag of BC550B's somewhere in my transistor stash. I hope I have time tomorrow to try those BC550B's listen how they sound. There is quite a bit of hiss when both "gains" maxxed, so it's definitely not gonna win the "most noise free fuzz pedal"-award. I also used 100KC for the filter pot so it's acting now like a conventional tone pot, gets brighter when turned clockwise. I'll post some pics of my build tomorrow.
Simplify before you amplify.

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Dingleberry
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Post by Dingleberry »

Found my BC550B's and indeed it sounds really nice. A lot less hiss than other transistors I tried, though BC550's should be low noice. Gains were from 290 to 320 in ascending order from Q1 to Q4.
Gotta spend some more time with it and run trough current gigging set up and test with different guitars. So far I've only tested it with strat. Can't wait to inject it with my Jazzmaster and LPjr.
Here are some pics I took (labels still missing from box).
Attachments
Katzen3.jpg
Katzen2.jpg
Katzen1.jpg
Simplify before you amplify.

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johnk
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Post by johnk »

i just finished mine and it sounds great.
Attachments
Katzen-01.jpg

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edy_wheazel
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Post by edy_wheazel »

I made the PCB but I don't know if I will box this one, nice pedal but not exactly my style. Some cool mod's can be made here, like replacing the Filter pot with a Baxandall tonestack (with the modification of R15 to compensate, maybe with 10K trimpot with a 2u2 capacitor from the center lug to the ground). Also, playing with the clipping stage would be nice, some Germanium diodes, LED's or MOS-FET's, or all of them with a switch. Got no time or interest with this pedal, but experiments on a breadboard would result in a steroid king kat.

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rowla
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Post by rowla »

I put one together on pad per hole board and have wired it up in a tester enclosure.

Sounds great though I lose all signal when I turn the gain right up. I am using the BC550C. Has anyone else experienced this?

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okgb
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Post by okgb »

I heard a youtube of this and liked it , anyone have a board they want to get rid of ?

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okgb
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Post by okgb »

I bought someones pcb of it. Does anyone know what changes were made to the Catlinbread Blood Donor ver.? I " read " higher overall gain to help reduce the noise floor ?

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