Anyone built a Klon clone from a Chinese eBay kit? How do they sound? Qualitywise?

Philtre

I'm intrigued by the Klon kits from China in terms of quality. For example https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Overdrive-DIY-Guitar-Pedal-Kit-For-Kon-Centaur-Overdrive-Effect-Pedal-G/113250812294?hash=item1a5e464186:g:eJMAAOSw64tbnJT8

My interest is in finding out about the quality of the components of these kits and how the finished thing sounds compared to a Klon or clone (KTR, Archer, etc)

Anyone bought and built one?

lewism

I bought one of the ones with the original enclosure, but I bought the kit as case, pcb, pots, knobs and lead only and sourced the rest myself. Bitsbox do a kit of all the components, but I had most of the bits myself.

The quality of the case, pcb etc was good and the resulting pedal sounds spot on compared to my KTR and Fredric Zombie Klone. I’ll post pics when I’m back from work

Philtre

@lewism Ta.

Just to clarify this post - I could build one from parts (I've built about 24 pedals from vero and sourced parts this year). But I'm doing a research project on the end user experience of pedal kits from China. I'll probably just buy one to find out for myself, but interested in people's experience.

Modulus_Amps

just bought one of those kits, will get it in October, for that price there is no danger. even if I have to upgrade a few parts

Philtre

Modulus_Amps said:

just bought one of those kits, will get it in October, for that price there is no danger. even if I have to upgrade a few parts

Please let me know how you get on. I hear that you might want to test the resistors/caps to check the value is correct.

DannyP

I built 2, both of which sounded really good but crapped out very quickly.

Should've gone to fuzz dog.

Philtre

@DannyP What components crapped out?

Modulus_Amps

Philtre said:

Modulus_Amps said:

just bought one of those kits, will get it in October, for that price there is no danger. even if I have to upgrade a few parts

Please let me know how you get on. I hear that you might want to test the resistors/caps to check the value is correct.

Will do and thanks for the heads up on checking the parts

lewism

A bit later than promised, but here’s my Chinese Klon (Chintaur?):
https://i.imgur.com/imxDfYH.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/5A3bhhU.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/dMf23Bz.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/9XPsMwu.jpg
The Klon logo bothers me, so I’ll be copying the K at some point and using the toner transfer method to add another at the end to make it a Klonk.

I bought the enclosure, pots, knobs and pcb only so I can’t comment on the quality of the parts that a full kit would contain. It arrived a couple of weeks after ordering (declared as a gift showing they have the same attitude to customs as they do intellectual property). The enclosure seems good quality, as is the pcb (both look identical to the Ceriatone copy, I’d guess his supplier has figured they can make a bit of money on the side). Pots are full size, branded as Alpha. I put in Cliffs jacks as I like them and I wasn’t after full authenticity in my dodgy copy. Only complaint would be no diagram for populating the pcb (you may get one if you buy the full kit) but seeing as the pcb is identical to the original and the Ceriatone copy I was able to use the Ceriatone diagrams.

Overall, putting the issue of it looking like something it’s not, i.e. an actual Klon, it’s pretty good. If it weren’t for the enclosure though, I’d have gone down my usual route of veroboard and Hammond enclosure.

DannyP

Philtre said:

@DannyP What components crapped out?

To be honest, I haven't properly troubleshot it. Just cursed myself for being a cheapskate and moved on, but I will get them out and have a fiddle sometime soon.

guitargeek62

lewism said:

A bit later than promised, but here’s my Chinese Klon (Chintaur?):
https://i.imgur.com/imxDfYH.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/5A3bhhU.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/dMf23Bz.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/9XPsMwu.jpg
The Klon logo bothers me, so I’ll be copying the K at some point and using the toner transfer method to add another at the end to make it a Klonk.

I bought the enclosure, pots, knobs and pcb only so I can’t comment on the quality of the parts that a full kit would contain. It arrived a couple of weeks after ordering (declared as a gift showing they have the same attitude to customs as they do intellectual property). The enclosure seems good quality, as is the pcb (both look identical to the Ceriatone copy, I’d guess his supplier has figured they can make a bit of money on the side). Pots are full size, branded as Alpha. I put in Cliffs jacks as I like them and I wasn’t after full authenticity in my dodgy copy. Only complaint would be no diagram for populating the pcb (you may get one if you buy the full kit) but seeing as the pcb is identical to the original and the Ceriatone copy I was able to use the Ceriatone diagrams.

Overall, putting the issue of it looking like something it’s not, i.e. an actual Klon, it’s pretty good. If it weren’t for the enclosure though, I’d have gone down my usual route of veroboard and Hammond enclosure.

Well it looks like a great enclosure at least! I like the idea of a Klonk too.

Whereabouts did you find the enclosure? These days the only pedal I find myself using is a RAT, I wouldn’t mind building one into a Klon(k) enclosure as something slightly different!

*edit* Scratch that:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-1-Klon-Centaur-Silver-Overdrive-Guitar-Effect-Pedal-Style-Aluminum-Metal-Box-/112608513106

Chalky

I bought one early last year for £29.  Very easy to build except for the pot wiring but I found a photo on google. I'm very pleased with it but it is not quite as clear sounding as the Soul Food, for example, but whether that is because of design differences or component differences, I don't know.  By any measure it was £29 well spent.