Aion fx Deimos

Username123

Well-known member
Just finished up this Aion Fx Deimos last night. Its my second pedal i have built.
It's a tone bender mark II with a switch that removes the first transistor stage, turning it into a fuzz face. Haven't played with it much because my hands have been sore. I Still got to get it biased. Before I did this pedal I didn't solder for months, so I practiced a bit and completed this in a few hours with no issues.


IMG_20220424_114734~01.jpg IMG_20220424_115354~01.jpg
 
I built one of these recently as well, and had a lot of fun with it. How do you find the 1.5 setting? I feel like mine is a little muddy sounding, but that could also just be the nature of the way that circuit sound.
 
I built one of these recently as well, and had a lot of fun with it. How do you find the 1.5 setting? I feel like mine is a little muddy sounding, but that could also just be the nature of the way that circuit sound.

That's because the Aion kit doesn't change the input capacitor on the 1.5 side of the switch. Basically the switch makes it a Fuzz Face with a HUGE (relatively speaking) 4.7 uf input cap.

The original MK 1.5 units would have had a much smaller (15 nF) input cap and much smaller (4.7 nF) output cap. Changing C4 to something in the 10-47 nf range should give a punchier (and brighter) tone for the 1.5 side.
 
That's because the Aion kit doesn't change the input capacitor on the 1.5 side of the switch. Basically the switch makes it a Fuzz Face with a HUGE (relatively speaking) 4.7 uf input cap.

The original MK 1.5 units would have had a much smaller (15 nF) input cap and much smaller (4.7 nF) output cap. Changing C4 to something in the 10-47 nf range should give a punchier (and brighter) tone for the 1.5 side.
Oh interesting, that's good to know (and I wish I would've known about that prior to putting it all together haha. Seems strange that that wouldn't be the go-to value for that cap anyways on the build docs
 
Just out of curiosity... part of the text looks a bit weird (DEIMOS, mode, 9V). Photoshop?
 
Oh interesting, that's good to know (and I wish I would've known about that prior to putting it all together haha. Seems strange that that wouldn't be the go-to value for that cap anyways on the build docs

I was a bit surprised as well.

Let's assume to assume that the 1.5 is just a Fuzz Face. A Fuzz Face with a 4.7 uf input cap would be pretty wooly.
 
Just out of curiosity... part of the text looks a bit weird (DEIMOS, mode, 9V). Photoshop?
I actually did do some color correction, but I looked at the un-edited photo and it had the same blur. Not sure if the blur is the camera not focusing right in that spot or if it's something else.
 
The original MK 1.5 units would have had a much smaller (15 nF) input cap and much smaller (4.7 nF) output cap. Changing C4 to something in the 10-47 nf range should give a punchier (and brighter) tone for the 1.5 side.
What schematic are you referencing? The Vox Tonebender uses a smaller input cap, but the Sola Sound Mk 1.5 has a 5uF input cap.
 
What schematic are you referencing? The Vox Tonebender uses a smaller input cap, but the Sola Sound Mk 1.5 has a 5uF input cap.

I was thinking the Vox. I should have clarified that. I think most people think of the Vox when thinking of the MK 1.5.

I go back to thinking about a Fuzz Face with such a big input cap. The Sola had the big 25 uF emitter cap as well. Even with higher bias voltage and naturally brighter tone of the OC75, that’d be awefully wooly!

You are 100% correct though and I was not clear about which one I was discussing.

I would say that if the Deimos is a bit too bassy/wooly in 1.5 mode, changing that input cap will help greatly.
 
Lol. I agree with the too much treble thing. And I will definitely keep it stock for now. The tonebender side is so good that I don't really want to change anything in the circuit. Don't want to risk losing that sound.
I agree with you there, the II setting sounds so gnarly I love it. And the 1.5 version isn't bad by any means, just a little muddier/flubbier than I was expecting it to be.
 
Great looking build! What transistors did you go with? I got a Flying Dutchman set from Small Bear and thought the sound was excellent but needed a touch more low end so I added a bit larger output cap on the back of the board.
 
Lol. I agree with the too much treble thing. And I will definitely keep it stock for now. The tonebender side is so good that I don't really want to change anything in the circuit. Don't want to risk losing that sound.

You can change the input cap on the 1.5 side with zero effect on the MK II side.
 
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