MichaelW
Well-known member
Don't let my curmudgeon-ness stop you from building it! It might be right up your alley!
DEMO AionFX Polyphemus (Pigtronix Philosophers Tone) - Demo Added
- Thread starter MichaelW
- Start date
This post contains an audio or video demo
Bricksnbeatles
Member known well
Wouldn’t really help with the tone concerns, but as far as output level, increasing R5 a bit might be worth a try
I was looking at the schematic for your Aion build & they certainly saved a lot on parts getting rid of the Grit/ Overdrive part of the circuit for the Micro version, No wonder it fits in a 1590A size enclosure now.
I think the worst part of the Original design is that the overdrive is always present, you can't shut it off!
I'm glad this got posted because I was weirded out enough by the result that I emailed Kevin. I'd never done a search of what the original sounded like so bad on me. Still, I'm hard pressed to find anything near clean with enough volume to be useable. Cool overdrive though.
If I could eke out a bit more level I'd be OK.
If I could eke out a bit more level I'd be OK.
Who is Kevin?
You could lift the resistor pad at IC2A Pin1/ R9 where it has continuity with R8 and run a jumper wire to IC2B R15 lifted & R16 pad that connects to Pin 6.
it takes the overdrive out of Circuit!???
Fontelroy
Active member
I built one of these and after reading you've had the same issues I think there could be something wrong with their circuit. I had a germanium philosopher's tone that I really regret letting go, so when I saw aion had a pcb I got excited to try it. I'm kind of amazed at how little volume on tap there is here, the pigtronix version did not have this issue.
Aion lists that it just makes unity which was the findings on the one that was traced years ago.
I was doing some reading on a popular forum that complained about lack of Volume with their build that was traced years ago & they say that increasing R5 -10K to 100K gets it to a more acceptable Volume.
One well known DIY put a jfet boost at the end also for more Volume???
Fontelroy
Active member
That change to 100K didn't seem to make much of a difference... those older bigger enclosure philosopher's tones were 12v pedals.... I wonder if they traced one of those and didn't realize it?
edit - I wanted to test on mine on 12v but I'm using 10v capacitors so i might have to hold off...
edit - I wanted to test on mine on 12v but I'm using 10v capacitors so i might have to hold off...
Aion R5 is listed as R6 in this layout:
One guy put 330k!
Pigtronix Philosopher's Tone Germanium Gold LTD - Page 5
Hey FSB members, I haven't seen much discussion in the area of Pigtronix and I feel that they are coming up with some new ideas as far as effect pedals go. This is their compressor pedal, actually a limited edition version. The only thing that's
www.freestompboxes.org
I have this version of the Philosopher's Tone. The volume is at unity at noon. Full volume is a significant boost. Note this version has no tone knob. The Grit is the only aspect of this pedal I don't like; it's ok when kept low but doesn't do well past noon.
To fix the kit I suggest we look for a schematic of this version as that should solve the volume issue. The Grit would probably need more extensive modding to turn it into a decent clipper.
To fix the kit I suggest we look for a schematic of this version as that should solve the volume issue. The Grit would probably need more extensive modding to turn it into a decent clipper.
Looking at your build (beautifully done btw), I notice you don’t have the power ground connected (near the pcb outlet pad).Well I built this pedal because @Bricksnbeatles said I needed one.
I really wasn't familiar with this circuit but it was designed by Howard Davis of Deluxe Memory Man fame.
It's an optical compressor with a blendable overdrive.
I rarely ever say this about any of my builds as I can usually find something I like about the pedals I've built. But honestly I think this thing sounds like crap.
(No knock on Bricksy....)
I'm not sure if I did something wrong or what. I guess I need to go listen to some more demo's of the real thing and see how far off I am.
Part of it was my expectations, I was expecting more "compressor" but this is really an overdrive pedal.
You can't turn the drive part off and even at it's lowest blend setting there's grit.
The overdrive sounds are thin and fizzy and underwhelming at best. I built it to the BOM, it uses a LOT of 1N914's and a single Ge diode. I used an ITT Red Band for the Ge, which is one of my favorite 1N34A subs.
There's quite a bit of compression on tap and you can get a ton of sustain with it, but in general the whole pedal sounds like there's a wool blanket over it.
The closest usable sounds I can get out of it is to turn the drive all the way down and run it in front of another drive pedal, but I don't see the point when there's so many other better sounding dedicated compressors I can use.
At full volume the pedal barely reaches unity gain, maybe a hair under.
I dunno, maybe I just don't get it, or I'm using it wrong. It was a fun build, but destined for the drawer.
Sorry Aion, this one's a total "miss" for me.
View attachment 52953
View attachment 52954
This means your charge pump is not working, which has a large impact on the clean yet compressed tone of this circuit (you basically hear horrible opamp clipping at all settings).
Guess how I know?
MichaelW
Well-known member
Interesting, I just re-checked the build docs and it does not call for that ground to be connected.Looking at your build (beautifully done btw), I notice you don’t have the power ground connected (near the pcb outlet pad).
This means your charge pump is not working, which has a large impact on the clean yet compressed tone of this circuit (you basically hear horrible opamp clipping at all settings).
Guess how I know?
Guardians of the analog
Papi Fuego
you are correct, Aion has this on pedals using charge pumps like their germanium fuzz projects. it should be connected to work properly. I believe it was an oversight on Kevin's behalf.Looking at your build (beautifully done btw), I notice you don’t have the power ground connected (near the pcb outlet pad).
This means your charge pump is not working, which has a large impact on the clean yet compressed tone of this circuit (you basically hear horrible opamp clipping at all settings).
Guess how I know?
Last edited:
MichaelW
Well-known member
Once I excavate what box I have my pedals packed in, I'll address it and give it another shot.
