DEMO AionFX Xenotron (Lovetone ? Flange with No Name)

[owlexifry]

Build Rating

4.00 star(s)

admittedly, i really didn’t need to build this.



not sure why i got sucked into dropping it in the cart. maybe it was the sight of the troubleshooting threads and thinking, surely it can’t be that much of a big deal.
or maybe it was the build documentation that really sells this as a whopper of a modulation box.
and it definitely is.



basically it’s a stereo box that has tremolo on one channel and time based modulation (flange/chorus) on the other, you can choose to run them separately in stereo, or mix down to mono. (in either channel for 'bypass' mode, the LFO is disengaged from that channel to remove the effect, so not at all a true bypass)

since they both share the same LFO, the tremolo channel usually gets fairly drowned out by the time channel, even in stereo, but it’s worse in mono.
so the tremolo is kinda sorta redundant… idk. it’s there.

it also has an effects loop for the time channel. this is probably the coolest and most useful feature that sets it apart from other guitar modulation effects. e.g. running a delay in the loop (as suggested in the Lovetone manual) works really well and sounds awesome.



it's definitely an odd one with a lot of tweakability that you can read all about if you can be bothered, but overall im not sure what benefits this has over a train which i could also afford a Byzantium Flanger (BF-2), cos honestly the BF-2 is more fun to play, about half as expensive to build and nowhere near as time consuming to dial in (or build).

but im probably not being fair, i get the feeling this circuit was intended for use well beyond guitar applications.

here’s a demo attempt (with delay):

here’s another one where you can actually hear the tremolo (stereo rig):

 

[Paradox916]

Clean build man, I’m with you on a lot of that, seems like a fun build but for what purpose when you already have all the modulation and delay pedals to do that. Don’t get me wrong I can see the momentary appeal of some of the superfluous features but once you get past all the noise making noodling fun it seem like a pedal that ends up on the shelf. But I digress, good job on the demos that’s about the best I have heard that circuit sound. Most the time it sounded like someone borked the build

 

[owlexifry]

I can see the momentary appeal of some of the superfluous features but once you get past all the noise making noodling fun it seem like a pedal that ends up on the shelf.

pretty much, yep.

unless one day i decide to start doing some noisecore weird shit with loopers and whatever else on a collapsing card table

But I digress, good job on the demos that’s about the best I have heard that circuit sound. Most the time it sounded like someone borked the build

hahaha cheers

 

[jcpst]

Sweet build- very clean on the inside. Nice demos! Thanks for doing both mono and stereo.

I used to be obsessed with Lovetone pedals. I would go on their fancy interactive web 1.0 page in the early 2000s and read all the specs, listen to all the demos. There was no way I could afford one at the time. But now I can build them! I have enclosures and PCBs for the Flanger, Envelope Filter, and Ring Mod.

I have an analog modular synth, so I plan on using all the extra jacks on these.

 

[leadfoot]

Nice build! I've got this and the other crazy lovetone pedals from Aion sitting in my backlog and just can't bring myself to start on them...

 

[owlexifry]

Sweet build- very clean on the inside. Nice demos! Thanks for doing both mono and stereo.

ayy thanks the stereo demo is recorded in mono (iphone), so it’s kinda redundant, but at least the tremolo is there

I used to be obsessed with Lovetone pedals. I would go on their fancy interactive web 1.0 page in the early 2000s and read all the specs, listen to all the demos.

sounds nifty! i wonder if this stuff can be seen on waybackmachine…

There was no way I could afford one at the time. But now I can build them! I have enclosures and PCBs for the Flanger, Envelope Filter, and Ring Mod

certainly feels good to be able to put something together that is essentially unobtainable.

I have an analog modular synth, so I plan on using all the extra jacks on these.

aww shit, that’s rad, sounds like you’ll actually get the most out of all those extra bits.

Nice build! I've got this and the other crazy lovetone pedals from Aion sitting in my backlog and just can't bring myself to start on them...

i felt the same. but it’s not too bad.
probably took about as long to order all the parts than it took to build.

but you’ve just reminded me of a potential build warning i need to give:

holy fuck the drill template:
due to my own error,
every single jack ended up too damn close to the lid.
save yourself some bs and assume a (max) 4-5mm offset (downwards, away from the lid) from where the template indicates.
i had to file every hole to give the jacks extra clearance, cos otherwise everything would be highly likely to short on the lid

 

[leadfoot]

holy fuck the drill template:
every single jack is positioned too damn close to the lid.
save yourself some bs and assume a (max) 4-5mm offset (downwards) from where the template indicates.
i had to file every hole to give the jacks extra clearance, cos otherwise everything would short on the lid.

Got it! I've noticed their drill templates are a bit tight on some of their builds and require specific jacks, etc to actually fit.

 

[owlexifry]

Got it! I've noticed their drill templates are a bit tight on some of their builds and require specific jacks, etc to actually fit.

yep it's very tight on this one. I wasn't willing to let an 'incorrect' jack screw me over, so I pretty much followed the BOM exactly as specified and ordered all the jacks and other odd specific bits from mouser.

 

[aion]

but you’ve just reminded me of a build warning i need to give:

holy fuck the drill template:
every single jack is positioned too damn close to the lid.
save yourself some bs and assume a (max) 4-5mm offset (downwards, away from the lid) from where the template indicates.
i had to file every hole to give the jacks extra clearance, cos otherwise everything would short on the lid.

Very strange, I haven't heard that from anyone before and this one's been built by hundreds of people over the past couple years. It's the same drill positions as the other Lovetones as well and I haven't gotten anything on any of those either. But yes, they do look pretty close to the edge in your pic.

Did you drill it manually? Some brands of enclosures are shorter than the Hammond and so when you fold the paper template over the enclosure, the border on the template goes past the edge of the enclosure. In those cases I'll cut off that part of the template and line it up with the bottom edge of the enclosure since that's the more important measurement.

Also on mine, for the Neutrik jacks, I used the black washers on the inside rather than the outside. (This is technically shown in the enclosure layout diagram but is easy to miss.) That gives a bit of clearance between the edge of the enclosure and the lugs, and it's enough space for the lip of the lid to fit while staying far enough away from the lugs. In your case the top-right wire would also need to be moved so it stays out of the gap where the lip would go. It's still going to be tight either way though.

 

[owlexifry]

Some brands of enclosures are shorter than the Hammond and so when you fold the paper template over the enclosure, the border on the template goes past the edge of the enclosure.

can’t remember exactly how it went, but im gonna assume this is probably where ive fucked it up.
(comments revised)

Also on mine, for the Neutrik jacks, I used the black washers on the inside rather than the outside.

good call.

fixed.

yeah that’s better, more clearance from the lid lip