Kliche Mini - Which Capacitors Affect Tone?

[jdduffield]

Which capacitors in the Kliche Mini affect the tone?

I know for sure C15 affects tone. Wondering if other caps impact it as well? (btw-The reason I’m asking is because I have the StewMac Ghost Drive with the same diodes and it sounds different. I’m trying to get their sound closer matching by making manual adjustments to the tone.)

 

[BuddytheReow]

Other than the power supply section, they all affect the tone in some way, shape, or form if modified. Is there a goal you are trying to accomplish? Your question is very vague.

 

[jdduffield]

Other than the power supply section, they all affect the tone in some way, shape, or form if modified. Is there a goal you are trying to accomplish? Your question is very vague.

I added more detail to my question above. It just sounds a little bit like there is a spike in the upper mid range. Almost like Queen, which is a great tone, but I’m going for more of a warmer tone.

 

[GizzWizzKing]

Unfortunately stewmac doesn't provide a schematic, though they do say that the project is an original clone and they don't seem to allude to any mods, but you could go off of the project instructions to see if there are different cap choices and then try to figure out which is which.
Unless you have golden ears difference in part tolerance likely wouldn't be audible so either the builds are different or it was possible there was an error or substitution in one of the builds.

 

[Nostradoomus]

Unfortunately stewmac doesn't provide a schematic, though they do say that the project is an original clone and they don't seem to allude to any mods, but you could go off of the project instructions to see if there are different cap choices and then try to figure out which is which.

the stewmac board is a custom branded one using Robert’s layout so they should be the same I’d think!

 

[jdduffield]

In the Ghost Drive it looks like I used some MLCCs vs regular ceramics. Wonder if that would affect it very much.

 

[GizzWizzKing]

As long as it was in spec I don't think that would do anything. You can read up on mlccs here and get some opinions about using them in the audio path but for my money I can't hear a difference.

How do the circuits sound different?

 

[jdduffield]

As long as it was in spec I don't think that would do anything. You can read up on mlccs here and get some opinions about using them in the audio path but for my money I can't hear a difference.

How do the circuits sound different?

The Kliche Mini is a bit more mid-range in comparison. The other one sounds more even, and to my ears translates to a warmer, fatter, fuller sound. Something I am going to try is experimenting with the caps and diodes. I’ve purchased some single pin sockets and plan to swap parts and listen. I was wondering what caps are directly in the audio path to pinpoint the ones to socket, but it seems like ALL are affecting it in some way based on some comments. When I first plugged it in, an electrolytic cap burned out. It is replaced. But, I wonder if there is something else going on with the pedal. It works, just the tone is a bit sharp in the middle.

 

[darwin999]

The sound differences could be due to differences in actual values rather than capacitor composition or construction, as many capacitors are ±10% tolerance (some are even ±20%). Also, diodes can have large variances in their characteristics as well.
And I assume that you have re-checked all your resistor and cap values...