# Intro and first pedal build. 3/3/22 Update.



## MichaelW (Feb 23, 2022)

Hey all, first post and total noob to DIY pedals.
Just wanted to say hi and show my first build.

I've been wanting a KOT for a while but being the "instant gratification" type, the 4 year waiting list is a non-starter for me.
So I bought a clone, (Demon-FX "King of Drive") which sounds incredibly good and I can't tell it apart from the real deal (at least on Youtube.)
Then I thought, "gee, I could just build one" that's kinda what got the ball rolling for me.

Anyway, I built the PedalPCB Paragon. Pretty much stock according to the build documentation.
I've been AB/ing it with my King of Drive clone. Seems like it's got slightly less volume. Also, because the Paragon has the charge pump in the design it's got a bit more overhead, I wasn't too sure about that, but I think I like it. Suffice to say I think I've been bitten by the bug big time. I've got 5 or 6 more PCB's coming and multiple orders from Tayda and Mouser for the next few builds. 

This forum seems to be a great resource and I'm super impressed with the wealth of knowledge.

Feel free to give me any feedback from what you see and improvements I can make. I'm already thinking about some mods for another Paragon.
I'd like to find some way to put the high gain option onto some mini toggles and also add a buffer.

Michael-


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## TravisM (Feb 23, 2022)

Welcome. Looks like a nice tidy build. That one is on my to do list somewhere down the line.


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## BuddytheReow (Feb 23, 2022)

Phenomenal first looking build!!!!!! I'm assuming it fired up the first time? Enjoy your new hobby and don't forget to ask questions here. There's a TON of info on here.


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## manfesto (Feb 23, 2022)

Semi-selfish question(s), are those genuine MA858s, and if so, where'd ya get 'em?


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## MichaelW (Feb 23, 2022)

BuddytheReow said:


> Phenomenal first looking build!!!!!! I'm assuming it fired up the first time? Enjoy your new hobby and don't forget to ask questions here. There's a TON of info on here.


Thank you! And to be totally honest, no it did not fire up the first time I plugged it in 

I wasn't too sure about the hook ups to the jacks, the PCB's weren't real clear, just says "In" on one side and "out" on the other side.
So I used alligator test leads before committing to solder. When I plugged it in the first time I had bypass signal, my led's lit up with the switch was activated but no sound. So I spent some time screwing around with moving the alligator leads around before I realized duhhhhhhh......I forgot  to put the IC"s in. Heh, they were still nicely sealed up in their anti-static bags on my workbench


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## MichaelW (Feb 23, 2022)

manfesto said:


> Semi-selfish question(s), are those genuine MA858s, and if so, where'd ya get 'em?











						Original Panasonic MA858 Diode
					

Panasonic MA858 Diode original MA856 Panasonic silicon epitaxial planar diode.  Used in the KOT pedal and many many other Japanese pedals.  DO-34 case



					www.pedalhackerelectronics.com
				




I also got the 1S1588's from them. 

I think on my next Paragon build I'm going to socket the diodes and try some different alternatives. And also put R7 and R13 on a mini toggle for the "high gain" option. I just can't quite figure out where I'd be able to fit that into the enclosure.


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## Diynot (Feb 23, 2022)

A damned respectable showing for a “noob”! Not exactly a beginner project either. Welcome to the addiction support group. Plenty of good wholesome people in here along with a smattering of curmudgeon and a sprinkle of crazy.


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## pcb rookie (Feb 23, 2022)

Nicely done! 

Legal notice ... PEDAL BUILDING IS ADDICTIVE and NO CURE AS BEEN FOUND YET. 

Lots good people and support on this forum. 

The KoT is on my wish list ... soon to follow!


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## fig (Feb 23, 2022)

Nice work! Welcome to the forum.


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## DAJE (Feb 23, 2022)

MichaelW said:


> So I spent some time screwing around with moving the alligator leads around before I realized duhhhhhhh......I forgot  to put the IC"s in. Heh, they were still nicely sealed up in their anti-static bags on my workbench



I think it's safe to say most of us here have also done that.


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## Paradox916 (Feb 23, 2022)

First one? Well done sir!


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## manfesto (Feb 24, 2022)

MichaelW said:


> Original Panasonic MA858 Diode
> 
> 
> Panasonic MA858 Diode original MA856 Panasonic silicon epitaxial planar diode.  Used in the KOT pedal and many many other Japanese pedals.  DO-34 case
> ...


Ah darn, was hoping you’d found a magical cheap(er) source of MA858s than Pedalhacker.


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## Chuck D. Bones (Feb 24, 2022)

Great job! 
Love the white plastic washers on the stomp switches . The pots under the board should have dust covers on them to avoid unwanted shorts.

Why not build one channel high gain and the other normal gain?


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## MichaelW (Feb 24, 2022)

manfesto said:


> Ah darn, was hoping you’d found a magical cheap(er) source of MA858s than Pedalhacker.



I did also order some from Retroampolis. They are still en route from Spain. Link here. I have no clue if they're the real deal but the place looks like a legit parts source for the EU. They also have the 859's. What are some recommendations for alternatives to the MA858/856 series? I was thinking about trying some of the BA282's but they're not exactly "magically cheap" either hahah. Having said, in the big scheme of things, even at PedalHackers prices, it's peanuts compared to buying pedals.......


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## MichaelW (Feb 24, 2022)

Chuck D. Bones said:


> Great job!
> Love the white plastic washers on the stomp switches . The pots under the board should have dust covers on them to avoid unwanted shorts.
> 
> Why not build one channel high gain and the other normal gain?



What's a good source for the "pot condoms"? (haha). 

Now that I've been playing the pedal through my rig a bit, I think my next build I'm going to leave the charge pump out and run it at 9v. I'm definitely a "desktop player" (As opposed to a gigging musician) and mostly play and record sitting at my desk through an Apollo Twin X into virtual amps. The pedal sounds really good through a couple of my favorite amp models (Friedman Buxom Betty, Dirty Shirley, Fuchs ODS). I also have a real amp,  Revv D20 that I use as a clean pedal platform. The Paragon sounds less impressive through the Revv but I have not had the chance to really crank it yet. I can mimic some black face cleans on my Revv or also push it a bit into a more Tweed-ish clean. Either way, I think I may want the lower headroom of running at 9v. 

From what I can make out from the Schematic it looks like I can just leave the TC1044SCPA circuit out along with C21, C22 and be good right?


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## TravisM (Feb 24, 2022)

Tayda sells the pot covers for cheap if you are already sourcing parts there, you can also use tape in a pinch.

The mod is just a bit more involved than that. 

Bump C10 and C11 up to 100uF
Omit the charge pump, C21 and C22
Jumper D14 and D15

The paragon mini leaves out the charge pump so you could go that route. 

Other useful mods:
bump drive pots to 250K and leave R3 and R17 at 1K, to have the high gain and low gain options.


Chuck D. Bones said:


> Changing the DRIVE pots to C250K (or even C500K!).  If you don't plan on using the bottom end of the DRIVE control, then making R3 & R17 10K is probably about right because there will be little difference between 1K and 10K.
> 
> As for switching the diodes, the sky is the limit.  Consider ON-OFF-ON switches and adding alternate diodes such as LEDs, Schottky or Germanium.  Maybe some asymmetric clipping.


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## MichaelW (Feb 24, 2022)

TravisM said:


> Tayda sells the pot covers for cheap if you are already sourcing parts there, you can also use tape in a pinch.
> 
> The mod is just a bit more involved than that.
> 
> ...


I read @Chuck D. Bones notion of bumping up the gain pots to 250k. I just ordered some to try. I think that might be my next bit of surgery. I like the idea of having a bit more range of the gain without resorting to committing to changing out R3 and R17.  In the meantime I've been messing with it a bit more trying the different clipping modes and how they stack against each other. I think I'm landing at liking it in soft clipping both sides stacked into one another. I'll try to record a clip of how it sounds in the context of a track and post back here later.


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## MichaelW (Mar 3, 2022)

3/3/22 Update: I made a few mods to my Paragon build and so far I'm really digging it.

I swapped out the jacks to Switchcraft TS jacks for a little more wiggle room and also put the I/O and DC connections on pin headers with plugs.

This makes it a lot easier to pull it all apart and tinker with it. I'm probably going to be using this pedal for some more experiments before landing on a final configuration and build a more "proper" pedal. Funny that it went back together a bit more catty-wampus than it originally was. My initial hole drilling for the enclosure was a bit lacking in precision







*Mod 1*: As per @Chuck D. Bones suggestion, I swapped out the B100k Gain pots for B250k Pots.

I actually killed channel two when I first did this and took me a while to troubleshoot and figure out what was wrong, turned out to be a bad 250k pot I installed, duh....probably should have checked that first But, in 25 years of modding guitars and stuff, I've never had a bad potentiometer....ever. Weird.

There's definitely a wider gain range now in the sweep and more gain on tap. Just anecdotally it feels like about 1/4 rotation more gain than before with the 100k pots. Yet at the lower end of the range it can still sound like the classic KOT "pushed clean" sound. This really seems like the "best of both worlds" option rather than swapping R3 and R7 or putting them on switches. (Or ordering the "High Gain version KOT"

In the "distortion" hard clip mode there's definitely a lot of gain available. But there's also the attendant volume drop of that circuit. I'm thinking about possibly taking out the 1S1588's and socketing those pads and trying some different diodes. One thing I'd like to try is running a pair of BAT41's in series in place of the 1S1588's and see if that helps with the volume drop. 

*Mod 2:* I came across a really cool post by @ckaudioeffects "Paragon PCB Mods" with a most excellent tutorial and schematic included. Some of the things he addressed were what I also thought could be improvements to the Paragon build and bring it a bit closer to the KOT. The stock Paragon build sounds a bit bright to me and a little "thin". Seems to be missing some of that "magic mid-range" effect of the original KOT. I decided to try his "Warmer Tone Mod" by swapping out a few key capacitor values. (C1, C4, C12, & C15).  Of course I did not have a 33nf film cap on hand so the red ones you see are cheap Amazon ones that I was able get next day delivery. Ugh, tolerance levels were all over the map but I picked out the 2 caps closest to 33nf for those swaps. I have some WIMA's coming in my next Mouser order. The other thing @ckaudioeffects suggested was to piggyback a 56pf MLCC in parallel to the 220k resistors at R7 and R21. Of course I did not have a 56pf MLCC cap (hahah) so I used 68pf. I may go back and change that, but the idea is to filter out some of harsher high end "fizziness". I'm really happy with how this has "warmed up" the pedal.

I don't have a real KOT to compare to but in some side by side comparisons with my KOT clone (DemonFx "King of Drive") the Paragon is much closer sounding than it originally was in stock configuration. Overall it's got a bit more mid-range warmth, there's more perceived output volume than originally. The DemonFx pedal has an internal HiGain switch which swaps the resistor value. Comparing the two at the high end of the gain range the Paragon with the B250k pot mod has a tad more gain but the MOST important thing is that with the 250k pot there's more gain "range". There's gain available in a lot more of the sweep especially towards the lower end. That's not the case with the "fixed resistor value" high gain option. So THANK YOU @Chuck D. Bones, what a great mod! I can get everything from a cranked plexi on one end to a lightly pushed Mark Knopfler/John Mayer on the other end of the sweep. The biggest difference I'm hearing between the two pedals at this point is the 18v vs 9v headroom. The Paragon has a bit more headroom which slightly changes the upper mid-range of how the gain sounds. Also, at 9v there's a different "feel" under the fingers so to speak. 

I'm still mulling a few other more mods I'd like to do, 

1) Is to get the clipping switches exposed and onto mini toggles. I'm thinking ideally to use 2x DPDT On-On-On mini toggles (like on the Prince of Tone pedal) with Boost, Overdrive, Distortion options for each side. 

2) I'm still debating whether to completely eliminate the charge pump circuit or make it "selectable" as per @ckaudioeffects. 

I actually have everything I need to build a Paragon Mini, which doesn't have the charge pump. So I may build that first and see how I like it.
Also since building this Paragon I've also built a Bluesbreaker clone (The AionFX version). I really don't care for how that pedal sounds with the stock 1N914's and I've been messing around with some different diodes and IC's basically trying to "KOT-ize" it So depending on how those experiments go, will inform where this Paragon goes next with the mods. But as it is, it's really an extremely versatile overdrive and I'm starting to "get" why it's so popular. 

On deck, I also have a Klon clone ready to be built (AionFX "Refractor) with a bunch of different diode options to try. As well as a couple of boost pedals ready to be built (PedalPCB's "Cleaver" and "FDIC" and a GuitarPCB "Stage 3 Boost/Buffer"). Oh and a PedalPCB "Derailer" that I'm waiting for one more order of parts to come in for This has really become an "unintended hobby". Definitely the last thing I was looking for was another obsession in my life haha. But I'm also having a blast. Thanks to this forum I'm getting a crash course in pedal building!

M-


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## Feral Feline (Mar 4, 2022)

Great post MichaelW, and congrats on bursting your bad-pot cherry. 🍒


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## ckaudioeffects (Mar 4, 2022)

Nice job! Glad you liked the “warmer tone mod” with the modified cap values. BAT41 are my favorite hard clipper next to the 1S1588!


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