# Which King of Tone do you have?



## moonlightpedalbuilds (May 2, 2022)

Paragon - PedalPCB.com
					

Compare to Analogman King of Tone




					www.pedalpcb.com
				











						Theseus Dual Overdrive / Analogman King of Tone
					

Based on the Analogman King of Tone, a boutique dual-channel drive pedal made up of two modified Marshall Bluesbreaker circuits in series.




					aionfx.com
				











						Queen of Bone 2 (King of Tone™ 18v clone) PCB
					

Inspired by the King of Tone™  dual Marshall Bluesbreaker circuit – but with 18v charge pump onboard.  Two overdrives in one pedal – great on their own or stacked. Uses standard 9VDC an…




					rullywow.com
				




AionFX's does not have the charge pump but has the "High Gain" mode. I've built the QoB2 before and it was quite a pleasant build. I'm looking at the Paragon and Paragon Mini next.


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## Big Monk (May 2, 2022)

I’m using the Paragon Mini.


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## Raspymcnasty (May 2, 2022)

Same, paragon mini ftw


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## moonlightpedalbuilds (May 2, 2022)

Big Monk said:


> I’m using the Paragon Mini.


Do you use 9v power supply or 18v?


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## Big Monk (May 2, 2022)

moonlightpedalbuilds said:


> Do you use 9v power supply or 18v?



I run it at 9v but have run it at 18 v a number of times. I like 9v better.

Mine has a few of the mods floating around the forum as well.


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## giovanni (May 2, 2022)

I just built the Paragon but omitted the charge pump.


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## THeHammer82 (May 2, 2022)

I have the Theseus, it's the only KOT pedal I've ever used but so far I'm loving it. It also stacks very well with the Refractor Klon Klone.


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## manfesto (May 2, 2022)

I’ve built a number of Paragons but I remove the charge pump because I think the circuit sounds and feels better at 9V, a little easier to “push”. but it can still run at 18V with an 18V power supply if need be (there’s no way to step the stock Paragon down to 9V if you wanted to try it.).

I haven’t built the Aion version (it’s pretty new) and don’t really feel the need to, since I already have drill templates and artwork for the Paragon (and I prefer building on PedalPCB boards both for already having values silkscreened on the board and also because  I’m not a fan of AionFX’s method of off-board wiring). The big difference is the “higher gain” switch, but that’s not really all that big a deal IMHO - it just shifts the gain range up a notch or two (so it’s a little more clipped when cranked and a little hairier when turned down, but there’s still plenty of overlapping gain between the two modes), it doesn’t make it a fundamentally different pedal by any means. That’s why most KoT buyers tend to do one side “high gain” (usually the right side, so they can use the left side as a clean-boost after it)


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## Feral Feline (May 3, 2022)

None of the above, mine's piecemeal-style from some GPCB boards.
That way I can choose what mix of features I want and do my own knob layout.


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## DAJE (May 3, 2022)

Paragon Mini. Only ever used with 9V.


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## MichaelW (May 3, 2022)

All of the above....hahah, actually I don't have RullyWow's but I do have PCBGuitarMania's (not recommended).
I have the Theseus board and plan to build that but my main overdrive on my board is my modified Paragon. (9v, and all clipping switches exposed, high gain B250k pot). I swap between it and the Paragon Mini which for some reason sounds "slightly" more compressed but in a good way.


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## moonlightpedalbuilds (May 3, 2022)

I built several of the QoB2 preCOVID





__ https://www.facebook.com/109612193780932/posts/109860827089402
			




1590BB casing


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## jimilee (May 3, 2022)

The lectric-fx one is what I have built, numerous times.


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## jesuscrisp (May 3, 2022)

A clone of the Wampler Pantheon by PCB Guitar Mania. Had the Paragon Mini and didn't like it all that much, the Wampler is way smoother, bigger and rounder if needed with more tonal flexibility. Could live without the additional gain modes and the clipping switch for me is always on soft clipping, but at least those are switchable (on the outside!).


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## zgrav (May 3, 2022)

I recently finished a couple of paragon boards with some variations on mods suggested in the forum -- 9v/18v switchable, tuned for a bit more low end in one channel, higher value reverse taper drive pots.  I plan to donate one of them for the Pedals for Ukraine project.


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## jubal81 (May 3, 2022)

I did my own version with all the controls external, including hi-gain mod. I also used another inverting opamp stage to align the input and output phase as well as give it some more available output.

Easy to understand why this design is so popular. It's extremely versatile and sounds great all the way from clean boost to distortion.


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## Barry (May 3, 2022)

moonlightpedalbuilds said:


> Paragon - PedalPCB.com
> 
> 
> Compare to Analogman King of Tone
> ...


I have The Paragon and a Madbean Aristocrat


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## Big Monk (May 3, 2022)

jubal81 said:


> I did my own version with all the controls external, including hi-gain mod. I also used another inverting opamp stage to align the input and output phase as well as give it some more available output.
> 
> Easy to understand why this design is so popular. It's extremely versatile and sounds great all the way from clean boost to distortion.



I’m planning on doing this but with just 4 knobs for Gain, Volume, Tone and a Treble/Presence, plus some circuit tweaks. 

I like the Paragon Mini a lot but I think I’d be just as happy with a single pedal as well.


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## moonlightpedalbuilds (Aug 5, 2022)

Comparing the PedalPCB Paragon Mini and AionFX Theseus I noticed something different. The R16/R30 from Paragon is not in the Theseus. What does it do for this circuit?


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## HamishR (Aug 5, 2022)

Of all the Bluesbreaker style pedals I like the Protein Blue best. The KoT has an extreme lack of low end which drives me crazy. (it doesn't overdrive me crazy but nearly...)


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## giovanni (Aug 5, 2022)

moonlightpedalbuilds said:


> View attachment 30320
> 
> Comparing the PedalPCB Paragon Mini and AionFX Theseus I noticed something different. The R16/R30 from Paragon is not in the Theseus. What does it do for this circuit?


I think that’s the difference between the PoT and the KoT. The KoT also lacks that resistor. I haven’t tried them side by side but from demos it may be that the PoT is a bit more compressed (with that resistor).


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## jeffwhitfield (Aug 5, 2022)

I’ve built a KoT (Paragon) and a Protein (Pro-10). I also built a PoT (AionFX Achilles) and a King Tone Heavyhand (AionFX Xiphos). I ended up deciding on the use of individual pedals so that I can mix and match for more varied tones. The mix of a PoT with a Heavyhand is quite good. I also have a ODR-C clone that is really nice when matched up with a PoT.


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## Bricksnbeatles (Aug 5, 2022)

I have two FuzzDog Emperor boards to build when I A) do the graphics and B) decide on the mojo BS diodes to buy


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## Harry Klippton (Aug 5, 2022)

It turns out I really like my paragon build and want to do a second one 😰😤 but also need to decide on bs diodes again


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## Harry Klippton (Aug 5, 2022)

Cuz if you _think_ it sounds better, it does 😎


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## G.G. (Aug 5, 2022)

Not a proper KOT but sort of KOT-adjacent: mine has a Morning Glory and Nucleon's take on the Bluesbreaker. The Morning Glory sounds great by itself and they sound excellent together.


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## giovanni (Aug 5, 2022)

thewintersoldier said:


> 1n4001 and 1n4148 my guy. Why overthink it and pay more for
> View attachment 30326


That’s what I put in my build as well. They sound great to me.


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## NickC (Aug 5, 2022)

Paragon Mini  powered at 18 v


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## Fingolfen (Aug 5, 2022)

I got the PCB Guitar Mania kit from Das Musikding... and it actually works pretty well. Of course, I bought "as close to original" diodes as possible from The Netherlands...


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## hamerfan (Aug 9, 2022)

jesuscrisp said:


> A clone of the Wampler Pantheon by PCB Guitar Mania. Had the Paragon Mini and didn't like it all that much, the Wampler is way smoother, bigger and rounder if needed with more tonal flexibility. Could live without the additional gain modes and the clipping switch for me is always on soft clipping, but at least those are switchable (on the outside!).


Thats what i hear.
Look at Parthenon from pedalpcb


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## fig (Aug 9, 2022)

I don’t have a KOT. I guess I’ll build one and find out what all this hubbub is about.


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## giovanni (Aug 9, 2022)

fig said:


> I don’t have a KOT. I guess I’ll build one and find out what all this hubbub is about.


Like my geometry professor used to say, you only have to do it once in your life.


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