This is a library of perfboard and single-sided PCB effect layouts for guitar and bass. I'm not an electrical engineer by any stretch of the imagination, just a DIY'er who likes drawing layouts. It is meant for the hobbyist (so commercial use of any of these layout is not allowed without permission) and as a way to give back to the online DIY community.

Friday, September 25, 2015

Catalinbread Katzenkönig

Here's a new one from Catalinbread for #fuzzfriday. The Katzenkönig–the cat king for those of you who don't sprechen sie Deutsch–is a silicon tonebender-type fuzz with some RAT features thrown in. Catalinbread was kind enough to publish the schematic in the manual for this effect. Pots can all be board mounted using right angle PCB pots mounted from the solder-side of the board. The exact transistors used in this effects weren't published in the manual schematic, but lower gain NPN silicons should do the trick. Socket and experiment with your favorites.




Edit Oct. 14: Original transistors are BC550B, in the 300-400 hfe range. 2N3904s will work well also.

56 comments:

  1. You can call this verified. I used 2N3904's matched around 380 Hfe and it sounds great.

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    1. I have problems with this circuit, Its really ok??

      thanks!!

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    2. Cody's not one to lie... What problems are you having?

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    3. my circuit doesn´t operate. Dosen´t work. I´ve done 2 times de circuit and I´ve change de transistors, now I´ve in the circuit 2n3904 mc 3 and de first time i´ve used bc55c...

      The circuit in this page is like in te kattzenkonig´s PDF and I think its all right but I can´t find the mistake...

      (sorry for my inglish, Im from spain)

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    4. I'm having troubles too... first it sound's really bad, tried with 2n3904, 2n4401, BC548, 2N2222. Sometime's it sounds really bad, and sometimes the don't.
      All the component's and pcb right: I'll check again, and I hope I work.

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  2. I´ve finaly find the problems. The potenciometers where wrong. I have put new ones and now the circuit is perfect. Sounds fantastic!!!

    Sorry and thank you very much for this web site, Its my 3rd circuit and they are wonderfull pedal efects.

    ;-)

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  3. Replies
    1. does it give any effect to the sound?
      or should I just stick with Cody using 3904?
      one more. can i replace 419 with other diode?

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    2. As long as the hfe of the transistors are in the 350-400 range you should be ok, no matter what you use. You can use 1N4148s in place of 914s (they're basically the exact same diode).

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  4. It works! i used 2n3904's but there's a noise a bit of hum even when the pots are all down to 0

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  5. Awesome tight sound in this circuit. I'm having great fun trying out different transistors. Haven't made a definitive choice yet. Different transitors totally change the character of the pedal.
    Thanks for another great layout!

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  6. Just finished my build. Thanks a lot for posting this layout. It's got a really good sound! Right now, I've got 2n3904's in all 4 positions. I'll probably try something different in the future.

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  7. confused as to where the wires attach ..you coudl do a lot better color coding and marking junctions in my opinion ..I cant follow your diagram

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    1. No one else seems to share your problem. The only wires that need to attach to the board are the in, out, ground, and 9v, and the pads for them should be pretty obvious. The pots are all board mounted and the only thing you have to worry about there is getting them oriented correctly. Not sure where you're confused...

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    2. I think I can see it now, going to give the perf another go at it.

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  8. Does this schematic make this circuit 9V/18V Like the Catalinbread or does it only operate in 9V?
    Martin Loves you John

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    1. Part of that is dependent on the components you use. Make sure they're rated at 25v or higher (mainly just an issue with the electrolytic caps). From there you can either plug in a 18v power supply or build a voltage doubler on a daughter board and put that in the box with the Katzenkonig.

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    2. I had to to do it on stripboard! perf is hard but this is a beautiful layout and I am giving it another go..its a very slow tedious process but I love it ..its great practice for me.

      giving my brain and concentration a great workout :)

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  9. 3 hours and 45 mins in and have to stop for the nigh t..hope it turns out

    http://s32.postimg.org/92a77zlqd/Full_Size_Render_27.jpg

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    1. sounds awesome, turned out fantastic ! thanks a lot for website

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  10. One of the best pedals. Extensive sound settings, and sea gain. Thank you.

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  11. i got a humming issue with this pedal like Johann Titus, is there anyone who can figure where it came from?

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    1. If you haven't boxed it up, the hum could be because it's not shielded from interference (florescent lights are generally the culprit for me). Also try increasing the value of the power filtering cap (47µ cap from 9v to ground at the bottom right side of the board).

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  12. This pedal just sounds great, but can you clone this one? http://tonereport.com/uploads/img/blackmore-rous-2.jpg

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  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. Problem solved!
      I used 2N2222 TO-18 (metal can): so, they touch each others and produce the gated sound.

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  14. What GREAT pedal.
    I sugest use:
    Q1, Q2: 2N3904, Q3 BC548 and Q4 MPSA13 (a lot of output volume) :-)

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  15. Q4 is a buffer, not a gain stage. Your MPSA13 is wasted there.

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  16. Silly question: How do you connect the LED and the Footswitch?

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  17. how to get more trebly filter's knob? I have a fat fuzz on most gain settings, I can't get the tight distortion sound on the demos, how can I get more trebble and less bass? also I found the imput knob most of the work is done a the end (I use B250K as suggested)

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    1. I built it, and I can say that the Filter knob is working like a charm.
      Did you use A type pot there? It's esencial.
      Anyway... I would go for 150n cap instead 220n (not filter stack cap, is a input cap of the output stage...but you can gain a bit more of treeble there).
      The filter stack cap is already very low (3n3).

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    2. Actually I bulit with exact values on all components including pots, I feel and hear fat and bassy, How to get more treble before filter? or tight compresed disotrition on mid gain?

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    3. I found the problem, I put 1uf instead of 1nf on input to ground, now sounds expolsive!

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    4. Haha that would do it! Glad you go it sorted out.

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    5. I assumed it from the beginning, like I said. It's one of the pedals with the best range of tone that I've had.
      :-)

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    6. truly is amazing, filter and input pots are magic!!!

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    7. Right!
      I like how interactive they're

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  18. Sounds very well with 2n3904!!

    Thanks for this great site!

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  19. I do not have 50kA pot
    which one can I use to replace

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  20. Hello
    i was checking your layout, the 1uf cap connecting to the output pot doesn0t need to be Electrolytic, the original circuit shows the symbol of a regular cap
    https://www.catalinbread.com/manuals/KatzenkonigManual.pdf

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    1. The polarized one takes up less space ;) And will work just the same.

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  21. I used socket and just experimented.
    2n3904 sounds like a smouth and clean fuzz with three 2n2222a
    Four 2n3904 : dirty
    Two 2n2222 + two 2n3904 : very polivalent
    The best for me still one 2n2904 and three 2n2222


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  22. I have built over 100 pedals from this site. Not all with success ....but THIS! This pedal is phenominal! Built with 2n3904 never checked Hfe but wow such a huge range of tone tried LED's for clipping but I like the 4148's better. This is now one in my top 10 favorite pedals. Recommend building this to anyone wanting a awesome smooth tasty pedal.

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  24. I bulit this one, but the sound was gated. I used four 2n3904. Can anyone help?

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    1. can be some transistor (bad one) or capacitor
      I found 100n on JHS morning glory does the same gated

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  25. Hi!
    Nice distortion!
    I put 4,7n _ Nichicon on the input instead 68n. It's worked for me. More tight and less boomy. Nice aggresive pizz. Can play only with this drive in clean channel :)
    On the filter i leave 220n but I changed to Nichicon - nice mids. I liked with 3 of 2N2222 and on Q3 - 2N3904

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  26. Hi, I'm trying to make a Katzenkönig, but I have a problem with noise. I've already made 11 pedals and I don't understand what the problem is. When I made it, it worked and made noise, then once I somehow(tried thin wires) removed the noise, and it worked well, but then, when I soldered it into the enclosure with ordinary wires, the same noise came back, and nothing else helped. I think this is not the noise of the power supply. The input potentiometer is like an antenna (with and without a resistor), it amplifies the noise if I keep my finger close. The circuit board looks dirty, but it should work well(and it worked before). I use transistors BC547B (sounds very similar to the original) and the wiring from this site. Here are photos and recording of sound and "antenna effect". https://yadi.sk/d/q172fluLMCsecg Please help! (Sorry about my English)

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