Edit Oct. 14: Original transistors are BC550B, in the 300-400 hfe range. 2N3904s will work well also.
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.
Edit Oct. 14: Original transistors are BC550B, in the 300-400 hfe range. 2N3904s will work well also.
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You can call this verified. I used 2N3904's matched around 380 Hfe and it sounds great.
ReplyDeleteThanks buddy!
DeleteI have problems with this circuit, Its really ok??
Deletethanks!!
Cody's not one to lie... What problems are you having?
Deletemy 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...
DeleteThe 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)
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.
DeleteAll the component's and pcb right: I'll check again, and I hope I work.
I´ve finaly find the problems. The potenciometers where wrong. I have put new ones and now the circuit is perfect. Sounds fantastic!!!
ReplyDeleteSorry and thank you very much for this web site, Its my 3rd circuit and they are wonderfull pedal efects.
;-)
is BC550B the same with BC550C?
ReplyDeleteThe C is higher gain than the B.
ReplyDeletedoes it give any effect to the sound?
Deleteor should I just stick with Cody using 3904?
one more. can i replace 419 with other diode?
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).
DeleteIt works! i used 2n3904's but there's a noise a bit of hum even when the pots are all down to 0
ReplyDeleteAwesome 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.
ReplyDeleteThanks for another great layout!
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.
ReplyDeleteconfused 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
ReplyDeleteNo 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...
DeleteI think I can see it now, going to give the perf another go at it.
DeleteDoes this schematic make this circuit 9V/18V Like the Catalinbread or does it only operate in 9V?
ReplyDeleteMartin Loves you John
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.
DeleteI 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.
Deletegiving my brain and concentration a great workout :)
3 hours and 45 mins in and have to stop for the nigh t..hope it turns out
ReplyDeletehttp://s32.postimg.org/92a77zlqd/Full_Size_Render_27.jpg
You're doing great! Keep it up!
Deletesounds awesome, turned out fantastic ! thanks a lot for website
DeleteOne of the best pedals. Extensive sound settings, and sea gain. Thank you.
ReplyDeletei got a humming issue with this pedal like Johann Titus, is there anyone who can figure where it came from?
ReplyDeleteIf 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).
DeleteThis pedal just sounds great, but can you clone this one? http://tonereport.com/uploads/img/blackmore-rous-2.jpg
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteProblem solved!
DeleteI used 2N2222 TO-18 (metal can): so, they touch each others and produce the gated sound.
What GREAT pedal.
ReplyDeleteI sugest use:
Q1, Q2: 2N3904, Q3 BC548 and Q4 MPSA13 (a lot of output volume) :-)
Q4 is a buffer, not a gain stage. Your MPSA13 is wasted there.
ReplyDeleteOnly producing noise, maybe?
DeleteSilly question: How do you connect the LED and the Footswitch?
ReplyDeleteCheck out the General Layout Notes tab
DeletePerfect, thanks!
Deletehow 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)
ReplyDeleteI built it, and I can say that the Filter knob is working like a charm.
DeleteDid 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).
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?
DeleteI found the problem, I put 1uf instead of 1nf on input to ground, now sounds expolsive!
DeleteHaha that would do it! Glad you go it sorted out.
DeleteI assumed it from the beginning, like I said. It's one of the pedals with the best range of tone that I've had.
Delete:-)
truly is amazing, filter and input pots are magic!!!
DeleteRight!
DeleteI like how interactive they're
Sounds very well with 2n3904!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this great site!
I do not have 50kA pot
ReplyDeletewhich one can I use to replace
Hello
ReplyDeletei 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
The polarized one takes up less space ;) And will work just the same.
DeleteThanks,good to hear that
DeleteI used socket and just experimented.
ReplyDelete2n3904 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
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.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI bulit this one, but the sound was gated. I used four 2n3904. Can anyone help?
ReplyDeletecan be some transistor (bad one) or capacitor
DeleteI found 100n on JHS morning glory does the same gated
Hi!
ReplyDeleteNice 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
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)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete