NPKD: AION FX “Theseus”

[syscokid]

New Pedal Kit Day… Yee haw, let the party begin!

The Theseus Dual Overdrive kit, by AION FX, is a clone of the Analogman King Of Tone… minus Analogman’s 4 1/2 year waiting list for a KOT! The KOT is based upon two modified Marshall Bluesbreaker circuits in one pedal box.

This is my first time in dealing with an AION FX product, and I’m happy to say that the whole kit is of excellent quality, which is also reflected in its current price of $134. This is the nicest pedal kit I’ve ever seen! I also measured all the resistors, pots, diodes, and caps, and all are reading at very close tolerances.



Black and gold pcb's look very cool, and they're all double-sided with gold plated eyelets!


Enclosure looks and feels like it's powdercoated with a rough texture to it. The red resistors are all (Yageo) 1/4-watt metal film 1%.


Yesterday I populated all the resistors and diodes. The blue box film caps are Kemets. E-caps are Nichicons.


Pedal is supposed to look like this when I'm done:

 

[syscokid]

RJ's video contributed to the GAS...

 

[Deleted member 1331]

New Pedal Kit Day… Yee haw, let the party begin!

The Theseus Dual Overdrive kit, by AION FX, is a clone of the Analogman King Of Tone… minus Analogman’s 4 1/2 year waiting list for a KOT! The KOT is based upon two modified Marshall Bluesbreaker circuits in one pedal box.

This is my first time in dealing with an AION FX product, and I’m happy to say that the whole kit is of excellent quality, which is also reflected in its current price of $134. This is the nicest pedal kit I’ve ever seen! I also measured all the resistors, pots, diodes, and caps, and all are reading at very close tolerances.
View attachment 90506


Black and gold pcb's look very cool, and they're all double-sided with gold plated eyelets!
View attachment 90507

Enclosure looks and feels like it's powdercoated with a rough texture to it. The red resistors are all (Yageo) 1/4-watt metal film 1%.
View attachment 90508

Yesterday I populated all the resistors and diodes. The blue box film caps are Kemets. E-caps are Nichicons.
View attachment 90509

Pedal is supposed to look like this when I'm done:
View attachment 90510

Very cool! I have modded a few but never built one! This looks great.

 

[Deleted member 1331]

Also, please keep in mind, it's not a real project unless you get burned by the soldering iron at least once!

 

[Don O]

Some assembly required

 

[ibmorjamn]

New Pedal Kit Day… Yee haw, let the party begin!

The Theseus Dual Overdrive kit, by AION FX, is a clone of the Analogman King Of Tone… minus Analogman’s 4 1/2 year waiting list for a KOT! The KOT is based upon two modified Marshall Bluesbreaker circuits in one pedal box.

This is my first time in dealing with an AION FX product, and I’m happy to say that the whole kit is of excellent quality, which is also reflected in its current price of $134. This is the nicest pedal kit I’ve ever seen! I also measured all the resistors, pots, diodes, and caps, and all are reading at very close tolerances.
View attachment 90506


Black and gold pcb's look very cool, and they're all double-sided with gold plated eyelets!
View attachment 90507

Enclosure looks and feels like it's powdercoated with a rough texture to it. The red resistors are all (Yageo) 1/4-watt metal film 1%.
View attachment 90508

Yesterday I populated all the resistors and diodes. The blue box film caps are Kemets. E-caps are Nichicons.
View attachment 90509

Pedal is supposed to look like this when I'm done:
View attachment 90510

Wow, that thing has a lot of parts for a pedal. I guess it's because it's dual.
Looks cool.

 

[Thatbastarddon]

I haven’t built a pedal in a while! I should take a peek at their offerings….Yours looks like a lot of fun!

Yum!

 

[syscokid]

Also, please keep in mind, it's not a real project unless you get burned by the soldering iron at least once!

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Looks fantastic.
(would not want to be doing all that soldering though...)

 

[Session 5]

Good thing Adrian doesn't see that soldering iron...

 

[jtcnj]

Sweet!
good luck with the build Greg.

 

[syscokid]

Anyways... I finished the kit three days ago:




The layout is kind of a modular style approach. Makes it easy to disassemble the pedal for mods or troubleshooting. Minimizes "spaghetti" wiring. No room for a 9v battery!

Two triple pole dip switches that control the activation of soft clipping, higher gain, and hard clipping for each side of the double drive pedal. If all the dip switches are set to off per side, the circuits behave like a clean boost.

Notice the pair of Presence controls for added mischief?

To be honest... I have not had any time to explore what this pedal can do for me. I turned it on only long enough to verify that it's all working. Well, at least 99% is working... the blue LED was DOA. Unfortunately, I didn't have a proper replacement in my stash. Mr Kevin of AION, is already sending me a new blue LED.

 

[Thatbastarddon]

Anyways... I finished the kit three days ago:
View attachment 90726


View attachment 90727
The layout is kind of a modular style approach. Makes it easy to disassemble the pedal for mods or troubleshooting. Minimizes "spaghetti" wiring. No room for a 9v battery!

Two triple pole dip switches that control the activation of soft clipping, higher gain, and hard clipping for each side of the double drive pedal. If all the dip switches are set to off per side, the circuits behave like a clean boost.

Notice the pair of Presence controls for added mischief?

To be honest... I have not had any time to explore what this pedal can do for me. I turned it on only long enough to verify that it's all working. Well, at least 99% is working... the blue LED was DOA. Unfortunately, I didn't have a proper replacement in my stash. Mr Kevin of AION, is already sending me a new blue LED.
View attachment 90728

That is INCREDIBLY GORGEOUS!!! Super clean build! If I were to do one, I’d find a way to ugly it all up…I’m sure. Great job!

 

[syscokid]

Super clean build! If I were to do one, I’d find a way to ugly it all up…I’m sure.

I seriously doubt that. The kit is so well thought out with good instructions and lots of useful tips. For me, working with tiny parts and tiny spaces is good magnification and the proper soldering tip...

 

[Thatbastarddon]

Me too! An artistic sequence that kinda goes like this ...

$6K Soldering station that far exceeds the need for the intended work ...
View attachment 90746

Get right to clobbering and ruining the solder joints any way possible
View attachment 90747

Trash the traces so you're really pucked.
View attachment 90748

But I just went to have a cigarette.
View attachment 90749

Really really, I have no idea what happened.
View attachment 90750

Wellllllll….I don’t smoke anymore….so….my outcome might vary slightly…
…but in some circles, I am known as “Captain Napalm”. So I’ve got that going for me…

 

[Sapient]

Wellllllll….I don’t smoke anymore….so….my outcome might vary slightly…
…but in some circles, I am known as “Captain Napalm”. So I’ve got that going for me…

Don't tell the fireman in the case he does somehow show up. I sense an arrest at some point during his visit. Lol.

 

[Thatbastarddon]

Don't tell the fireman in the case he does somehow show up. I sense an arrest. Lol.

I can’t talk about it here….

 

[Don O]

Those red DIP switches have been around since like forever. We used them on a board I helped design back in 1979.

 

[syscokid]

So, after a few weeks, I'm really digging this dual overdrive contraption. Plus, both LED lights are working:


As far as the gain structure is set for each side, Drive A is set with the Hi Gain and Hard Clip on On. Drive B is set with just the Soft Clip on On. These settings work very well whether going into an amp setup for clean or dirty. I still haven't messed with Presence trimmer pots, which are set to almost minimum, ha ha!


Killer fricking pedal, y'all... Highly recommend...

PS: The waiting list for the Analogman King of Tone is now a full five years!

 

[Thatbastarddon]

So, after a few weeks, I'm really digging this dual overdrive contraption. Plus, both LED lights are working:
View attachment 91915

As far as the gain structure is set for each side, Drive A is set with the Hi Gain and Hard Clip on On. Drive B is set with just the Soft Clip on On. These settings work very well whether going into an amp setup for clean or dirty. I still haven't messed with Presence trimmer pots, which are set to almost minimum, ha ha!
View attachment 91916

Killer fricking pedal, y'all... Highly recommend...

PS: The waiting list for the Analogman King of Tone is now a full five years!

I almost pulled the trigger last week….they were out of stock