eggpl@nt
Roadie
- Messages
- 809
This was a fun week for me. I built two Aion FX kits - the Theseus based on the King of Tone and the Andromeda based on the ODR - and the NOTAKLON kit. Now, I don't have any experience with the legit versions of any of these pedals. The closest I can claim to get, aside from virtual versions, is a Nobles ODR Mini. However, I really like all of these.
The NOTAKLON kit is an awesome concept. It was dead easy to assemble, and it worked perfectly after boxing it up. As you'd expect, it's a smooth, mid-focused-but-not-honky overdrive. The -/+ switch lets you add more gain (shocker), adding to the overall versatility of the pedal. I have an MXR Fat Sugar, which is supposed to be Klon-ish, but the NOTAKLON sounds better (IMHO) and more like the virtual Klons I've used in FAS and L6 gear.
The Aion FX kits are so well done, and I can easily recommend them to anyone who wants to dabble in building FX pedals. The documentation is clear, the enclosure is clean, the PCB is nicely designed and accounts for component size and spacing, and the use of JST connectors to jump the three internal boards is super handy. I started my DIY pedal adventures with strip board builds, and the absolute worst part was always wiring the board to the pots and footswitch (I have fat, clumsy fingers). The JST connectors make this part trivial.
The Andromeda (ODR) is the most transparent of the three ODs here. Having the Low Cut control external the pedal is nice. The range on the Spectrum control is good, and you can coax both very lightly driven and crunchy tones from this guy. I've got the Theseus (KoT) configured for soft-clipping on the Blue side and soft-clipping with the high gain option on the Red side. I like this pedal for the one thing I can get it to do. Both the Theseus and the virtual KoTs I've used seem to not really do much when the Drive and Level controls are set lower than 12 o' clock. Once you get both of those controls to 1 o' clock or so, it does the thing, and it does it well. It's smooth and relatively transparent crunch.
The NOTAKLON kit is an awesome concept. It was dead easy to assemble, and it worked perfectly after boxing it up. As you'd expect, it's a smooth, mid-focused-but-not-honky overdrive. The -/+ switch lets you add more gain (shocker), adding to the overall versatility of the pedal. I have an MXR Fat Sugar, which is supposed to be Klon-ish, but the NOTAKLON sounds better (IMHO) and more like the virtual Klons I've used in FAS and L6 gear.
The Aion FX kits are so well done, and I can easily recommend them to anyone who wants to dabble in building FX pedals. The documentation is clear, the enclosure is clean, the PCB is nicely designed and accounts for component size and spacing, and the use of JST connectors to jump the three internal boards is super handy. I started my DIY pedal adventures with strip board builds, and the absolute worst part was always wiring the board to the pots and footswitch (I have fat, clumsy fingers). The JST connectors make this part trivial.
The Andromeda (ODR) is the most transparent of the three ODs here. Having the Low Cut control external the pedal is nice. The range on the Spectrum control is good, and you can coax both very lightly driven and crunchy tones from this guy. I've got the Theseus (KoT) configured for soft-clipping on the Blue side and soft-clipping with the high gain option on the Red side. I like this pedal for the one thing I can get it to do. Both the Theseus and the virtual KoTs I've used seem to not really do much when the Drive and Level controls are set lower than 12 o' clock. Once you get both of those controls to 1 o' clock or so, it does the thing, and it does it well. It's smooth and relatively transparent crunch.
