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PROJECT NAME
DEIMOS
BASED ON
Tone Bender Mk. II Professional
EFFECT TYPE
Germanium fuzz
PROJECT SUMMARY
The second (and most famous) version of the legendary fuzz pedals from Macaris in London that
changed the music world forever.
This documentation is for the kit version of the project. If you purchased the PCB by itself, please
use the
PCB-only version
are completely different due to the specialized parts and assembly methods used in the kit.
DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ
LEVEL
II
DEIMOS
GERMANIUM FUZZ
IMPORTANT NOTE
of the documentation instead. The circuit is the same, but the instructions
BUILD DIFFICULTY
Intermediate
DOCUMENT VERSION
1.0.1 (2022-07-01)
9V
FUZZ
MODE
1.5
1
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Table of Contents
Related Manuals for aion DEIMOS
Summary of Contents for aion DEIMOS
- Page 1 This documentation is for the kit version of the project. If you purchased the PCB by itself, please use the PCB-only version of the documentation instead. The circuit is the same, but the instructions are completely different due to the specialized parts and assembly methods used in the kit. DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ...
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Page 2: Table Of Contents
23 Enclosure Layout: Main & Footswitch PCBs 24 Enclosure Layout: Input/Output PCB 25 Final Assembly & Biasing 26 Final Assembly (Cont.) 27 Schematic 28 Full Parts List 29 Troubleshooting Information 30 Support & Resale Terms 31 Legal Information & Document Revisions DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ... -
Page 3: Introduction
INTRODUCTION If this is your first pedal, welcome to the hobby and thank you for choosing Aion FX. You’ve just joined a community of over 40,000 people around the world with a passion for building homemade noise machines using obsolete electronics technologies, and we’re glad to have you! If you’ve done this before, it’s great to see you again and we’re confident you’ll find this build experience... - Page 4 47uF 100uF MLCC Capacitors NAME TC1044SCPA or LT1054CP NAME 8-pin socket 100n (marked “104”) 470n (marked “474”) Transistors Diodes NAME Transistors, germanium, matched for NAME Tone Bender Mk. II 1N5817 Trimmers 1N4742A NAME 10k trimmer 100k trimmer DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ...
- Page 5 4-strand wire assembly, 108mm DC jack 3-pin wire assembly header Input/output jack 4-pin wire assembly header Mounting nut, jack, 0.54" Outer washer, jack, 0.6" Lock washer, jack, 0.5" (thin) Enclosure Enclosure screws PCB, main circuit PCB, footswitch PCB, input/output/DC DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ...
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Page 6: Tools Needed
The tip should used to tighten the dress nut to avoid lot of pedals! be no more than 0.1” (2.5mm) wide. scratching or denting it (which can happen with metal tools). DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ... -
Page 7: Component Identification
“multi-layer ceramic capacitor.” is marked. OP-AMP / IC IC SOCKET TRANSISTOR OR JFET TRANSFORMER Charge pumps and delay chips also look like this. They may have more than 8 legs. WIRE ASSEMBLY WIRE ASSEMBLY HEADER DC JACK LED BEZEL DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ... -
Page 8: Hardware Identification
MOUNTING NUT DRESS NUT LOCK WASHER DIAMETER: 0.36” / 9.1mm DIAMETER: 0.375” / 9.5mm DIAMETER: 0.4” / 10.1mm FOOTSWITCH MOUNTING NUT DRESS NUT LOCK WASHER DIAMETER: 0.6” / 15.2mm DIAMETER: 0.77” / 19.6mm DIAMETER: 0.6” / 15.2mm DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ... -
Page 9: Pcb Assembly Overview
Generally speaking, you should populate the components in this order: 1. Resistors 2. Diodes 3. IC sockets 4. Trimmers 5. MLCC capacitors 6. Film capacitors 7. Electrolytic capacitors 8. Germanium transistors DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ... -
Page 10: Resistors
If this is your first time soldering, watch tutorial videos on YouTube and make sure you get it down before you begin. You don’t want to practice or experiment on this board! DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ... -
Page 11: Diodes
1N4742A is orange with a black stripe. Diodes are polarized, so make sure to identify the polarity band (which indicates the “cathode”, or negative side) and match the band to the footprint on the PCB. DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ... -
Page 12: Socket & Ic
ICs may have two different orientation marks: either a dot in the upper-left or a half-circle notch in the middle of the top side. Some ICs have both marks. This shows which way the IC should be rotated when inserting it into a socket (the socket also has a half-circle notch). DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ... -
Page 13: Trimmers
The two trimmers can be soldered like normal components, by bending the legs outward as shown: These trimmers are used to bias the germanium transistors. We will adjust them at the end once the pedal is fully assembled. DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ... -
Page 14: Capacitors (Non-Polarized)
Note: C1 and C6 (box film capacitors) may be either blue or red. The blue ones have the value printed on the top, while the red capacitors have the value on the side. The text on the side of the blue capacitors is not related to the value and can be ignored. DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ... -
Page 15: Wire Headers
They do fit pretty tightly in the holes, though, so press firmly. There’s also a 4-pin header on the I/O board that we will do in a later step. DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ... -
Page 16: Capacitors (Polarized)
The longer leg is positive and fits in the square pad. At this point, we only have the transistors left to do, so now is a good time to go back and insert the IC into the socket (page 12). DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ... -
Page 17: Germanium Transistors: Introduction
Q1-Q3, not by specific part numbers such as AC125. Matching The transistors included in the Deimos kit have been measured and matched for best performance in the Tone Bender circuit. There are three bags labeled Q1, Q2 and Q3. -
Page 18: Germanium Transistors
Once Q1 is finished, go back and repeat the same steps with Q2, and again with Q3. Q2 and Q3 will partially overlap the biasing trimmers on the right-hand side of the board. These two transistors should be elevated slightly more than Q1 to allow for easier access to the trimmers. DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ... -
Page 19: Footswitch Pcb
BLUE MARKING Once all three wire assemblies are soldered, set the footswitch PCB aside. We’ll solder the actual footswitch and LED in a later step. DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ... -
Page 20: Input/Output Pcb
Red is positive (+), black is negative (-). After soldering, pull it tight. For even more strain relief, you can thread the snap through the loop to form a knot. (not shown) DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ... -
Page 21: Enclosure Layout: Panel Mounts
You’ll need to hold the bezel in place when OUTER WASHER tightening the nut. The top of the bezel is fairly MOUNTING NUT sharp, so try using a rubber band for grip instead of pressing your finger against the bottom. DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ... -
Page 22: Enclosure Layout: Panel Mounts (Cont.)
MOUNTING NUT LOCK WASHER BEZEL MOUNTING NUT & LED The dress nut acts as a mounting nut, unlike the footswitch dress nut. Use flat- nose pliers on the flat sides of the nut to tighten securely. FOOTSWITCH 125B DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ... -
Page 23: Enclosure Layout: Main & Footswitch Pcbs
However, Aion FX projects are designed to be extremely easy to remove from the enclosure for troubleshooting, with no desoldering required—so with these kits, it’s actually much easier to “box it before you rock it”. -
Page 24: Enclosure Layout: Input/Output Pcb
Note the use of two mounting nuts on each of the jacks, one inside and one outside. The inner nut acts as a spacer to set the DC jack flush with the outside of the enclosure. The inner nuts should be threaded as far down as they can go. MOUNTING NUT OUTER WASHER LOCK WASHER MOUNTING NUT 125B DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ... -
Page 25: Final Assembly & Biasing
Plug in a 9-volt supply and test it out with a guitar and an amplifier. Test the bypass switch a few times, then start turning the controls and see if everything sounds OK. If it works, great! If not, don’t be discouraged. See page 29 for troubleshooting info. DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ... -
Page 26: Final Assembly (Cont.)
Last, just close the panel on the back using the four screws. Before that, though, grab a permanent marker and write your name and the completion date on the inside of the back panel. This is an accomplishment! DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ... -
Page 27: Schematic
SCHEMATIC 1N5817 100uF 100n TC1044SCPA 10uF PWR_GND PWR_GND 470n 47uF PWR_GND PWR_GND MODE MODE 100k 4.7uF DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ... -
Page 28: Full Parts List
10uF Germanium 1N5817 electro electro 100n (0.1) 47uF Germanium electro 4.7uF 470n electro MLCC 4.7uF 100n electro MLCC 10n (0.01) Potentiometers Switches PART VALUE PART VALUE PART TC1044SCPA Fuzz DPDT on-on or LT1054CP Level 100kA 3PDT stomp DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ... -
Page 29: Troubleshooting Information
Is the collector voltage correct? The other voltages are given as rough guidelines, but they may be slightly different depending on the properties of the transistor. The collector voltage is the one we’re concerned with. If it’s right, then the others should be OK. DEIMOS GERMANIUM FUZZ... - Page 30 “goop” the PCB or otherwise obscure the source. In other words: you don’t have to go out of your way to advertise the fact that you use Aion FX kits, but please don’t go out of your way to hide it.
- Page 31 These kits are intended to be built by the customer. Aion FX is not responsible for language that may be used by the customer in the marketing or resale of the finished product.
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