Kingslayer II -my second build, Tantalum Cap?

[Wannabebluesman]

I see that the BOM calls for a tantalum capacitor, but I do not see in the instructions which capacitor slot takes the Tantalum capacitor. I know very little about electronics so I apologize if this is a stupid question.

[Wannabebluesman]

I see that the BOM calls for one, but I don't see in the instructions which capacitor slot on the board it fits into. There are multiple capacitors with that value, but the BOM only calls for one Tantalum capacitor.

[muehring]

I think it is C10 since it is polarized.  If you look at the other 1uf cap positions they're all larger than C10 too.

[muddyfox]

Well going by logic alone, if you examine the board you'll see that C3, C11, C12 and C17 are boxes denoting box caps. You're left with C10 which is a circle with polarity noted. Tantalums are polar capacitors so C10 would be a safe bet, if I were a betting man. 

[muddyfox]

Hahaha... OP, that's what you get for crossposting, same answer in two different threads. 

[jkokura]

Again, to the OP, you don't need to post the question multiple times. Please only post your question once - they get answered.

Jacob

[Wannabebluesman]

OK, I apologize, I am new here and I thought it didn't post the first time, but apparently I was in a different thread than I thought I was. Again I apologize.

[muddyfox]

No worries, man... no harm done, it's just easier to get the info you need if you keep it simple and avoid crossposting. We can't focus on two things at once. 

[madbean]

C10 is listed as tantalum in the spirit of the Klon, which also uses a tantalum. R13, R14 and C10 form an external feedback (or forward...whichever) path for IC1A to, what I assume, add a little more bass to the output of that section. If you isolate it with an audio probe, as I have done, you will hear a lot of lows going through it. Why he used a tantalum there I don't know, but you could use a regular electrolytic if you like. The audio level through that part is so low relative to the distortion I can't see how one could hear the difference if there is one.

[midwayfair]

Why he used a tantalum there I don't know

I'm pretty sure he would claim that low ESR was his reasoning, and some people might believe him.

[madbean]

Brief derail:

You know, this thing is kind of interesting. Both sides of the filter sit at VB (on the Klon, I mean, not the Kingslayer). So, does that mean it is both feedback and feed-forward? Someone school me, please. Furthermore, why have C4 (referencing the Sunking II schem)? The Dirt pot sits at VB and so does everything else around it if you exclude C4. Why couple the two sections together with a cap? I should try it without C4, for science. Jon? I'm looking at you

[Blues Healer]

Why he used a tantalum there I don't know

maybe just to confound people???

(sorry, I'm just enjoying the back and forth dialogue)

[midwayfair]

Brief derail:

You know, this thing is kind of interesting. Both sides of the filter sit at VB (on the Klon, I mean, not the Kingslayer). So, does that mean it is both feedback and feed-forward? Someone school me, please. Furthermore, why have C4 (referencing the Sunking II schem)? The Dirt pot sits at VB and so does everything else around it if you exclude C4. Why couple the two sections together with a cap? I should try it without C4, for science. Jon? I'm looking at you

Oh jeez, you are vastly overestimating my expertise, but I'll do my best.

The clean side isn't decoupled; R5 is in parallel with C2, which would otherwise act as a decoupling cap. This should form a very mild bass cut, but I'm too lazy (and bad at calculating capacitance with resistors in parallel) to determine exactly what it is. Just going by a calculator, 68nF + a 100K resistor should form a high pass at 23Hz. Maybe it's intended to hit a 20Hz cutoff for the output of the buffer, which otherwise would require some sort of finagling with minimum or maximum resistance on the dual gang pot.

The dirt side on the other hand IS decoupled by C4 -- and the dirt pot side simultaneously forms a variable low pass filter with [C2 + C6|R8] and variable AC gain at the frequency determined by the "fat" cap; ironically, this means that there's MORE bass as you turn up the gain pot), as is the bypass. C4 is therefore pretty important not just because it's what isolates the two sides of the dual gang but because it's also affecting which frequencies are allowed into the dirt section. I wonder if it might not be more interesting to omit C2 and R5 instead than to play around with C4. [Eh, after a second thinking about it, I bet it doesn't work ... but what the hey.]

The R13, R14, C10 filter is just a low-pass filter and a dirt bypass for some very low frequencies, which consequently are never clipped.

There are so many extra bits and pieces in this pedal, a lot of which are at least somewhat extraneous, that it's hard to say what will have a meaningful effect when you change it.