Components causing problem with Klone?

[AntKnee]

I'm building a Klone from tagboard that is making some odd noise at full gain. It sounds great at all other settings. I'm wondering if low quality components can cause this, or is it just clipping, which is sort of expected? Mainly I'm curious if its because I used some cheap diodes.  The layout calls for 1N277 diodes which, for some reason, were somewhat difficult to find at a decent price. I found some 1N277 from a supplier at a good price, but know nothing of the quality. I also made a large Tayda order and around that time and got my 1N4742 while I was at it. The pedal sounds good until you turn the gain all the way up and it starts to break up and fizzle. I've never had a pedal clip before, but maybe thats it? If not, I have another problem. I am wondering if I need to experiment with different diodes or swap in a different IC, or if the pedal just sounds that way. I've gone through the other usual troubleshooting checks and varifications and I don't find any other problems.

Any thoughts or advice welcome. I'm still new to this, and have no frame of reference on Klons, either.

[rullywowr]

The Klon is shrouded by mystery of the "super secret diodes".  The maker claims the diodes are an integral part of the "toan". Any regular clipping diode will work, and half the fun is to experiment with different ones. I would suggest socketing the diodes and trying different ones out.  I know that 1n4148 shouldn't "fizzle". If you try various ones and they still exhibit the same behavior I would suggest checking components and wiring. Could be a bad cap, bad resistor etc if the fizz is still there. The fv of the diode will determine how soon they break up, but fizz isn't really what the klon is known for.

[AntKnee]

Yeah, the mystery surrounding the klon, and the lack of Bill's transparency on his pedal is most of the reason I wanted to build one. I did socket the diodes, but I just haven't tried swapping any out. According to the layout on tagboard, the forward voltage of the diode I used matches very closely to the original. I just don' t know if using cheap diodes, like I did may affect it this way. I got some caps from tayda, too. Do you think they could cause a problem? Like I said, it sounds really good at any other setting besides full gain. I may not mess with it since I like it otherwise. It sounds awesome with my Vox.

[rullywowr]

In my experience, the klon works best pushing a slightly dirty tube amp. Gain at about 25-50% and volume used to booooost the front end.   
Tayda electro caps aren't the best and I would recommend getting some name brand ones from mouser or similar. Tayda film caps have been ok for me.

[mattlee0037]

This also happened to mine on a tagboards layout I eventually bagged it

[AntKnee]

This also happened to mine on a tagboards layout I eventually bagged it

Really? Was it this same layout?

[AntKnee]

Ok, just checked it over again and gave it a good listen. When the gain is turned from approx 90-100%, it sounds good, but if I hit a string and let it ring out, as it fades and gets more quiet, the sound will pop, fizzle and break up, almost like a gate that can't get a fix on the threshold. It also seems to modulate a little as it rings out, with little swells in the volume. I can also turn the gain up, then without hitting a string, back the gain off until I hear the "gate" open and I can hear my pickups.