Guitar pedal klon

The Klon Centaur guitar pedal klon one of the world's most desirable pedals. While originals go for thousands of pounds, there are many reputable companies that produce their very own clones of this iconic overdrive stompbox.

The Klon Centaur is an overdrive pedal made by the American engineer Bill Finnegan between and Finnegan hoped to create a pedal that would recreate the harmonically rich distortion of a guitar amplifier at a high volume. Finnegan struggled to meet demand, and used units sold for inflated prices. He made only around 8, units before discontinuing the Klon in In , Finnegan redesigned it as the Klon KTR , which is simpler to manufacture by contracted firms. The Centaur has inspired numerous clones by different manufacturers. In the s, the American engineer Bill Finnegan sought an overdrive pedal that would recreate the harmonically rich distortion of a guitar amplifier at a high volume.

Guitar pedal klon

You've probably heard of the mythical Klon Centaur, most expensive overdrive pedal in the world. This is the story of how it came to be, what it does and how you can get one for yourself. When he was forced to turn down to 3 or 4 he lost the harmonic richness of the amp. To remedy this, he sought out a vintage TS9 Tube Screamer to replicate that natural tube distortion sound. Finnegan then set out to create an overdrive pedal that would bring the richness and dynamics of a cranked amp at lower volumes. After several years in development, in he released the Klon Centaur Professional Overdrive, and was met with instant critical success. This mythical circuit remained uncopied for over a decade until in , its secrets were revealed to the world. When the schematics appeared online, it was confirmed that the pedal was indeed a completely original design. The drive control contained a highly unusual blend feature that combined clean and overdriven signal, so at low gain it acted as a boost, but blended to pure distortion at higher gain settings. This fixed the compression issue Finnegan had with the Tube Screamer. With clean signal blended, the sound would retain the full dynamic range of the guitar. It also allowed for very natural picking dynamics, where the guitar would clean up by picking lighter and get grittier as you dig in, much like a valve amp on the edge of breakup. The Centaur also contains germanium clipping diodes, as opposed to the cheaper and more common silicon diodes.

If you only use clean amps but want to get that Klon as a boost sound, I recommend using the Klon as a gritty boost into a drive pedal. There is sometimes animosity towards Bill for the high prices of guitar pedal klon Klons on the used market, but it's important to note that he doesn't profit from those sales, guitar pedal klon. When paired with a clean amp such as a Fender Deluxe Reverb or Twin Reverb, the Klon gets a different treatment from me.

When Finnegan designed the original Klon in , which came in gold and later silver, his objective was to create a boost pedal with grit that sounded more open than a tube screamer. Although the Klon was primarily a boost pedal, it did provide a unique midrange push and a specific style of grit that utilized germanium diodes. Before the Klon, guitarists relied on overdrive pedals , treble boosters, and fuzz pedals to push their hot amps. Overdrive pedals, such as the Tube Screamer, are soft-clipping devices that react similarly to a tube amp when clipping, resulting in a gentle cutoff of the transient. Conversely, distortion pedals like the Rat are more aggressive, chopping off the top of the transient. It's important to note that distortion and overdrive are not the same in design. What makes the Klon circuit unique is that it's a hard-clipping device, which may come as a surprise since it's not as high-gain as other hard-clipping pedals.

The thought of a single guitar pedal costing that much money seemed insane. After a bit of research, I found that the history of the Klon Centaur is just as insane as the price they sell for. At the end of this guide, I compare the different options you have available to get the iconic Klon Centaur sound on your pedalboard. Want to build your own Klon Centaur clone from a kit? The Klon Centaur is an overdrive pedal created in the early 90s by Bill Finnegan. It was designed by Bill and some MIT engineers between and About Klon Centaur pedals were built between and The main reason why the Klon Centaur is so popular is due to hype. Have a listen to the comparisons of the original Klon Centaur and some cheaper clones to make your own mind up on this pedal.

Guitar pedal klon

You've probably heard of the mythical Klon Centaur, most expensive overdrive pedal in the world. This is the story of how it came to be, what it does and how you can get one for yourself. When he was forced to turn down to 3 or 4 he lost the harmonic richness of the amp. To remedy this, he sought out a vintage TS9 Tube Screamer to replicate that natural tube distortion sound.

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Klon Recipies Let's look at some situations where I love using a Klon. I use the Klon in a similar situation with Vox and Tweed-era Fender amps. Sometimes people want to believe that the cheaper option is just as good. Check out. Pause slideshow Play slideshow - Make an appointment -. Klon Style Overdrive Pedals. Pedal Chain. The Centaur also contains germanium clipping diodes, as opposed to the cheaper and more common silicon diodes. Privacy Policy. You can, of course, experiment with different gain pedals for different flavors. With clean signal blended, the sound would retain the full dynamic range of the guitar. Finnegan hoped to create a pedal that would recreate the harmonically rich distortion of a guitar amplifier at a high volume. Retrieved 13 December

When Finnegan designed the original Klon in , which came in gold and later silver, his objective was to create a boost pedal with grit that sounded more open than a tube screamer.

Finnegan stopped production of the Centaur in , having hand-built an estimated 8, in its 15 years of production. Chain of Command Because of the various ways you can use a Klon, you could place it early in your chain to push other drive pedals, as I mentioned when pairing it with the Effectrode Tube Drive. The Klon is more or less responsible for the 'transparent' buzzword that many companies use to market their own overdrive pedals. However, the Klon was not designed to be a gainy pedal into a clean amp. There are many great options on the market, and it's hard to keep track of them all. I'm not here to rain on anyone's parade or to yell at kids to get off my non-existent lawn I live in Brooklyn after all. Guitar overdrive pedal. We all have our own peculiarities and idiosyncrasies - and my requirement for combination of tone, dynamics, form-factor and versatility would most definitely be disputed by others. Tubesteader's Lightkeeper V2 Tube Preamp delivers the most beautiful Dumble-style Harmonic textures across 35 decibels of immaculately calibrated gain breakup. When he was forced to turn down to 3 or 4 he lost the harmonic richness of the amp.