Klon Centar Authentication Help.

[homenote]

I am considering buying this on the bay but know very little a bought them.

What say you, guys? Do you think this one is right?



Klon Centaur Overdrive Owned by Wes Jeans | eBay

Thanks,

js

 

[Tweaker]

I have no idea how to authenticate a Centaur, but I do know they were gooped up like that one you linked to. However, that doesn't make it the real deal. Anyone could pour goop on a circuit!

Any reason why you want an authentic one? You could get a Klone and save yourself some cash

 

[El Kabong]

Looks real to me... one for sale here that's real and quite a bit cheaper...

 

[VictorB]

There's supposed to be a hand written serial number on the bottom left hand corner of the circut board.

The one in the OP seems to be obscured, or missing.

 

[VictorB]

Looks real to me... one for sale here that's real and quite a bit cheaper...

What's that in dollars? $1480?

What would the shipping be to the U.S.?

 

[homenote]

There's supposed to be a hand written serial number on the bottom left hand corner of the circut board.

The one in the OP seems to be obscured, or missing.

Yea, that's the part that was worrying me a bit. Even if it is right, if I needed to sell it down the road, that would at best, turn into 'a story'. (sometimes a bad thing when selling)

Guess I am kinda answering my own questions, sorry.

Hey LZF, I think you have one of the coolest avatars on MLP! Back around 1983? my punk high school friend's beta version (movie) of TSRTS was the entire reason I ever picked up a guitar!

 

[El Kabong]

What's that in dollars? $1480?

What would the shipping be to the U.S.?

$1480 sounds about right... and I can't imagine insured EMS shipping being more than $40...

Another non-horsey one here... same price...

 

[Thrill]

Off topic, but whats the purpose of the "goop" on the board? At first thought, it struck me as something thats done to "censor" the circuit to make it a little more difficult to clone/recreate, but that seems really easy to defeat (obviously since theres a huge market now for klones lol)

 

[El Kabong]

Off topic, but whats the purpose of the "goop" on the board? At first thought, it struck me as something thats done to "censor" the circuit to make it a little more difficult to clone/recreate, but that seems really easy to defeat (obviously since theres a huge market now for klones lol)

Its there to hide the details... its not possible to remove it and keep it whole...

 

[Brocko]

Its there to hide the details... its not possible to remove it and keep it whole...

what i always think with that goop is that if one of those components fails, you have no chance of fixing it.

 

[Tweaker]

That's crossed my mind too...has anyone had to deal with something like that? I wonder if they have to pay for repair costs...

 

[El Kabong]

never heard of one failing....

 

[VictorB]

Me neither.

 

[Tweaker]

And you most likely never will...but there's always the possibility. I'd start to wonder when the caps would go bad after a while though...maybe 10 years? If caps go bad on amps, they'll go bad in pedals...

 

[gbroadhurst]

And you most likely never will...but there's always the possibility. I'd start to wonder when the caps would go bad after a while though...maybe 10 years? If caps go bad on amps, they'll go bad in pedals...

Hmmmm, filter caps with 400VDC being rammed up em constantly I can agree. As for the caps in pedals, how are my 30+ year old boss pedals still working and sounding great......

 

[Tweaker]

I'm just sayin' there's a chance. Caps can still get ramped up in a pedal...and you're unlikely to find a cap rated at 400VDC in a Boss. Little caps can give out just like big caps. That said, aluminum electrolytics can repair themselves just by "being in a charged state" (here's a reference: http://www.robotroom.com/Capacitor-Self-Discharge-3.html). So if a cap is used frequently, it shouldn't go bad for a while, but...if one goes bad, I'd hate to dig through that goop to fix it. But this is likely why your Boss caps are still good...they've probably had lots of use. If they'd been sitting in the drawer for 30 years, I'd wonder why the caps are still good and probably do some research to find a sweet answer!

Caps have a shelf life of around 10 years, but if they're in use, they'll last much long. So if a Klon has just been sitting around for a while, who knows how long, it's very possible the caps could be bad when you get one. The first centaur was built in the mid-90's, so it's not impossible for one to have been sitting around for 10 years or more without getting play time, and potentially have capacitor failure.

Anyways, not meaning to derail the thread, just some commentary, embellishing a bit further on what Brocko mentioned (though likely not what he meant).

 

[homenote]

Well. I talked to the seller, seems cool enough. He said that the SN came off when he was 'cleaning the pots/ or something like that. talked to him for a while on the phone too.

I convinced him to get a hold of Bill Fini well the guy who built it and gets some kind of paper trail or something...
I picked one up shortly after for around 1700 on the bay. (gold with the horsey logo thingy )
I figure spend a little extra for the more rare er one so its easier to unload if need be.
Playn high end gear for free? Sounds like a no brainer to me.

 

[sean413]

Well the inside of the enclosure Looked right....

 

[Actinic]

Back in the 1980's Casio produced a Midi guitar with faulty caps that leaked. They were surface mount, like the caps in this picture.

Casio MG-510 Midi Guitar | Grant Muller

Since I never degooped a Klon Centaur, I can't say if he used surface mount parts. The failure rate of any passive component is more tied to the manufacturer and the process they use. Low priced parts are always a danger in any electronic equipment. Shoot Finnegan an email if you're really worried.