Klon Centaur Overdrive !!!!

[BOBBO]

I originaly learned about the Klon by spotting it on Joe Perry from Aerosmith's effects board at a show ! I saw when he needed to send the amp into growl mode he kicked on his Klon ! Then when I saw Brad Whitford was using it for his superior rythm tones I just had to have one !! It is now the pedal most likely to be crazy glued to my board !! If you have a great amp sound already the Klon just gives it a bit more hair where it counts !! Any other Klon users here to give some reviews of the pedal !!

 

[BOBBO]

Klon

The Klon Centaur is one of the highest rated boost / overdrive pedals ever, and has seen pro stages the world over. It is able to provide a transparent boost to your signal, or a harmonically rich overdrive. It loves to take a tube amp that is on the edge over the top. We have carried the Klon Centaur since 1996, so to dispel a few myths: 1. Over the years, the Klon had been made in both gold and silver casings. There is no other difference between them other than the color. Today, silver is the only color that the pedal is made in. 2. It does not take 6 months or more to get one. Our delivery time averages about 12 weeks from your paid order, and we have been delivering them consistently for 10 years now.
Designer's Overview of the Klon Centaur

The Centaur was designed, over a period of four years, to be an overdrive that works with your guitar and amp, and with the particular sound they create, rather than one that imposes its own sound. It does a better job of retaining the original tonality and response of your setup than anything else I'm aware of; in the words of Trainwreck's Ken Fischer, a guy known to have pretty good ear, "The Centaur seems to become part of your amplifier's tube circuits and doesn't feel or sound like you are using an outboard device." What you end up with, when kicking the thing in, is simply a bigger, more focused rendition of the sound your guitar and amp were giving you to start with. The Centaur is also a good deal more versatile than other overdrives. Each of its three controls - Gain, Treble, Output - has a very broad range, and this makes the unit capable of providing a variety of overdriven sounds with almost any guitar and amp; even the signal from very-low-output pickups, such as Gretsch Filtertrons or Danelectro "lipstick" pickups, can be beefed up effectively. The Gain control, in a unique approach to an age-old problem with overdrives and distortion pedals, is a dual-ganged pot ; two pots on one shaft. The first pot controls the amount of gain and distortion in the main gain stage, just as in any overdrive; the second pot, however, controls an entirely different part of the circuit, a part that optimizes the circuit's overall tonal response for whatever the main gainstage is generating in the way of level and distortion. This means that the Centaur, unlike other overdrives, doesn't limit you to a "sweet spot" distortion setting, one setting or a narrow range of settings that sound good with a particular guitar and amp. With the Centaur, the entire range of the control is usable, and your Strat, for example, will always sound like your Strat, as opposed to another Strat or any Strat, no matter how much or how little distortion you want from the unit. If you want no distortion at all, the Centaur has an operating mode that certain of my competitors have tried to imitate: clean-boost mode. At the minimum Gain setting, the circuit is in this mode and has enormous headroom - it won't clip even if you have high-output pickups and are really bearing down on the guitar. With the Treble control at noon, you have exactly the same frequency and harmonic response coming out of the unit as went in, with all the subtleties of your original sound intact. You then simply use the Output control to determine how hard you want to hit the first preamp tube in your amp with the boosted signal. Clean-boost essentially gives you an instant same-pickups-but-hotter capability, a fuller, rounder, slightly more saturated version of the sound you started with, and is perfect for players looking for singing sustain or for a sound onstage that's a little more "out front" but not necessarily more aggressive. The transparency of the Centaur's clean-boost mode is such that Ken Fischer, in evaluating it, wrote "If you like the tone of your guitar and amp just the way they are, but wish for more of the same, pumped up and more muscular, then the Centaur rates an A+ grade." This transparency did not just happen: it took almost a year of hard work before I was satisfied with the results, an amount of time and effort that, judging from their results, my competitors did not put in. The Centaur was specifically designed for use with vintage guitars and amps and with high-end modern guitars and amps, tools that players will pay dearly for simply because they deliver the goods. The better the guitar and amp it's used with, the more the Centaur will be able to show you, but it's not just for those of us with deep pockets - I get a lot of satisfaction out of hearing from players who tell me what it's done for their good-but-not-too-expensive rigs. The unit also does a nice job of making small amps sound bigger than they are - it can turn a good Princeton or Deluxe into a very serviceable gigging amp in many clubs, or into a killer recording amp that experienced players, hearing what's on the tape, are likely to guess is something considerably heftier. Recording engineers take note: this thing projects, and with the right ambient miking, you can get some pretty astounding results. As befits its sonic qualities, the Centaur is built like a tank: its enclosure is a custom aluminum casting, and all its parts are the best that money can buy - Carling double-pole/double-throw footswitch, Switchcraft jacks, CTS pots, precision resistors and capacitorsfor tonal consistency from unit to unit, ultra-high-quality circuit boards with plated-through component holes. The units are made one at a time, by hand, by the designer (myself), and things will always be done this way - it's not possible to make something like the Centaur any other way. Each unit is extensively tested before shipment, and comes with a ten year warranty to the original owner covering everything except modification or abuse. For those who care about such things, the unit is a looker as well as a player: the casting has a sculptural aspect, a very distinctive shape that's accentuated by the burnished silver finish,which makes the casting look like a hunk of solid sterling. Dark red knobs and black silkscreening are the finishing touches.

 

[rockinlespaul]

There's one exactly like the last one in the new music store down the road from me. I'll have to plug it in and check it out. How much does that version go for usually?

 

[BOBBO]

There's one exactly like the last one in the new music store down the road from me. I'll have to plug it in and check it out. How much does that version go for usually?

The original Gold Horsie Klon's have been going for at least $500 on Ebay ! The silver version is usually cheaper !!

 

[LVC]

The original Gold Horsie Klon's have been going for at least $500 on Ebay ! The silver version is usually cheaper !!

Actually more money ---- I have seen them go for as high as $800.

the is a gold Horsie (like mine) on ebay right now for $748

klon centaur overdrive!! LOW SERIAL #306! gold horsey! - (eBay item 220175873184 end time Nov-30-07 12:49:49 PST)

Best OD ever.

Like I said on another thread.. it takes a while to figure out how to use one.

I actually wrote this in another thread earlier but it makes more sense here.


Klon is probably my all time favorite pedal. Most folks that try one don't get it. Best way I have found to use the pedal is to push a tube amp that is already cooking into over drive.

For example Les Paul into Klon into Carr vincent amp set to 7 watts. Yes @ 7 watts the Vincent can silence amps with 3x the output.

Man oh man -- you want to talk about tone --- the guitar/amp become one. You literally control everything (like what those 50 grand TrainWrecks are known for) completely with the volume pots of the LP without having to DIME the amp.

It is a killer tone -- you really do not need anything else -- maybe a delay set to around 160 ms to just fatten the tone up a bit ala Robben Ford.

It really is a unique pedal .... but you need learn how to use it properly. It took me a while to "get it".

 

[BOBBO]

Post your board LVC ... He's got a killer gold Klon and some nice Landgraff pedals too !!!

 

[LVC]

I originaly learned about the Klon by spotting it on Joe Perry from Aerosmith's effects board at a show ! I saw when he needed to send the amp into growl mode he kicked on his Klon ! Then when I saw Brad Whitford was using it for his superior rythm tones I just had to have one !! It is now the pedal most likely to be crazy glued to my board !! If you have a great amp sound already the Klon just gives it a bit more hair where it counts !! Any other Klon users here to give some reviews of the pedal !!

Both Joe and Brad use it

here is a shot of brad's pedal board

 

[LVC]

Post your board LVC ... He's got a killer gold Klon and some nice Landgraff pedals too !!!

Here you go
I swapped out the KopyKat delay for a Replica -- will take some updated pictures in the AM

 

[BOBBO]

Perry's board..

Whitford's board ..

 

[rockinlespaul]

I'll be sure to check it out then. It was considerably less than that amount.

 

[rockinlespaul]

Actually more money ---- I have seen them go for as high as $800.

the is a gold Horsie (like mine) on ebay right now for $748

klon centaur overdrive!! LOW SERIAL #306! gold horsey! - (eBay item 220175873184 end time Nov-30-07 12:49:49 PST)

Best OD ever.

Like I said on another thread.. it takes a while to figure out how to use one.

I actually wrote this in another thread earlier but it makes more sense here.


Klon is probably my all time favorite pedal. Most folks that try one don't get it. Best way I have found to use the pedal is to push a tube amp that is already cooking into over drive.

For example Les Paul into Klon into Carr vincent amp set to 7 watts. Yes @ 7 watts the Vincent can silence amps with 3x the output.

Man oh man -- you want to talk about tone --- the guitar/amp become one. You literally control everything (like what those 50 grand TrainWrecks are known for) completely with the volume pots of the LP without having to DIME the amp.

It is a killer tone -- you really do not need anything else -- maybe a delay set to around 160 ms to just fatten the tone up a bit ala Robben Ford.

It really is a unique pedal .... but you need learn how to use it properly. It took me a while to "get it".

After reading this, now I really want to try it, lol. How does the silver version sound to you? I've seen these before with what looked like a lot of instructions/directions? Is there really that many different tones/sounds or is it just that hard to dial in?

 

[LVC]

Perry's board..

Whitford's board ..

Brad's board changes all the time -- I heard his tech has an open slot on his board for the "pedal of the week". But if you look at his board over the years --- there is one pedal that is always there ---- good old Klon.

 

[BOBBO]

I'll be sure to check it out then. It was considerably less than that amount.

All the different Klon versions sound the same but the one with the gold paint and the horsie are the priciest ! If it's gold without the horsie it's only worth about $425 !

 

[LVC]

After reading this, now I really want to try it, lol. How does the silver version sound to you? I've seen these before with what looked like a lot of instructions/directions looked like? Is there really that many different tones/sounds or is it just that hard to dial in?

silver and gold are EXACTLY the SAME.

Do not let anybody tell you otherwise. The Gold Horsie is just a collectable. If you call Bill and order one directly --- DO NOT MENTION THE GOLD HORSIE. He goes bonkers.

He is actually a great guy to chat about tone with. He will ask you a million questions, on what style of music you play, guitars you own, types of amps etc.... the if he decides to build you one he will. Wait time is about 3 months and the cost is 3 and change new. You can order a Gold colored one (no Horsie) or silver. If you do not want to wait --- you should be able to pick one up for around $400 ---- if you spotted one in a music store for less --- grab it. ASAP.

 

[rockinlespaul]

silver and gold are EXACTLY the SAME.

Do not let anybody tell you otherwise. The Gold Horsie is just a collectable. If you call Bill and order one directly --- DO NOT MENTION THE GOLD HORSIE. He goes bonkers.

He is actually a great guy to chat about tone with. He will ask you a million questions, on what style of music you play, guitars you own, types of amps etc.... the if he decides to build you one he will. Wait time is about 3 months and the cost is 3 and change new. You can order a Gold colored one (no Horsie) or silver. If you do not want to wait --- you should be able to pick one up for around $400 ---- if you spotted one in a music store for less --- grab it. ASAP.

I appreciate the info. Going new sounds like the way to go. I'll check out this used one maybe tomorrow If I like it, I'll get a new one. I GAS over Les Paul's, but my pedal GAS is controllable enough to wait for a new one.

 

[LVC]

Forgot to mention -- I had an extra one and Andy Summers bought it. He needed one in the Texas leg of the recent Police tour. Not sure what happened to his -- maybe he just wanted a backup. So my backup is touring the world with the Police.

Pretty cool from my home in NJ to being on a world tour with the Police.

 

[BOBBO]

Whitford has actually changed his setup again ! Now most of his stuff is in a midi triggered rack drawer !! All his pedals sit in the drawer including his Klon and he has a few bank up / bank down presets at his toe's !

 

[BOBBO]

silver and gold are EXACTLY the SAME.

Do not let anybody tell you otherwise. The Gold Horsie is just a collectable. If you call Bill and order one directly --- DO NOT MENTION THE GOLD HORSIE. He goes bonkers.

He is actually a great guy to chat about tone with. He will ask you a million questions, on what style of music you play, guitars you own, types of amps etc.... the if he decides to build you one he will. Wait time is about 3 months and the cost is 3 and change new. You can order a Gold colored one (no Horsie) or silver. If you do not want to wait --- you should be able to pick one up for around $400 ---- if you spotted one in a music store for less --- grab it. ASAP.

Bill F is a bit of a fanatic when it comes to tone ! He spent at least an hour discussing tone with me before I purchased my Klon !!

 

[LVC]

Bill F is a bit of a fanatic when it comes to tone ! He spent at least an hour discussing tone with me before I purchased my Klon !!

sounds about right. He is a colorful character. I really enjoyed chatting with him.

It took me another 20 minute at end of conversation to convince him to ship to my home address. He only likes to ship to business addresses...I guess there have been some issues with folks recognizing what the Klon shipping box looks like and stealing them,

For the life of me I can't figure out how unless they are tipped off by the delivery guy --- that a Klon is sitting unattended on somebody's front door.

 

[BOBBO]

sounds about right. He is a colorful character. I really enjoyed chatting with him.

It took me another 20 minute at end of conversation to convince him to ship to my home address. He only likes to ship to business addresses...I guess there have been some issues with folks recognizing what the Klon shipping box looks like and stealing them,

For the life of me I can't figure out how unless they are tipped off by the delivery guy --- that a Klon is sitting unattended on somebody's front door.

Ohh the shipping was another 1 hour call !! We talked amps and guitars for like a half hour and then I had him ship it to my local MailBoxes etc .. When I ordered my Klon Aerosmith just ordered 10 ! Mine came out of the Aerosmith batch !!! Ohh yeah he is a bit of a character ! But in a good way !