Klon clones....

[Quill]

... the Klon clone won't come with the magic unicorn diodes ...

A pedal nut explained to me once that the real deal with the Klons was really the buffer circuit, which was always working to drive the line and make everything else sound better when the pedal was plugged in, whether the pedal was on or not. And that the buffer circuit had been duplicated by several of the clones, and worked into other pedal designs.

And who knows? Maybe, given the insights that went into the Klon design and all the clever eyes that have had a chance to study those insights ... working with readily available parts ... may that buffer circuit has been bettered, now.

So much good stuff out there.

 

[marc1kim]

The original:
YouTube - ‪KLON Centaur guitar effects pedal demo with King Bee Guitars relic Tele and Jaguar Jr amp‬‏

 

[lexluthier]

The Klon has to be one of the most over-hyped pieces of gear of all time, it's a cool unit but it's gotten ridiculous.
I had a real Klon, one of the supposedly awesome ones with the horse on it or whatever. It didn't turn me into a guitar god or instill other magical mystical bullshit into my guitar tone. The clean boost was real nice. That's what it was good at. The overdrive sucked, horrid nasal midrange. I sold it and made a tidy profit, sometimes I wish I would have kept it for the clean boost, but my life went on just fine without it. I picked up one of those Madbean boards before he quit making them, so maybe I will build one up again sometime...

 

[b3john]

The original:
YouTube - ‪KLON Centaur guitar effects pedal demo with King Bee Guitars relic Tele and Jaguar Jr amp‬‏

Yeah, you could pay $900 and up for a used version.

Bill had a friend of his selling them new on fleabay for a while in the $1500 range.

 

[Jakeislove]

Guitar players are always looking for new methods of hiding from their playing abilities.

Not 100% true, but reads really cool as a blanket statement.

Tons of great players (like Jeff Beck) add pedals to their set-up. Are they hiding, too!?

 

[opalburn]

The Klon has to be one of the most over-hyped pieces of gear of all time,

Yeah, you could pay $900 and up for a used version.

Bill had a friend of his selling them new on fleabay for a while in the $1500 range.

hence wanting to pick up a clone kit for under $100.. plus it will give me the satisfaction of putting something else together...

 

[Beerdog80]

Are you using the madbean board?

Yes. I haven't built the newest revision (what I have here) yet but I've built several of the others ones and they all sounded great.

 

[Beerdog80]

I need one now more than ever!

But no pressure, no pressure....

I know dude...I can't catch a break long enough to wipe my own arse these days. I've had to jump out of pedal building almost entirely.

 

[mrbrownstone]

Im guessing a klon is some sort of sought after pedal, but why are they regarded so highly anyone??

To quote one my friends:Its a one trick pony, but does that trick extremely well!

I personally think those who are using it as an OD unit are using it wrong. Its best used as a clean boost. its not an ordinary clean boost however, because it doesnt just make things louder, it makes your sound bigger and better!

 

[Bloody rocker]

To quote one my friends:Its a one trick pony, but does that trick extremely well!

I personally think those who are using it as an OD unit are using it wrong. Its best used as a clean boost. its not an ordinary clean boost however, because it doesnt just make things louder, it makes your sound bigger and better!

I agree, to a certain extent. I have my amp set to just a small bit of breakup and the Klon (clone) to push it into OD. I don't like the sound of it with the drive cranked but it sure can do a bit of OD. I love it for that purpose.

 

[Liam]

I've built about 4 or 5 of them so far, in 3 different versions (all on Mad Bean boards). A couple of people from the forum have got them.

From my POV, what's all the hype about? Great buffer circuit, as good as any buffer you can buy for lots of money. Great boost, very transparent, shitloads of boost and headroom, and I mean LOADS. Great OD, and I know not all will agree, but into the right amp that nasal midrange sound is the only thing I've known to beat a TS for grit on the chords, but still cut through in the mid-range for single string stuff. I'm pretty well out of the old mis-matched Germanium diodes that have sounded so good in the first ones I've built, so it remains to be seen if current production Ge diodes sound the same.

I'm assured that the Mad Bean board nails the original "Silver Horsey" tone perfectly with one capacitor change from the schematic. However a couple of us are getting on well with the Mad Bean schematic version - Snaredrum has got a slightly fatter version because I just thought he'd like it - closer to the genuine Klon sound I'm told. At some point I might try a switchable fatness control, but it's subtle. Will be AB'ing a couple of them with a real Klon over the summer...

If you're using the OD, they don't really clean up on volume roll-off. But they sound so good I'm not sure I care. Since I built the first one at the beginning of the year I haven't gigged without one, which puts them up there with the TS as an iconic overdrive for me. I'd say a 2 trick pony. Great clean boost, great overdrive - but hasn't got loads of dirt, and isn't designed to be used that way. And yes, BIG is the word. I'm seldom truly impressed by pedals, and I build and buy a few. The Mad Bean Klon clones are really quite exceptional.

Liam

 

[snaredrum]

-snip - Snaredrum has got a slightly fatter version because I just thought he'd like it - closer to the genuine Klon sound I'm told. -snip -

and i VERY much do.

plus, everything else Liam said is spot on the money - i've never owned a better boost, and the overdrive sound is very similar to the Okko Diablo i had, which was a tube screamer killer if i ever heard one.

 

[mrbrownstone]

I agree, to a certain extent. I have my amp set to just a small bit of breakup and the Klon (clone) to push it into OD. I don't like the sound of it with the drive cranked but it sure can do a bit of OD. I love it for that purpose.

Same for me, when i was using one, i find the sweet spot with the gain between 9-11 o'clock and the level at about 2-3 o'clock

 

[mrbrownstone]

I've built about 4 or 5 of them so far, in 3 different versions (all on Mad Bean boards). A couple of people from the forum have got them.

From my POV, what's all the hype about? Great buffer circuit, as good as any buffer you can buy for lots of money. Great boost, very transparent, shitloads of boost and headroom, and I mean LOADS. Great OD, and I know not all will agree, but into the right amp that nasal midrange sound is the only thing I've known to beat a TS for grit on the chords, but still cut through in the mid-range for single string stuff. I'm pretty well out of the old mis-matched Germanium diodes that have sounded so good in the first ones I've built, so it remains to be seen if current production Ge diodes sound the same.

I'm assured that the Mad Bean board nails the original "Silver Horsey" tone perfectly with one capacitor change from the schematic. However a couple of us are getting on well with the Mad Bean schematic version - Snaredrum has got a slightly fatter version because I just thought he'd like it - closer to the genuine Klon sound I'm told. At some point I might try a switchable fatness control, but it's subtle. Will be AB'ing a couple of them with a real Klon over the summer...

If you're using the OD, they don't really clean up on volume roll-off. But they sound so good I'm not sure I care. Since I built the first one at the beginning of the year I haven't gigged without one, which puts them up there with the TS as an iconic overdrive for me. I'd say a 2 trick pony. Great clean boost, great overdrive - but hasn't got loads of dirt, and isn't designed to be used that way. And yes, BIG is the word. I'm seldom truly impressed by pedals, and I build and buy a few. The Mad Bean Klon clones are really quite exceptional.

Liam

I agree its up there with TS, Tim/Timmy as one of the best ODs there is...The Klon itself was so good it started the transparent OD craze don't you think?

 

[Bloody rocker]

Same for me, when i was using one, i find the sweet spot with the gain between 9-11 o'clock and the level at about 2-3 o'clock

Haha! I just looked at my Klon clone and saw that it's set with the Gain at 10 o'clock and the level at 2