Klon Centaur info please...

[TRandy16]

I am considering taking the plunge and purchasing a Klon Centaur. But before I do, considering the vast amount of GAS addicts on here, I thought I'd ask some opinions about the Klon and any possible alternatives. I strictly use only tube amps and the Klon would be used mostly with a Fender '65 Reissue Deluxe Reverb.

All opinions and suggestions are welcome....thanks.

[Jen]

You will hear a vast array of opinions regarding this pedal. I owned one for a while and sold it. If you are using it with a Fender amp such as a deluxe, you will have a good result. It will essentially fatten up the tone of that amp, and make it more resposive and " bigger" sounding. I do agree with the fact that it is a very transparent type of clean boost. It does accentuate the natural tones of the amp. It is NOT an overdrive, so if you needed it for this purpose, I would look elsewhere.


It is a good pedal. IMHO, the Fulltone Fat Boost sounds better, as does the AUstone Sole o stomp for half the price.

[TRandy16]

Jen,



Thanks for the "heads up". I have heard so many varying opnions on the Klon that I am a bit perplexed. I have also been trying out a Maxon OD 820 Overdrive, which I actually like. The Maxon rep swears that the Japanese merely "reverse-engineered" a Klon when they made the OD820...but it definitely IS an overdrive where I am getting mixed opinions on the Klon about whether it is or isn't an overdrive. What I am after is that sweet "singing" sound, i.e., Larry Carlton, Robben Ford, etc....I don't need massive amounts of gain.

I will have a chance to try the Klon this weekened and then I suppose I will know what I need to know.

Thanks again....

[mick I]

Tim,
I have a older klon and I must say I am pleased with this pedal. I have tried quite a few(fulltone,ibanez,etc). The klon pedal can take you from transparent to a good grit(which BTW is excellent for a HB). I use it with a Fender deluxe. Now I know this is isn't the holy grail but in the same right it is the purist pedal I could find w/o hiss on the gain. I found it to be tight and punchy when set as a clean boost which drove me to fingerstyle madness for hours. I also found it not to suck the tone from my signal (as I have found that there are alot of tone leeches out there.) If you can borrow it for the weekend do so( if you can pry it form their fingers) I do not endorse or have any ties to klon so this is just my opinion.
Goodluck

[TRandy16]

Mick,

I see we're "neighbors" (I live 90 minutes from Columbia)...I'll let you know the results of my weekend test with the Klon.

[TRandy16]

OK...I just finished an hour with the Klon Centaur. I tried it with my USA Customized Telly (Warmoth rosewood neck with Brazilian fingerboard, Duncan Antiquity humbucker in the neck and Duncan Little 59er' in the bridge) and my PRS Archtop (totally stock). Played both guitars through my Deluxe Reverb and my Blues Junior Lacquered Tweed Limited Edition.

1. USA Customized Telly: Great neck pickup sound through both amps. I had mixed feelings about the bridge pickup sound...though it wasn't 'bad'...it also wasn't what I was looking for. Front pickup tones approached the SRV/Hendrix threshold while the bridge pickup was more of a Danny Gatton/Roy Buchanan type sound...once again a great sound but not what I am after.

2. PRS Archtop: This was an entirely different matter. To put it bluntly, I felt like the guitar suddenly came alive in my hands. Huge, fat, round tones out of either pickup with just the right "singing" effect I was hoping for. The Larry Carlton, Robben Ford tone was right there. This was an extremely impressive demonstration of awesome overdrive sounds with no buzzy "hash" to deal with.

The Klon did function more as a boost when using it with a single coil guitar.
It seems to me that the Klon is indeed an "overdrive"....but most of all when used with humbucking pickups. Control-wise I had the gain at around 9 o'clock, the treble at about one o'clock, and the output at about 10 o'clock. I understand the attraction of the clean boost function and can certainly understand how some people might want/need that ....but for me I wanted this pedal to growl and although it did so more with the Archtop's humbucking pickups, the single coil sound was pretty fat also.

So the decision is this: I think I may actually need two of these. One set up not so dirty and one dimed on the gain for that terrific singing "voice" it showed me.

I thought this was going to cure my GAS problem instead of expand it. I just spent $300.00 on a 70's Boss CE-1 Chorus and now I'm going to have to spend $600.00 for a couple of these?

I may need a shrink before this is all over.;)

Thanks again guys....

Tim