Send in the KLONs...

[Tag101]

Originally Posted by darkhorse

Thanks for the info guys. Some valid suggestions and possibilities, I am intrigued by that mysterious controversial pedal much less if it has give rise to religious discontent(??) I am not sure about $30 pedals, my expensive drives might explode if hooked in line w one. DOD or Danelectro like a Klon, now that is one I never imagined. Wouldn't that be a hoot?

I wonder as well why some of the better modelers have not tried to mimic this great sounding drive. Now I did see that the older dual Boss overdrive pedal with all the drive model mimics has one that is supposed to be a Klon mimic but I have not heard it or test driven it. Anyone know of that one?

For the unfamiliar, if that is possible: The Klon Centaur is a not a gainy drive or a dist much less a fuzz, sort of like a clean boost with some grit and a great tone. Seems like those who are lucky enough to have one do not give it up. Since I love moderate gain drives and clean boosts it is right down my aisle. I first heard of the pedal from Jeff Beck's use of one (not sure if he still uses it, for sure not hearing that Rat anymore, thank you, his tones on Live at Ronnie Scott's are amazing, anyone know the pedals?), Joe Perry has one in his rack drawer and I am sure there are many others of notable level that could have anything and love the unit.

Thinking out loud:

I have some really great pedals and I was pondering in one of my sleepless nights how if I just sat down and tweaked the crap out of my pedals in various stacks I should be able to conger up something close.

I have rendered that perhaps some of you feel the same if you think about it, we are rather shallow in our tweaking routine on a pedal, do we ever adjust to the unexpected or try radical things, probably not. I get used to a level of tone, bass, gain, or high end and I tend to get stuck in narrow ranges of adjustment. Which is stupid on my part because I have some great pedals with wide range potential. I tend to find a sweet spot tone and the pedal hardly ever moves from that narrow perspective. I have vowed to spend a day trying more radical adjustments of my various drives and my awesome compressor to see what I can cook up. I hope to have something to report in something different I stumbled upon.

Now any of you rich cats are more than welcome to drop a KLON in the mail for xmas.

Not that my opinion means anything, but I tried one (klon) years ago and thought it sucked. Nasty high end fizz like most pedals. The best low-mid gain pedals i have tried, are the Ethos #1, and the Zendrive #2.

[decay-o-caster]

first time i played a klon - maybe 2002 - it did nothing for me at all. which was great because it meant one less thing to spend money on.

for some reason hearing it again, both in a booth and then live on a pedalboard in a show that night, it really made an impression. and fortunately the reissues aren't crazy spendy.

fwiw, my fave low gain pedal is the tim/timmy. can't wait to compare and contrast.

[darkhorse]

I've been quite happy with my Wampler Ecstasy overdrive for some time now.
Nothing has been able to push it off the board. I prefer a moderate gain overdrive and the Wampler is capable of the widest range from clean to dirt I have come across. Also very transparent to the tone and on the "smooth" toggle it is very much like a Zendrive or Zenkudo in the tonal voice of the Dumble amp although there again I like the gain backed off.

The new Klon is a great pedal no doubt and the money is actually slightly less than many others around. The new Bogner pedals just came out and the Blue is a very good more moderate ranged overdrive, everyone loves the Red which is more gainy, the Blue and Red channels from the Bogner Ecstasy amp. Also the Black Uberschall uber gain from the Bogner Uberschall.

I just ordered a Black Uberschall as a starter. I could use a uber gain fun pedal as I have several drives and higher gains at the moment. The Bogner looks like a fun pedal. Easier to get these puppies if more vendors would loosen up on the payment thing, my vendor offers 4 payment no qual, no hassle, monthly deal. Every time I try to get a card from one of the on-line vendors I always get declined. I assume the credit thing is tight as I live in a 1/4 million dollar house, go figure. Anyway their loss. The selection is not as exotic as I would like but they have enough better lines to keep me entertained, Bogner, Wampler, T-Rex and such.

Anyway love the new Klon, wish it was easier for me to get. Maybe at some point I will finally land one.
The story of the early Klon reminds me of earlier days when I had various pedals I thought sucked which became classics. I was after the more gain when I was younger and when I had a old TS I thought it was not gainy enough for me, didn't like it. Had an original UniVibe as well and I let that slip away as at the time I did not realize what I had. I am not so much stuck in the old vintage days as quite a lot of that gear really was a noise fest and tone suck but we compensated the best we could. I love modern tech myself. The new Bogner Red and Blue do not use op amp or diode circuits for disortion, very amp like.

[rkopald]

Slight thread drift, but I played with a Klon forever, and I loved it.
FWIW I have a very early Barber Tone Pump, and I have to say, it's a little more "hifi" than the Klon thanks to to bass attenuation knob inside.. I can sorta see where some people get high end fizzy, unpleasant stuff off the Klon, but with my rig it doesn't do that.
Barber is no longer making pedals, (I think?) but his stuff is incredible. Plus his price points are ridiculous bargains for working musicians that are lucky to get their drinks covered after the door...Guh.
Back on topic: I've been through dozens of OD/distortion units, and out of all of them I've liked the Centaur and the Tone Pump the most. YMMV

[litepipe]

Seems to me Barber is still making pedals from their website. They make great pedals!!

[World Studios]

I have this one

Taurus - Overdrive, 89,00 € - Clonewerk Store

Plus more of his pedals. I can not compare to a real klon, but the clone Sounds very nice indeed as a semi clean boost. Gives power and authority to my guitar. The "better" box.

[rkopald]

Originally Posted by litepipe

Seems to me Barber is still making pedals from their website. They make great pedals!!

Whoopsie! I thought I read that he wasn't making pedals any more...Brain fart?
I really like my Tone Pump. It's like a Klon and a Lovepedal together.
The Gain changer looks very interesting..

[decay-o-caster]

my klon ktr arrived yesterday. preliminary report: yummy.

[monkeyxx]

pedals are such huge pieces of trash... I love them, and build them, though. They just seem so much insignificant compared to guitars, and amps. I hate them, but I like them.

Sorry, I just have to say, I've tried the Cornish G-2 circuit, and, it kinda blows me away. I think the Klon is similar, probably worth the hype and price. I am DIY so I'll be making my own, eventually. I do like buffers. I also love cheap crappy pedals like boss, MXR, Fulltone, the other Dunlops. I just have a hate/hate relationship with Boutique stuff. It's unrealistically expensive for what it is. Pedals that cost the same as an amp or a guitar blow my mind with their overblown insignificance. Some of them sound great, though, that's the catch. I appreciate Jonny Greenwood's restriction to affordable pedals. He could have anything, but, he's got the same taste as I do in what seems important and doesn't.

sorry for the rant. If I were buying, I'd probably look for a second hand DIY Klon on eBay in the $100 range or whatever. Probably ends up being a killer deal.

maybe for people that are only guitar players, and don't do recording, or play other instruments, or have budget limitations, boutique gear could make a lot of sense. I guess I know two people like that, out of dozens.

[darkhorse]

How about Behringer for a trash pedal?

Anyone notice the adds on the right side. the vintage Klon prices are unbelievable. Finding it hilarious a new KTR Klon is listed for $362.70 which is $62.70 above the cost of a new one.


Crap pedals do not last on my board. No matter the amp or guitar, a nicely designed board just increases the ability of the guitar and the options of tone. I would not consider the dual mode MXR phase90, or the Fulltone DejaVibe a trash pedal. Any pedal that survives my board has to really deliver the goods.

If you hate pedals you must be dealing with the wrong ones.
A good pedal that fits the chemistry of your rig can just lift your whole level of playing. I cannot imagine an amp without a good overdrive or at least a clean boost to break it up.

I really pay little attention to what "named" players tend to use most seem to be out of touch with better stuff. A lot of player's boards here are quite impressive in quality and technical know how. A board w Boss on it does not impress me. You can easy tell when someone has little knowledge of good pedals. Some of these old cats are still using batteries without a board mount. They might be good players but that does not mean they have a clue as to why or anything about gear.

My recent board with over a dozen pedals on 2 chains, amp-in and amp loop, not one Boss or low end pedal. The array of different tones at hand is near infinite when combined with different amp channels. I may only have a couple pedals on at time despite having a bunch of them. The idea is to enhance the tone not wash it out or sound way over processed. Signal loading is a careful art of proper by-pass and high end buffer. Having a chain of Boss is whole bunch of buffer circuits that do not sound good and screw up the true tone of the guitar. It is easy to remove the loading off a chain of bypass pedals but another matter with too many buffers.

[feck]

I just got a Klon KTR and have owned several overdrives in the past , none of which I was happy with at all. After plugging the KTR into my 1966 Fender Pro Reverb, I had a sound in 10 seconds that was phenomenal. Gotta say, I don't know what these Klon's are doing differently from the others, but I like it!

[drbob1]

Wow, you guys need to head over to The Gear Page for all the ongoing drama of the Klon and the Klones... I've had a gold horsie, a silver and now a KTR and I will say they all sound the same. It's a warmish OD, with a bit of a mid lift. With a Fender amp I'd say it's the very best boost or mid gain overdrive, better than any of the other couple hundred ODs I've tried. With a Hiwatt or Marshall or Vox, it's still really good but not quite up to the standard of a Cornish SS3 (of course it's 1/3 the cost). The KTR was produced up to #1200 or so, then Bill pulled the plug because of manufacturing problems. So, finding one for less than $400+ is going to be tough for the moment (if you check on TGP 3-4 times daily you MIGHT find one before the other 400 guys looking for it can grab it). Hopefully this is a hiccup and production will be back on track in a few months. Definitely worth the wait and makes way more sense to send the money to Bill than JHS or any of the other Kloners.

[kreeper_6]

This is the Klone I build dubbed "The Petraeus Overdive". Interesting to hear about the "Manufacturing Problems".

Petraeus Gallery

[darkhorse]

I wish I trusted my skills to build a DIY kit.
I would have to create an outfitted work bench first. My little cable making, guitar working station would not cut it for such deeper projects.

Pedals are so much an issue with the complete chemistry of ones entire rig, guitars, and not to mention technique. What is grail for one may not work for another. I have hated many pedals others love and vise versa.
I am sure the KLON KTR would do it for me as I have been chasing that type of drive all along. I wish they had more vendors, maybe in time.

[spenceroo]

When used correctly, the Klon will do things to your sound that no other pedal will do. You don't just plug it in and turn it up.

[darkhorse]

Pedal finesse, goes along with experience

[darkhorse]

Just a follow up finally managed to get a Lovepedal Kalamazoo chrome silver model. Several blind A/B demos on this to a silver Klon and most guessed the wrong pedal, the Lovepedal was thought to sound like a Klon and the better pedal. Just put it over the top for me plus the Kala can gain up and add even more bloom to the notes. A very cool overdrive. Been waiting on my backorder when I get it I will do a good review on it.

It's only $200 compared to the new KLON KTR which is like $269. May have to get both in time. Kalamazoo nails what I love about the Klon drive and also has more gain potential and tone control. Amazing people are selling the KTR for like $500 on the right side bar when a new one is only $269. $1500 or more for a vintage, Bill says and shows the new one is the same pedal with the new bypass KTR option.

[Joe Porto]

I use a Kalamazoo. Great pedal. If you get on Lovepedal's mailing list, they will periodically send special offers for limited release pedals at good prices.

I also use the Lovepedal Amp 50 in front of the Kalamazoo. It's great for adding a bit of boost and saturation to kick in for leads.

[darkhorse]

Originally Posted by Joe Porto

I use a Kalamazoo. Great pedal. If you get on Lovepedal's mailing list, they will periodically send special offers for limited release pedals at good prices.

I also use the Lovepedal Amp 50 in front of the Kalamazoo. It's great for adding a bit of boost and saturation to kick in for leads.

Yep. 100% on that one.
Sean sends me special offers all the time usually when I am broke just to make me feel bad.

ProGuitarShop was hitting the Kala with the Kanji OD sounded amazing.

Once reason I wanted the Amp 11 is because it has a great OD circuit some say is a modified Timmy and the COT50 is the boost section.
Seems like some outright attacked Sean on cloning pedals calling the AMP 11 a Timmy modification. So what is my offering?
Want to modify a circuit, fine, makes it better, great. Are we to believe everyone reinvents the wheel when making an amp, or anything else? What is the real difference in digital delays outside minute tweaks in filters and modulation?

A drive that can hit what a Klon does, or even a Timmy, wonderful as far as I am concerned. Accolades to Sean at Lovepedal. I am going to try and get a 2nd Kalamazoo while they are available.

[Joe Porto]

Originally Posted by darkhorse

Once reason I wanted the Amp 11 is because it has a great OD circuit some say is a modified Timmy and the COT50 is the boost section.

OD's on my board are Amp 50> OD 11> Kalamazoo.

Amp 11 is nice. I went the separate pedal route...Amp 50 + OD 11. This way I can use a single Amp 50 to boost either the OD 11 or Kalamazoo, plus I can use the OD 11 to boost the Kalamazoo as well.

[darkhorse]

Originally Posted by Joe Porto

OD's on my board are Amp 50> OD 11> Kalamazoo.

Amp 11 is nice. I went the separate pedal route...Amp 50 + OD 11. This way I can use a single Amp 50 to boost either the OD 11 or Kalamazoo, plus I can use the OD 11 to boost the Kalamazoo as well.

Once I get used to the Kala I plan to look into more Lovepedal options. I use a Wampler Ecstasy (Euphoria) overdrive which is an incredibly versatile transparent OD that works well with anything. No way I would drop my Wampler Pedals as those are just some of the best pedals I have ever owned. But one just cannot have too many ODs. I thinned out my herd recently so I plan to build up some more Lovepedal's. They can bad mouth Sean all they like but the guys renders some great tone pedals. That Kalamazoo is incredible.

[darkhorse]

Lovepedal Kalamazoo Overdrive

[jakecollier]

This guy has almost completely ignored me for 2 weeks since I paid over $200 for this pedal. He is running a sh*tty little operation and obviously doesn't value his customers very much. He replied once telling me there's been an issue with the pedal and he's making a new batch, but I wasn't made aware of this when I bought the pedal...

He waited over a week just to tell me that. I asked for a refund, and suddenly I'm not hearing anything from Dave. Hmmm...

Do yourself a favor and buy one used on eBay. At least you'll know what the h*ll is going on with your money.

[darkhorse]

Originally Posted by jakecollier

This guy has almost completely ignored me for 2 weeks since I paid over $200 for this pedal. He is running a sh*tty little operation and obviously doesn't value his customers very much. He replied once telling me there's been an issue with the pedal and he's making a new batch, but I wasn't made aware of this when I bought the pedal...

He waited over a week just to tell me that. I asked for a refund, and suddenly I'm not hearing anything from Dave. Hmmm...

Do yourself a favor and buy one used on eBay. At least you'll know what the h*ll is going on with your money.

I am very leery of even buying used from anywhere. I do not like Paypal myself. I am not about to put my bank account numbers stored out there or my card if it is possible not to do so.
Some one hacked my card info about a year ago, strangest of all scams I was getting these "free trial" things from all over the country with a monthly plan following the first free sample for like $80 a mo. All sorts of stuff from weight loss, books, vitamins, even a Magic Jack was sent to me I did not order. They had all my info as if I ordered this stuff and had it sent to me on-line. Was a mess, I was smart enough to open nothing and return it all unopened. Weirdest scam I ever experienced coming from all over the states. Never did figure out where they got my info so I stopped storing info anywhere when possible.

One can expect delays on hand made pedals. I just ran into that and apparently they are too busy to email what is going on. Took me a week to find out the group of pedals sold are being built and "should go out Friday".
I wish those running a business would realize business 101, customer service, take the time to email and answer customer issues and for god sake a little inventory never hurt anyone.