I love my new pedal!

[benson_murrensun]

I have been wanting a Klon Centaur for many years, but the availability keeps going down and the price of used units has skyrocketed. I listened to many "Klones" over the years on Youtube (I know, the sound can be lacking on Youtube), and finally chose one that seemed to sound exactly the same. I used it last night for the first time, with my Blue Steel Tribute and a Vox-derivative amp, and I am overjoyed with it. It's the Klone Pedal, by Rock Your Repaired Amp (RYRA). If you want a "transparent overdrive," check out this one.

[paulman]

I love clone pedals (building and using), glad that you found one that works for you.


Also REALLY glad to hear Blue Steel is still in action!!   

[benson_murrensun]

Have you built Klon clones? If so, are they particularly hard to nail down? Any magic dust or unobtanium needed?

[peoplechipper]

The whole thing with clones is if the old parts still exist and getting matches...my friend Chris is the guy behind Union Tube and Transistor here in Vancouver, who do the Bumble Buzz for Third man (Jack White's company). Anyway, he did a pedal called the Sone Bender, which was a Germanium transistor based fuzz...that pedal had an 80 percent rejection rate on the transistors, so for every 100 they bought, 80 weren't up to spec for what they needed; needless to say, that pedal was a limited edition! too bad, I have one and it's good...anyway, they've had to actually custom order parts to get what they want, like custom order pot tapers...amazing that that can be done, but explains the price of good pedals...anyone looking for a great compressor pedal should look at their new one, the Lab; it's all over about half a dozen albums coming out this year, and it required custom parts...3 custom optoisolators...

[cozmik_cowboy]

I read an interview with Bill Finnegan (he's Klon) where he explained why he's not making any new pedal designs; he is very bitter that he put all the work into developing the Centaur, and then hundreds of people brought out clones without having to do the work, undercutting his price.  He says since he can do nothing to protect his work from pirates, why bother?
Isn't a Klon klone the equivalent of Boogieman's "Alembic replacement" parts?

Peter

[benson_murrensun]

Peter, I knew this issue would come up.... heh heh... It's too bad that Finnegan feels bitter about his design being ripped off. I understand his chagrin. But the original Klon Centaur is not available anymore...And even if I could justify spending $2k on a used Centaur, Finnegan would not get any of that money. I did listen to sound comparisons of his subsequent KTR pedal with the original Centaur and there seems to be a difference. Yes, I could be wrong, and yes, Youtube sound through earbuds and headphones is not going to be accurate... That said, I had to have that sound, and I did have a budget. Some people say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. And Finnegan could have looked into the legal ramifications/lack thereof of people using his design before he allowed himself to become exposed and bitter, but apparently he did not. Or he did, and tried to protect himself by covering his circuit in black goop. I guess I contributed to an unfortunate situation, albeit well after the fact, but I'm not going to lose too much sleep over it. It seems that the comparison between this and "Alembic-style"replacement parts is different in that one can still get real Alembic stuff from Alembic.

[StephenR]

I almost bought one of the original Klon Centaur's. Hearing how much they are now worth I sure wish I had followed through on the purchase.

[gtrguy]

I use a Danelectro pedal CTO-1 clean boost (the original, discontinued) every time I play guitar. Not too expensive and just makes great sounds.