Klon Centaur

The Klon Centaur is perhaps the most hyped boutique guitar overdrive pedal on the market. This crazed boutique pedal can produce transparent boost, warm rich overdrive tones, and spanky grit tones. The pedal comes in both gold and silver enclosures, and it's been said that that's where the differences stop. According to the Klon maker:

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.

Current Klon Production Status

The maker of the Klon Overdrive discontinued the pedal in 2009 and announced a new successor to the Klon some time in 2010. However, 2010 has come and gone with no mention of the Klon's successor on www.klon-siberia.com.

Buy a Klon Centaur for Sale on eBay

Klons are always popping up on eBay. Although they're not cheap, it's not hard to find one. Here's a few that are currently for sale. Note: You need to quickly join eBay in order to shop here at the Six String Soul Guitar Store.

Klon Centaur Clones + Alternatives

Over the years, several respectable Klon Centaur clone alternatives have popped up on the market. Most of these are parallel-circuit overdrives like the Klon Centaur, although the builders weren't all necessarily attempting to clone the Klon Centaur. Many were simply inspired by it's circuitry . Here's a few you can take a look at:

Lovepedal Kalamazoo - Klon Centaur Alternative

The Lovepedal Kalamazoo stormed onto the scene when PGS did a video comparing it to the Klon. Apparently the Kalamazoo was not designed as a Klon Centaur clone, but it certainly sounds similar. The Kalamazoo features a custom 4 knob IC based natural overdrive circuit. The tone control (wired to work in series with it's treble booster) offers up super smooth, controllable highs. If there are no current eBay listings, visit the Lovepedal website for more info.

Burriss Boostier - Klon Centaur Alternative

The Boostier is known to get a boost tone that rivals the Klon Centaur. It's not quite marketed as a Klon Centaur clone, but it's a clean gain preamp with both input and output gain controls. You can dial the pedal in to get a bit of it's own internal gain to compliment pushing the front end of your amp. Overall, the tone is very warm (and offers a High cut knob). If there are no listings on eBay currently, visit the Burriss website for more info.

Jimmy Behan Klon Clone

It's not clear whether Jimmy Behan is making his Klon Centaur clone pedals to order, but he's produced some fine looking (and sounding) clones according to gearheads who have used them. You probably won't find a Behan Klon clone on eBay, so visit Behan's website for more info.

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Stigtronics Tone Vitamin - Klon Centaur Clone

There's not much information available on this Klon Centaur clone, but it apparently does the natural amp overdrive, yet transparent, "thing" quite well. If there are no Tone Vitamins on eBay right now, visit the Stigtronics website for more info.

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Soul Sonic Illuminated Overdrive - Klone Centaur Clone

The Illuminated Overdrive is the result of Soul Sonic FX's work in reverse-engineering the popular Klon Centaur overdrive. But the Illuminated Overdrive isn’t a simple clone of the Klon Centaur. Soul Sonic made some adjustments like using higher-quality components in certain areas to maximize the performance from the circuit. The most glaring difference between the Illuminated Overdrive and the Klon Centaur, however, is the addition of the 3-way toggle switch labeled “Norm, Hot, Asym”. This unique switch allows the guitarist to select between three different clipping modes, each offering its own characteristic tone. If there are no IO's for sale on eBay, visit the Soul Sonic FX website for more info.

Yellowcake Blackbox - Klon Centaur Clone

The Yellowcake Blackbox is a cloned circuit of the Klon Centaur overdrive pedal, adding alot of character to your sound whether your guitar is equipped with single coils or humbuckers. Each comes with a super cool custom "burnt to hell" finish, and is handmade so that no two pedals look the same. However, they of course sound the same. If there are no Blackbox's on eBay at this time, visit the Yellowcake website for more info.

Build Your Own Tone - Klon Clone

Raymond at BuildYourOwnTone.com offers some very cool Klon clone kits, so you can build your own clone if you have some soldering skills, of course.

Check 'em out.

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