More about Klon Centaur-Style Transparent Overdrive Effect Pedals
Klon Centaur Clone Overdrive Effect Pedals
What is the best Klon Centaur clone pedal?
Independent pedal builder Bill Finnegan started building Klon Centaur Professional Overdrive effect pedals in the mid-1990s. His original, hand-built circuits boasted amp-like saturation, an incredibly touch-responsive gain structure, and a very interactive EQ shaping experience.
The overdrive tone has become the sound many "transparent" overdrive effect pedals base their sound off. Klon Centaur overdrive pedals' tones are now retroactively described as "mythical" with modern overdrive guitar pedals emulating the Centaur overdrive tone described as "Klones".
An entire submarket in effect pedals has since formed around the Klon Centaur's mythical sound. Gold-colored enclosures, three-dial control schemes, and storybook creature icons commonly appear as unifying elements in pedals emulating the Centaur's tone.