# Klon Centaur 2 - when?



## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

Anyone know when Bill's going to start building and selling the new Centaur? The Klon-Siberia site still says that production has stopped, and I haven't really heard anything since. I was pretty jacked to hear the new Klon in an OD shootout Taylor Bearfoot did but I haven't heard anything since. That vid was uploaded in Jan 2011 

Anyone else hear any rumblings down the wire?


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## Ti-Ron (Mar 21, 2007)

This thing will be out when people gonna be really crazy about it and ready to put a mortage on to buy one little unit!

Worst, for what I know about the Klon (from reviews, tgp, youtube wids) it's only a fancy Tube screamer...I don't understand why people still raving that much about one pedal...maybe I'm the onw's wrong!


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

Ti-Ron said:


> This thing will be out when people gonna be really crazy about it and ready to put a mortage on to buy one little unit!
> 
> Worst, for what I know about the Klon (from reviews, tgp, youtube wids) it's only a fancy Tube screamer...I don't understand why people still raving that much about one pedal...maybe I'm the onw's wrong!


Haha, don't listen to the idiots on TGP. The Klon is NOT a Tube Screamer. Not at all! Most Boutique OD pedals out there ARE TS clones with slight tweaks (like the Fulldrive, etc.), but Klon is a totally unique circuit. Also, they're not expensive. Again, it's people who are lusting after them that makes it expensive. If you bought one new from Bill, you paid $279, which is totally reasonable. Bill stopped producing the old Klon because sourcing and producing the case was too expensive and he wasn't making any money (remember, when someone sells one for $1,000 on eBay or TGP, Bill doesn't get any money from that). The new ones should sell for less than the old ones, since the smaller enclosure will be easier to produce.


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

__________


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

nkjanssen said:


> The Klon is a really good pedal. It's similar to a Tube Screamer in that it has a mid bump. Other than that, I've never played a Tube Screamer that does what the Klon does. Or any other pedal for that matter. That said...
> 
> 1. The Klon really shines in the context of a band. If you don't play in a band, there are much better/cheaper options.
> 
> ...


All excellent points.

For myself, I _do_ regularly play in a band both in rehearsals and live and I'm hoping to use it to push my Marshall JTM45 as an always-on pedal and use my SHO for solo boosts. I don't know if it will get along nice with my Marshall or not, but I'm willing to find out


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Having an insider's view (true schematic, two "naked"/ungooped boards, lengthy discussion over months with the developer Bill Finnegan), I can offer the following.

The Klon, by itself, has a rather nondescript sound as a pedal. That is because it is not intended to have a tone by itself, but is intended to _*precondition your signal *so that it gets better overdrive tone from the amp_. If one's normal mode of use is to run the amp clean clean clean, and step on a pedal to get a specific distortion sound, the Klon is likely the wrong pedal for that user, and Bill would steeer that user away from it. If one uses it as a kind of additional front end of the amp, it becomes far more useful. The critical element is that the amp itself has to have a halfway decent overdrive sound on its own. Think of it like butter. Eating butter on its own is not a completely pleasurable experience. There are limits to how much butter can improve something that tastes awful on its own. But put butter on the _right_ things, and you're going to ask people to leave you alone for a few moments while you savour.

The Gain control is a dual-ganged pot that adjusts about 6 different parameters simultaneously (maybe more), such that the blend of different frequency ranges, and blend of clean and pre-clipped signal, is altered in optimal fashion at each point in the rotation of the Gain control. While the Treble control offers boost and cut, it is intended to be used primarily in cut mode, since overdriven amps like a slightly warmer-sounding input signal. Pretty much all well-designed booster pedals intended to push an amp hard will have some sort of tone control that does the same thing.

Again, having had two populated ungooped boards for use, I can say that the construction quality is about as good as it gets, as are the components. That's a big part of why it costs what it costs. What it costs on e-bay is a result of many other factors, very few of which are related to the manufacturer. I would hope Bill has other revenue streams, but he doesn't have any other pedals, so I would encourage interested parties to buy from him rather than from someone on e-bay. He only gets money from the first time one of them is sold, not each subsequent re-sale.


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## Samsquantch (Mar 5, 2009)

Probably never. Ah well.


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## Cdn_Cracker (Oct 7, 2006)

Still.... does anyone have a clue when he plans on pushing them out or taking orders? I do a daily search... but nothing is out there.

My fear is that the first few years' run will be scooped up by people trying to flip it for profit.

Perhaps someone should suggest to him a lottery of sorts, where he takes the first 1000 orders and randomly selects them as he produces them - assuming someone around here has a contact # for him. That way there is an equal chance for every kind of player (amateurs and professionals). Otherwise there will probably those of us, and I will count myself as one... who will end up waiting a long time on a long list and have to live vicariously through videos on YouTube.

Either that, or only allow one pedal per household.. kinda like Analogman with his KOT.


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## Jeff B. (Feb 20, 2010)

Unless his plans have changes he's having them manufactured for him so he should be able meet demand reasonably well. 
Of course it will be silly for the first few months just as it is with any new product but it will settle down into a stable routine after that.


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

hollowbody said:


> All excellent points.
> 
> For myself, I _do_ regularly play in a band both in rehearsals and live and I'm hoping to use it to push my Marshall JTM45 as an always-on pedal and use my SHO for solo boosts. I don't know if it will get along nice with my Marshall or not, but I'm willing to find out


I only ever tried a Klon once. It was in a band setting, and by that I mean someone elses band and gear. I was using a 59RI LP and a fully cranked '56 Bassman, neither of which I was used to, and the Klon set to the owners taste. Boy was that embarassing. Talk about cutting through the mix. Every mistake and flub I made was magnified x10.

I'm ok with my other OD pedals, thanks.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Well that's the nub. If you don't know how to get the best out of the particular amp (and in your case that would have been a simple case of unfamiliarity), stomping on the pedal is not going to make everything suddenly wonderful. This is why Bill always had 30 minute phone conversations with prospective customers, and the phone calls were what impeded his production volume.

I hope Bill is able to arrange for efficient manufacturing, so that he can keep up with demand and redirect some of that e-bay money his way. Jeorge Tripps was able to take a hiatus from Way Huge, and, with some assistance from Dunlop, bring it back bigger than ever. Hopefully Bill will be able to take that same path and make a similarly strong comeback.


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## Sneaky (Feb 14, 2006)

mhammer said:


> Well that's the nub. If you don't know how to get the best out of the particular amp (and in your case that would have been a simple case of unfamiliarity), stomping on the pedal is not going to make everything suddenly wonderful.


Yeah, I know. I just played the guys rig the way he had it set up and didn't want to start messing with knobs. The pedal was already on, I think I was just out of my league playing with these guys, especially at that kind of volume. A Bassman gets pretty darn loud. 

I might buy a Klon if the price ever returns to normal, but I've tried enough pedals to know that there is no magic box out there worth $1000. Plus, I am pretty satisfied with the couple dozen overdrive pedals I already have. ;-)


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

__________


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

I'm so glad that my search for drives/dirt is over.

I wasn't that interested in these before and that hasn't changed.


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## zerorez (Jul 4, 2008)

Namm 2012 the new Klon will be on display, Klon will be sharing a booth with Rockett pedals as per this announcement on the rockett web page.

http://www.rockettpedals.com/


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

The Loner said:


> Namm 2012 the new Klon will be on display, Klon will be sharing a booth with Rockett pedals as per this announcement on the rockett web page.
> 
> http://www.rockettpedals.com/


Thanks for the update!


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## Guest (Dec 17, 2011)

mhammer said:


> Having an insider's view (true schematic, two "naked"/ungooped boards, lengthy discussion over months with the developer Bill Finnegan), I can offer the following.
> 
> The Klon, by itself, has a rather nondescript sound as a pedal. That is because it is not intended to have a tone by itself, but is intended to _*precondition your signal *so that it gets better overdrive tone from the amp_. If one's normal mode of use is to run the amp clean clean clean, and step on a pedal to get a specific distortion sound, the Klon is likely the wrong pedal for that user, and Bill would steeer that user away from it. If one uses it as a kind of additional front end of the amp, it becomes far more useful. The critical element is that the amp itself has to have a halfway decent overdrive sound on its own. Think of it like butter. Eating butter on its own is not a completely pleasurable experience. There are limits to how much butter can improve something that tastes awful on its own. But put butter on the _right_ things, and you're going to ask people to leave you alone for a few moments while you savour.
> 
> ...


Do you still have a Klon?


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Nope. Restored both back to stock, cleaned them up, and shipped them back to Bill. That was the deal, and that's why he trusted me. The only thing I have left is the empty chassis I prepared for A/B-ing the two.

I'm pleased to hear he's back in the saddle, and wish him nothing but the best. He's gonna need it, because the field has opened up *big time* during his absence.


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## Guest (Dec 18, 2011)

mhammer said:


> Nope. Restored both back to stock, cleaned them up, and shipped them back to Bill. That was the deal, and that's why he trusted me. The only thing I have left is the empty chassis I prepared for A/B-ing the two.
> 
> I'm pleased to hear he's back in the saddle, and wish him nothing but the best. He's gonna need it, because the field has opened up *big time* during his absence.


He will sell all he can make... on the Gear Page the Klon is the most coveted pedal ever.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

Player99 said:


> He will sell all he can make... on the Gear Page the Klon is the most coveted pedal ever.


His problem wasn't selling all his pedals. His problem was being able to produce them quickly enough and cheaply enough to be able to satisfy demand and turn a decent profit. I know I'll be getting on that waiting list the minute it opens up, but I really wish Bill the best of luck and hopefully he can make the killing he deserves off his hard work and ingenuity.


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## hummingway (Aug 4, 2011)

mhammer said:


> Having an insider's view (true schematic, two "naked"/ungooped boards, lengthy discussion over months with the developer Bill Finnegan), I can offer the following.
> 
> The Klon, by itself, has a rather nondescript sound as a pedal. That is because it is not intended to have a tone by itself, but is intended to _*precondition your signal *so that it gets better overdrive tone from the amp_. If one's normal mode of use is to run the amp clean clean clean, and step on a pedal to get a specific distortion sound, the Klon is likely the wrong pedal for that user, and Bill would steeer that user away from it. If one uses it as a kind of additional front end of the amp, it becomes far more useful. The critical element is that the amp itself has to have a halfway decent overdrive sound on its own. Think of it like butter. Eating butter on its own is not a completely pleasurable experience. There are limits to how much butter can improve something that tastes awful on its own. But put butter on the _right_ things, and you're going to ask people to leave you alone for a few moments while you savour.
> 
> ...


So, does it clip the signal or is it actually a preamp?


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## Guest (Dec 18, 2011)

hummingway said:


> So, does it clip the signal or is it actually a preamp?


At the extreme ends of it's settings there's some clipping. It's more in the "light overdrive" clipping territory than "distortion" territory.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

It "uses" clipping, but the clipping is not applied to the entire signal. It uses a combination of clipped and clean signal in varying proportions to "precondition" the overall boosted signal to produce better overdrive from the amp. If one was to dime the Gain pot, and turn the volume down so that the amp was contributing little to the overall distorted sound, one's first impression might be "I paid $500....for *this*?".


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