K
LON!
Utter this four-letter word in an online gear
forum and you can be guaranteed a multipage thread with dozens of all-caps shouting
matches, numerous mentions of “magical diodes,”
the toneful properties of “unobtanium,” and the solid
chance of at least one commenter being banned from
said forum. What you’re less likely to come away with
is an understanding of what the Klon sounds like and
what makes it tick.
So what is the Klon Centaur and why does it generate
such extreme opinions from guitarists?
The Klon was one of the first “boutique” overdrives
pedals. Introduced in 1994, it was designed and handbuilt by Bill Finnegan. Originally priced at $225 (which
20 years later still seems pretty high for an OD pedal)
and discontinued in 2009, the Klon Centaur now sells
for $1,500 and upwards on the used market.
In 1994, a $225 overdrive pedal was a pretty bold
idea. Many guitarists were either happily using digital
rack units or just starting to realize that maybe those
old “stomp boxes” that we replaced in favor of our
rack units were actually pretty awesome. No matter
the case, the Klon Centaur slowly built a following
and landed on many a pros board over the years.
Approximately 5,400 Klon Centaurs were built
between 1994 and 2009. The final selling price before
the Centaur was discontinued was $329.
When Bill Finnegan discontinued the Klon Centaur in
2009, it opened the door for original units to skyrocket
in value and for other builders to create clones or
“Klones” of the Centaur. However, since the original
Klon Centaur had a “gooped” circuit board—meaning
it was coated in epoxy to keep others from reverseengineering it—it took a while for the circuit to be
analyzed. Eventually, numerous builders offered their
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