FSA: Klon Killer

[santellavision]

Interesting article in the latest "Tonequest Report". They tested a Chinese knock-off Klon pedal and in a blind test, it beat a real one! Oh yeah, the Chinese one is $62. (including shipping) They said it was built really well, top notch parts.  And, looked classy.  So, I just bought one, it's on its way.

UPDATE: Read below, it seems like the same seller might be selling the pedal even cheaper at other sites (I have not confirmed it's the same seller, but seems to be)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/115144153499?hash=item1acf20599b:g:4UcAAOSwU3lhuwfJ

[santellavision]

I had an original Gold Klon too. I sold it last year for a tidy sum. I'll have to check out the Falcon.
My favorite clean boost now is a Greer Lightspeed. Killer pedal. It'll be fun to see how this $60 pedal actually sounds!

[Victor (Fret Friend)]

My China-made klone cost me £38 GBP and it was amazing (hand-wired and tested before dispatch)! Sold it recently for a tidy £35 as it wasn't getting used (I have a RYRA and a Tumnus Deluxe)...

[Jim85IROC]

the supposed magic sauce of a Klon is that the pedal blends some of the cleans.  So, rather than play the Klon game, I picked up an EH Overlord.  It's an awesome pedal, and has a blend knob to blend in cleans, so it gives all kinds of versatility.  It's strange because this pedal seems to completely fly under the radar for guitarists and seems to be more aimed at bass players and keyboardists.  In what few guitar videos there are for it, not many of them ever touch the blend knob and they just treat it like a standard OD.

[The Shark]

I bought two.  If they become hard to get, my first one will be free!

[cmatthes]

They're even cheaper ($29, free shipping) on Wish.com...but if you're a gambler, that might be more for you.

Then again, there's always this:

https://reverb.com/p/klon-centaur-horsie?hfid=46983928&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=12293041840&utm_content=campaignid=12293041840_adgroupid=117735251659_productpartitionid=1655797462552=merchantid=472977946_productid=46983928_keyword=_device=c_adposition=_matchtype=_creative=497277137736&gclid=CjwKCAiAl-6PBhBCEiwAc2GOVCsu2UwkdqTFN9tK54VLwWiGZLAMvqZvkc488WYwU4W0s46mornyPhoCCiwQAvD_BwE

[1 bottlerocket]

I bought one too. How can you go wrong? If it sucks, you get a nice paperweight that doesn't cost 8k!

[Jakeboy]

Please post a review when you get yours. 

[cmatthes]

I was just going to pull the trigger at full price, but offered $50.00 just for shits, giggles and the fact that I need another pedal like I need...another pedal.

I got a counteroffer for $52.62 (??!!) and just hit the buy button.  We'll see how it works out when it arrives, but that's almost priced like a LovePedal Saturday Night deal.

[1 bottlerocket]

The same seller has them priced at various price points. I saw them for as low as 29 on one site.

[plagtr2]

Just got one on Ebay on an offer at $50.00.  WTH, hard to go wrong at that price.   Thanks for the heads up folks!

[Hbom]

When this thread posted yesterday the eBay listing said "4 sold". This morning it says "90 sold". 

I'll probably hold off and wait till they show up on Reverb for $199.00.

[cmatthes]

 

[duncans]

Bottom one was an ebay kit I bought  years ago. Decent enough, I guess.

Top is a first generation Piedmont Custom Electronics Aluminum Falcon. All gooped up and everything. I like this one a lot. Does the boost thing well, nice overdrive, leave it on all the time. It adds "something" that isn't there when it's off.

 

[cmatthes]

Some good pointers as to the different Klone options from China...

 

[rugby1970]

On 2/3/2022 at 3:10 PM, gtrdaddy said:

Aluminum Falcons are really great too. I had a couple of them and a real Klon. Thought the Falcons sounded better.

I prefer the Millennium Falcon

[JGale]

I have a Green Pony. It was the first kit I built. The differences in the circuit reflect the de-coupling of the stacked gain pot and that it is mostly taken from the OD-820.

https://buildyourownclone.com/products/green-pony-kit

Where the coupled Klon gain and clean sides of the stacked pot bleed to ground at either extreme, the GP is a blend control. So not a Klone but every bit a nice pedal.

A couple things I like about the GP circuit is the 3 position switch that raises and lowers the HPF in the gain stack. The stock values suck so there is a web sourced substitution that gives a more useful frequency range for the cutoff values.

There is 3 position switch that switches between symmetric and asymmetric clipping diodes in the gain stack. Useful substitutions to the gain structure.

Finally the input buffer looks very much like the BOSS FT-1 circuit (FET) so substituting those values brightens and hops up the input quite nicely. I did try it both ways and prefer the FT-1 mods for a livelier pick response.

The kit can be noisy. You need to take care in assembly. It's capable of some distortion, especially the asymmetric settings.

[JGale]

I also have one of these which claims to be "A part-for-part replica of a mythical overdrive effect".

https://aionfx.com/project/refractor-professional-overdrive/

I like this one a lot but not for distortion. It seems to add character to the signal in a clean setting. I can't quit it.

 

[geoff_hartwell]

I totally drank the kool aid

Bought 2 at $50 apiece from the seller on eBay

Says it shipped Feb 5 and is due by March 8 lol

we’ll see.....

[HamerCustomEr]

6 hours ago, geoff_hartwell said:

I totally drank the kool aid

Bought 2 at $50 apiece from the seller on eBay

Two gulps!

[HAMERMAN]

On 2/3/2022 at 4:04 PM, Jim85IROC said:

the supposed magic sauce of a Klon is that the pedal blends some of the cleans.  So, rather than play the Klon game, I picked up an EH Overlord.  It's an awesome pedal, and has a blend knob to blend in cleans, so it gives all kinds of versatility.  It's strange because this pedal seems to completely fly under the radar for guitarists and seems to be more aimed at bass players and keyboardists.  In what few guitar videos there are for it, not many of them ever touch the blend knob and they just treat it like a standard OD.

Some of the magic also comes from the charge pump power supply which wasn't especially common back when it first came out.  

[JGale]

And just for shit's and grins..

https://www.electrosmash.com/klon-centaur-analysis

[Menehune]

Who here has tried the Klone from Rock Your Repaired Amp? Not $50, but 38 times less expensive that a Klon gold horsie.

[Jeff R]

I bought my first ever Klon clone, a Wampler Tumnus Deluxe, a coupla weeks ago when I saw a 10-pedal Klon clone blind taste test shootout on YouTube. The Wampler won AND it beat out a real deal Klon (it came in second). When my local GC had one, meaning I could return it if it didn't jive with my stuff, it was a no-brainer purchase. Compared to the original Tumnus, the "deluxe" has some extra EQ knobs and a "hot" switch that does just that. I'm quite pleased with it. Not returning it.

Edited to add a linkie to the vid ...

 

[santellavision]

I bought the Wampler Tumnus too, it's on my board right now. It's a killer pedal and a nice size. Can't wait to A/B that with the Chinese clone.