FSA: Klon Killer

[mirrorimij]

Mine showed up as well….same box and unit that Chris posted.  The unit seems well built.  I’m not a good person to review because I don’t have a great memory of what the original sounds like and I never got the hype.

my thoughts…..it seems smaller than the original and sounds like it’s doing what it’s supposed to do.  I still don’t get the hype or $$$ for originals beyond collectibility.   Great score at $50 thanks for heads up.

Uh oh……..coupla stomps into it and now all I get is a nasty hum.  Anybody have any suggestions?  I popped the cover and don’t see anything obvious.  No light or output just hums when switch is engaged.

4/24 update seller dispatched replacement.  

[veatch]

8 hours ago, mirrorimij said:

Uh oh……..coupla stomps into it and now all I get is a nasty hum.  Anybody have any suggestions?  I popped the cover and don’t see anything obvious.  No light or output just hums when switch is engaged.

I'd guess the footswitch.  The 3p2t are easy to overheat when soldering. 

[santellavision]

18 hours ago, mirrorimij said:

Mine showed up as well….same box and unit that Chris posted.  The unit seems well built.  I’m not a good person to review because I don’t have a great memory of what the original sounds like and I never got the hype.

my thoughts…..it seems smaller than the original and sounds like it’s doing what it’s supposed to do.  I still don’t get the hype or $$$ for originals beyond collectibility.   Great score at $50 thanks for heads up.

Uh oh……..coupla stomps into it and now all I get is a nasty hum.  Anybody have any suggestions?  I popped the cover and don’t see anything obvious.  No light or output just hums when switch is engaged.

I would ask for a refund. (FYI, I still haven't received mine yet, but it's in Colorado, so maybe today)

[1 bottlerocket]

If they are being sold for 50-60 USD I can imagine that they are being produced at source for about a quarter of that. They can probably send you another, free of charge plus posting.

[Jim85IROC]

after going down the rabbit hole of klon klone videos, I'm trying to decide between one of these and a Joyo Tauren.  I don't suppose anybody here has experience with one of those?

[Jim85IROC]

On 2/24/2022 at 5:52 PM, Jim85IROC said:

after going down the rabbit hole of klon klone videos, I'm trying to decide between one of these and a Joyo Tauren.  I don't suppose anybody here has experience with one of those?

Ended up deciding on the Joyo because it was shipped from the US and $10 cheaper.  Bought it yesterday, then the Ebay seller offered the Klone for $50, so I bought that too. 😁

[Jakeboy]

On 2/23/2022 at 10:39 PM, veatch said:

I'd guess the footswitch.  The 3p2t are easy to overheat when soldering. 

…and those 8 year olds haven’t quite honed their soldering skills yet…

[HamerCustomEr]

I had a Monsterpiece Stud.  I have included a video with the Centaur and the Stud side-by-side.

I sold the Stud, however, when I got the VFE Merman.  I have the one with the crazy graphic of half fish and half man.  I love the Peter Rutter built pedals:  they are so versatile, with high-quality parts, and they can cop original tones, but take you even further if you wish.  Going off on a tangent, my favourite VFE pedal is the Dragon Hound, which combines the circuits of the Alpha Dog, a reimagining of the RAT, and the Pale Horse, based upon the TS808 circuit.

[Marvelicious]

On 2/25/2022 at 6:01 PM, Jakeboy said:

…and those 8 year olds haven’t quite honed their soldering skills yet…

I don't know... I probably would have been better with a soldering iron at 8 than I am now: I could still see really well back then. 

[Jim85IROC]

On 2/25/2022 at 6:05 PM, Jim85IROC said:

Ended up deciding on the Joyo because it was shipped from the US and $10 cheaper.  Bought it yesterday, then the Ebay seller offered the Klone for $50, so I bought that too. 😁

I'm dragging this back up since some may have some interest.  The Ebay Klone came in a couple days ago and I set it up with the Joyo to do some a/b testing.  At first there were some fairly noticeable differences, but once I took some time to twiddle the knobs a little bit, I can get exactly the same tones out of both of them.  In all likelihood, these are both built from the exact same circuit, so all of the differences prior to knob twiddling is almost certainly just due to pot variation.  You could put 2 of these off the same assembly batch back to back and hear the same differences.  Based on the fact that they do indeed sound identical to me, if anybody is looking for a Klon Klone, I can fully recommend the Joyo.  It's cheaper than the Klone, it's smaller than the Klone, and it's shipped stateside, so you'll get it sooner.  On a subjective note, I also prefer how it looks, and the LED lighting is cool. 🙂

 

[The Shark]

14 hours ago, Jim85IROC said:

I'm dragging this back up since some may have some interest.  The Ebay Klone came in a couple days ago and I set it up with the Joyo to do some a/b testing.  At first there were some fairly noticeable differences, but once I took some time to twiddle the knobs a little bit, I can get exactly the same tones out of both of them.  In all likelihood, these are both built from the exact same circuit, so all of the differences prior to knob twiddling is almost certainly just due to pot variation.  You could put 2 of these off the same assembly batch back to back and hear the same differences.  Based on the fact that they do indeed sound identical to me, if anybody is looking for a Klon Klone, I can fully recommend the Joyo.  It's cheaper than the Klone, it's smaller than the Klone, and it's shipped stateside, so you'll get it sooner.  On a subjective note, I also prefer how it looks, and the LED lighting is cool. 🙂

 

I'll take the Klone.  Just because I already bought it and it's on my board.  If they are comparable, I'll take the vintage correct shrunk down box because it looks vintage correct and, well, cooler.  And we're talking the difference between $50 and something cheaper.  That's what's known as "de-minimis" to me.  

[Jim85IROC]

On 3/11/2022 at 9:20 AM, Jim85IROC said:

I'm dragging this back up since some may have some interest.  The Ebay Klone came in a couple days ago and I set it up with the Joyo to do some a/b testing.  At first there were some fairly noticeable differences, but once I took some time to twiddle the knobs a little bit, I can get exactly the same tones out of both of them.  In all likelihood, these are both built from the exact same circuit, so all of the differences prior to knob twiddling is almost certainly just due to pot variation.  You could put 2 of these off the same assembly batch back to back and hear the same differences.  Based on the fact that they do indeed sound identical to me, if anybody is looking for a Klon Klone, I can fully recommend the Joyo.  It's cheaper than the Klone, it's smaller than the Klone, and it's shipped stateside, so you'll get it sooner.  On a subjective note, I also prefer how it looks, and the LED lighting is cool. 🙂

 

 

EDIT:  Sold

 

Since this is the For Sale forum anyway, if anybody is interested in the Klone, I'm putting it up for sale.  I compared it to the Joyo and sounds exactly the same, so it seems foolish to keep them both.  The Joyo is smaller, so that's the one I've decided to keep.

 

Klone is for sale for $55 shipped.  It's exactly the same price as Ebay, but you won't have to wait a month for it to get here, and you won't have to worry about getting a DOA unit because I've already validated that it works.  PM me if you're interested

[JGale]

You're fooling no one kemosabe. The disco light show has you enthralled!

I'll take the other one!

J

[Jim85IROC]

25 minutes ago, JGale said:

You're fooling no one kemosabe. The disco light show has you enthralled!

I'll take the other one!

J

I do like the lights. 😂

[Tortious]

On 3/11/2022 at 9:20 AM, Jim85IROC said:

I'm dragging this back up since some may have some interest.  The Ebay Klone came in a couple days ago and I set it up with the Joyo to do some a/b testing.  At first there were some fairly noticeable differences, but once I took some time to twiddle the knobs a little bit, I can get exactly the same tones out of both of them.  In all likelihood, these are both built from the exact same circuit, so all of the differences prior to knob twiddling is almost certainly just due to pot variation.  You could put 2 of these off the same assembly batch back to back and hear the same differences.  Based on the fact that they do indeed sound identical to me, if anybody is looking for a Klon Klone, I can fully recommend the Joyo.  It's cheaper than the Klone, it's smaller than the Klone, and it's shipped stateside, so you'll get it sooner.  On a subjective note, I also prefer how it looks, and the LED lighting is cool. 🙂

That intrigued me. To the point of falling into the Joyo pit. 🤩 I do like that one as well. The cab box at the end of the chain, seems like it should sound really good, but it is getting signal overload, have not yet determined why.

 

[JGale]

Perhaps put the cab sim just in front of the time based effects? It helped with that same difficulty with my Two Notes Cab thingy.

[Biz Prof]

If you have 14 minutes to spare, try this demo of a handful of "klones" to see which one you think gets closest.

 

[santellavision]

I have a Wampler Tumnus. It sounds identical to my Chinese Klone. Lots more money.

 

[Tortious]

On 6/18/2022 at 5:02 PM, JGale said:

Perhaps put the cab sim just in front of the time based effects? It helped with that same difficulty with my Two Notes Cab thingy.

Tried that and other stuff today, even tried plugging straight in to it. When the 'master' knob is turned up to about 5, or some of the internal volume levels are set to just a normal level,  it does it. Which is irritating, cause it makes an unpleasant clipping kinda distortion. Maybe through a headphone amp with it on a low volume setting would help, but I doubt I can be bothered.

The rest of it sounds really nice through the MAZ38 or the Quilter OD 200. I wanted that cab thing to just use the headphone out with, but that seems to be a pointless pursuit.

[JGale]

I can't find a users manual on the Intertubes. Is there a section that excludes the amp models or an I/O setting hidden in there?

I love a good puzzle.

[Tortious]

48 minutes ago, JGale said:

I can't find a users manual on the Intertubes. Is there a section that excludes the amp models or an I/O setting hidden in there?

I love a good puzzle.

Lol. Yeah, there's something called a manual for it that isn't much of anything.

I tried shutting off all the models etc, went through all the usual suspects & then some.

As far as I can tell it's just inherent in the design, which is somewhat surprising since it has reasonably positive reviews.

Not that big of a deal to me. It will likely just go back in its box and be forgotten for years. 🤘

[Gino]

Well guys, after reading this thread and watching a couple of videos on youtube, I thought what the heck and ordered one of them Wish Klon clones for just under 50.- € incl. shipping from the Wish site. Arrived today after just 10 days. And what can I say? I'm blown away! I haven't had a change to play the real thing, but I had some of the usual suspects at home (J.Rockett Archer, EH Soulfood), and this thing sounds a lot better to my ears than those. Very transperent (what I like in ODs - I'm a TS-hater...). Yeah, can't go wrong for 50.- € or $ or whatever. Give it a shot, really!

 

[1 bottlerocket]

I have an original silver klon I bought while living on Japan. I paid 800 for it and I thought that it was an insanely high price at the time. Yes, this Klone sounds every bit as good as the real thing and in a blind listening test came out very well. I retired my Klon to the shelf under lock and key and play this 50 special now without worries.

 

People will continue to throw stupid money and Finnegan will continue to build them here and there and sell them on eBay to the highest bidder.

[Stike]

On 2/3/2022 at 4:38 PM, cmatthes said:

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

That's gonna be a no from me dawg.

[jisham]

Resurrected because after reading through this thread, I ordered one too.