The Ultimate Klone Pedal Shootout: 14 Pedals Compared
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 ก.ย. 2024
- Check out this article to learn more about the Klon clones that Sweetwater carries 👉 sweetwater.sjv...
More videos like this Klone pedal shootout 👉 • Guitar Demos & Reviews
Since Bill Finnegan set loose upon the world his original Klon Centaur overdrive pedal back in 1994, it’s become the grail of pedals for countless guitarists and collectors, obtaining an ultra-rare status that sees the handbuilt originals fetch as much as $10,000 today! Fortunately, you don’t have to pony up the equivalent of a modest used car just to tap into its iconic, full-bodied growl and soaring, versatile tones. While many Klon clones abound, are all Klones created equal? Don Carr gets to the bottom of things with ultimate Klone pedal shootout: a 14-Klone face-off to determine how well these pedals capture the vaunted Klon sound. Check it out!
After you watch, check out Sweetwater.com today for all your music instrument and pro audio needs! 👉 sweetwater.sjv...
#Sweetwater #Klon #Klone #Pedal #Shootout
Which Klon clone deserves the gold medal? Tell us about your favorite Klon clone pedals in the comments, and be sure to head over to Sweetwater to learn more about these masterful overdrive homages! 👉 sweetwater.sjv.io/The-Ultimate-Klone-Pedal-Shootout
My favorite Klon is a tube screamer.
@@truescotsman4103 u seen the ts in the list?
Shame the Nordvang & RYRA were not included.
The Horsemeat is pretty sweet. I've owned several and I'd love to have that one!
All of those pedals arrived together in a Klone Car 🚗
3:42 & 3:58 Warm Audio Centavo
4:12 & 4:30 J. Rockett Audio Designs Archer
4:43 & 5:00 Origin Effects Halcyon
5:13 & 5:30 Electro-Harmonix Soul Food
5:43 & 6:00 TC Electronic Zeus
6:13 & 6:30 Wampler Tumnus
6:43 & 7:00 Walrus Audio Voyager
7:14 & 7:30 Way Huge Conspiracy Theory
7:45 & 8:01 Keeley OxBlood
8:15 & 8:31 PRS Guitars Horsemeat
8:45 & 9:01 Jackson Audio Optimist
9:15 & 9:31 MXR Sugar Drive
9:45 & 10:02 Boss OD-200
10:16 & 10:32 Source Audio L.A Lady
10:46 & 11:02 Line 6 HX Stomp
Not all heros wear capes!
J. Rockett, Halcyon and PRS Guitars Horsemeat were my favorites.
Tks!
@@Soundnauticsugar drive, keeley, warm audio, and j rockett for me.
First thing: They all sound good to me.
Second thing: They sound incredibly similar. It's good to have something to choose between both in terms of design, features and price, but I'm left with the feeling that you could tweak your way out of any audible differences if you put in the time. They all sound like a Klon.
I'd bet the variation between these pedals (when set to sound as similar as possible) isn't much bigger than between two actual Klons that have aged 20 years or more.
Obviously there's a volume difference with the HX Stomp, so kinda hard to judge that.
Yeah, it's easy to dial in the difference. The main difference here are the potentiometers lol. You won't land on the same values, creating the illusion of massive difference. Solution, just dial it in
But guitar players listen with their eyes.
I guess I’m just not a connoisseur, because these all sound pretty much identical to me, except that the LA Lady was dark and the Stomp was thin, and both of those can be tweaked with EQ.
In fact, they’re all so close that if I were choosing between these, my deciding factors would be a combination of noise level, price, build quality, and (if I’m being honest with myself) aesthetics.
My sentiment exactly. And I defy anyone to pick the most expensive one in a blind comparison.
Had a Soul Food it served its purpose, got a Tumnis and liked it a lot. Went in part of a trade for a Strymon. Picked up the TC Zeus. Still have it and fills that Klon spot on my board just fine especially for the price.
Should have thrown in a real Klon in the shootout for a reference point.
Yeah, I don't really understand how this comparison works without one.
What, and ruin their bottom line for the year?! 😆😇
It’s comparing the pedals on their own merit. SW obviously isn’t selling a real Klon so it wouldn’t do much for them.
@@timholtguitar6999 I've never thought clones get compared on their own merits, they exist to be cheaper duplicates of something else. If they don't sound like that thing, what's the point in buying them? OTOH if these are to be considered on their own merits -- which is reasonable -- why compare them with other clones?
Only problem is two real Klons differ as much as two good Klones do. I actually like what they did here. Eschew idealistic babble about how a pedal is *supposed* to sound like and just let the customer decide which sounds best to them.
Think about it. In any vintage shootout, if the real deal is voiced to be relatively bright, then anything less bright is deemed to be “dull”. On the flipside if the vintage unit is voiced more on the warm side, then anything with more presence will be deemed as “too bright”. You can’t win against ideals. You can only decide for yourself.
Thanks for checking the pedal out!
If anyone has any questions, feel free to shoot them our way here where we'll answer what we can.
In order to do an authentic original Klon with your pedal on the low gain setting wouldn't it be more accurate with some clean blended in?
@@Grant_Ferstat Yes, we've given you control over the DRY, so if you want to match what the KLON does behind the scenes, you'll need to adjust the dry depending on your DRIVE setting.
@@OriginEffectsUK cheers. I had a real Klon on my board for a long time before the lure of the eBay dollar became too great. My sweet spot sound was with the gain around 10 o'clock used as a sorta of a slightly dirty boost. My understanding was that there was an amount of the clean signal coming though on that sort of setting.
@@Grant_Ferstat Yeah, at 10 there is definitely dry signal being blended in alongside the overdrive.
I think your Halcyon sounded the best….and I own the Keeley. I thought the Halcyon was just one hair more open than the warm audio, of course settings could be adjusted to possibly equalize them
i have the soulfood , really like it , no need to change .
For my ears; The ZEUS, and The CENTAVO. Those two appealed most to my taste in tone. Great Licks, DON! ⭐️⭐️🎸⭐️⭐️
centavo et sugar drive pour moi , mais je vais acheter la centavo
Bought the Halcyon from you guys, but they all sound good to me
I own the J Rockett Icon and like it but I am impressed with the PRS Horsemeat in this video.
The Mythos Mjolnir it is also worth checking out, they have many variations like the Wildwood, Germanium and Joey Landreth versions. I’m really loving mine 😊
My Mjolnir is never leaving my board. I love that thing.
I bought the Tumnus last year and love it.
With the exception of the LA Lady I'm not sure the differences between them were enough to say any one of them "does the job" better than any other.
I was shocked with a cpl of these ..first but not sounding the best ...just shock value is the Sugar Drive from MXR ....then the Tumnus !!! But WOW The Soul Food for the cost of one ...hard to beat ...BUT add just a little money ...(not much used about 125) the JHS "meat and 3 " mod ...and now its a whole new od !!!!! But the Keeley Oxblood I think when dialed in ..with the clipping mode switch and other options make it a sweet one as well!!!!
Good vid but I would to see how they sound on a bit more broken up amp as OD’s are really designed that way. Not Necessarily running through a pretty clean amp But definitely a good video with all these pedals
Hersemeat's less gain tone sounds great!
how can you not have the RYRA?
Excellent comparison!
Hate to say but none of those pedals really do it for me. They are all sounded very similar and the low gain settings we're like a transparent clean boost and more gain settings are like low-medium gain. Would have been nice to hear all the pedals with the gain cranked to see what they could really do. I just stack my overdrive pedals and I can get everything from a clean boost to hair raising super fuzz tones and everything in between using my pedals and my guitars volume control. Thanks for the demo though it was interesting.
LA Lady sounded odd... Line 6 needed more volume. Tumnus and Horsemeat were my favourite.
Good job. Would have liked to see the amp settings.
Love my Rimrock VSMO.
Where is the Ryra?
The K-circuit just sounds like RnR. Good as a boost (I prefer a Rat instead), but when that gain is turned up and it gets an amp cookin'...shoot dang! The cops are coming to tell you to turn it down.
The nux golden horse gets it done for me!
You forgot the Mosky pedals. The new Mosky Marksman looks interesting for the low cost as a Klon clone.
How about Nux Horseman?
I know it's dumb... but i love the sugar drive sound. I love the color pink. And i love mxr. But i hate mini Pedals, and the rest of my board is blue. I hate having to compromise.
Just lie...say it was a special Barbie promotion only release week..a limited edition...and people will be envious.
@@harrisbeatsfrankou6304 no no. I love the color pink. Absolutely adore it. It just doesn't fit in with the blue of the rest of the board.
@@chadtindale2095 Spraypaint?
I'd go with the Barbie Collectable...lie sell it for profit then buy another and paint it blue....Mxr are goid got a phaser carbon copy deluxe and powersupply.
Enjoy it.
but Klons sound gold
ORIGIN pedals halcyon gold
TAKE MY MONEY
I have the Way Huge, hmmm
Revival gold and horsemeat sounds better, more details and clearance
I own a Soul Food. I guarantee it sounds as good on stage as any of the other much more expensive pedals, including an original Klon. Noone at any club in a live setting would ever be able to tell the difference. Go ahead and spend ridiculous money if you want. You won't sound any better than you will with a $100 pedal. It's more about "look at me" than it is, listen to me.
archer
The Rockett Pedals Archer will always be my "go-to" Silver Klon Clone. That being said, I'm very impressed with the Origin Halcyon for being such an innovative approach to a Klon circuit.
I ended up going with the Warm Audio Centavo and absolutely love it. Read so many reviews comparing it to others and every video I watched made me want it more and more. I am shocked at how much of transparent boost you can use it for. Using it with a Diezel VH4 and VHX. Really great poedal
same for me. love what it does.
c celle que j ai choisi aussi parmis toutes celles du marché , c etait entre celle ci et la sugar drive .
You must have had the HX Stomp’s volume knob set to affect the output volume. It was much lower volume than the others.
Mini Tumnus is my favorite pedal except maybe my Nordvang Gravity. I use the Tumnus as a overdrive but I have one as an "Always On" with a just a touch of rive on.
i love my tumnus too!
I chose the Wampler Tumnus for great tone, ease of use, small footprint, and it's always on...
Wampler and Way Huge
From a different video comparison, I already thought that the Tumnus sounds almost EXACTLY identical to a Klon. And I still think it was my favorite out of the bunch, not only for that but also for it's cost.
TBH, The Centavo has just kicked the Tumnus Deluxe off my PB, notwithstanding its footprint! 🤷🏻♂️
I’d take the Optimist for the versatility or the Tumnus because Wampler is the best at gain pedals. The hxstomp volume was low! Hahaha But it’s the only pedal i’d take if i only could have one in the whole world. It does everything! 😅
I’ve never had a desire for the Klon sound but if I did I’d go with the oxblood. I’m a big Keeley user already and love their take on classic drive circuits.
My understanding is Keeley made that without knowing the actual Klon circuit. So it's not at all the same circuit, but just his attempt at mimicking the sound via his own method.
Wampler
I have the Tumnus myself - great little pedal. All the pedals sounded pretty good and I expect even more similar to each other in a mix.
Mosky Silver horse, $30 as good as anything here. Seriously ,Just my opinion.
I have a RYRA Klone and it's fantastic and a part for part copy but the truth is almost every Klone style pedal sounds good and you don't need to spend too much to get the Klon experience.
They all sounded pretty much the same to my ear, didn't see (or hear😂) any reason you'd be going wrong with owning any of these clones tbh.. The only one that came in a bit weak was the HX Stomp, which was kind of a surprise with all the HX Hype I've heard.. Sorry HX, wasn't impressed.. 😮
yeah, that one turned me off to the whole pedal
Decibelics Golden Horse…The Best
I've got a decibelics golden horse on the way.
So we're doing a klon pedal comparison without an actual klon to compare the rest of the pedals to? Am I missing something here?
To me, the Horsemeat pedal stood out way above all the rest. Low gain was crystal clear, nice tones, the high gain was crispy, same tones as the low setting just louder.
Probably the worst one he tried.
@@gffg387 no, that would be the HX Stomp and LA Lady being the worst of the lot by far!
@@sixslinger9951 Sure, but they did dirty to the HX Stomp. It sounded way quieter and it was set pretty differently. The Hose meat was set properly and sounded bad and not very Klon like.
I liked the horsemeat myself. Pay no attention to these numbnuts.
My choices would be the Origin Effects (great stuff), the Way Huge and the Horsemeat. There seemed to be more personality differences with low gain than high, where they seemed to converge somewhat.
My only issue with the horse meat is it takes up way too much Pedalboard space
The differences were in some cases really subtle, but I was looking for thickness of overdrive, balance of tone, with lots of chime. I liked the Soul Food, Wampler, the Conspiracy Theory and the Optimist best. The Wampler has all those things, and is a bit brighter than the others, IMHO in a good way.
As a KTR (clean boost) user, I would be happy with the Centavo, Halcyon, Conspiracy Theory, Optimist, Horse Meat or OD-200.
IMHO, they're all pretty close and can be tweaked to sound about exact. I think that if you already have any one of these solutions there's no need, or advantage, in getting another one. Like I said, this is only my opinion.
For me the Conspiracy Theory and Halcyon Gold stood out.
I don't play with much drive most of the time, and don't really get the cIon thing. That said the halcyon at Lower setting sounded pretty good to me, for higher gain I believe the tumnus would suffice.
Halcyon and Voyager stood out for me, great pedals in both settings. All others about the same. Suprise: the Centavo and the Horsemeat. Disappointing: the Archer. Very harsh in the higher gain setting.
I own the conspiracy theory and I love it. I pretty much love anything Jorge Tripps does especially the weird stuff like the atriedies or the poly blue octave.
i have a rimrock mythical overdrive, that i am currently stacking with a nobels odr1.
This “Ultimate Showdown” would’ve been best suited for an April 1st upload. Every sound sample was actually a just-off-screen $20 Amazon pedal
So I bought my Tumnus from you guys. Haven’t looked back. I also have a boss od200. It gets pretty close to the Tumnus. All of these pedals sound close.
Conspiracy theory is awesome, but you have to spend some time dialing it in properly. Its treble can get spikey really fast.
Out of this comparison I would be most interested in the Way Huge and the Warm Audio ones. They sounded a touch richer than the others, maybe smoother but definitely less harsh, not that the others were harsh. Cool demo 👍
They all sound great! Excellent video! I really enjoy my EHX Soul Food.
they all sound fine. slightly prefer the sugar drive. but they all sound very similar.
There were so many that sounded almost identical. If I were in the room, I could probably make an easier decision.
They all sound good low gain, the cheaper ones have a raspy cardboard midrange with the gain up whereas the more boutique ones have an angry Tweed type of sound. I liked the Archer and the Voyager.
the warm audio and the way huge are great ,... the zues is really good too, the wampner tumnus is really good too
Way huge and the Origin pedals sounded tops. All pedals sounded similar, but those two stood out
Ive got the way huge con theory. And i call it my Cake pedal.
Just gets sweet Cake band sound from anything you play
Sounds like the Tumnus and Oxblood do the "Klon" clone thing the closest, but all of the pedals sound good in their own way.
The Sugar Drive sounds closer to a Bluesbreaker to my ear than to a Klon.
It would be helpful to hear a similar shootout with Klon-style pedals pushing a cranked non master volume tube amp. That's the application for Klons that made them such a legend in the first place. Personally, I don't think the overdrive from Klon-style pedals sounds particularly good into a clean amp. To my ears, the magic happens when a Klon or Klone melds with the tone and response of a cranked tube amp--preamp and power amp tubes, transformers and all. Played through a turned-up 4-input plexi, for example, it sounds and feels like a great hot-rod mod.
The drive knob on Klons blends both dry guitar and overdrive signals. So with the Halcyon Gold, turning up the dry signal a bit would more closely approximate the Klon sound.
yep, exactly right. Klon(E)s don't sound that good into a clean amp even one as expensive as a 64 reissue .
The hx stomp stood out to me as the worst offering …sure you could tweak it to try to get closer, but that defeats the point and gets into option anxiety. Frankly, the Warm Audio, for my taste, sounded equal with the Halcyon Gold which I really liked. The Keeley is also quite good but as it was set the less gain was a tad muddy with the phat engaged. If the Halcyon Gold is Analog, I would take it….
The first pedal I ever bought was an EHX Soul Food, before I had even heard of the Klon. Still one of my favorite drive pedals.
me too
I was able to pick up a used homebuilt Meat and 3 modded Soul food for $83 about 5 yrs ago. Never will it leave my board now. Goes along with a Alchemy modded BD-2 and a bias knob modded older 3 knob Butler Tube driver. If I can't make these work.....well I just will make them work cause these ain't ever gonna be the problem.
Tumnus was my #1 but when I A/Bed with a real klon went to Decibelics Golden Horse... Happy Days! Thanks for the upload.
I would say I think I like the Soul food pedal,and the Archer those are the only ones I've played.
I have a Soul Food and a Tumnus. And I have to say, its very hard to find a diference between them (besides the price).
I have the Tumnus, Sugar Drive, horse meat and Centaur. I prefer the Centaur and the Sugar drive has a little something special. Horse Meat…. I’m still on the fence. I keep my Tumnus with a low rhythm drive
....many are called, but few are chosen......IMO, the Archer has been and is still the closest....
I have the zeus drive and it does it for me but the new orgin effects look seems cool.
The PRS sounded weirdly compressed and eq’d differently vs the others
No decibelics no shootout
Man if I ever buy a pedal that requires an iPad to use... put me out of my misery
hahaha, exactly! what a joke.
Hey man lets jam....
I would but I cant seem to get WiFi here and my rig is in cloud or something....
I have an LA Lady and set up the Klone as a preset. Don't have connect it to a computer to use it as a Klone after initial set up.
Those OD comparison videos are so inflationary and boooooring, I predict a collapse of the whole pedal collector scene. There is just nothing new or surprising in it anymore. Everybody knows everything about everything and no one hardly ever plays music with those things anyway. This whole scene is degenerated, time to put it to bed.
I have the Tumnus Deluxe, great pedal and so versatile. Lately I have been leaving it on and just using a touch of delay. Love it.
I wish they had used the deluxe instead of the mini. I have mine set to hot (which you can't do with the mini) and have it at midgain. It's (nearly) always on, and when I need my sound extra crispy, I have it stacked with a nice fuzz.
@@RobBoostrom
Yup,..
I run my Tumnis deluxe at 9:00 on the gain with hot on.
It sounds wonderful into an Angry Charlie V2.
JUSTSAYIN'.
origin effects is just killing it theses days!
I thought I saw an interview with Jeorge Tripps and he said the Sugar Drive was from a Rare Blue Klon 🤔
Wow. That’s been a huge work done to make this video. Thanks!
They should all be gold.... How can it sound like a Klon if it's blue🙄
Just can’t go wrong with the tumnus. Such a small package, sounds fantastic. Don’t compromise while saving precious board real estate
The Tumnus Deluxe and Soul Food pedals are in my chain
Went down that klon clone rabbit hole years ago. Had to watch all the videos comparing, and breaking the circuit down, and reading all the hype..got the Rimrock MO because that was the closest(at that time) and it kinda stinks. I'm not a fan. Then on a whim I traded an import compressor for an ehx soul food. Great pedal. On my board all the time. Does the clone thing and more.
I have the Zeus, but thought the archer and horse meat sounded a bit better with the gain higher. But they all sounded pretty close at lower gain. For the price I would say Zeus all the way, no price considered I would say Horse meat.
I use the Tumnus Plus + Blues Driver BD2Waza.....but believe the Halcyon Gold could replace those two & have the advantage of the ADAPTIVE circuitry for live playing versatility. Thank You Sweetwater & Dave for the always exceptional demos & service....sure traded a lot of my $$$$$ for your gear THX
I went with the WH conspiracy Theory!
Electro harmonix soul food by a Mile
I use the Way Huge Conspiracy Theory for a while now and it does what i always wanted from an overdrive.
Soul food is a great pedal. Lovely demo as always.❤
Optimist all day.
Warm Audio all the way bb.