Do I need a Klon Klone?

[vomitHatSteve]

The musicians friend SDotD today is an $80 Klone: https://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifi ... 0000001000

Do I really need a klone of any sort?

[Bill L]

For $80 it's worth it.

[Armistice]

You should remortgage the house and spend $10k on a real Klon so people can envy you.

And by people, I mean a tiny subset of guitarists who think such things are important...

For $80 I'd do it just out of curiosity.

[WhiskeyJack]

The musicians friend SDotD today is an $80 Klone: https://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifi ... 0000001000

Do I really need a klone of any sort?

You only need one if you think you have use for it. But if you can find a realistically affordable pedal that touts a nice transparent boost and can add a bit of OD with out muddying up your tone then they are worth having around. I've not heard of this one before but know the brand, and for 80 bucks i would say it's a steal.

I think the term "klone" is getting a little bit watered down these days with some expectations being their version may find cult popularity and take off into the wild in terms of collectability. truth is they just won't ever be the same. think of it similarly as some of the alt coins that try to lure you in as being the next big thing to rival bitcoin, meanwhile you can buy 14billion coins for 20 dollars. It's dumb.

A perfect example of a Klone gone wrong is the Soul Food. that was one of the earliest examples i can think of buying because it was allegedly a Klone and i was under the Klon spell and this seemed liek the most affordable way for me to get one. It was garbage. Watch any review of it and you'll likely see the same thing i heard. I returned mine the day after i got it, and started searching and doing a bit more research.

I settled on the HanTaun becasue it seemed to get really great reviews and i'm a sap for Star Wars Schtick. It is universally agreed upon it isn't entirely an authentic clone as there is a bit of coloration and hump in the upper lows, lower mids once you start dialing it's gain knob up. But i don't mess with the gain knob it stays between 0 and 2 typically and it all it does is beef up my single coils to make em nice, aggressive and punchy.

What Bill Finnegan did with his Klon's was nothing more than a very nice boost / overdrive. that's it. He engineered it pretty nicely to not flavor or color your tone like some other offerings around at the time. So perhaps the better question in this instance is do you need a boost overdrive pedal from a reputable maker that is currently heavily discounted? if you have money burning a hole in your pocket the answer is probably yes !!!

[Lt. Bob]

hmmm .... well first I have a friend who adores his Soulfood and he's a great and knowledgeable player so I'm not sure about the Soulfood hate.

But I think there are better Klon clones if that's what you want and if that IS what you want then you want as close as possible.

}The one that gets consistent reviews as being the cloests to an actual Klon is the Archer pedal ... https://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Rocke ... )%20(Bing)


Also the Tumnus pedal ..... https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... 18e76e199c

[Armistice]

I typed "Soul Food pedal review" into Google, and while I didn't read any of them, and have no interest in the pedal, they were all tending towards the 5 stars / magnificent end of the spectrum...

Maybe it just sounds better when your guitar is up the right way?

[Greg_L]

IMO the Archer is probably the best of the reasonable klon klones out there.

But also IMO the Klon is the most overhyped fucking pedal there is. I've played with an actual Klon at Fuller's Guitar here in Houston. My experience was woopdy-fucking-doo. It's just another overdrive pedal just like all the other ones.

[Tadpui]

I do like my Tumnus quite a bit. Greg is right, it's just an OD pedal. But it's not a colorful one, so it tends to just kind of "betterize" my guitar signal if I want a little more sensitivity going into the amp. Unlike a TS9 or TS808, which has a definite EQ curve to it.

I think that they're useful tools to add to the toolbox. Not life-changing or anything, but definitely cool.

[liv_rong]

I have a $30 Chinese klone and I dig it. I agree with Greg the Archer is awesome, I’ve played one. I had a Soul Good that was gifted to me once and at first I liked it but then didn’t.

Basically a lot of hype for these things.

I’ve thought about a Tumnus multiple times but never pulled the trigger. I’m sure eventually I will. There’s a few blind test videos out there where this will come close second to the OG or I’ve been told via internet even chose over the OG.

Nothing wrong with MXR but generally they don’t do much for me. But I’m an idiot.

Also, @WhiskeyJack, god DAMN boiii, I didn’t know you had the pedal nerdery like that in you!

[WhiskeyJack]

I have a $30 Chinese klone and I dig it. I agree with Greg the Archer is awesome, I’ve played one. I had a Soul Good that was gifted to me once and at first I liked it but then didn’t.

Basically a lot of hype for these things.

I’ve thought about a Tumnus multiple times but never pulled the trigger. I’m sure eventually I will. There’s a few blind test videos out there where this will come close second to the OG or I’ve been told via internet even chose over the OG.

Nothing wrong with MXR but generally they don’t do much for me. But I’m an idiot.

Also, @WhiskeyJack, god DAMN boiii, I didn’t know you had the pedal nerdery like that in you!

Lol. Thats about where it stops for me sadly. I went thru a period in my history where I geeked out hard for Klons for fanboy reasons regarding a guitar hero of mine. I did manage to play with one one time and it was pretty cool. A really good gooderizer of a pedal. Grossly overpriced. Just gross.

I gave up on them when it hit me it is just a really good od boost. Of which there are plenty of those and I got a tc spark for a fraction of the price.

I even was in line to get one of Bills 2nd run KTR remakes but I withdrew my name because the price, while cheap I suppose, pre-orders were i think around 400ish USD, was still too much in my opinion for a pedal. I just don't think I could justify it and I was in fact only wanting it for the name and maybe a bit of "hey guys look what I got" so yea. I withdrew my name from the wait list of the second batch. I don't have any regrets. Dumb reasons to get a pedal really. I give no fucks anymore. I am happy with the combined use of my spark + hantaun.

Yeah @Lt. Bob I don't doubt the soulfood is a wonderful pedal for what it is. I know people who have them and are a mainstay on their pedal boards, but I was simply mentioning it in regard to it being associated with the same circuit as a Klon and the foolish marketing ploy to call any overdrive boost a 'Klone' It just doesn't do what one of Finnegan pedals does. The marketing sucked me in and there lies my poor review. Just too much color.

[JD01]

I've got the HanTaun Klone, the same as @WhiskeyJack , @Bill L and that fuckhead @ShanPeyton .

It's really good.

I've read loads of reviews comparing original Klons to reissues and good Klones, there's no difference.

The HanTaun isn't designed to be an authentic Klone but it's certainly good.

I set my board up with two ODs for double tracking guitars. I use the HanTaun on the left and the OCD on the right. Just an easy way of adding a different flavour when I don't have a collection of amps.

[rayc]

It's ever clearer that I'm not a lead player or tone sculptor.
I have two OD pedals - the Boss yellow thing and a Behringer Blues OD.
I drag them out to play with them every now and then but almost always end up turning the dirt off and the level UP.
As a result I enjoy reading threads such as this but it's an abstract topic for me.

[JD01]

@vomitHatSteve I think you'd like a HanTaun actually cos they sound great on bass as well as guitar. I can see you getting a lot of use out of it

[vomitHatSteve]

@vomitHatSteve I think you'd like a HanTaun actually cos they sound great on bass as well as guitar. I can see you getting a lot of use out of it

I currently use a boost pedal for my bass DI chain (an Ibanez Super Tube). I originally got it for the Abomination because the bass string on that is so quiet.

Ultimately, I can't really picture myself spending that much time swapping out pedals and trying to dial in my tone like that, so I passed on this particular Klone.

Maybe when it comes around again, I'll reconsider.

[Lt. Bob]

well I'm definitely a lead player full time so a few thoughts or actually one main thought.

I can play ANY guitar/amp/pedal and get it to sound good ( as long as it's not broken .... gottsa be properly functional ).
But strat/paul/PRS/tele .... meh they're all slabs of wood with p'ups ...... any of them will do.
I mostly gig my Yamaha RGX-A2 because weather doesn't touch it and it's light ..... if I use a modeler then I can make absolutely any guitar sound about the same.
With amps you start to have more interaction with loading but I can still use most anything and get a good sound so the only real reason I still buy gear is that I like it.


Any OD/Dist pedal will do.

Now I don't agree with greg, that they all sound the same.
To me it's actually a bit shocking how every single one of them sounds different ..... they all have their own sounds and, of course, so do guitars.

With pedals, they all react differently to the different loads that a guitar p'up might present and how hard the player picks ..... the voltage and impedances into the front of a pedal make a huge difference to what the pedal does.
I have a buncha EH '9' pedals and depending on how hot the p'ups are going into them makes them sound very realistic or not realistic at all.
So different combos of guitars and pedals and picking styles can totally change how they sound.

But ultimately it's really all what you do with them and how you play.
I have a buttload of distortion pedals ( also means ODs if you still think that term actually means something) but just because I like pedals ..... any of them will do.
I prolly have at least 20 of them but no hard favorites really

[WhiskeyJack]

they all react differently to the different loads that a guitar p'up might present and how hard the player picks ..... the voltage and impedances into the front of a pedal make a huge difference to what the pedal does.
I have a buncha EH '9' pedals and depending on how hot the p'ups are going into them makes them sound very realistic or not realistic at all.
So different combos of guitars and pedals and picking styles can totally change how they sound.

Yes this.

[ShanPeyton]

that fuckhead @ShanPeyton

[Greg_L]

Now I don't agree with greg, that they all sound the same.

I don't think I said that.

[Armistice]

that fuckhead @ShanPeyton

Clearly I missed this guy in my recent clean up of non-required members...

[WhiskeyJack]

Clearly I missed this guy in my recent clean up of non-required members...

Ban Hammer coming in hot @ShanPeyton heads up!