Klons back! well apparently!

allicio

According to some recent threads on TGP the Klon ktr is supposed to start shipping again sometime this month.
I got mine a few days ago!<a
Sorry couldn't resist! Ha!
Anybody heard anything in the UK?

Heartfeltdawn

I heard a giant moan of orgasmic delight over this news coming from several American TGP members. 

I merely broke wind and shrugged. 

allicio

Must admit that was pretty much my reaction too!

JD50

Klon is back, its called the EHX Soul Food

guitargeek62

^ I wasn't too impressed with the Soul Food I had, it was okay but I couldn't work out what the fuss was... I guess I was using it "wrong".

frankus

guitargeek62 said:

^ I wasn't too impressed with the Soul Food I had, it was okay but I couldn't work out what the fuss was... I guess I was using it "wrong".

That's a pretty accurate klon clone then

octatonic

I'm told there will be *some stock*, not loads.

Whether supply remains constant is anyone's guess.

Used KTR's are still selling for $700-800 USD (which is frankly mad).

ThePrettyDamned

frankus;257997" said:

guitargeek62 said:

^ I wasn't too impressed with the Soul Food I had, it was okay but I couldn't work out what the fuss was... I guess I was using it "wrong".





That's a pretty accurate klon clone then

Having used a 'proper' klone with the right diodes and weird value pots (idk apparently it was a bang on clone) and stuff, I have to admit, it was nice sounding. But I don't know why people go so nuts for the tone. It's a good cleanish boost and a half decent overdrive. Perhaps my test amp, which was a Laney, wasn't 'good enough' (that was what I was told lololol).

I tried a tc electronic mojo mojo and that is a lovely sounding OD. And works with a totally clean amp, too, just a nice breaking up sound.

However, it would be neat to see the original back, just because... Well, just because. Vegetable extract spread is vegetable extract spread, but I still eat marmite.

octatonic

ThePrettyDamned said:

frankus;257997" said:

guitargeek62 said:

^ I wasn't too impressed with the Soul Food I had, it was okay but I couldn't work out what the fuss was... I guess I was using it "wrong".





That's a pretty accurate klon clone then

Having used a 'proper' klone with the right diodes and weird value pots (idk apparently it was a bang on clone) and stuff, I have to admit, it was nice sounding. But I don't know why people go so nuts for the tone. It's a good cleanish boost and a half decent overdrive. Perhaps my test amp, which was a Laney, wasn't 'good enough' (that was what I was told lololol).

I tried a tc electronic mojo mojo and that is a lovely sounding OD. And works with a totally clean amp, too, just a nice breaking up sound.

However, it would be neat to see the original back, just because... Well, just because. Vegetable extract spread is vegetable extract spread, but I still eat marmite.

Have you played a proper, original Klon Centaur?

frankus

... in the full moonlight?!

octatonic

... Cha cha cha.

ThePrettyDamned

octatonic;258015" said:

... Cha cha cha.

HA!

Nope. Therefore, I'm not qualified to say how the originals actually sound.

But this builder fella was pretty keen on pointing out he got it all right. Which might mean nout of course.

Sadly, it was flipped pretty quickly. I can't remember who the seller was, but it was from musicradar.

octatonic

Klon's work particularly well with some amps (Fender, Marshall) and not so well with others (Vox).

What were you running it into?

monquixote

I think most Klon clones from reputable types are pretty close. 

The Soul Food has the wrong diodes, but even that isn't meant to be that far off.

koss59

I think they work well with Vox circuits actually.

For those that have also owned an original Klon, you will know that in the instructions it tells you that it's designed to be used with a non master type of amp on the verge of break up to just push it over the edge and saturate it more.

They aren't designed to sound good into modern Laney type amps.

I found I much preferred using a Klon with a non master amp than using an attenuator anyway.

I sold my Klon for a large profit a few years ago and did buy from the first batch of KTR's but it didn't sound like my original and was made very badly so I sold that too.

There are other things I think that are just as good but I'll keep that to myself

juansolo

I'll believe it when they actually get some to sell...

ThePrettyDamned

I used it into a Laney LH50 - on the clean channel, cranked to just below breakup.  Exactly as everyone said the Klon was best for.  I also tried it into the drive channel set for a classic rock crunch.

Didn't do anything your average boost or OD didn't for me.  I mean, it did what any boost or OD would.  It made it more distorted!

And I was hoping it would make a standalone overdrive but it didn't.  Well, it wasn't horrible for sure, but it wasn't that great either.  

The LC50 has a fender voiced clean channel (well, I thought so) and the drive is definitely in the Marshall ballpark.  Not a modern sound at all, definitely vintage.

As you say, maybe it needs a certain type of amp to work its magic, but for me, it was just being a cleanish boost - adding a touch of grit, and a fair amount of volume, to push an amp over the edge.  

Also, it was a klone - perhaps (though I'm not convinced as it's such a well known circuit) it was a bit rubbish. 

Not saying it sounded bad mind - just that it didn't do anything a lot of other boosty pedals wouldn't.  But I'm perhaps not the right customer, nor after the right tone.

ThePrettyDamned

Also, although it was loud, I don't think the power amp section was getting really hot.  That thing was loud...

juansolo

Honestly, it doesn't. It's an OD. It does what an OD does. The problem with the Klon(e)s are that they've be hyped out of all proportion as being the holy grail of ODs. It isn't. The hype comes down to the unavailability of it, and the stupid amount they change hands for.

As it is, what's different about it is that it's got a clean and dirty side to it that's blended on the gain pot. Less gain gets you more clean, more clean gets you more dirt. An OD820 does the same thing. The reason most prefer it as a clean boost is that the dirt side of the circuit isn't actually that nice. Though a lot of that comes to the fact that the more dirt you dial in, the more you need to back off the treble.

There are a lot of peculiarities with the circuit that I've gone into before and CBA to go into again. Let's just say it goes about things in some very odd ways in places that don't make a lot of sense. But, that all being said, it's a great sounding OD. It's not the second coming of the messiah and there are certainly ODs that do similar things better IMO. But it's very good.

Klones, if built to the one schematic out there by someone half competent, should sound much of a muchness with an original Klon. The small difference those with golden hearing can here will almost certainly come down to tolerances of parts. Which mean that not all Klons will sound the same, let alone Klones. There will be subtle differences. But they'll be there or there abouts.

FWIW we borrowed an original one to back-to-back with and we made a very small change (one part) to make our klone indistinguishable to the owner when blind listening. That's not to say that component was wrong, it's just that it might have been different on the Klon that was originally traced.

Must repeat the mantra: It's just an OD. Because that's all it is. One that's been marketed, intentionally or not, magnificently.

...and not everyone likes it I know of a few that really don't.

imalone

If there are resistors in there with 'magic' values that people can hear the difference on then it's not beyond the wit of man to replace them with a trim pot.

guitargeek62

octatonic said:

What were you running it into?

Mesa Express 5:25 on every possible channel/wattage combination.

It's an 2-channel EL84 amp, I generally use a pushed blackface-type clean, and a higher-gain Crunch on the second channel. The Soul Food worked alright enough but wasn't very inspiring. Bloody loud though, that was the main reason I moved it on - waaaaay too much output for my needs. I've replaced it with a Liquid Sunshine instead and I'm much happier.