Is The Klon Really Worth $5,000? 

Did someone say Klon? BTW, the answer to the video title is 'ABSOLUTELY NOT' It's really worth about $7,500-8,000 :D

I would much rather have five $1,000 guitars than one pedal.

For that money I’ll go buy a dream guitar and a $200 clone pedal to go with it.

Came for the Klon, stayed for the Pink Floyd "The Final Cut" shirt! I need one of those!

All these guest appearances equal to so much knowledge in history & tone! Thanks, Rhett!

I owned #26 for 20 years and used it in front of a ‘71 Super Lead. Bill actually brought it to my apt in Brookline to demo and I bought it. He sold them himself at the time. I sold it about 5 years ago for $1500 before they went crazy crazy. It was a great pedal and untouched by much else for a long time but there are a number of great boost/OD pedals now that sound just as good or better. It’s ridiculous that they sell for so much now.

I built the StewMac clone kit (Ghost Drive) and it is an almost exact replica of the pedal and sound. It was $100 and about 10 hours of my time, but it is fantastic.

Josh kills me with his collection. Unbelievably awesome that he has all those. Beyond beyond!

Rhett! You are killing it in the production department. These videos look incredible and are so professionally done.

There's no way that I could justify buying a real one, but I've been thinking of buying the StewMac kit version for a weekend project.

I love the Wampler Tumnus deluxe. For me it’s as good as a pedal needs to get.

I love my Jrad Archer IKON, and I really enjoy the way the dual gain pot works. I think the Klon style circuit is an interesting and unique overdrive, whether or not one "needs" a real one, I'll leave that up to the people who feel like they need the "real" one.

I thought Rhett's comment about a Boss DS-1 getting into Klon territory was very interesting, since the Klon uses back-to-back shunt diodes to ground the way the DS-1 does. What makes the Klon interesting is the way it mixes its different audio paths.

I can't see myself ever spending that kind of money for a pedal. But the Klon sound is a marvelous thing. I've been using the Wampler Tumnus for years and it is awesome!

super entertaining and informative video - and that final track is awesome!

I've watched most of your videos, but this was probably the most informative from a practicality standpoint

For those of us who might be more limited on $$$ we need videos like this! The help is much appreciated!!!

Years ago I bought the Soul Food and instantly loved it! After so many years of using it, it finally failed, after doing some research I tested the Tumnus, MXR Sugar and Way Huge Conspiracy Theory, I ended up choosing the CT, I love it and it only cost $125.

Been waiting for you to dive into this!!!

I've the RYRA Clone and it sounds as good as any I've heard. $200 and you've got four color options to choose from as well. The Wampler Tumnus Deluxe is also great if you want more bass and gain tweaking ability. Hope this helps someone make a decision! Enjoy!

Another great video! Whenever I go to buy one of those classic "staple" pedals (Klon, TS, Rat, ODR-1, etc), I usually go hunting for someone who's done a version of that circuit with more features and options. As such, I've got a ton of Wamplers and a couple JHSs on my board. The Tumnus Deluxe is probably my favorite pedal, at a fraction of the price of a Klon.

Part of me misses "and remember there is no plan B" but another part of me is glad that Rhett has finally thought of a backup scheme. ^_^

Best template for an OD, says I. Can't make it sound bad. You sound fantastic as always.

Mad Professor Royal blue is my favorite transparent overdrive. People from Finland will know it.

People have taken "transparent overdrive" to mean something like "preserves your amp tone," or "doesn't interfere with" something. The term was actually coined to refer to pedals like the Klon which incorporate a parallel, unaffected clean signal, with the overdrive sitting on top, or superimposed, in the manner of a transparency sheet on an overhead projector.

I use the Mythos Wildwood Mjolnir and I love it! ❤

Great vid . Thx . Your outro guitar work was excellent !!

Amazing video and playing dude love it!

It’s a weird thing… when one ‘product’ does something so different & so well, that it becomes it’s own ‘thing’. And the Klon Centaur definitely did just that. It’s almost a unicorn to me. I’ve seen it used in live performances a lot, and I’ve seen & played a lot of clones personally, but I’ve never even SEEN a Centaur before in person. To a lot of folks, myself included, I think it sort of became this mythical ‘idea’ of a sound almost. Hence the price tag I guess. From what I understand, he still occasionally makes them by direct order. Or at least he did. One day I’d like to have one… but that bubble will most definitely have to have popped by that time.

Just got the warm audio centavo and it's unbelievable right down to the build quality and enclosure...part for part recreation and hand built...under $200

Great video Rhett! I bought one a year and a half ago because it's a collectors item and a real special piece of guitar pedal history, however anyone who says you can't replicate it is just wrong. Lots of pedals out there can get the sound and do it really well, besides the Soul Food, but it's just a cool piece of gear to have.

thank you too rhett for your time plus im waiting for the rain an storm to arrive soon.

Because they have too much money, or they’re too picky and nothing will ever do.

I just got a Crazy Tube Circuits Unobtanium. Klon and 2 Dumbles in one pedal. Best sounding overdrive pedal I've ever had my hands on and cost 250GBP.

Nice! Short, sweet and to the point!

When Rhett turned up the gain control, I shouted out "Rock and Roll baby! Woooo!"

One thing no one seems to mention is how HUGE the original circuit is. I would have to give up 3 or 4 other pedals just to make space for the original size Klon

Because they got the pedal itch? I bought a copy for $68 from a friend who makes killer pedals. If anyone is interested.

I currently use the Nordvang ‘83 Drive, a BB and Klon 2-in-1. One of my favorite pedals.

I love that intro jam! Keep that up.

When they first came out, they were $300 at a local music store. Most other dirt boxes were about $100. In hindsight maybe I should have spent three times as much...

The Klon…a 5k pedal most use as a glorified tone shifter rather then a gain pedal 😂 these always make me laugh

Rhett ! In my opinion your channel is the most understable, enjoyable and beautiful content on the internet for anyone who likes guitar and beautiful stuffs about it !

Yes! Rhett! You did a really wonderful important thing that most people don't do with their comparison videos which is to actually dial in the clone instead of trying to set the knobs at exactly the same physical position. Most people don't realize that parts, in particular pots, have tolerances. An 10:00 setting on two 100K pots is not going to read the same between the two pots. Nobody manufacturing pedals is trying to bin their parts to a tighter tolerance than what a particular line of parts naturally offers. So, as you note, if you put two original Klons side by side, they will be slightly different, and to try to get them to sound the same you'd have to dial them in the same way. I suspect the biggest source of variation in Klons and Klon clones may be the weird ganged pot.

I’m pretty happy with my $100 klone For $5000 you could get a rig that sounds good enough without pedals

A friend of mine traded away his Klon sometimes in the late 90'es. In retrospect, maybe the worst deal ever. He got a Boss Metal Zone in exchange... ;)

Great video. Love Rhett's critical eye, much more helpful than other youtubers sucking up to brands. Also love the kernom ridge, and it can connect to an expression pedal for easy tweaking

@RhettShull I love your videos! I don’t play guitar yet, but I always wondered what everything does, and you are skilled enough to show what you are talking about , I look forward to learning how to play some day

Sounds killer. But maybe not $5,000.

An absurd price for what's about $150 in electronic components, like so many other trends with gear.

Killer video! Kind of surprised by the DS-1 portion. I'm a fan of the K circuit on the Nordvang Gain and the Centura. Not identical but gets the vibe!

I got the StewMac Ghost Drive a while back, it’s one of best sounding pedals I’ve had and was easy to build. I put up a demo of it also. There are plenty of good clones that will get you the tone and sounds you want.

I mean, I can buy a high end amp and a high end guitar for that, so nah…not even remotely worth it. It’s been cloned so many times that it would be foolish to take this pedal out to a gig. It’s basically just a trophy piece for collectors. Total waste of money if you aren’t a rich collector.

No, it’s not worth $5k!

I appreciate the education on the Klon and Klones. That's a pretty cool and innovative circuit. I get the hype, the Klon does the thing. For my money, currently, I have a few Klones I'm more than happy with, including the Wildwood Mjolnir. Enjoyed the jams throughout the video, too! Interesting timestamp on the outro

I have a Pedal Monsters Klon Klone and I absolutely love it. It stays on in front of my clean channel 100% of the time.

Most over hyped gear ever. My friend has a Klon, we placed it next to my MXR Fat Sugar, and there was no discernible difference. Except the $4,925.

I know people hate Rhett a lot but I like him because he brings attention to very lesser known pedals like Klon Edit: how many times are you gonna make this video?

Bought my Centaur in mid 90's and have never been tempted to sell it. You had to call Bill to get one. I remember part of that conversation and he asked me what guitar and amp I was using. He seemed like a real ethical guy and didn't want o sell me something I couldn't use. It was, after all, a $225 unit new back then, over double what OD pedals were going for. I have bought a clone or two over the years (JHS, Rockett and a Klon KTR). To my ears they come close but not quite the same. It's probably just psychological. Still my favorite OD of all time. I also really like the JHS Morning Glory.

Josh really summed it up nicely with his comments. I remember being 13 years old and finding the early boutique pedal websites and thinking that I was a part of something special for knowing about stuff that wasn't Boss, MXR, or DOD. The pedal market has lots of stuff now that is built on hype, some of it very well justified, but there is a lot of builders that are killing it right now and are not being hyped. I bought a fuzz on Reverb for like $100 recently, and it is just a killer big muff style pedal, so there is something for everyone. I think a good takeaway from Dan's comments is that a lot of the magic here is from the blend of clean and dirty signal, and having an appreciation for the level of saturation juxtaposed with how much headroom you have to work with is important in shaping your tone.

no get a clone. you can copy a circuit and there is no magic there. if you think you are gonna sound better with a real one than a clone I have better ways to separate you from your money

"Why Are People Paying $5,000 (or more) For The Klon?" Because a majority of our community is stupid.

love the intro jam, you should get guests to come on for a little jam. Live sound is best fr

Rhett there so many choices !! The Archer , Wampler Tumness ! All sound just as good ! Just like there is no magic powers in vintage guitars, amps and pedals ! So many choices that sound exactly like the Klon.

did you know the English word "clone" actually comes from the name Klon as boutique builders scrambled for a word to describe replicating this masterpiece without breaking copyright?

most overrated piece of gear in existence

Such incredible tone out of the Klon! Too rich for my blood though, and my audience (houseplants and the family dog) don't care enough about my tone to justify the investment. However, I use a Wampler Tumnus Deluxe and absolutely love it. Thanks for the backing track! Sounds killer!

For under $200 I'm very happy with my Warm Audio Centavo. I also really dig the mod switch, it basically beefs it up a bit. I like calling it The Klon Centavo.

That outro jam was so good, would love to hear more of the Falcon on the channel.

I’ve been fortunate enough to play an original gold Centaur. It sounded incredible and while I understand the mystery behind it and why it might go for so much, there are so many options out there at such an affordable price that can be purchased that come pretty close to the Klon. I personally wouldn’t be able to justify purchasing an original Klon at such a high price or a KTR at the prices those are going for now too.

The Sparkle Drive does the same thing with blending a clean signal mixed with a distortion circuit. It's a really nice pedal.

I'd really love too see someone take apart an original Klon and one of the clones and find what the actual differences in the circuit are, if any, and focus on those. I think the ganged pot may have been a custom order, but it's not like Bill Finnegan was building his own capacitors or anything. If you build the same circuit with the same parts it will sound the same, within the tolerances of those parts. Apparently Finnegan claimed he had a special batch of 1N34A diodes, but I would be suspicious about that really being anything special.

I own the J. Rockett Archer it's excellent Klon Clone. I too was hesitant until I pick one up and notice the difference it made when I stacked it in front of my drives and fuzzes. it made everything come to live.

Beauty groove dude

I've had a klone for years but I usually just leave it on as a boost. It sweetens the sound IMO. Not as big a fan of the gain unless the amp is already being pushed hard and even then only within the context of a mix.

Love your demo from about 15:50 sounds awesome like you were really inspired by the Klon!. Have you done a full track because if not you should and release it - sounds fantastic! Well done!

I like your playin'. I don't even know what bands you play with but you got some tasteful licks. And the channel is pretty damn educational, too.

I'm happy enough with my IKON - funnily enough I don't really like the sound that much on its own, but it does a great job as a solo boost and cut pedal on stage.

Surprised not much talk about the KTR. Same thing and they can be had for $300 if you're willing to wait years...or probably around $700 if you want one now. I was able to pick one up many years ago and I love it

I have a lot of fun stacking my Klon clone with my Fuzz Face and Blues Breaker clones.

Love the track at the beginning! Sounds wonderful. This pedal certainly does something unique, but I don’t think it’s for everyone. Certainly not worth the money it’s going for now, and yes it’s easy to approximate the sound with other gear. In my opinion a players time is better spent finding under the radar pedals etc. that truly work with our hands and our rigs. In the long run this usually equates to less money spent on pedals, and more time spent practising and finding our own voice on the instrument. Of course just an opinion, but there are plenty of great options out there for overdrive pedals these days. Some of the alternatives mentioned in this video do a fantastic job and only cost $100 or so. :-)

Rhett just wailin' at 4:15 AM...so jealous. One of your best videos yet.

I knew a guy, older guy, who had a Klon, one of the last ones made or so he told me... he also had one of the earlier Zen drives the one Robben Ford has... I had the pleasure of playing through both of them through a divided by 13 15 watt head and matching 1x12 cab using one of my personal guitars and a custom shop 50s strat. It wasn't a jam I just got to play for a little bit can't say I had anything less than a great time both are very responsive. When we were done he packed everything away. He put the pedals in a safe in the floor of his office in his home. He said if I die you can have the divided by 13 rig...but the Klon I'm keeping for my kids college fund...one day they're gonna be selling for 10k or more...that was in 2009...I STILL think the tone is in your fingers, but I've driven a Ferrari and it was way more fun than my Prius fosho

I’ve had two, I don’t have them anymore. but I’ve become more interested in building my studio than my guitar stuff… don’t regret letting em go

Killed it with the intro song 🤘

Well how could I resist another Klon video

I usually use the fractal's Klon sim and it's great!

5:08 - The OG Premier Guitar video theme song

The Mjolnir is a fantastic pedal. I've never played an actual Klon so i have no frame of reference for how similar it feels, but when i clicked that thing on to try it out, it turned heads in the store.

Sounds gorgeous.

I bought a KTR brand new at the regular price, and I love it very much. Sounds great to push my amp or to stack a fuzz into. Now...where is the vid about the Space Echo? :P

Sounds wicked! Especially with the Falcon. That's a lot of money for a pedal, though....

Thanks Rhett. I've never played a Klon, but I really enjoy my Mythos Mjolnir Wildwood edition. Very musical, as you described.

Love the way you play. Awesome. Great Klon tones too. I own the Decibelics Golden Horse. It’s said to be an EXACT copy. ($300) There’s a comparison on RU-vid somewhere. I think it sounds awesome. I also own a Mosky Golden Horse (under $20 a few years ago). Are they the same, no. Are they close, sort of. The Nobels OD-1 and the Kingsley Paige are some very nice drives that change the sound even less than the Klon. But, I am a huge fan of the Klon. I use the Mosky for more gain, in a solo that I can’t play super clean. (Flying’ high again-Ozzy). Those taps are hard (for me) to play clean without a little more dirt. That being said, the “harshness” of the Mosky is actually nice. It’s hard to tell it’s on with a distorted sound anyway. I use the Marshall Bluebreaker pedal with my jam band, and I’ve found that to be “somewhat” transparent too. I never knew about the concentric pot in the Klon. Thank you much for that. Rock on! Rhett.

Love a klon klone. Great circuit and I normally use it pretty much with the same settings as Rhett into an amp that's already pretty gainy. Can get some lovely singing lead tones that way. A klon is perfect for when a tube screamer is too mid forward/bass light and a boss sd1 cuts too much bass. The klon circuit trims just a little bass to keep it from getting flubby and pushes a little mids so you can be heard without it getting honkey but keeps it just enough like the original sound so that you don't notice that you've fundamentally changed guitar tone. It's like a nitro boost that just gives you more of what you need

Rhett, I am building my own Klon clone, the circuit is out there in schematic form. Parts are available, I have even seen Stew Mac has a kit. Many China knock offs as well. I like to craft my own petals, cuz I can. I liked your video, you demo the real thing and explained why the Klon is prized. The original Klon models had black epoxy on the parts to prevent copying the design, but someone was able to recreate the circuit and released the specifics on the internet. I like your lessons!

Rhett has the output pretty high on the klon. Unity volume tends to be somewhere in the vicinity of 3 o'clock on the output knob. So a lot of the gain he is getting is actually from the way the Klon pushes the amp. If you stick it in front of a clean, high-headroom amp, with. your output set to unity level, then it doesn't have much gain at all - particularly on a quiet single coil guitar. But one hack I've done is putting a boost before the klon to lower it's headroom and that works pretty well when you want to be able to turn it off and get a crystal clean tone. However it's not as good as when you boost that output knob and use the Klon to push your amp. The problem is just that if you click it off, you lose a lot of volume.

Yep, I will either buy or build a clone someday. There's a lot more I could do with that kind of money. To each their own though.

Nice Shirt. The Final Cut is so crazy underrated

Great vid! Would love to see a review on the kanji pedal by lovepedal. The cream colored one especially