Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
CKK Electronic's Mr Wu Evolves and Re-Engineers the Klon Centaur Circuit with his new SHXC Super Overdrive - with Extended Range and Superior 3-Dimensional Tone
Key Points
CKK Electronic’s Mr Wu presents the SHXC Super Overdrive, a reworking of his Scream Honey platform to evolve Bill Finnegan’s Klon Centaur concept. About 20% more components extend the tonal range and create a deeper, more 3‑dimensional soundstage with enhanced low end, mids, richer high‑frequency harmonics, more volume and headroom.
Controls: Level, Tone, Drive, Buffer Switch. Sourced NOS germanium diodes and a rare ceramic TL072 op amp. Improvements include improved buffer bypass, improved true bypass, tone knob ±10% boost/attenuation, less compression, enhanced picking attack and dynamics.
Hand‑made at ~20 units/month with parts for a few hundred; pre‑order via officialsales@sinvertek.com. Price listed as $349 + $20 shipping to the UK. Follow‑up review expected in ~5–6 weeks.
Fans of Mr Wu like myself - particularly for his N5 and Scream Honey Series - are well aware that he has an amazing ear for tone, and an engineering prowess to match that ambition.
His recent N5 MGAT-1 MIAB 19-Level Gain Machine is a total masterpiece - and was my favourite pedal of last year - probably my favourite ever distortion pedal. Here with his new SHXC Super Overdrive he reworks and evolves his Scream Honey framework - to match and improve on, and move beyond Bill Finnegan’s original venerable Klon Circuity and output.
He states that there are circa 20% more components in the SHXC - especially devised to extent the tonal range of the circuit and give the pedal a deeper more 3-Dimensional soundstage. This involved significant enhancement of the low end frrequencies, as well as seemingly borrowing some of the Marshally High Frequency magic from the MGAT-1. Every aspect of the frequency output profile had been enhanced - including the mids too, and there is now more volume and headroom on tap too.
Controls - Level, Tone, Drive, Buffer Switch. (Note that I’ve made an educated guess as to which knob is which!).
Mr Wu reports further that he spent a considerable time sourcing the NOS Germanium Diodes what were up to the task, along with a rare superior sounding ceramic version of the TL072 opamp.
This pedal is available for pre-orders right now via emailing officialsales@sinvertek.com and then paying via PayPal upon receipt of invoice. The price tag is $349 + $20 shipping for me to the UK. Obviously a substantial cost - but justifiable on account of Mr Wu personally hand-making each of these at a rate of circa 20 units each month. He says he has enough parts to make a few hundred of these - the parts scarcity is what makes this a limited release.
I will of course do a follow-up review once I receive my copy - supposedly in around 5-6 weeks’ time.
Here are the 5 key differentiators for the SHXS Super Overdrive :
- More Complex 3-Dimensional Frequency Response - meaning clearer, more detailed, and more defined tone
- Enhanced Low-End for Deeper and more extended soundstage
- Richer High Frequency Harmonics with faster Response - producing more of an amp-like feel
- Enhanced Picking Attack Response with improved dynamics in particular for finger-picking
- Less Compression, More Transparent / Uncoloured Core Tone
The SHXC further has :
- Improved Buffer Bypass, delivering tones closer to your guitar’s original output
- Improved True Bypass, smaller switching loss
- Improved Tone Knob - both in terms of Boost and Attenuation with a ±10% adjustment range
There are yet more details available on the CKK Electronic Website :
As mentioned - if you want one of these - then you need to send an email to -officialsales@sinvertek.com.
Of course it’s way too early for any demos yet - so I’m referencing one of the previous Scream Honey iterations below :
Earlier Scream Honey Reference
