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Klon Klones Kapsule Collection [27]

AnasoundsBeetronics FXBest in ClassBig Tone Music BreweryBondi EffectsBoost and OverdriveCKK ElectronicsDecibelicsDrunk BeaverElectro-HarmonixFoxpedalJ RockettJackson AudioJRADKeeley EngineeringKlone and Transparent OverdriveLichtlaerm AudioMatthews EffectsMXROhmless PedalsOrigin EffectsVFE PedalsWalrus AudioWampler+-
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2025-GPX-Klon-Klone-Capsule-Collection-700.jpg

My Klon/Klone journey started in December of 2016 with the Wampler Tumnus Mini - very near the start of my overall pedal journey - so very much in the first 50 pedals I acquired. That pedal had emerged a year earlier (2015) - and players were loving it for the extra bass / oomph it has in its low end. The Mini Tumnus is often selected as the favourite in Blind Tests - and has won a few of those Andertons rundowns.

 

It took me a while to run across my favourite Mini Klone - the Decibelics Golden Horse - in fact around a year and a half after I acquired the Mini Tumnus - I grabbed the last Golden Horse unit from that batch - which had the serendipitous serial number #070 - I’m only sorry it took me so long. Decibelic’s Guillem Vilademunt is a very good friend of mine now - and we’ve collaborated on a few projects over the years. His Mini Pedals are next level world class - stuffed to the gills with rare and high quality full size through-hole components - you wouldn’t believe it if you didn’t see it! :

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The Golden Horse is wholly glorious - and an exacting replication in miniature by my race engineer friend Guillem. I feel awe every time I see the insides of that pedal!

 

And a few weeks later I did the following article to highlight 4 of the best Mini Klones - mainly to showcase the Golden Horse - while of course the Mini Tumnus is excellent too.

 

We then had a span of 7 years! before I got my next Mini - the MXR Sugar Drive - so only the Tone City Bad Horse now remains - I will probably need to get that one too - for sake of completion at the very least. There are other Mini Klones - including from my friend Dave 'Pickdropper' Frieseman - I became aware of his Mini Klone - quite a while after I did the below referenced article - possibly I should get one of those instead - to complete a Mini Quarter. Interestingly for each of my minis I also have a larger - either compact or mid-size variant - across Decibelics, MXR and Wampler!

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It may seem that I lean somewhat into Mini Pedals - while overall my favourites are mostly Compact Editions - as indeed is the case for this listing. I can't exactly remember the order of when these all landed - but there's a healthy dose of evidence on this site! I think the Tumnus Deluxe, Modded Soul Food, and the Foxpedal Kingdom Combo were the first - and then they came fairly thick and fast!

 

The latest additions were the Origina Effects Halcyon Gold, and Walrus Audio Voyager II - which both arrived very recently.

 

You can split these into 8 groups really

  1. Stock
  2. Modded
  3. Adaptive
  4. Enhanced / Extended
  5. Dual Channel [2nd Fooswitch]
  6. +Boost [2nd Footswitch]
  7. +EQ [2nd Footswitch]
  8. Multi-Clip [several clipping options]

 

Here's my full list :

  • Beetronics Wannabee Beelateral Buzz Dual Overdrive - $299 [DUAL] 
  • Big Tone Music Brewery Golden Pony Overdrive [discontinued] - $219 [ENHANCED]
  • Bondi Effect Del Mar MK2 Overdrive - $299 {ENHANCED]
  • CKK SH-1N Scream Honey Gold Edition - $300 [ENHANCED]
  • CKK SHXC Super Overdrive - $350 [ENHANCED]
  • Decibelics Golden Horse Overdrive - €190 / $221 [STOCK]
  • Decibelics Golden Royale Dual Channel Overdrive  - €338 / $372 [DUAL]
  • Drunk Beaver Lviv Liontaur Overdrive [discontinued] - $175 [EXTENDED]
  • EHX Soul Food Overdrive JHS Meat & 2 Veg Mod - £105 / $139 [MODDED]
  • Foxpedal Kingdom Combo V2 Overdrive [discontinued] - $239 [ENHANCED +BOOST] 
  • Jackson Audio Optimist Overdrive  - $349 [DUAL / ENHANCED]
  • J Rockett Archer Select Overdrive  - $329 [MULTI CLIP]
  • J Rockett Steve Stevens Signature Rockaway Archer Overdrive - $229 [ENHANCED]
  • Keeley Electronics D&M Drive Altered History Ninazu Purple Edition  - $259 [DUAL]
  • Keeley Electronics Manis Overdrive - $199 [MODDED]
  • Lichtlaerm Audio Aquaria V2 Overdrive - $219 [ENHANCED+EQ]
  • Matthews Effects The Architect V3 Overdrive + Boost [discontinued] - $189 [+BOOST]
  • MXR Fat Sugar Overdrive $129 [STOCK]
  • MXR Sugar Drive Mini - $139 [SOCK]
  • Ohmless Pedals AKC-4 Overdrive - $187 [ENHANCED + MULTI CLIP + BOOST]
  • Origin Effects Halcyon Gold Overdrive - £259 / $289 [ADAPTIVE]
  • VFE Merman Overdrive [discontinued] - $199 [ENHANCED]
  • Walrus Audio Voyager II - $249 [Enhanced +EQ]
  • Wampler Tumnus Mini - $149 [STOCK]
  • Wampler Tumnus Deluxe - $199 [ENHANCED]
  • Wampler Tumnus Germanium Deluxe [discontinued] - $309 [ENHANCED]

I will probably stop collecting these for a bit when I get to 30 - there are a few more that I have my eye on - it just needs to be the right timing and opportunity for me! No doubt some more will arrive in intervening years, While I'm broadly very satisfied with what I've got - and I feel about a half of these have the right 1N34A Germanium Diode!

 

Note that each of these pedals was tackled in slightly different ways on this site - some as individual pedals, and some as a group rundown or selection - brand roundup etc. The nature of the coverage is mostly reflected in the visuals attached to each of the individual pedal features below - while I've also created a slew of new visuals specially for this level of super detailed article. I won't be doing this by default necessaryily - as it takes so much extra time. But will do the same sort of exercise in the right circumstances - I do hope you enjoy this journey of mine - which for Klon / Klones started in December of 2016 - and continues hard - until I get to at leat 30 - where I will take the foot off the accelerator for a while! Enjoy!

Here follow the individual details :

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Anasounds The Sandman Dual Overdrive (Klon-Screamer) - €369 / $429 [DUAL]

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Controls - SAVAGE (Klon) } Out, Tone, Gain, Clipping : Vintage Ge / Modern Si, Left Footswitch; EGO DRIVER (Screamer) } Mode : Hi Mids / Lo Mids, Out, Tone, Gain, Right Footswitch.

 

A fantastic combination of Klon and Screamer - both incredibly strong voicings - it seems all my dual drive Klones sound exceptional - all in this listing for sure. I prefer the vertical format of 1590-BB too - so this is the near perfect format of dual-overdrive for me - versus the landscape / horizontal layout. This one's definitely top tier and it's had a decent innings on the board - well over a year if I recall!


Beetronics Wannabee Beelateral Buzz Dual Overdrive (Klon-Breaker) - $299 [DUAL]

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Big Tone Music Brewery Golden Pony Overdrive [discontinued] - $219

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Controls - Treble | Bass, Mids | Mids Frequency, Voicing : Vintage / Smooth, Level, Gain.

 

All the Big Tone Music Brewery Pedals sound really great - no idea why these did not catch on at the time - they're made with the very best original components for those effects - and as the 'EQ'd Vintage Series' all of these had 3-Band EQ with semi-parametric Mids, and several have a couple of voicing options - like this one which offers a smoother clipping alongside the proper core Vintage flavour. I dearly love all my Big Tone Music Brewery Pedals - and I'm proud that I have near enough the whole selection. The only one I don't have is the Silver Pony variant - which I've not missed so far. It's kind of moot anyway as there don't seem to be any of those about. So far these Klones are all top tier!`

Alas no demo - official or otherwise  - one was never created!


Bondi Effect Del Mar MK2 Overdrive - $299

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Controls - Active Bass ±15dB, Active Treble ±15dB, Gain, Output, Toggle Up : More Compression + Drive, Toggle Down : Less Compression + More Bass.

 

This one is slightly unusual - it's not a straight take on a Klon - more of a hybrid that touches on that flavour somewhat - sort of with some Klon DNA in the mix. I kind of like this, but it seems to be primarily engineered for single coil pickups and for some reason gets quite boomy with my humbuckers - even with the Bass turned right down. This is a very rich sounding overdrive - with just a foot in the Klon camp I guess - albeit many associate it with that - at least as an adjacent. I kind of like that I've got it - but it's kind of the odd one out in this selection - as it's the only one that exhibits that booming low-end resonance - feels a little unbalanced for me, It certainly sounds interesting, but it's somehow not really my bag. I have a couple of overdrives like that a - which were very evidently engineered more for single-coil pickups. This really needs a HB / SC switch - so you can filter out some of that extra low end! Weird how I still like it, but don't have much use for it!


CKK SH-1N Scream Honey Gold Edition - $300

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Controls - Level, Tone, Drive, Hollow (Upper Mids Cut), Bold (High and Low Frequency Boost).

 

The first of my Scream Honey Series CKK's (Sinvertek) - this one is very low gain, incredibly subtle even at full whack - a somewhat unusual take on the Klon as far as I'm concerned - where I really like the flavour of that overdrive and in essence just want more! But here we get something a little less in some ways. I don't dislike it - it just goes against my key 'flavour' principles - where I'm typically always seeking out the juiciest, fattest, and most harmonically rich flavours. This I like someone has muzzled the Klon a little  - don't get me wrong it's a good balance, but it's not the full flavour variety that its in my opining better SHXC sibling has in spaced - coming up!


CKK SHXC Super Overdrive - $350

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Controls - Level, Tone, Drive, Buffer : On/Off.

 

This is a lot more like it! The SHXC improves the Klon in every aspect of its operation - gives it a broader EQ, alongside more volume, headroom and gain range. After the slightly anaemic CKK SH-1N - this is as close to perfect as you can get with stock controls of the Klon - this has the exact same control topology - just with more of everything - which means bigger sounding, more poised and more versatile. One of the very best straight up Klones for sure - in fact I so like it, that I wasn't the slightest bit tempted by the follow up model. Which originally came as a set pair of devices - either at £500 each for the super rare components versions, or £350 each for the slightly less rare components version. I'm not sure of the nuances in parts value between my already perfect SHXC and those newer variants - but since they were then shipped from California - it just didn't make fiscal sense - with the additional customs and import charged levied over and above those lofty figures. My friend Henry Kaiser had a windfall - which justified his acquisition of the full-bore pair - for me that whole project seemed to jump the shark a little! For the Sinvertek N5 & MGAT Series - I can still kind of feel the incremental improvements - but it's already very miniscule. That Sinvertek Series was nigh perfect already about 4 versions ago!

You can only go so far before it starts feeling like the emperor's clothes - or at least for me. As a Scandinavia I am innately focused on value for money - and not particularly in favour of endless elaborations. While I do rather enjoy all my Sinvertek pedals for different reasons. For me the SHXC was already the perfect Klon take for me - I didn't need any more. And it wholly redeemed its slightly anaemic predecessor - one of the very best for sure!


Decibelics Golden Horse Overdrive - €190 / $221

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Controls - Gain, Level, Tone.

 

In many ways this is still the GOAT for me - what a superb engineering achievement - particularly when you consider the size of the original. If you want the highest quality authentic stock Klon - then this is the one for you - and it has the further advantage that you can fit it in anywhere. I'm proud that I've helped spread the word on this great pedal - if you're into classic Klons - then this is the only one you'll ever need!


Decibelics Golden Royale Dual Channel Overdrive - €338 / $372 [DUAL]

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Controls - CHANNEL A } Gain, Level, Tone, Bass : Original / Bass Boost, Clipping : Original / Schottky + LEDs, Channel A Footswitch; Channel B } Gain, Level, Tone, Bass : Original / Bass Boost, Clipping : Original / Schottky + LEDs, Channel B Footswitch.

 

Guillem doubles down on the Golden Horse - with a Dual-Channel Edition further enhanced by a couple of mods - a useful Bass Boost (a la Tumnus), and a different clipping option which mixes up Schottky diodes with LEDs - both fantastic additions. I've long suggested that Guillem do a Golden Horse+ with those additional Mods on the Mini model too - similar to the current makeup of the Decibelics Rivus. He seemed fairly receptive of that idea at the time- while it has been a couple of years since - I'm for one hoping it happens! I picked the Hammered Green finish for my edition as I felt that represented Fabergé levels of craftsmanship. I'm not the only one saying that Guillem makes the most authentic replicase of the original circuit - now it's the time for him to make it even better!


Drunk Beaver Lviv Liontaur Overdrive [discontinued] - $175

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Controls - Loud (Output), Timbre (Tone / Treble), Purr (Dry Level), Roar (Wet Level / Gain).

 

Vitalii's simple but potent mod of the Klon splits out the Klon Gain control into its constituent Dry (Purr) and Wet / Drive (Roar) components for more granular and precise control. And he make use of a really unusual over-sized vintage Soviet Germanium D2 Diode - sounds fantastic - another worthy Klone!

Alas this was a limited rapid prototyped Pedal Drop project - for which no demos were made at the time!


EHX Soul Food Overdrive JHS Meat & 2 Veg Mod - £105 / $139

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Controls - Volume, Drive, Treble + MOD } Left-side 3-way Clipping Switch (Stock / Open / Germanium), Right-side Bass Contour 'Meat' Knob.

 

Josh Scott much improves the Soul Food with a couple of handy mods - adding a little beef, and vintage Germanium clipping into the process. I found the original EHX edition a little anaemic - and Josh has kind of totally rehabilitated this for me - great sounding Klon for sure in this format. I'm not sure it's top tier as such - but it runs very close!


Foxpedal Kingdom Combo V2 Overdrive [discontinued] - $239 [+BOOST]

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Controls - DRIVE } OD (Soft Clipping On/Off), CLIP (Hard Clipping On/Off), Tone, Level, Gain, Drive Footswitch; BOOST } Focus, Level, Boost Footswitch.

 

One of my earliest Klones - and a really smart one - helped by Soft and Hard Clipping Mods, and with a Focused Boost on the second footswitch. A really cool edition of Klone. In fact I love all 5 of my Foxpedal units - and was sad to see that builder retire. Foxpedal used to make some really great pedals - it's a shame they never full took off. There was a change in ownership which didn't work out - the new owners had some great ideas like the Nano Clipping Vixen - which was the one innovation they added. All 5 of the above are worthy of your consideration. A really great Klone, while I'm not sure this is top tier - it does come very close though! The demo is of the larger older model!

 

Actually - my original video reference has been set to private - so I'm referencing the standard Kingdom Pedal - which is without the Boost / Focus.


Jackson Audio Optimist Overdrive (Klon-Timmy) - $349 [DUAL]

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Controls - OD1 [KLON] } Volume, Tone, Gain, OD1 Footswitch; OD2 [TIMMY] } Volume, Tone, Gain, OD2 Footswitch; EQ/BOOST } Bass, Mids, Treble, Press both Footswitches together.

 

I was late to the Optimist on account of my fallout with said brand during the launch of the Modular Fuzz - I only got involved again latterly at the behest of my good friends at Audio Distribution Group - so I did not cover this one at the time. The added 3-Band EQ is a superb addition here - the two core voicing are decent - but you can do so much more with the output side on this one. Both this and the Beetronics Wannabee were genuine surprises that I didn't expect to be quite as good as they were. And while I don't think all the Jackson Pedals are necessarily at the same level of quality - this is a very fine pedal indeed. I would be the first to dump on Jackson Audio - while I don't have anything bad to say about the Optimist really. Perhaps I would have liked some of that Footswitch Clipping Mode Action that is on so many of their gain pedals. But even as is - the Optimist is pretty perfect. I'm not always the biggest fan of the Timmy format - but the voicing on this one is really great, as is the core Klon voicing too!


J Rockett Archer Select Overdrive - $329 [MULTI CLIP]

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Controls - Output, Ground Lift Switch (for DI Output), Treble, Gain, Clipping : 1N270 / 1N695 / 1N34A / D9B / D9E / Red LEDs, Clipping On Footswitch, OA10 On Footswitch.

 

This was from a time when I was on really very friendly terms with J Rockett - largely down to my main contact there Zac DelVecchio. He wa then later moved from the principal marketing position and whoever replaced him decided to exile me. So it's been a while since I covered any J Rocket products. I love this Archer Select - with its 7 different clipping options - I would imagine few have the ears to determine the differences in output between those various options. While I believe I did the definitive take on it in the end. I really liked the Mullard OA10 option - but there were a number that I favoured. This is the wine-taster's / cork-sniffer's Klon for sure. Most won't appreciate its subtle nuances! While I feel it really showcases that high output quality of those rare mojo components. Really sounds amazing to me - and definitely top tier!


J Rockett Steve Stevens Signature Rockaway Archer Overdrive - $229

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Controls - Volume, Gain, 6-Band Post Gain EQ.

 

EQ - 100Hz | 200Hz | 400Hz | 800Hz | 1.5kHz | 3.2kHz.

 

I'm a huge fan of Steve Stevens, and it's only fitting that I would be a huge fan of his own signature take on the Klon. What it lacks in the subtlety of the Archer Select - it more than makes up for that by its vast shaping ability across that 6-Band EQ. The Rockway Archer really has enormous range - and can gain up a lot. This has long been one of my favourite J Rockett types - and I acquired all 3 EQ pedals at the same time - and per the above visual! It's for sure the best of that trio - in fact an every way top tier Klon - with vastly extended range and precision!

 

 


Keeley Electronics D&M Drive Altered History Ninazu Purple Edition (Klon-Breaker) - $259 [DUAL]

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Controls - KLON } Volume, Drive, Tone; OCD } Volume, Drive, Tone, ORDER switch.

 

I wasn't sure I wanted this one originally, and then I decided I should really have some custom edition if I was going to go for one. I quite liked the Black stealth version and the Raw Labels one - but held out for the Altered History Ninazu Purple - which is exactly what I was looking for, and comes with a couple of Robert Keeley Mods which makes it extra special. Essentially we have a slightly reduce volume on the Klone Boost side, and a little more Gain on the Drive side - just to better balance the two circuit. Fairly minor mods for sure - but they do make sone tangible difference. I'm to sure I favour this quite as much as the other Dual Drives in this selection - it is very decent - particularly in how the two side combine. I really like it, while it's not as instantly pleasing as the other Dual Channel types!


Keeley Electronics Manis Overdrive - $199

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Controls - Tone, Drive, Level, Bass : Bass Boost / Stock, Clipping : GE Transistor / GE Diode.

 

A pretty cool Mod of the Klon - where the Bass Boost works really well. While I'm not a particular fan of the Germanium Transistor clipping - it's not as crisp and as elegant as the Germanium Diode. You get a lot more compression with the Transistor as a Diode and its output is a lot woolier and more muffled - at least to my ears. It certainly take the Klon into further interesting territory - but alas it has limited use for me. The core Klon voicing is very decent and it's a pretty unique take on the Klon too!


Lichtlaerm Audio Aquaria V2 Overdrive - $219 [Enhanced +EQ]

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Controls : MAIN } Tone, Dynamics (Compression), Gain, Level, Blend, Bypass Footswitch; EQ + BOOST } Boost, Bass, Lo-Mid, Hi-Mid, High, EQ Footswitch.

 

Daniel Ringl is such a smart circuit designer - he kind of shares my sense of maximalism - where he really pushes his genre pedals into new territories - here with a 4-Band EQ and Boost on a 2nd Footswitch - which I guess many would use as some sort of solo boost - while I always use it as a more-on shaping element - which can delivery very unique Klon flavours - beyond the abilities of any stock 3-knob Klon. That's why I like certain pedals more than others - as they take me into unique and wondrously musical areas that could not be reached without that particular mix of ingredients - which includes number and nature of controls, and of course component selection. Everything that Daniel makes ranges a little higher and often introduced more 'metal' levels of gain and agression. This is a very fine example here - and one that was an instant hit for me!


Matthews Effects The Architect V3 Overdrive + Boost [discontinued] - $189 [+BOOST]

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Controls - DRIVE } Clipping : Germanium / Lift / Silicon, Output, Gain, Low, Mid, High, Drive Footswitch; BOOST } Boost Type : Silicon / MOSFET, Boost Level, Boost Footswitch.

 

A very interesting Klone + Boost variant with options on both the Drive and Boost voicings.It has a lot of range on it for sure, while the default voicing is not quite as 'phat' or singing as on my favourite variants. For some reason this variant isn't quite as vibrant as how I like my Klones to be. Possibly that's part of why it's been discontinued. It certainly augured well at the start - with a really smart topology and features set - and with a unique and striking artwork. This one falls a little short for me!


MXR Fat Sugar Overdrive $129

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Controls - Volume, Tone, Drive.

 

James Dean Bradfield (Manic Street Preachers) brought me to this fatter version of the Sugar Drive - where it gains up really elegantly and fairly beautifully renders that sort of Ernie Isley 'Summer Breeze' tone - which is actually based on a really smooth Big Muff favour (Ram's Head I think!). This is a top tip from James Dean - it really works a treat, and delivers slightly more volume too than my Skreddy Ernie Fuzz Pedal! This is a an excellent bassed-up overdrive with expansive range, and a super cool secondary purpose - in fact primary for my acquiring this model - that and I liked th colourway!


MXR Sugar Drive Mini - $139

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Controls - Volume, Tone, Drive.

 

I featured this one back in my 2018 Mini Klone article. The attention was to get all 4 of those at the time - it just turned out to be a somewhat massively staggered affair - with the Tumnus Mini way first - around one and a half years before the Decibelics Golden Horse, and this Sugar Drive Mini arrived nearly 7 years after that - and now I'm not sure whether I should get the remaining Tone City Bad Horse or the Pickdropper MiniTaur This Mini Sugar Drive is pretty cool - but not as good as the Fat Sugar voicing, or the Decibelics Golden Horse - which is my favourite Mini Klone for sure - while the Mini Tumnus is pretty great too. I still like the Sugar Drive Mini - but there are for sure better Mini Klones - including my favourites!


Ohmless Pedals AKC-4 Overdrive - $187 [MULTI CLIP + BOOST]

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Controls - Level, Gain, Blend, Bass, Boost, Treble, Drive Footswitch / Hold for Clipping Options, Boost Footswitch / Hold for Boost Order.
 
Clipping Options - [Blue] Ge Klon / [Yellow] Schottky Silicon / [Red] Silicon / [Aqua] MOSFET.
 
Boost Options - [Yellow] Pre Overdrive / [Red] Post Overdrive.

 

This is a wonderful Multi-Clipping All-Silicon design - with the Blue Ge clipping option presumably a Schottky therefore, Like many of my UK Builder friends Marc at Ohmless prides himself on strict adherence to RoHS regulations - and therefore the avoidance of anything risky - like Germanium components. I was very intrigued as to how this one would sound - and while there are some timbral differences between this and a classic Klon / Klone - this one does sound incredibly good - and gets overall amazingly close. This pedal is quite reminiscent of some of the Jackson Audio ones - in how it operate - by selecting different clippings / voicings via hold-scrolling using the footswitches. This one is incredibly good value - and fantastic as an all-rounder overdrive. It's somewhat under the radar currently - but a real 'find' if you discover it. It has so many deft touches - Marc really did an excellent job on this pedal. While I guess too much of the gear world is fixated on 'authenticity' and 'nostalgia freakery' - not neccessarily the smart core workings of device - this one will for sure be a cult pedal at some stage in the not-too-distant future.


Origin Effects Halcyon Gold Overdrive - £259 / $289 [ADAPTIVE]

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Controls - Level, Adaptive (Mids) : 0 | II | I, Drive, Dry (Blend) Voice : KLN / MOD, Tone.

 

This is my most recent acquisition - I acquired both this one and the Walrus Audio Voyager II nearly at the end of August. The Origin Effects Adaptive Smarts are really cool here, while I already love the core voicing of the Klon / Klone, and off the cuff don't really need or want to ameliorate the pushed mids. What this extra feature gives you is versatility and increased dynamics - where you can impact key aspects of the output with a deft flick of that wrist. The Origin Effects build quality is always next level - these are still weapons-grade steel enclosures - which mach the vibrancy of the pedal's vibrant output - they look so elegant in the flesh. It's not as instant for me as the Tweed Tones of the Deluxe 55, but it's not too far away. It's a decidedly different variety of Klon/Klone - and well worth having!

VFE Merman Overdrive [discontinued] - $199

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Controls - BIG } Drive, Level, Treble; small} Comp, Warm (Warm Dry Level), Bottom (Low Frequencies Roll-Off / Resonance).

 

This is a fantastic Klone take - with 3 big conventional and classic controls - Drive, Level, and Treble, and then 3 smaller knobs controlling Compression, Warm Clean Level, and Bass-Roll-offf (Max Bass CCW!). Those additional controls make a huge difference and help make this pedal more dynamic and vibrant than most equivalent or stock Klones. I have 9 VFE Pedals to date of the same 3 Big / 3 Small Controls types - and I love each dearly - each of those improves significantly on the original source pedals. Peter VonRutter / VonRutter Family Effects are so good - yet weirdly still somewhat under the radar. Some of those drive / distortion pedals are particularly good - including the Alpha Dog Rat, Blues King Breaker, Dark Horse DS1stortion, Distortion 3, Merman Klone, and Vomit Hound. I tend to favour their drives and fuzzes - where the elusive Hybrid Duo-Fuzz still remains a target. Peter has brought some of these back into circulation - but with equal size knobs and inferior artworks. The V2 Silhouette Series with 3 Big and 3 Small Knobs - is still the one to get. As with DJ Vinyl - it's all about the specific version! I was very specific about the version of Merman I wanted - it had to be the one with the white pointy knobs - to kind of represent the 3 tips of Poseidon's trident - that's the best looking and most apt version by far!


Walrus Audio Voyager II [+EQ] - $249

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Controls - Volume, Tone, Gain, Mid ±, Mid Freq. Focus : 350Hz / 550Hz / 2kHz, MODE : I. GE 1N34A / II. GE 1N34A + Bass Boost / III. Symmetric SI / IV. Asymmetric SI / V. Asymmetric SI + Bass Boost, Bypass Footswitch, Mid Footswitch.

 

My second most recently landed Klone - not necessarily the strongest with out the Mids Footswitch active - but totally killer with those Mids and extra harmonics in the mix. Many will use the Mids Footswitch for Solo Boost purposes - but all those pedals of mine with have an EQ-Boost on a second footswitch - I tend to deploy those as always on - including on my original RevivalDRIVE Custom, KMA Machines Logan, and the Lichtlaerm Aquaria featured above. I find that for some pedals - the Mids are pretty much essential - particularly for when trying to deliver the richest harmonics and sonic artefacts. Oddly - my favourite Clipping option here is the Bass-Boosted Silicon, with the Bass Boosted Germanium the second favourite. This is a really smart Klone - especially if you know how to get the most out of it! I've decided that this one's definitely top tier with the Mids applied - not so much without those!

Thanks once more to Dylan at Definitive Guitars - who superbly assisted with my acquisition of this particular pedal! And indeed the super early arriving Cornerstone Nucleo! He's proven to be a most excellent ally!


Wampler Tumnus Mini - $149

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Controls - Gain, Value, Treble.

 

While this may be the last listed of the Mini Klone Quartet - this was my first Klon / Klone pedal all the way back in December of 2016. It's always been a favourite of mine, and had a one-and-a-half year uninterrupted run on the board before other Klones got added - including the highly celebrated Decibelics Golden Horse. While the low-end accentuated profile of the Tumnus still makes it an essential - it's just really beautifully balanced - and is a really special Klon type in its own right - in terms of sonics it's every bit as good as the Decibelics Golden Horse - just not quite so nuanced or authentic. The amount of Klone head-to-heads that the Mini Tumnus keeps winning makes it something of a force of nature! For me it's an absolute essential alongside the Decibelics Golden Horse. Because of my loyalty to Guillem and his Golden Horse - I decided to forego the Germanium Mini Tumnus - which I now somewhat regret - as I really should have got one of those at the time. The Mini Tumnus renders somewhat differently to the Tumnus Deluxe - and many people prefer it. Where currently for me the best of the Tumnus variants is the Germanium Deluxe edition - but I never got to test the Mini Tumnus version of that yet. I need to wait for the prices to calm down a little or for Brian to discover some more of those Germanium Diodes!


Wampler Tumnus Deluxe - $199

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Controls - Bass, Mids, Treble, Level, Voicing : Normal / Hot, Gain, Buffer Button.

 

Wampler's bigger better Tumnus which arrived a couple of years after the original Mini edition. This expanded version features 3-Band EQ, additional 'Hot' gainier Mode, and Buffer button on the side of the pedal. Interestingly the Mini though can still sound a little punchier at times, and many prefer that to the increased granularity and shapeability of the Deluxe Version. I prefer the DLX Edition as I can more accurately shape the output - both of those are still essentials for me, while several I like the Germanium Deluxe edition - which is up next!

Wampler Tumnus Germanium Deluxe [sold out / discontinued] - $309

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Controls - Bass, Mids, Treble, Level, Voicing : Normal / Hot, Gain, Buffer Button.

 

This has the same topology as the Standard (Silicon) Deluxe Model while it has a significantly improved output profile - with more verve and vibrancy - and that classic Germanium grit which further enhances the harmonic richness of its breakup. This is my favourite Tumnus for sure, and I regret not getting the Mini Germanium at the time of release. I generally have a very soft spot for the Wampler Tumni - as they were my very first Klones!

 

UPDATE! - I've managed to snag a Pristine Germanium Mini at a decent enough price - so the Tumus capsule is now fully complete, and the overall tally of Klones is up to 28!


Final Thoughts

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Having completed the rundown and added the Wampler Germanium Mini Tumnus at last - I'm very satisfied with how all of this has gone. I'm pretty sure there are a few more variants out there that I've overlooked and will snag in due time - while this overall selection is brimming with talent. 

I sometimes break these into a tier list - but I'm so satisfied with most of these that I don't really want to do a cattle-market ranking on them. Essentially I get along really well with all of these - bar the Bondi Del Mar V2, CKK SH-1N, and Matthews Effects The Architect V3. That's not to say any of these are 'bad' pedals - it's just that not every single pedal is necessarily going to suit your rig / preferences. All 27 of these are highly commendable - and just because I don't get along with certain models - it doesn't mean you won't. It depends often on the nature of your guitar - which is the key input device, and in particularly its style and construction of pickups. There's a lot of pedals that have been honed toward specific setups - for instance so they sound better with Single Coil guitar or Humbucker Guitar - or even with specific amps - like how well the Crowther Audio Hotcake works with Vox AC30 amps. If you own an AC30 - then owning a Hotcake is pretty much obligatory!

 

And with Klon / Klones - there are a variety of subtle differences between each model. They deploy slightly different components / values, with different overall tone-stacks and slightly different output curves and control tapers. Meaning that nearly every Klone - if you have sufficiently sensitive ears - typically sounds somewhat distinct from the rest. For some people pretty much every pedal in a particular genre sounds the same to them - but that's not the case for proper tone-chasers - who like the highest level of wine-tasters - are able to discern tiny differences in output profile - which inspiration machines - then inspire different patterns of play. That's the magic of analog stompboxes - getting different inspirations and directions of play from each of your little boxes of wonder!

 

I genuinely love the Klon circuit / format - and prefer it to that other green celebrated mid-humped overdrive. I of course like both, and have plenty of each - but I will always favour Klon / Klone over a screamer! How about you?

Stefan Karlsson
Posted by Stefan Karlsson
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Stefan Karlsson
Stefan Karlsson
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