I love how Bill gets it. Thank you Bill for leveling out the playing field on this. I had a Klon Centaur. I loved it but had to sell it due to entry price. I’m so excited to get the KTR though.
Hi, I read your recent comments. Months ago, OK. You may not read mine, anyway. I just bought the KTR Klon Centaur and I find the sound amazing. I had to pay almost 400 Euro for it! F... Perhaps in production this thing cost only 30 bucks??? But the old ones are quite more expensive, right and this one sounds just as good as the old ones... Why do you guys pick on Bill? I cannot understand, are you musicians or people who just like to argue? Then you better drink a Whiskey or Beer and drown your frustration off? Sorry, I am just a guitar player from South Germany - but my Grandfather is an American!!!
The Klon has to do with Magic! I personally think it is the. Ircuit which boosts different sweet spot frequencies at the same time, I got the KTR and I love it.
I have a KTR...bought it this past Saturday, having owned a few copies I felt it made sense to go to the source. It's great accept it has a major design flaw. The ribbon cable plug that connects the footswitch to the main board just falls off after stepping on the switch 10-20 times and the pedal is nerfed mid session and if you have buffer on (I do), no sound passes...basically the worst scenario. If you're in the market think about that. It's easy to fix but for $350 CAD that I paid for it, I shouldn't have to.
Bill Finnegan seems to have built a great overdrive pedal, but does not know how to properly market or sell the pedal or deal with the public at large, which over time has given him a large amount of skeptics. Had he created the original at a price point musicians could afford, and marketed it properly he would have had a much different reputation. However he is the type of person who will never believe it himself.
Now: 15 Oct 2020: I read my comment, just crazy. But: My Granfather is an American (his last name is Gudat, he lived in Rochester). I am not sure about the Klon, however it sounds good in my little studio.
Crazy dude. Seriously crazy. The old Klon has better low end response than the KTR, but in any case the clean boost is the way of Finnegan saying "I can't create anything besides this". He knocked it out the park with the Klon. And now he's done.
Thanks, for the link! For me, seeing him pop up in this video was --for me, anyway-- something akin to you guys casually posting an clip of Howard Hughes interviewing D.B. Cooper, you know/lol? Bill is just such a quietly-iconic guy.
They both sound good but they are different. The KTR is slightly more compressed and also more congested in the mids. The original is more open & dynamic.
I’ve never heard the KTR sound identical with the Centaur in comparison tests. Buy a Ponyboy... or even a Pegasus. There are plenty of interesting choices for this effect.
That sound comes alive in chiken pickin’ blues with slightly more gain that they showed. And that’s the whole point that effect maintains clarity while you crank the gain it’s an awesome tone for blues and bluesy rock
is he genuinely bummed out that the Klon became a mother fucker or is he pleased that he can continue to sell a $269 boost pedal? I've never tried one but I'm no sure a boost of that price is more important to me than other items.
No gain control?? That kinda sucks.. I do use my "Klone" mostly as a clean boost, but every now and then I like cranking that gain. Totally different sound. Definitely won't buy it. I'll stick with buying the Rockett Archers.
Try a metal muff into a tweed bassman amp...but hook it to a 412. God-tone. No matter what I play people always want to know how I get a 'tone like the record'...fingers my friends...and 45 years of practice. I could have told Clapton and Bonamassa about tweed amps decades ago. The equipment is just the tool. In the wrong hands a hammer is dangerous. Eddie V sounded great with a Teisco del Rey, just like I started with...and no, I didn't...LOL!
The red one on the floor being demo-ed had a gain control. The smaller unpainted one he had in his hand is a clean boost derivative, presumably to provide a cheaper alternative for those who want a Klon for its clean boost properties.
this guy just strikes me as not a nice person. he might just be camera shy, or been having a hectic time at namm, but he really seems to despise the people who enjoy his products. i hope i'm wrong
Everything seems to be complicated, obscur, hard to explained or predict whit this man. Everybody else seems to be successful at putting out their products but with him..? Some people put rockets in orbit and back down to earth faster and more easily than he can put out the prototype he holds in his hand...
Sorry, but the Klon is just an overdrive pedal. There are thousands of them out them, some better, some worse, but the Klon doesn't stand out from the crowd of better overdrive pedals. Which overdrive pedal is going to sound "best" to you is going to have a lot to do with what kind of guitar you play, what kind of amp you play, and how you play them. I'm sure I wouldn't throw a Klon out if someone gave me one, but I wouldn't see any reason to keep it instead of any number of other overdrives. In fact, I'd probably sell it, knowing that someone would pay me enough money for it that I could buy a new custom guitar and a couple of cheaper OD pedals that are just as "good".
I never touch any of my pedals on my pedal board module, it's by my amps, all brand new. I never have any pedals going through another pedal, just a long stereo strip with soft touch!
Wow. Bill has a great mind for developing pedals, but has absolutely no business sense. He bring someone on board who knows how to deal with the production/distribution side of the company.
You say that but his pedals are the most expensive, in demand and sought after pedals in the world (they also just sound like a standard od pedal in fact they sound average or below average compared to even the clones of this design). He could trickle new Klons into the market anonymously and make 5K a pop (almost all profit) or wait and get more.
I'm sorry but this is a joke. The centaur was clearly a happy accident. It was designed as an overdrive, but almost everyone only uses it as a boost. And the price they go for is unbelievable. I'll be sticking with the klones, many of which are improvements.
I don't understand why so many people find it difficult to believe the Klon's prices. It's a quality pedal, hand made, extremely limited in production, and many high-profile artists snatch them up. Why wouldn't they be expensive?
Not worth the wait for anything from this builder. Plenty of other clean boost choices. Why would any builder go to Summer NAMM and "not" have a definite plan to release a product? No real website? Probably a swell guy, just not business savy.
yes the Bill Finnegan master plan is to never ever make one of the worlds most popular pedals, that's over, im sorry you missed it,, just the number two version now. im trying to help Mr Finnegan,,, if you cant make a good web site hire some one who can, sell every model of everything you have ever made. A KLON IN TO A DIRTY AMP DOES SOMETHING NO OTHER CAN DO.
Sorry, but I must speak out on behalf of the guitar community. Finnegan rolls his eyes at the reporter and comes through as an "actual" guy, just like the ever shameful Hammett. He's going on about this passive looper like nobody else has ever seen one. And with regard to buffers, this dude just can't get it through his thick head that nowadays people have large pedalboards and have a knowledged perception regarding buffers. I'm a fan of the Klon, and the buffer on the Klon happens to be good. I just can't believe he's lecturing us on buffers, like we're buffoons or something! Go to the booth next to you, Bill, and with a condescending attitude ask them why all their pedals aren't buffered. Go ahead. Make a "Fuller" move on the guitar community. Lecture everyone why it's ridiculous that every pedal isn't buffered. He could start making something akin to the Sarno Black Box or Fuchs Tube Buffer - that would be cool. Bill Finnegan, Mike Fuller, Mason Marangella, Actual Hammett.. who's next?
I read your comment before finishing the video and thought "oh no, bill is a pretentious a-hole". quite the contrary actually. the guy is simply thorough when explaining the features of the ktr and the set up at his feet. sure there are plenty of us that knew everything we were looking at in 5 seconds, but the guitar community is vast and varied. on top of that, this guy started back in '94 and only ever really did one thing for 15 years, so excuse him if he isn't engaged with the current community (not even to begin a discussion on how misinformed and bandwagoning we are). and on top of that bill would be the first to admit he's no engineer or businessman. he's just a guitar player that got some friends to help him build a pedal and everyone went batsh*t crazy and he couldn't handle the demand. he was never asking for a career or to start a company, and he still hasn't. he has no business name or model, he's just proud of the product he makes and sells them on occasion.
The guitar community is huge and very informed. We are warm and welcome everybody, yet nobody in it wants to be talked to like they're 5 years old. We know what happened when the so-called "actual guitarist" cloned a TS style pedal. Bill never actually pulled a Fuller on us, but going on and on and on about "buffer is better" is not the way to go, especially when the dozens of other booths are making true bypass pedals and are lightyears ahead in development. He's very opinionated with regard to buffers, and while everybody knows what he means and agrees with him, it's still, in a way, a condescending attitude toward those who know much more than he does in terms of circuits and parts. Then it's like he can't be wrong just because he's the creator of the Klon. Somebody needs to take his hand and go show him around! Get educated, sheesh!
He spent 45 seconds discussing the buffer switch on the KTR (which is an uncommon feature even today). He starts with "most people probably know, but some may not," and in that time, he never explained what a buffer is or does (something I'm sure at least 25% of guitarists don't really know). He expressed his opinion, which is that in his experience (22 years worth) the Klon sounds better buffered.
For being a so-called 'rare' pedal, it sure seems like every guitar player who has a youtube channel is currently reviewing these. Guess you have to be rich to want to actually pay for one of these.
lol to all the idiots spending there money on this hype crap Dude stops making them and then people pay thousands for them Then he comes out with a new one thats easier and cheaper to make and sounds exactly the same.
He's annoying and so is the guitar player, it doesn't show anything about what the pedal really sounds like. The thing I really find funny is what he's written on the ktr, saying all this crap about how he's not the one who created all the craziness or whatever but he discontinued it a while ago and released something that's supposed to be like it but is still different. Maybe he should rerelease the original exactly as it was with a good price point. He'd squash the used market on them and prove he doesn't care like he wants you to think. Do yourself a favor if you want a klon and get the wampler tumnus or one of the many copies out there that are better because they're cheaper and sound better anyway.
Nobody hates the Klon quite as much as Bill Finnegan
00:40
That's some funny stuff right there...lol
"When will the clean boosts be available?"
Bill "I don't know"
The ever eccentric KlonMan, sigh...
Wow.
He really doesn't seem to give two shits about his business.
What the hell is he playing
I love how Bill gets it. Thank you Bill for leveling out the playing field on this. I had a Klon Centaur. I loved it but had to sell it due to entry price. I’m so excited to get the KTR though.
He should plug a metal zone into the last position
I know this is an old vid but Thank you Mr Finnegan for an Awesome pedal!!
I love this guy.
That pedal comes alive in front of an amp that is being pushed...
is the ktr still in production or no??anyone knows??
Hi, I read your recent comments. Months ago, OK. You may not read mine, anyway. I just bought the KTR Klon Centaur and I find the sound amazing. I had to pay almost 400 Euro for it! F... Perhaps in production this thing cost only 30 bucks??? But the old ones are quite more expensive, right and this one sounds just as good as the old ones... Why do you guys pick on Bill? I cannot understand, are you musicians or people who just like to argue? Then you better drink a Whiskey or Beer and drown your frustration off? Sorry, I am just a guitar player from South Germany - but my Grandfather is an American!!!
Cool sound!
Thanks for KTR
Killer shoes, Bill!
bill can't even afford a gold horsey klon
How many mA for ktr?
the guitar demoer sounds kinda like Robby Krieger with that sg, slight overdrive, and E minor pentatonic
The Klon has to do with Magic! I personally think it is the. Ircuit which boosts different sweet spot frequencies at the same time, I got the KTR and I love it.
Does this guy actually know how to play ?
I have a KTR...bought it this past Saturday, having owned a few copies I felt it made sense to go to the source. It's great accept it has a major design flaw. The ribbon cable plug that connects the footswitch to the main board just falls off after stepping on the switch 10-20 times and the pedal is nerfed mid session and if you have buffer on (I do), no sound passes...basically the worst scenario. If you're in the market think about that. It's easy to fix but for $350 CAD that I paid for it, I shouldn't have to.
So how does the KTR sound compared to your copies? AND which copies do you have.... I really value your opinion when you gind the time , thanx much!
We already know what it sounds like. Exactly the same as a Klon.
I agree it’s almost like he’s fighting himself to come out with these products/pedals.
Bill Finnegan seems to have built a great overdrive pedal, but does not know how to properly market or sell the pedal or deal with the public at large, which over time has given him a large amount of skeptics. Had he created the original at a price point musicians could afford, and marketed it properly he would have had a much different reputation. However he is the type of person who will never believe it himself.
But then the pedal arguably would have never been as famous. His eccentricity adds so much to the myth that propels the Klon.
The original was $229 when it was first released I think, and eventually got up to $300ish.
Dudeitsmeee hahah or is he a genius?
He has the “doesn’t give a f***” attitude we like from our musicians. The statement on the drive itself says it all.
Now: 15 Oct 2020: I read my comment, just crazy. But: My Granfather is an American (his last name is Gudat, he lived in Rochester). I am not sure about the Klon, however it sounds good in my little studio.
Kindly remember:the ridicuLous hype that offends sO many is not of my makiNg-Bill Finnegan...
take a shot overtime the mic goes "pooh ppuh"
Listen to everybody judging the man from an 8 minute video!!! Whats up with people??
Crazy dude. Seriously crazy. The old Klon has better low end response than the KTR, but in any case the clean boost is the way of Finnegan saying "I can't create anything besides this". He knocked it out the park with the Klon. And now he's done.
Have you tried both pedals? On the Vid, they sound identical, just curious
No, they are identical.
I've owned both. They are literally identical lmao. Hype train
He can't get out of his own way
what should be special with this gear ? It's sound like thousand other overdrive/boost pedals...
Personally, I'm happy with stuff I bought 35 years ago. Yawn.
Who said it should be special?
So, why is he there? He has a non-functioning website and a prototype with no schedule.
Man, I would kill to know this guy's full story, you know?
Here's an interview we did with Bill in 2014: www.premierguitar.com/articles/20210-builder-profile-klons-bill-finnegan
Thanks, for the link! For me, seeing him pop up in this video was --for me, anyway-- something akin to you guys casually posting an clip of Howard Hughes interviewing D.B. Cooper, you know/lol? Bill is just such a quietly-iconic guy.
They both sound good but they are different. The KTR is slightly more compressed and also more congested in the mids. The original is more open & dynamic.
Have you tried both or just the video? To me they sound identical, can't tell any difference
I’ve never heard the KTR sound identical with the Centaur in comparison tests. Buy a Ponyboy... or even a Pegasus. There are plenty of interesting choices for this effect.
That would be weird since they are the EXACT same circuit and use the identical diodes.
@@robertkorn Sure. The differences might be how the knobs are set or the tolerances of the pots or other parts. They just never sound identical.
So that's what $1500 sounds like ???
That sound comes alive in chiken pickin’ blues with slightly more gain that they showed. And that’s the whole point that effect maintains clarity while you crank the gain it’s an awesome tone for blues and bluesy rock
is he genuinely bummed out that the Klon became a mother fucker or is he pleased that he can continue to sell a $269 boost pedal? I've never tried one but I'm no sure a boost of that price is more important to me than other items.
I don't hear any "God Like" difference to any other O.D., boost pedals out there other than the price tag.
I like how Bill's NAMM pass reads "William" . I like Bill's personality , that's why I bought the KTR LOL
Wow... this dude is a weirdo.
RICH EFFING GILBERT!!! FTW!!!
sucks really really bad
No gain control?? That kinda sucks.. I do use my "Klone" mostly as a clean boost, but every now and then I like cranking that gain. Totally different sound. Definitely won't buy it. I'll stick with buying the Rockett Archers.
Try a metal muff into a tweed bassman amp...but hook it to a 412. God-tone. No matter what I play people always want to know how I get a 'tone like the record'...fingers my friends...and 45 years of practice. I could have told Clapton and Bonamassa about tweed amps decades ago. The equipment is just the tool. In the wrong hands a hammer is dangerous. Eddie V sounded great with a Teisco del Rey, just like I started with...and no, I didn't...LOL!
The red one on the floor being demo-ed had a gain control. The smaller unpainted one he had in his hand is a clean boost derivative, presumably to provide a cheaper alternative for those who want a Klon for its clean boost properties.
Great picker. Most people are fully stupid, so I'm surprised he is not more condescending, while trying to educate the uneducable.
this guy just strikes me as not a nice person. he might just be camera shy, or been having a hectic time at namm, but he really seems to despise the people who enjoy his products. i hope i'm wrong
Everything seems to be complicated, obscur, hard to explained or predict whit this man. Everybody else seems to be successful at putting out their products but with him..? Some people put rockets in orbit and back down to earth faster and more easily than he can put out the prototype he holds in his hand...
im a shit guitarist but i dig my KTR
How can bill just be so annoyed about his own fantastic invention. I mean... isn‘t it what everybody wants?
I think the Centaur sounds .00001% better, it has this very subtle hollow, chimey sound
Whooaaa there man, easy. Way too harsh. It's at least .00075% better.
WHY WOULDN'T YOU GET A BETTER GUITAR PLAYER?
Sorry, but the Klon is just an overdrive pedal. There are thousands of them out them, some better, some worse, but the Klon doesn't stand out from the crowd of better overdrive pedals. Which overdrive pedal is going to sound "best" to you is going to have a lot to do with what kind of guitar you play, what kind of amp you play, and how you play them. I'm sure I wouldn't throw a Klon out if someone gave me one, but I wouldn't see any reason to keep it instead of any number of other overdrives. In fact, I'd probably sell it, knowing that someone would pay me enough money for it that I could buy a new custom guitar and a couple of cheaper OD pedals that are just as "good".
I never touch any of my pedals on my pedal board module, it's by my amps, all brand new. I never have any pedals going through another pedal, just a long stereo strip with soft touch!
both are identical with exception of buffer
check out Browntone Hoochee Mama
To my ears KTR has more gain
What the hell is he doing to that sg?
Your ears are stupid.
Wow. Bill has a great mind for developing pedals, but has absolutely no business sense. He bring someone on board who knows how to deal with the production/distribution side of the company.
You say that but his pedals are the most expensive, in demand and sought after pedals in the world (they also just sound like a standard od pedal in fact they sound average or below average compared to even the clones of this design).
He could trickle new Klons into the market anonymously and make 5K a pop (almost all profit) or wait and get more.
Does this guy not know the money he could make?, or is he to lazy?
Obviously money is not a motivation for him. Weird I know. Respect....
this guy is up to something man. just wait and let him conquer the world of pedals . he's the next dunlop.
@@philavon1358 I guess...you were wrong =)
I'm sorry but this is a joke. The centaur was clearly a happy accident. It was designed as an overdrive, but almost everyone only uses it as a boost. And the price they go for is unbelievable. I'll be sticking with the klones, many of which are improvements.
Hammond organs were happy accidents too. And we love them today.
MrBingpingは
ら
I don't understand why so many people find it difficult to believe the Klon's prices. It's a quality pedal, hand made, extremely limited in production, and many high-profile artists snatch them up. Why wouldn't they be expensive?
Not worth the wait for anything from this builder. Plenty of other clean boost choices. Why would any builder go to Summer NAMM and "not" have a definite plan to release a product? No real website? Probably a swell guy, just not business savy.
Guitar player is pretty questionable. Pedals are superb.
wtf this guitarist...
:D weird huh? At least he has a nice rodeo shirt.
Such a great pedal... guitarist not so much.
Felipe come on now we all are constantly learning. Everyone has a current skill set. Don't be too harsh on your fellow musicians.
The guitarist was so great. Haha
Centaur wins.
Nope. Exactly the same.
yes the Bill Finnegan master plan is to never ever make one of the worlds most popular pedals, that's over, im sorry you missed it,, just the number two version now. im trying to help Mr Finnegan,,, if you cant make a good web site hire some one who can, sell every model of everything you have ever made. A KLON IN TO A DIRTY AMP DOES SOMETHING NO OTHER CAN DO.
They don’t sound identical, the Klon is far better, the guitarist didn’t help
Sorry, but I must speak out on behalf of the guitar community. Finnegan rolls his eyes at the reporter and comes through as an "actual" guy, just like the ever shameful Hammett. He's going on about this passive looper like nobody else has ever seen one. And with regard to buffers, this dude just can't get it through his thick head that nowadays people have large pedalboards and have a knowledged perception regarding buffers. I'm a fan of the Klon, and the buffer on the Klon happens to be good. I just can't believe he's lecturing us on buffers, like we're buffoons or something! Go to the booth next to you, Bill, and with a condescending attitude ask them why all their pedals aren't buffered. Go ahead. Make a "Fuller" move on the guitar community. Lecture everyone why it's ridiculous that every pedal isn't buffered. He could start making something akin to the Sarno Black Box or Fuchs Tube Buffer - that would be cool. Bill Finnegan, Mike Fuller, Mason Marangella, Actual Hammett.. who's next?
I read your comment before finishing the video and thought "oh no, bill is a pretentious a-hole". quite the contrary actually. the guy is simply thorough when explaining the features of the ktr and the set up at his feet. sure there are plenty of us that knew everything we were looking at in 5 seconds, but the guitar community is vast and varied. on top of that, this guy started back in '94 and only ever really did one thing for 15 years, so excuse him if he isn't engaged with the current community (not even to begin a discussion on how misinformed and bandwagoning we are). and on top of that bill would be the first to admit he's no engineer or businessman. he's just a guitar player that got some friends to help him build a pedal and everyone went batsh*t crazy and he couldn't handle the demand. he was never asking for a career or to start a company, and he still hasn't. he has no business name or model, he's just proud of the product he makes and sells them on occasion.
The guitar community is huge and very informed. We are warm and welcome everybody, yet nobody in it wants to be talked to like they're 5 years old. We know what happened when the so-called "actual guitarist" cloned a TS style pedal. Bill never actually pulled a Fuller on us, but going on and on and on about "buffer is better" is not the way to go, especially when the dozens of other booths are making true bypass pedals and are lightyears ahead in development. He's very opinionated with regard to buffers, and while everybody knows what he means and agrees with him, it's still, in a way, a condescending attitude toward those who know much more than he does in terms of circuits and parts. Then it's like he can't be wrong just because he's the creator of the Klon. Somebody needs to take his hand and go show him around! Get educated, sheesh!
He spent 45 seconds discussing the buffer switch on the KTR (which is an uncommon feature even today). He starts with "most people probably know, but some may not," and in that time, he never explained what a buffer is or does (something I'm sure at least 25% of guitarists don't really know). He expressed his opinion, which is that in his experience (22 years worth) the Klon sounds better buffered.
Jon Warner
Just for your information, in about 10 other video clips it's altogether over an hour's worth of why true bypass is inferior.
Relax a little bit. You're thinking too much. To me it look like he just explaining the feature and the set up.
For being a so-called 'rare' pedal, it sure seems like every guitar player who has a youtube channel is currently reviewing these. Guess you have to be rich to want to actually pay for one of these.
Why do amp and pedal demos almost always have garbage players? Ugh.
lol to all the idiots spending there money on this hype crap
Dude stops making them and then people pay thousands for them
Then he comes out with a new one thats easier and cheaper to make and sounds exactly the same.
I've just paid $4000 for that and it makes me happy. I don't care. Hahaha
@@AlphaKingImmortal *sucker*
bla bla bla bla bla.
Worst demo playing ever?
The guitarist was absolutely horrible.
He's annoying and so is the guitar player, it doesn't show anything about what the pedal really sounds like. The thing I really find funny is what he's written on the ktr, saying all this crap about how he's not the one who created all the craziness or whatever but he discontinued it a while ago and released something that's supposed to be like it but is still different. Maybe he should rerelease the original exactly as it was with a good price point. He'd squash the used market on them and prove he doesn't care like he wants you to think. Do yourself a favor if you want a klon and get the wampler tumnus or one of the many copies out there that are better because they're cheaper and sound better anyway.
MY GOD ALL THAT TALK....Then a grade school guitarist who has no sense of phrasing. i feel as others state below...klon Overrated !!!