We review the 5 best Klon Clones from Wampler, Warm Audio, Mythos Pedals, and EHX. And what is this $30 Mosky Klon Clone?
A Little History
The Klon Centaur was made by Bill Finnegan between 1994 and 2008. He hand made the pedals and was overwhelmed by demand. There was a significant waiting period and prices skyrocketed on the secondary market.
The Klon KTR
Finnegan redesigned the Klon in 2014 and released it as the Klon KTR. It was made to be easier to manufacture and could be outsourced, to some extent.
The Klon KTR has the text: “Kindly remember: The ridiculous hype that offends so many is not of my making.”
Finnegan was disgusted by the hype and had to say something.
Although it was priced at around $270, he still had difficulty keeping up with demand.
Josh Scott’s pedalboard from 2023 has a JHS-modded Klon KTR.
Klon Prices are Outrageous
Original Klon prices on Reverb.com are $6,000-8,000 as of Spring 2024. Klon KTRs are $600-900.
A big drawback to the Klon and many of the clones is the size – it is a large pedal and takes up alot of space on the pedalboard. The Klon KTR is about 60% as big as the Klon Centaur.
The Klon Sound
The Klon sound is often described as a “transparent overdrive” that has the response of an amp. One of the features is that it cleans up when you turn down the volume on your guitar, which most distortion pedals just don’t do.
You can use a Klon clone to drive a tube amp into breakup. You can also use a Klon clone for a lead boost and to add some grit to your lead while maintaining your guitar’s tone.
One of the Cons of the Klon clones is that they cut some of the low and mid tones. Some of these clones below add options to compensate for that cut.
Klon Clones – Send in the Clones
Most Klon clones claim to use the exact same circuit as the Klon Centaur. This can be more (or less) accurate, but some of the diodes and components are no longer available, which was one reason why Finnegan stopped making them.
Wampler Tumnus pedal
Many online boards say that the Wampler Tumnus comes the closest to nailing the Klon sound.
The Tumnus also comes in a Deluxe version with more knobs.
Pros: Sounds like the Klon, including a tasty distortion when you turn the Gain up. Has a small to medium enclosure, so it has a small footprint and takes up less space than the Klon or many of the clones. Wampler says that it adds “depth to your tone” by adding back in some of those low and mid frequency responses.
Cons: None.
Mythos Pedals Mjolnir
The Mythos Pedals Mjolnir Overdrive comes in two versions: the regular Mjolnir Overdrive with a Medium enclosure, and the special Mjolnir Germanium Overdrive – Mass Street Music Edition that I have only seen at Mass Street Music in Lawrence, KS. Since I live by Lawrence, I tested both in Mass Street Music into a (very) expensive Milkman amp.
The regular version of the Mjolnir has the typical charge pump. A charge pump is what many modern pedals use – it converts the 9 volt power to an internal 18 volts. This reportedly gives more headroom.
The Germanium version Details from Mythos (from Mass Street Music’s website): The buffered output remains but Mythos has removed the charge pump from the circuit and this change adds a surprising amount of flexibility to the Mjolnir. The lack of the charge pump means the circuit actually overdrives more, so the breakup you experience higher on the gain is a little less harsh to our ears. If you want a bit more traditional “K” Style tone you can opt to use +18v power supply to increase the headroom and reduce the overall gain slightly.
Pros: The Output was very loud. The Germanium version was a smoother overdrive distortion.
The Regular edition has a medium enclosure, which is a better fit on a pedalboard.
Cons: May be too “transparent” or “smooth”. It gave a lot of volume but I did not think it added as much gain or distortion. Certainly not as much as the Wampler Timnus in the video above.
The Germanium special edition version is a large enclosure, similar to the Warm Audio Centavo. Mucxh closer to the original Klon size. Takes up a lot of space on the pedalboard.
The Germanium special edition version is about $100 more than the regular version and is only available at Mass Street Music.
Warm Audio Centavo
Warm Audio makes a Klon clone called the Warm Audio Centavo. It is about the same look, feel, and size as a Klon Centaur, with similar Oxblood colored knobs.
The Centavo also has a Mod switch which adds back in Mids and Lows when engaged.
I have a Centavo in my pedal collection.
Pros: I think that it sounds almost exactly like a Mythos Mjolnir. Perhaps slightly thinner, until you engage the Mod switch to round out the low end and mids. The Mod switch is a nice feature.
The Warm Audio Centavo really shines when you drive it into a tube amp (or even into a EHX 5mm power amp). It takes on a whole new tonal palette.
Cons: Like the Mjolnir, the Centavo has a lot of volume but not much overall distortion when the Gain is turned up (not as much as the Wampler Tumnus). The pedal is also very large and takes up a lot of pedalboard space.
EHX Soul Food
The Electro-Harmonix (EHX) Soul Food is said to be a similar circuit to the Klon.
Some reviews say this sounds like a Klon, and the Sweetwater video below sounds similar.
I used to own a Soul Food, and in real life I didn’t think that it sounded much like this. But I was using it into a solid state amp, and Klon-type overdrives work best when they are driving the tubes in a tube amp.
Pros: Sounds (to some) reasonably like a Klon, but just unique enough to not sound like a Klon. It is also much less expensive than the boutique pedals.
Cons: When I owned the Soul Food I just didn’t like it very much. I think that Paul Gilbert recommended it, but he had moved into his more bluesy tone phase, and I wasn’t there yet. The Soul Food requires a tube amp to get the best effect. In my opinion it doesn’t sound very good into a solid state amp.
Mosky Golden Horse – a $30 Klon Clone
The Mosky Golden Horse Overdrive is a VERY inexpensive Made in China overdrive that is sold on Amazon.
This pedal should be laughable, but it is not. I own one of these and it sounds (to me) very much like the Wampler Tumnus with Gain at 12:00. It has more gain than the Warm Audio Centavo and the Mythos Mjolnir.
Josh Scott on the JHS Show put the Mosky in a “Can You Hear It?” Blind A/B test with a $7K real Klon. Addison, the tester, could not tell the difference.
Pros: Very affordable. Sounds like a Wampler Tumnus. Cleans up nicely.
Cons: Big dropoff in Treble less than 12:00. Not very durable and cheap components. Some reviews say that it broke within a few months, even with only home use. Still…
MXR Sugar Drive
Some people list the MXR Sugar Drive as a Klon Clone. I have not tried it. Although it is a “transparent” overdrive, based on every video demo I have seen, I don’t think it sounds Klon-like at all.
Don’t forget the JHS Notaklon
JHS pedals came out with a pedal kit based on the Klon, called the Notaklon. As of Spring 2024, they have direct sold 20K+ of these and they are backlogged for months. The Notaklon is a $100 kit with circuit boards that you connect, screw together, add knobs and jacks. And finally put some epoxy goop on the “magic” diode, which is a tribute to the original Klon which was coated in epoxy.
The Notaklon also has a switch to engage the “Shamrock” mod that JHS used to add to a Klon KTR (which theoretically should make it like the modded Klon KTR on Josh Scott’s pedalboard in the video above).
According to JHS, the Shamrock Mod Switch – Increases the overall gain +4dB for unmatched boost abilities with an increase in mid frequencies and an additional stage of hard-edge clipping.
I might buy one of these just for the experience. Although this is a largeish pedal – NOT a small pedal like the Klon KTR.
Which Pedal Makes it Onto My Pedalboard?
I own the Warm Audio Centavo, but it is just too big for my pedalboard. I like the Wampler Tumnus, but for now I will settle for the Mosky. And I will order the Notaklon.