Bill Finnegan started building the Klon Centaur by hand in the early 1990s and began selling it in 1994, aiming for the sound of a cranked tube amp at a volume that wouldn't get a band thrown out of a venue. He built around 8,000 by the time he stopped in 2008, citing the difficulty of keeping up with demand at a sustainable price, and the originals now change hands for five-figure sums. Finnegan came back in 2014 with the Klon KTR, a redesigned, outsourced version that's stayed in production since. It's one pedal, effectively, but it's spawned an entire clone market that we cover almost as often as the real thing. Here's what we've written.
Master the art of gain stacking. Learn how to combine overdrive, distortion, and boost pedals to create a professional, multi-layered guitar tone that cuts through any mix without losing clarity.
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An overdrive pedal built by Bill Finnegan between 1994 and 2008. Finnegan set out to emulate the sound of a guitar amplifier pushed hard, and the pedal is credited with popularising the 'transparent' overdrive — a drive that adds gain with minimal effect on the underlying tone of the amp and guitar.
Supply. Finnegan struggled to meet demand and made around 8,000 units in total before discontinuing the pedal in 2008, while his own profit margin stayed low. A closed production run against sustained demand is what moved used prices to where they are — it is a collectors' market rather than a reflection of parts cost.
The redesigned version Finnegan debuted in 2014, with production outsourced to contract firms rather than built by hand. It is the current, buyable Klon: same circuit intent, made in numbers the original never was.
They are the reason the circuit is everywhere. Once the Centaur's schematic was traced, dozens of makers built their own versions, and several are well regarded — the Wampler Tumnus is one commonly cited example. If it is the sound you want rather than the box, a clone is the sane route.
