Why not? If a pedal is this popular there’s a reason. So we don’t really need any more excuses to demo it…or do we?
At this point just about everybody knows about the Klon Centaur and its “KTR” iteration. Some claim it is nothing more than a glorified boost and some say it is the archetype of any and all drive pedals.
Is it a boost? An overdrive? A DISTORTION? Whichever of these you use it for there seems to be a massive improvement in tone. It’s clear and responsive while giving the impression that it was meant to be part of your tone chain. So why not throw it into your bass rig?
Getting into an depth review about what it does to your bass signal would likely be redundant in comparison to any six string review. For example:
- Clean Boost: Can go from clean and clear to warm and round but still distinct without a lot of colouration.
- Dirty Boost: Similar to above with such a wide range of subtle distortion that you can dial in just the right amount of clipping.
- Overdrive: Transparent drive that is responsive from both the strings and volume knob.
- Distortion: Wind up the wick and it can get pretty buzzy and deliciously fuzzy with a big bold bass signal going through it.
Does any of this seem familiar to you?
Admittedly most bass drive pedals have a clean blend included in the circuit. It is quite useful to keep the lower frequencies intact along without becoming too muddy down there. And that is where this pedal really comes into its own. Guess what? The Klon circuit by design has this as well. It is just cleverly hidden in the the early travel range of the gain knob. Clean boost with just a hint of zing? Easy achievable while keeping your original tone intact. Are loads of extremely dynamic dirt more of your thing? No sweat. The core of your bass character will shine though. It seems to effortlessly go from bright and sparkly to dark and dirty without needing to muffle anything that is essential to your tone.
So with all of that said if you happen to have access to the Klon give it shot on your four string. Or five. Or six. It performed admirably on all of these. It actually gave some of the “saturator” plugins a run for the money in the studio. Surprisingly it quickly became an often used subtle tone enhancer for bass tracks that worked well on just about everything. What wasn’t surprising was why: It’s clear tone and responsiveness make it feel like it is part of your rig. Now we have to see just what else it may work on. Did we just find secret spice to liven up that lethargic clarinet track? Bill Finnegan you sly fox…