Ben Randolph
Power User
A friend of mine just upgraded to a genuine Klon Centaur, so I took possession of his Ceriatone Centura.
Both pedals are amazing. The best I can describe is that they make your amp sound bigger. Through my '71 Princeton Reverb it makes it sound BIG like a Super Reverb.
A Klon is not a pedal that’ll take you to super saturation, but it’s a GREAT foundation for other pedals. It’s almost like a clean boost on steroids.
With a Strat or Tele into a vintage Fender amp, this is totally a "leave on all the time" pedal. It adds sparkle, "bigness" and a huge soundstage to a small amp. It also sustains beautifully, like a good compressor. David Gilmour tones are totally achievable on this....to the point where I'm surprised he's not using a Klon himself.
For me, this is a "how did I live without this?" pedal. For high gain setups, the Centura won't be as useful I don't think. Into a cranked Mesa or JCM you're already getting that pushed tone. But, for adding sparkle and richness to a clean or lightly overdriven tone, the Centura is just fantastic. Robben Ford tones are totally achievable though a vintage Fender amp.
With a Gibson SG or Les Paul, I'd use it as a solo boost, not necessarily an "always on" pedal.
From what I gather, Nik from Ceriatone got a de-gooped Klon board for $4000 and set about to reverse-engineering it. Obviously some components are different, but after hearing and playing the Centura and the real Klon side by side, I'd say the Centura is 85-90% there. The real Klon has this beautiful high end sparkle that's missing on the Centura, but otherwise they're remarkably close.
Both pedals are amazing. The best I can describe is that they make your amp sound bigger. Through my '71 Princeton Reverb it makes it sound BIG like a Super Reverb.
A Klon is not a pedal that’ll take you to super saturation, but it’s a GREAT foundation for other pedals. It’s almost like a clean boost on steroids.
With a Strat or Tele into a vintage Fender amp, this is totally a "leave on all the time" pedal. It adds sparkle, "bigness" and a huge soundstage to a small amp. It also sustains beautifully, like a good compressor. David Gilmour tones are totally achievable on this....to the point where I'm surprised he's not using a Klon himself.
For me, this is a "how did I live without this?" pedal. For high gain setups, the Centura won't be as useful I don't think. Into a cranked Mesa or JCM you're already getting that pushed tone. But, for adding sparkle and richness to a clean or lightly overdriven tone, the Centura is just fantastic. Robben Ford tones are totally achievable though a vintage Fender amp.
With a Gibson SG or Les Paul, I'd use it as a solo boost, not necessarily an "always on" pedal.
From what I gather, Nik from Ceriatone got a de-gooped Klon board for $4000 and set about to reverse-engineering it. Obviously some components are different, but after hearing and playing the Centura and the real Klon side by side, I'd say the Centura is 85-90% there. The real Klon has this beautiful high end sparkle that's missing on the Centura, but otherwise they're remarkably close.