Klon Centaur Settings Guide
The most mythologised overdrive pedal ever made. ~8,000 units produced 1994–2009. The original circuit's soft clipping with a clean blend produces a transparent pushed-amp character that spawned hundreds of clones. The sound of warm, dynamic boost into a tube amp.
Used by: John Mayer, Joe Walsh, Gary Clark Jr.
The best Klon Centaur settings start with: Gain at 3/10, Treble at 5/10, Output at 6/10. Adjust from there based on your amp, guitar, and room volume. For Blues / Clean Boost: Gain 1/10, Treble 5/10, Output 7/10.
⚡ Start Here — Recommended Settings
| Control | Starting Position | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Gain | 3/10 | Boost → Overdrive |
| Treble | 5/10 | Dark → Bright |
| Output | 6/10 | Silent → Loud |
These are universal starting points. Adjust based on your amp, guitar, and room. Scroll down for genre-specific settings and artist-documented positions.
What Each Control Does
Recommended Starting Settings
Safe starting positions for any style. Adjust from here based on your amp and room.
All values on a 0–10 scale. These are starting points — fine-tune by ear.
Settings by Genre
Gain just off minimum — primarily clean boost with a small amount of soft clipping adding harmonic content. Output above unity pushes the amp forward. The Klon's clean blend circuit means even at Gain 1, there is a transparent boosted clean signal mixed with the clipping — this is what produces its characteristic "amp-like" quality.
Moderate Gain for genuine overdrive character. The Klon at Gain 5 sounds different from a Tube Screamer at the same point — less mid-push, more treble openness, smoother clipping. Into a Fender clean amp, this setting produces a touch-sensitive overdrive that cleans up with guitar volume roll-off.
Minimal Gain, bright Treble, Level above unity — the Klon as a transparent bright boost for Telecaster playing. No significant mid-push, preserved bass. The most country-friendly overdrive setting available on the Klon circuit.
Artist Settings
Documented settings used by professional guitarists on this unit.
Mayer is one of the most prominent Klon users — he ran the Klon Centaur into Fender Two-Rock amps as an always-on boost that added harmonic richness without fundamentally changing his clean tone. Gain below noon, Output above unity.
Walsh used the Klon for adding harmonic depth to his already-pushed amp tones. Moderate Gain adds the Klon's characteristic soft clipping to what is already a driven signal — the result is increased harmonic complexity without adding more obvious distortion.
Clark uses Klon-style clones for pushed blues-rock lead tones — higher Gain than the typical boost application, but the Klon's smooth clipping character prevents the harshness that a DS-1 at equivalent gain would produce. The soft clip suits his vocal, singing lead approach.
Also in Our Rig Database
Guitarists who feature this gear in their documented rig — explore their full setup.
Tips & Common Mistakes
- The Klon's most famous setting is Gain below noon — the clean blend circuit is most audible below 12 o'clock, producing the transparent pushed-amp quality.
- Bill Finnegan (Klon's creator) deliberately obscured components in the circuit. Clones using the same Burr-Brown op-amp and germanium diode types sound closest to the original.
- The Klon interacts with amp input impedance — into high-impedance inputs it sounds different from low-impedance preamps. Tube amps respond most naturally to its character.
- Stacking: Klon into Tube Screamer is a popular combination — the Klon's transparent boost pushes the TS harder, giving a two-level gain structure. The TS then adds its characteristic mid-push on top of the Klon's cleaner character.
- The Klon's resale value (£1,000–£3,000 for originals) makes quality clones (EHX Soul Food, Tumnus, Archer) the practical choice — the tonal difference between the original and quality clones is narrower than the price gap.
FAQ
Klon Centaur — Common Questions
Best starting settings for Klon Centaur: Gain at 3/10, Treble at 5/10, Output at 6/10. Adjust from there based on your guitar, room, and playing style.
For Blues / Clean Boost: Gain 1/10, Treble 5/10, Output 7/10. Gain just off minimum — primarily clean boost with a small amount of soft clipping adding harmonic content. Output above unity pushes the amp forward. The Klon's clean blend circuit means even at Gain 1, there is a transparent boosted clean signal mixed with the clipping — this is what produces its characteristic "amp-like" quality.
For Rock / Light OD: Gain 5/10, Treble 5/10, Output 6/10. Moderate Gain for genuine overdrive character. The Klon at Gain 5 sounds different from a Tube Screamer at the same point — less mid-push, more treble openness, smoother clipping. Into a Fender clean amp, this setting produces a touch-sensitive overdrive that cleans up with guitar volume roll-off.
Gain: At low Gain: transparent boost with clean blend. As Gain increases: more clipping character is added. Below noon: mostly clean boost; above noon: progressively more overdrive character. (Boost to Overdrive). Treble: High-frequency content. The Klon has a soft treble character — the Treble control shapes it without adding harshness at high settings. (Dark to Bright). Output: Output level. As a boost: Output above unity. As OD: match unity to bypassed signal. (Silent to Loud)
The Klon's most famous setting is Gain below noon — the clean blend circuit is most audible below 12 o'clock, producing the transparent pushed-amp quality. Bill Finnegan (Klon's creator) deliberately obscured components in the circuit. Clones using the same Burr-Brown op-amp and germanium diode types sound closest to the original. The Klon interacts with amp input impedance — into high-impedance inputs it sounds different from low-impedance preamps. Tube amps respond most naturally to its character. Stacking: Klon into Tube Screamer is a popular combination — the Klon's transparent boost pushes the TS harder, giving a two-level gain structure. The TS then adds its characteristic mid-push on top of the Klon's cleaner character. The Klon's resale value (£1,000–£3,000 for originals) makes quality clones (EHX Soul Food, Tumnus, Archer) the practical choice — the tonal difference between the original and quality clones is narrower than the price gap.
John Mayer settings: Gain 3/10, Treble 5/10, Output 7/10. Mayer is one of the most prominent Klon users — he ran the Klon Centaur into Fender Two-Rock amps as an always-on boost that added harmonic richness without fundamentally changing his clean tone. Gain below noon, Output above unity.
Got the Klon Centaur? Build the rest of your rig.
Use the Rig Builder to find matching guitars, pedals and cables for your genre and budget.