Klon KTR Settings Guide
Bill Finnegan's production version of the original Klon Centaur — a voltage-doubling charge pump circuit with germanium diode clipping that produces a transparent boost and overdrive character that preserves the guitar and amp's natural voice rather than replacing it. The Centaur was produced in limited numbers from 1994 to 2000; the KTR is the authorised modern version. John Mayer, Nels Cline, and countless boutique players have built rig architectures around the Klon's "transparent" character. The defining feature: at low Gain the Klon adds harmonic complexity without audible saturation; at high Gain it clips cleanly without the coloured voicing of most overdrive circuits.
Used by: John Mayer
The best Klon KTR settings start with: Gain at 9/10, Treble at 5/10, Output at 6/10. Adjust from there based on your amp, guitar, and room volume. For Clean Boost: Gain 7/10, Treble 5/10, Output 7/10.
⚡ Start Here — Recommended Settings
| Control | Starting Position | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Gain | 9/10 | Unity Boost → Full Clipping |
| 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 at 7 (9 o'clock position) — clean boost mode where the Klon adds harmonic richness without perceptible clipping. The Output above 6 pushes the amp front-end harder while the Gain stage itself remains below its clipping threshold. This is the most commonly used Klon setting: adding body and note bloom to a clean amp without changing the fundamental character.
Gain at 10 (10 o'clock) — the transition zone between clean boost and light overdrive. The germanium diodes begin soft clipping at this setting, adding harmonic complexity to picking dynamics. Treble at 4 compensates for the slight high-frequency boost the clipping stage introduces at this gain level.
Gain at noon — the Klon's midrange overdrive voice that drove the original boutique appeal. Still more transparent than a Tube Screamer at equivalent Gain; the clipping is softer and less coloured. The Output can be raised to 7 or 8 to push the amp harder into its own saturation rather than relying solely on the pedal's clipping.
Gain above noon — the Klon's maximum drive, still softer than most dedicated overdrive pedals at equivalent settings. The transparent character is maintained even at high Gain because the germanium diodes clip softly without the hard-knee saturation of silicon diodes. Treble reduced to 4 compensates for the treble boost at maximum Gain.
Artist Settings
Documented settings used by professional guitarists on this unit.
Mayer uses the Klon primarily in clean boost mode into his Two-Rock Custom Reverb Signature — Gain below 9 o'clock, Output above unity. The Klon is not providing clipping; it is adding harmonic richness and pushing the Two-Rock preamp slightly harder. The resulting tone has more body and harmonic complexity than the dry Two-Rock alone.
Tips & Common Mistakes
- The Klon's transparent character depends on the amp behind it — into a clean solid-state amp the Klon sounds like a coloured overdrive; into a warm valve amp at medium volume the Klon adds harmonic complexity in a way that sounds like the amp itself is working harder. The pedal is a tool for enhancing amp response, not replacing it.
- Below Gain 9 o'clock (roughly 20% of the dial), the Klon functions as a clean buffer and output booster — it adds no audible clipping but lifts the signal level and frequency content into the amp input. This is where the "always-on" use case for the Klon comes from: it provides a baseline signal enhancement without audible pedal character.
FAQ
Klon KTR — Common Questions
Best starting settings for Klon KTR: Gain at 9/10, Treble at 5/10, Output at 6/10. Adjust from there based on your guitar, room, and playing style.
For Clean Boost: Gain 7/10, Treble 5/10, Output 7/10. Gain at 7 (9 o'clock position) — clean boost mode where the Klon adds harmonic richness without perceptible clipping. The Output above 6 pushes the amp front-end harder while the Gain stage itself remains below its clipping threshold. This is the most commonly used Klon setting: adding body and note bloom to a clean amp without changing the fundamental character.
For Blues / Light OD: Gain 10/10, Treble 4/10, Output 6/10. Gain at 10 (10 o'clock) — the transition zone between clean boost and light overdrive. The germanium diodes begin soft clipping at this setting, adding harmonic complexity to picking dynamics. Treble at 4 compensates for the slight high-frequency boost the clipping stage introduces at this gain level.
Gain: Below 9 o'clock: clean boost only. 9 o'clock to noon: increasing harmonic complexity with minimal audible saturation. Above noon: visible clipping with Klon's characteristic soft-knee character. (Unity Boost to Full Clipping). Treble: High-frequency shelving — the Klon adds treble as Gain increases; the Treble control compensates for this. Typically kept at centre or slightly below for balanced response. (Dark to Bright). Output: Output level into the amp. Can be set above unity for boost into a valve amp front-end. (Silent to Loud)
The Klon's transparent character depends on the amp behind it — into a clean solid-state amp the Klon sounds like a coloured overdrive; into a warm valve amp at medium volume the Klon adds harmonic complexity in a way that sounds like the amp itself is working harder. The pedal is a tool for enhancing amp response, not replacing it. Below Gain 9 o'clock (roughly 20% of the dial), the Klon functions as a clean buffer and output booster — it adds no audible clipping but lifts the signal level and frequency content into the amp input. This is where the "always-on" use case for the Klon comes from: it provides a baseline signal enhancement without audible pedal character.
John Mayer settings: Gain 8/10, Treble 5/10, Output 7/10. Mayer uses the Klon primarily in clean boost mode into his Two-Rock Custom Reverb Signature — Gain below 9 o'clock, Output above unity. The Klon is not providing clipping; it is adding harmonic richness and pushing the Two-Rock preamp slightly harder. The resulting tone has more body and harmonic complexity than the dry Two-Rock alone.
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