Behringer has unveiled one of the most audacious overdrive pedals in recent memory, a replica of Bill Finnegan’s legendary Klon Centaur that promises not only those same holy grail transparent boost and overdrive tones, but a pedal that makes it easier than the original to dial in your sound.
Furthermore, Behringer’s Centaur Overdrive retails for just $69. What a time to be alive.
Behringer’s design follows a similar template to the original, with the gold box, the oxblood knobs, controls for Gain, Treble and Output.
Under the hood you have soft-clipping germanium diodes as opposed to the hard-clipping circuit of the original but altogether this is a pedal that promises a similarly dynamic drive sound that responds to your picking dynamics and your electric guitar’s volume controls.
You might know Behringer for its plastic enclosures. Some dismiss the brand because of this (and perhaps because they haven’t tried its superlative SF300 Super Fuzz, one of the most fun fuzz pedals on the market and just $25 street). Well, we’ve got a metal enclosure this time, and it has got a man on a horse, with a sword.
The circuit even has that internal charge pump for the stepped-up voltage that helps extend the headroom and dynamic range of the pedal. No stone has been left unturned.
Behringer isn’t messing around here. Not only is it presenting a replica of one of the most expensive pedals on the vintage market that also just happens to be one of the most-affordable overdrives of this or any other year – it says the Centaur Overdrive even improves upon the original. Who knows, maybe it'll find its way onto John Mayer's pedalboard one day.
Behringer has tweaked the design, using a dual-ganged pot for the Gain control that it says is an “improved version of the original concentric gain control”, making it “more reliable and precise”.
“Simply put, you get to easily dial in your tone to get a completely clean signal or have more overdrive mixed in as you turn the knob all the way up,” says Behringer.
And that is a central plank of the original Klon’s magic, adding warm grit and drive without ruining the relationship with your guitar and amp.
Use it as a boost, a full-on overdrive, or somewhere in between. Those sweet spots reveal themselves when your amp is on the edge of breakup, and if those are more easily found on Behringer's design, then maybe, yes, they could have improved upon it.
Behringer’s Centaur Overdrive has an output of +41dB, enough to give your amp’s front-end something serious to think about – to make it squeal.
Like the original, the Centaur Overdrive has a buffered bypass. It takes 9V DC from a pedalboard power supply and draws 100mA. And hell’s bells it is just £/$69 - you can pre-order right now at Sweetwater. See Behringer for more details.
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