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Lot Essay
THE KLON CENTAUR
Developed by Bill Finnegan and Fred Fenning with his students at MIT between 1990 and 1994, the Klon has become one of the most expensive and highly-prized pedals, lauded by guitarists the world over, even being dubbed 'the '59 Les Paul of pedals'. With each pedal taking Finnegan one day to build on a folding card table, including covering all the electronics with black gloopy epoxy resin in order to conceal the circuitry and prevent clones/copies, the legend of their production has only sought to increase their value. When Finnegan designed the original Klon, which came in gold and later in silver, his objective was to create a boost pedal with grit which sounded more open than a tube screamer. Although the Klon was primarily a boost pedal, thanks to the low-gain germanium diodes used by Finnegan in the pedal's design it provided a unique mid-range push and a specific style of grit and special tone. The Klon pedal's lack of an inherent tone made it an instant hit with players searching for that tube amp response from their drive pedals. Finnegan finally gave up building Klon Centaurs in 2009, having made 8,000 in total.
According to Steve Prior, Beck's guitar tech from 1999-2014, once Jeff Beck discovered their unique properties, he purchased as many Klon Centaurs as he could get his hands on. Whilst Jeff Beck owned up to six Klons at one point - including a very early example with a low serial number which had been given to him by Aerosmith and Hollywood Vampires guitarist Joe Perry (in return for a pedal which had been 'lifted' decades ago from Jeff by one of Aerosmith's roadies) - the present example was Beck's main Klon for the longest period of time. It was utilised both on its own and moved to small and large pedalboards, depending on Beck's needs and preferences on tour - and was used pretty solidly from the late noughties until Jeff Beck's 2018 tour, when it was taken as a 'spare' for the duration of the tour but not used, having been replaced on Beck's main pedalboard by the more affordable J. Rockett Archer pedal.
Developed by Bill Finnegan and Fred Fenning with his students at MIT between 1990 and 1994, the Klon has become one of the most expensive and highly-prized pedals, lauded by guitarists the world over, even being dubbed 'the '59 Les Paul of pedals'. With each pedal taking Finnegan one day to build on a folding card table, including covering all the electronics with black gloopy epoxy resin in order to conceal the circuitry and prevent clones/copies, the legend of their production has only sought to increase their value. When Finnegan designed the original Klon, which came in gold and later in silver, his objective was to create a boost pedal with grit which sounded more open than a tube screamer. Although the Klon was primarily a boost pedal, thanks to the low-gain germanium diodes used by Finnegan in the pedal's design it provided a unique mid-range push and a specific style of grit and special tone. The Klon pedal's lack of an inherent tone made it an instant hit with players searching for that tube amp response from their drive pedals. Finnegan finally gave up building Klon Centaurs in 2009, having made 8,000 in total.
According to Steve Prior, Beck's guitar tech from 1999-2014, once Jeff Beck discovered their unique properties, he purchased as many Klon Centaurs as he could get his hands on. Whilst Jeff Beck owned up to six Klons at one point - including a very early example with a low serial number which had been given to him by Aerosmith and Hollywood Vampires guitarist Joe Perry (in return for a pedal which had been 'lifted' decades ago from Jeff by one of Aerosmith's roadies) - the present example was Beck's main Klon for the longest period of time. It was utilised both on its own and moved to small and large pedalboards, depending on Beck's needs and preferences on tour - and was used pretty solidly from the late noughties until Jeff Beck's 2018 tour, when it was taken as a 'spare' for the duration of the tour but not used, having been replaced on Beck's main pedalboard by the more affordable J. Rockett Archer pedal.