KLON KTR...first impressions

[Lewguitar]

Had it about a week now.

I no longer have a Soul Food or an Aluminum Falcon 1 to compare it to.

I sold the AF1 because although it sounded/felt extremely smooth, it also sounded/felt a little grainy or metallic or trebley sometimes in certain situations. Like when I was playing at a very low onstage volume: volume 3 or less with a Deluxe Reverb.

The KLON KTR sounds/feels smoother. It retains clarity when I turn the guitar's volume down, like the AF1 does, but when I'm soloing with it it seems to have a little bit more of a liquid sustain and a little more tubular and vocal quality - like a smooth horn instrument of some kind.

Make no mistake, the AF1 had that quality too. But the KLON KTR has it even more of it...or seems to.

I'm really liking it.

It also seems to work equally well with humbuckers or single coils.

I always felt that my AF1 excelled at making my Strat more usable but that I didn't need it with my PRS or Gibson.

With my Strat or Tele, I could leave the AF1 on all the time and use my Strat's volume control to go from a cleanish rhythm to a fat, sustaining soloing tone.

When I tried to use my AF1 with my ES-335 or Custom 22 it didn't seem to do that quite as well. It was a bit too much.

Not so with the KLON KTR. It seems to like working with humbuckers just as much as it likes working with Fender single coils.

I guess that's what the guys who own Klon Centaurs have been saying all along: that the Klones sound great but there's nothing like a real Klon.

 

[ToneKing]

The KTR doesn't get much love, but it is a good pedal.

 

[earthmud]

Had it about a week now.

I no longer have a Soul Food or an Aluminum Falcon 1 to compare it to.

I sold the AF1 because although it sounded/felt extremely smooth, it also sounded/felt a little grainy or metallic or trebley sometimes in certain situations. Like when I was playing at a very low onstage volume: volume 3 or less with a Deluxe Reverb.

The KLON KTR sounds/feels smoother. It retains clarity when I turn the guitar's volume down, like the AF1 does, but when I'm soloing with it it seems to have a little bit more of a liquid sustain and a little more tubular and vocal quality - like a smooth horn instrument of some kind.

Make no mistake, the AF1 very much had that quality too. But the KLON KTR has it even more so...or seems to.

I'm really liking it.

It also seems to work equally well with humbuckers or single coils.

I always felt that my AF1 excelled at making my Strat more usable but that I didn't need it with my PRS or Gibson.

But with my Strat or Tele, I could leave it on all the time and use my Strat's volume control to go from cleanish rhythm to a fat, sustaining soloing tone.

When I tried to use my AF1 with my ES-335 or Custom 22 it didn't seem to do that as well.

Not so with the KLON KTR. It seems to like working with humbuckers just as much as it likes working with Fender single coils.

I guess that's what the guys who own Klon Centaurs have been saying all along: that the Klones sound great but there's nothing like a real Klon.

Nice review. I'm curious, was your AF1 one of the early big box models? I love mine but it sounds so huge sometimes it's almost too much.

 

[Lewguitar]

Nice review. I'm curious, was your AF1 one of the early big box models? I love mine but it sounds so huge so times it's almost too much.

I actually had three of them. All in big boxes. I took photos of the guts of all three and one was among the first 5 that PCE built.

I bought all of mine on EBay during the time Mr. Finnegan wasn't building the Klon.

Wish I had kept one just to compare it to the KTR...but I didn't.

At very low volumes I also felt that the AF1 was "too much" sometimes.

I know there's a lot of dislike for Peidmont Custom Electronics because he fell behind and shipped late on some early orders, but the AF-1 is a great sounding pedal.

I do like the Klon KTR just a little more though.