Behringer renames Klon clone Centara after Finnegan legal filing

June 1, 2025 · 3 sources

Behringer appears to have changed the name and artwork of its Klon Centaur overdrive clone following a legal filing from Bill Finnegan, creator of the original Centaur¹. Finnegan filed a lawsuit against Behringer's parent company Music Tribe with the Massachusetts federal court following the release of the $69 Centaur Overdrive, which he called a "blatant counterfeit" of his original¹. Guitar.com reported the change on June 25, 2025, and said there was no press release or official communication from Behringer¹.

The pedal now carries the name "Centara" instead of "Centaur" and an updated version of the cartoon centaur on the front, in a different pose from the figure on the original Klon Centaur¹. The updated pedal also puts Behringer's logo on its front face, where the first Behringer Centaur did not¹. Guitar World reported that the Centara keeps the Centaur's gold colorway and a similarly styled centaur figure in the same position². The two outlets describe the new centaur artwork differently: Guitar.com says the pose has changed, while Guitar World says the figure is in the same position¹².

The original Centaur Overdrive launched in November 2024 as Behringer's $69 take on the Klon Centaur, with controls for Gain, Treble and Output, soft-clipping germanium diodes, an internal charge pump, buffered bypass, a metal enclosure and a current draw of 100mA from a 9V DC supply³. Behringer said its dual-ganged gain pot was an "improved version of the original concentric gain control," making it "more reliable and precise"³. Guitar World reported the Centara listed at $59.90 on Behringer's official site².

In his lawsuit, Finnegan said "consumers expressed extensive actual confusion… with many rushing to purchase Defendants' counterfeit pedal believing Defendants are delivering on a mass scale a discounted product licensed or endorsed by Plaintiffs"¹. Guitar.com reported that there had been no official update on the lawsuit and that the case would likely continue as the exact relief offered to Klon LLC is calculated¹.