The Ceriatone Horse Breaker is a 2-in-1 dual overdrive pedal from Ceriatone that combines two of the most cloned overdrive circuits in pedals: a Klon Centaur-style circuit and a Marshall Blues Breaker-style circuit in one enclosure. The left side is the company's Centura circuit, the same one Ceriatone sells as the standalone Ceriatone Centura Klon-style overdrive; the right side is a clone of the Marshall Blues Breaker. Each circuit has its own footswitch, so you can run either one alone or stack them, and a toggle switch decides which circuit comes first in the signal chain1.
What the two circuits do
The Centura side carries the Gain, Treble and Output controls, and Pedal of the Day's review found it delivers "all that classic clean boost tone you've been searching for. It's a killer overdrive as well as you increase the Gain"3. The Bluesbreaker-style side has Volume, Tone and Gain controls, and the same review described "a bit of a lighter feel at lower volumes, but turns into a British-style tube amp sound as you increase the clipping via the Gain knob"3.
For context on the lineage: Klone pedals, as Klon maker Bill Finnegan's account has it, are variations on his original Klon design4, and the Blues Breaker side follows the original Marshall pedal, whose used prices That Pedal Show's Mick Taylor described as running "like 600 Quid 5 600 Quid" for British-made examples5.
Switching the order and the buffer
The Horse Breaker's two toggles are what set it apart from simply putting two overdrives on a board13:
- Order switch: Sets which overdrive comes first in the signal path. Toggle left places the Centura first, running into the BB; toggle right places the BB first, running into the Centura. Delicious Audio notes this "allows for tonal shaping"1.
- Buffer switch: Turns the buffer in the Centura circuit on or off. Up, the buffer is active; down, the buffer is defeated and the Centura runs in true-bypass operation1.
The buffer toggle only affects the Centura circuit. With the switch down, the Centura side is true bypass; with it up, the buffer is engaged1.
What reviewers said
Pedal of the Day's 2019 review treated the pedal as two workable overdrives in one box, praising the Centura side's clean-boost-to-overdrive range and the BB side's lighter, amp-like feel at low volumes3. Guitar World's 2026 review lists the pedal at $249 in the US, £260 in the UK and €329 in Europe2.
The Centura side of the Horse Breaker carries its own reputation: Ceriatone describes it as delivering "all that classic clean boost tone you've been searching for," adding that "it's a killer overdrive as well as you increase the Gain"6.
The Blues Breaker side in context
For a closer listen to the original pedal the BB side is modeled on, That Pedal Show's episode on the Marshall Blues Breaker covers the circuit and the used market around it:
Videos
ceriatone amplification
Pedal of the Day
TheSuperFunAwesomeHappyTimePedalShow
Questions
Is the Ceriatone Horse Breaker true bypass?
It can be. A small toggle switch on the Centura side chooses between buffered and true bypass operation. With the buffer switch down, the buffer is defeated and the Centura circuit runs in true-bypass mode; with it up, the buffer is active. Pedal of the Day's review describes the same toggle for choosing between buffered or true bypass operation.
Can both sides of the Horse Breaker be used at once?
Yes. The two circuits have their own footswitches and can be played separately or together. When both are on, an Order toggle switch sets which overdrive comes first in the signal path: Centura into the BB side, or the BB side into the Centura, which changes how the two overdrives shape each other's tone.
Is the Centura side the same as the Ceriatone Centura?
The left side of the Horse Breaker is built on the same Centura circuit that Ceriatone sells as its standalone Klon Centaur-style overdrive, the Ceriatone Centura. Delicious Audio describes the Horse Breaker as consisting of the Centura overdrive on the left, married to a Marshall Blues Breaker clone on the right.
How much does the Horse Breaker cost in the US?
Guitar World lists the Ceriatone Horse Breaker at $249 in the US, with a UK price of £260 and a European price of €329 as stated in the same review.
Sources (6)
- CeriaTone Horse Breaker Dual Overdrive, Delicious Audio, 2021-05-04
- Crazy Tube Circuits Triptychon review, Guitar World, 2026-08-25
- Ceriatone Amplification Horse Breaker Professional Overdrive, Pedal of the Day, 2019-10-31
- Bill Finnegan is selling the original Klon Centaur Overdrive again!, gearnews.com, 2019-02-13
- Marshall Blues Breaker Or Boss Blues Driver? Plus Keeley Blues Disorder & Origin Halcyon Blue, That Pedal Show (YouTube), 2024-10-18
- Ceriatone Amplification Centura Professional Overdrive, Pedal of the Day, 2018-05-14
