The Flattley Silver Centurion is a dynamic overdrive pedal from UK maker Flattley, built around the circuit ideas of the Klon Centaur. Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio calls it "a straightforward, Klon-inspired transparent overdrive pedal designed for cutting through mixes while maintaining note clarity"1. MusicRadar puts its purpose more bluntly: "its raison d'être is replicating the ever-feted and super-pricey Klon Centaur"2.
What it does to your sound
The Centurion takes a multi-band approach rather than clipping the whole signal at once. MusicRadar explains that "your signal is split into several frequency bands and processed separately," with the mids passing through a soft-clipping circuit "to give them an amplitude-dependent boost to the harmonics"2. In practice that means the drive character changes with how hard you play, which is why Flattley and reviewers describe it as a dynamic overdrive.
Because it is a transparent-style design, it is aimed at players who want the character of their amp and guitar to come through. MusicRadar's reviewer found it "just so practical, the sort of drive you might always have on, or engage when you really want to make your tube amp hot under the collar"2.
It is flexible in how you deploy it. MusicRadar notes you can run it as a clean boost, as an overdrive that pushes your amp harder, or stack it with other overdrives and fuzzes2. Delicious Audio adds that "it works well as a boost with amps or other drives, responding smoothly to guitar volume adjustments"1.
Controls and connections
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Volume | Output level |
| Drive | Amount of overdrive |
| Tone | Treble shaping |
| Clipping Switch | Sets the soft-clipping applied to the mids band2 |
| Bypass footswitch | True-bypass on/off2 |
Connections are a standard input and a standard output2.
The 9V DC adaptor is not supplied, so budget for a power supply or a pedalboard power output. MusicRadar lists no battery option2.
The Klon connection
The Klon Centaur, the pedal the Centurion draws on, was designed by Bill Finnegan and, as Guitar World put it, "quickly gained a legendary reputation for its transparent sound"3. Guitar World's Daryl Robertson described how "this transparent overdrive produced by Bill Finnegan took the world by storm"4, and General Guitar Gadgets notes it is "the transparent overdrive that sells for thousands used"5. MusicRadar's Alex Lynham has called the Klon design "an expressive and touch-sensitive overdrive"6. The original's used prices are why a steady stream of Klon-inspired pedals exists, of which the Silver Centurion is one.
The Silver series and the Flattley range
The Silver Centurion is part of Flattley's Silver series. MusicRadar notes that "the Centurion's Silver series lineage foregoes a little of the visual pizazz" of the main line2, though Flattley's pedals are still finished in metallic flake or hydro-dipped graphics with a high-gloss lacquer polish, and each pedal is handmade by Paul Flattley in the UK1.
Flattley builds a wider family of drives around the same handmade UK approach. The Flattley Revolution is the company's 3-in-1 dynamic overdrive, reviewed alongside the Silver Centurion by MusicRadar2. For where the Centurion sits among drive pedals generally, see the Overdrive Pedals page.
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Questions
Is the Flattley Silver Centurion a Klon clone?
Delicious Audio describes it as a Klon-inspired transparent overdrive, and MusicRadar says its reason for being is replicating the Klon Centaur, the expensive transparent overdrive designed by Bill Finnegan. It is best described as Klon-inspired rather than a straight clone: it uses a multi-band approach in which the signal is split into several frequency bands and processed separately, with the mids passing through a soft-clipping circuit.
Does the Silver Centurion come with a power supply?
No. MusicRadar lists the power requirement as a 9V DC adaptor, not supplied, so you will need to provide your own power supply or use a pedalboard power supply output.
Is the Silver Centurion true bypass?
Yes. MusicRadar's review lists true bypass among the pedal's features, so the pedal is out of the signal path when switched off.
Can the Silver Centurion be used as a clean boost?
Yes. MusicRadar notes you can run it as a clean boost, as an overdrive that pushes your amp harder, or stacked with other overdrives and fuzzes. Delicious Audio adds that it works well as a boost with amps or other drives and responds smoothly to guitar volume adjustments.
Where is the Flattley Silver Centurion made?
The Silver Centurion is made in the UK. MusicRadar lists its origin as the UK, and Delicious Audio says every pedal is handcrafted in the UK with strict quality control, each one handmade by Paul Flattley.
What does the clipping switch do on the Silver Centurion?
The pedal splits your signal into several frequency bands and processes them separately. According to MusicRadar, the mids pass through a soft-clipping circuit to give them an amplitude-dependent boost to the harmonics, which shapes the midrange character of the drive.
Sources (6)
- Flattley Pedals Silver Centurion, Delicious Audio, 2026-08-04
- Flattley Revolution and Silver Centurion review, MusicRadar, 2021-10-01
- Get Nembrini Audio's Klon Centaur emulation, the Clon Minotaur, totally free, Guitar World, 2021-05-05
- Best Electro-Harmonix pedals, Guitar World, 2023-04-25
- Klon™ Centaur™ Clone Kit: Build a Klon Overdrive for $61, generalguitargadgets.com, 2014-09-11
- 5 overdrive pedals guitar players need to try, MusicRadar, 2021-02-15
