The Iannucci Audio Klon is an analog overdrive pedal made by Iannucci Audio. The maker describes it as "Our tribute to one of the most coveted Overs in the universe. Replicated piece by piece (literally)", referring to the original Klon Centaur, the transparent overdrive that sells for thousands of dollars used1.
What it does
The pedal follows the Klon formula: it is built to push an amp into distortion rather than create heavy distortion on its own. As Donner Rusk and Nathan Condon put it in an AMZ Guitar Effects analysis of the circuit, "the Klon is made to drive your amp to distort - where the CF will make that sound itself"2. For players who want the pedal to generate its own high-gain tones, a distortion pedal or fuzz pedal is the different tool for the job.
Iannucci Audio describes the pedal's behavior across the gain range in three stages1:
- Low gain: "Set with the soft gain, the clean acquires a small compression that highlights the guitar in a spectacular way"1
- Higher gain: "When you set the gain higher, the compression becomes slightly more 'boxy' but letting the harmonics come out forward in a very particular way"1
- Maximum gain: "With the gain at maximum, it is pedal glory. A LEAD sound is achieved that lets you hear every minute detail that comes out of the pickups"1
Independent analysis of the Klon circuit broadly agrees with the maker's low-gain description. On the Guitar FX Layouts technical blog, IvIark wrote that the "Klon sounds good at low gain settings - makes the sound 'bigger and wider' somehow", while finding it "a bit nasal/cocked wah-sounding" at higher gain settings3. That is worth knowing if you plan to run the pedal as your main source of distortion rather than as a boost into a driven amp.
The Klon circuit and its clones
The Iannucci Audio Klon is one of several pedals built as a take on the Klon Centaur circuit. Iannucci Audio describes it as "Our tribute to one of the most coveted Overs in the universe. Replicated piece by piece (literally)"1. The pedal is an analog overdrive running on 9V DC center negative power1, and at low gain settings RockBoard's PedalPedia says "the clean acquires a small compression that highlights the guitar in a spectacular way," while at maximum gain it delivers what RockBoard's PedalPedia calls a LEAD sound that "lets you hear every minute detail that comes out of the pickups"1.
The Iannucci Audio Klon runs on 9V DC, center negative1. Use an isolated supply rather than a daisy chain with other pedals to keep the circuit quiet.
Videos
Ariel Pozzo
Questions
Is the Iannucci Audio Klon a copy of the Klon Centaur?
Iannucci Audio describes it as a tribute to the original Klon overdrive, replicated piece by piece. The original Klon Centaur is a discontinued overdrive known for transparent gain that sells for thousands of dollars used, which is why a number of makers, including Iannucci Audio and Acorn Amplifiers, build pedals based on the same circuit.
What does the Iannucci Audio Klon sound like at low gain?
Iannucci Audio says that set with soft gain, the clean tone acquires a small compression that highlights the guitar. That matches the general reputation of the Klon circuit, which independent analysis has described as making the sound bigger and wider at low gain settings.
Sources (3)
- Klon by Iannucci Audio, RockBoard PedalPedia, 2026
- Reviews of boost pedals, muzique.com (AMZ Guitar Effects)
- Guitar FX Layouts: Klon Centaur Silver Edition, Guitar FX Layouts (tagboardeffects.blogspot.com), 2019-04-19
