J. Rockett Archer IKON

The J. Rockett Archer Ikon is a low-gain overdrive and clean boost pedal from J. Rockett Audio Designs, built as a take on the Klon Centaur circuit. It carries the same three-knob layout as the original Klon, uses germanium clipping diodes, and mixes dirty and clean signal at an internally boosted 18 volts, an approach the Klon made familiar¹²³. Guitar.com described it simply as a low-gain overdrive and clean boost, and in a three-way comparison found it the strongest clean boost of the group, with a high-end sheen the reviewer did not want to switch off¹.

The Ikon is the follow-up to the original silver Archer, which hit stores in 2014, and it takes its cue from the warmer-sounding gold incarnation of the Centaur rather than the silver one⁴⁵. Where the Archer line as a whole is a Klon Centaur clone, as Premier Guitar put it, "isn't exactly subtle about the fact," the Ikon is the specific variant aimed at the gold Klon's warmer, lower-gain character⁶⁴.

What it does to your sound

The Archer Ikon covers the two jobs a Klon-style pedal is asked to do. With Gain dialed back it works as a clean boost with a hint of crunch; with Gain cranked it delivers a classic boost/drive tone with plenty of volume, sustain and grit, as Pedal of the Day described it⁹. GuitarPlayer's buying guide noted that the internal charge pump doubling 9V to 18V gives the Ikon plenty of headroom, which that guide placed among the top pedals to use as a clean boost⁵.

Like the Klon circuit it follows, the pedal blends a clipped signal with a clean one at high internal voltage. Premier Guitar's description of the Archer family's approach: "In contrast to most overdrive pedals the Archer uses a mix of dirty and clean signal at 18 volts to create a very amp like sound and feel"³. In a Sweetwater demo of the Archer, Don Carr noted that reining in the interactive Gain and Treble controls yields a mid-gain crunch and smooth lead tones, which gives a sense of how the two knobs work together across the line¹⁰.

The controls

Three knobs, laid out like the original Klon⁶:

The Ikon sits at the lower-gain end of the family. Guitar World's Klon explainer refers to it as "the lower gain iKon," and J. Rockett's own product page says that unlike the Archer, the Ikon has slightly less gain and more warmth¹¹².

Archer vs. Archer Ikon

The two pedals share a circuit family, controls and enclosure, but they are voiced differently and, in later production, clipped differently:

Tone Island's buying guide makes the same distinction from the player's side: "There is a silver version of this pedal but from a tonal perspective, this gold version gets closer to that of the original Klon"¹³.

Germanium diodes and the Klon lineage

The diodes are central to why the Ikon exists as a separate pedal. Finnegan added that the different versions of that part "all sound somewhat different in my circuit, and often they sound VERY different"¹⁴.

That variability is what drives the whole Klon-clone market, and the Ikon's use of rare NOS germanium diodes is its claim to the warmer, softer side of that character¹². J. Rockett's product page states the pedal "features germanium diodes and captures every nuance of the original unit"².

The company's connection to the Klon is direct rather than borrowed. Guitar.com reports the Ikon "was created by Chris Van Tassel and Jay Rockett, who worked with Bill Finnegan on his Klon KTR pedal brand"¹. The original Archer was also one-third the size of an original Klon and, at $179 when Premier Guitar reviewed the line, far cheaper⁶.

Power and bypass

The Ikon runs on a 9 volt negative-tip adaptor with a 5.5mm x 2.1mm jack, or a 9 volt battery². Inside, a charge pump doubles the incoming 9V to 18V, the same headroom trick as the original Klon, which also boosted 9V to 18V internally while still being powered from a 9V supply⁵¹³. Guitar.com's review confirmed the internal 18-volt charge pump and buffered bypass "remains in situ" on the Ikon⁴.

The switching is buffered, not true bypass, on both the maker's page and in reviews²⁴. GuitarPlayer's buying guide listed a fiddly battery compartment among its reasons to avoid, alongside huge headroom, flexible tonal options and excellent build quality among the reasons to buy⁵.

What reviewers said

The Ikon collected a strong press verdict in Guitar.com's three-way comparison against the ThorpyFX Peacekeeper and Wampler Tumnus. Reviewer Chris Vinnicombe found it the best clean boost of the group, with a high-end character he described in appealing terms, and judged it delivered most of the Klon experience at a fraction of the price¹. The same review notes the Ikon is the sister pedal of the silver Archer, which won the effects section of 2015's Gear Of The Year¹.

In the same comparison, Guitar.com's verdict page carried the Ikon at £165 in December 2016, and a later Guitar.com listing showed it at £215 in June 2023¹¹⁸. Pedal of the Day's Mike B called it the affordable, space-saving answer for players chasing the Klon sound, and a later Guitar.com review named it "our favourite 'klone', that's become a fixture as a clean boost on this writer's 'board"⁹¹⁹. Delicious Audio also included it in Andertons' blindfolded top 10 ranking of 3-knob Klon-style pedals alongside the original Centaur²⁰.

Where it sits in the J. Rockett line

The Ikon is one branch of a family built around the same circuit. The original Archer arrived in 2014; the Ikon followed as the gold-voiced variant; the Archer Clean strips the circuit down to almost no gain, keeping the clean boost side and the Klon midrange; and the Archer Select, released in 2023, lets players cycle through different NOS germanium diodes to pick their preferred K-style sound⁵⁴²¹²². There is also the Rockaway Archer, a Klon-style transparent overdrive with an added six-band EQ²³.

Across the press coverage, the Ikon's recurring points are the germanium diodes and 18V charge pump of the original circuit, a smaller and cheaper package than a Centaur, and a clean boost with headroom that reviewers kept on their own boards²⁵⁶¹⁹.

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