JC Audio Klone Drive

The JC Audio Klone Drive is a guitar overdrive pedal from JC Audio, built on the circuit of the Klon Centaur Professional Overdrive. Pedal of the Day reviewed it in March 2015 as the Klone Overdrive, one of what the reviewer called "many, many clones being produced that have generally the same circuit layout and sound" as the Klon¹. The original Centaur has a reputation as "the transparent overdrive that sells for thousands used"², which is why clones like this one draw attention.

What it does

The Klone Drive follows the Klon's approach to overdrive. Writing about the original circuit, Donner Rusk and Nathan Condon put it plainly: "the Klon is made to drive your amp to distort - where the CF will make that sound itself."⁴ In other words, the pedal pushes an amplifier into its own breakup rather than generating heavy distortion internally.

Pedal of the Day's reviewer, Mike B, found the same character in the JC Audio version¹:

He also noted that there is "a good amount of output, too, plenty to drive your amp to that delicious Klon-type boost/drive"¹. Players looking for how this compares with other low-gain drives can see the type laid out on Overdrive Pedals or read a comparison of two other classics in Boss SD-1 vs Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer.

Controls and switching

The review describes Gain, Treble and Output controls, true bypass, and relay switching¹. Mike B highlighted the switching as "fast relay silent switching"¹, a detail that matters on a pedal often used as an always-on boost or tone enhancer.

Looks and price

Mike B wrote that the pedal "looks remarkably similar to a [Klon], minus the words printed on the enclosure. Even the knobs are the same"¹. On price, he credited JC Audio with "making remarkable pedals reminiscent of the Klon for a 1/10 of the price" of an original¹, as of the March 2015 review.

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