The Mad Pedals Psyger Drive is an overdrive pedal built on the circuit of the Klon Centaur, the legendary overdrive that has inspired a whole family of Klon-alike pedals. Pedal of the Day's reviewer heard it as "very Centaur-like with its overdrive, being very creamy and harmonically rich," while also finding that "it really has a mind of its own," calling the pedal "basically a 'Klon on steroids'."1
Where it comes from
The Klon Centaur, made by Klon, is an overdrive pedal that Analog Man's Mike describes as "a legendary overdrive pedal,"2 and Guitar World has called "The legendary Klon Centaur overdrive pedal."3 When Bill Finnegan began selling the original again, gearnews.com's Jef Stone noted of the copies that appeared in the meantime: "They were all variations on Bill's original Klon Siberia design."4 The Psyger Drive belongs to that family of Centaur-based designs, and Pedal of the Day reviewed it in September 2014.234
Controls
The pedal carries three knobs across its top, and the reviewer's findings differ from the claimed layout in an interesting way1.
| Knob | Claimed position | What the reviewer found |
|---|---|---|
| Tone | Upper left | All the way off cuts some low end and high end, creating a subtle mid boost type drive; at 12 o'clock the guitar's true tone is represented well1 |
| Gain | Middle | Useful to toggle clean (all the way off) and dirty (5 o'clock)1 |
| Volume | Upper right | Acts like an output knob; at about 2 o'clock is unity gain, any further is a boost1 |
"The top knobs from left to right are claimed to be tone on left, Volume on right with gain in the middle."
The reviewer found that both top knobs affect tone and volume, each with its own unique characteristics, so the pedal behaves differently from the labeled layout suggests. In practice that means setting the volume around 2 o'clock for unity gain with your clean tone, then using the gain knob to move from clean to dirty and the tone knob to shape how much top and bottom end survives.1
Enclosure
Each Psyger Drive leaves the shop with a custom shop, one of one style paint job, finished with a clear lacquer to seal the color.1 That makes every unit visually distinct, in the same spirit as other Mad Pedals releases such as the Mad Pedals Panda Drive and the Mad Pedals Fort Knox Solid Gold Standard Overdrive.
Videos
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Questions
Is the Mad Pedals Psyger Drive a Klon Centaur clone?
The Psyger Drive is based on the Klon Centaur circuit. Pedal of the Day's reviewer called it very Centaur-like and described the pedal as basically a Klon on steroids, while noting it has a mind of its own. The Centaur itself is a legendary overdrive designed by Klon, and many makers have built variations on that original design, of which the Psyger Drive is one.
What does the tone knob do on the Psyger Drive?
The tone knob sits on the upper left. All the way off, it cuts some low end and high end, creating a subtle mid-boosted type of drive. At 12 o'clock, the reviewer found the guitar's true tone is represented well.
Where is unity gain on the Psyger Drive volume knob?
The volume knob acts like an output level control. Pedal of the Day's reviewer found unity gain at about 2 o'clock on the dial; turned any further, the pedal works as a boost.
Can the Psyger Drive be set to a clean sound?
Yes. The gain knob in the middle of the pedal runs from clean with it all the way off to dirty at 5 o'clock, so a player can dial in anything from an untouched signal to a full overdrive.
Does the Psyger Drive have a different knob layout than claimed?
The top knobs are claimed to be tone on the left and volume on the right, with gain in the middle. The reviewer found that both top knobs affect tone and volume, each with its own unique characteristics, so the layout behaves differently from how it is described.
Sources (4)
- Mad Pedals Psyger Drive, Pedal of the Day, 2014-09-13
- Analog Man KLONE mods, Analog Man (analogman.com), 2025
- The Klon Centaur is Back, Guitar World, 2019-02-14
- Bill Finnegan is selling the original Klon Centaur Overdrive again!, gearnews.com, 2019-02-13
