The Tone Bakery Creme Brulee is an overdrive pedal built as an affordable take on the Klon Centaur circuit. Premier Guitar's review describes it plainly: "Tone Bakery's Creme Brulee doesn't promise anything apart from being an affordable Klon alternative"1. It sits in the same family as other overdrive pedals that follow the Klon recipe, and it is priced to match: Delicious Audio's Klon clone roundup lists it at $99 and calls it "a standout budget choice"2.
What the pedal does to a signal is the classic Klon trick: it adds drive on top of what the amp is already doing rather than replacing it. Premier Guitar's reviewer summed it up as "a fat, full, and natural-sounding overdrive," with what the review calls "a riot of gritty colors at a very reasonable price"1.
The controls and build
The control layout is simple, matching the Klon template Guitar World describes as "its similar knob setup of Gain, Treble and Level"3.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Gain | Sets the amount of overdrive3 |
| Treble | Shapes the top end |
| Level | Sets the output volume |
The three knobs are aligned along the pedal's length, with an offset footswitch, a layout Premier Guitar notes hints at the Klon lineage1. Power comes from either a 9-volt battery or an external power supply3.
On build quality, Premier Guitar found that the cost-saving measures, such as board-mounted jacks and an upside-down printed circuit board concealed under goop, are what let Tone Bakery get below the $100 mark, but that the economical construction has little adverse effect on the pedal's sturdy, solid feel, with knobs that turn with satisfying resistance and stay in place1. Guitar World's reviewer noted that the supplied rubber feet kept the pedal from sliding around on a pedalboard3.
"the unit can be a bit microphonic and susceptible to switching noise and bumps at high-gain settings, suggesting it could use a little extra shielding somewhere in the circuit."
That noise observation is the main caveat in the published reviews: it applies at high-gain settings, and players running the pedal as a light to medium drive are the use case both reviews describe1.
How it compares
As a Klon-style overdrive, the Creme Brulee differs from the Klon Centaur itself chiefly in price and construction: Premier Guitar reviewed it specifically as an affordable alternative and compared it directly against the original1. Against more conventional drives such as those in the Boss SD-1 vs Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer comparison, the difference is the Klon approach of stacking gain and dimension on an already-driven amp, which is the character Premier Guitar describes as fat, full and natural-sounding1. One practical difference from many drives: the buffered bypass3, which keeps a buffer in the chain whether the pedal is on or off.
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Questions
Is the Tone Bakery Creme Brulee a Klon clone?
Yes. Premier Guitar's review describes the Creme Brulee as a Klon clone, and the publication frames the pedal as an affordable alternative to the Klon Centaur rather than a copy that promises anything more. It follows the same broad recipe: a gain stage with treble and level controls that stacks over the top of an already-driven amp.
Does the Creme Brulee take a 9-volt battery?
Yes. Guitar World's review lists the power options as either a 9-volt battery or an external power supply, so a battery will run the pedal if you would rather not use a supply.
Is the Tone Bakery Creme Brulee true bypass?
No. Guitar World's review states that the Creme Brulee offers buffered bypass, meaning a buffer stays in the circuit when the pedal is off. That can help drive long cable runs, but players who want a completely untouched signal path when the pedal is off should know it is not true bypass.
Is the Creme Brulee noisy at high gain?
Premier Guitar's reviewer found that at high-gain settings the unit can be a bit microphonic and susceptible to switching noise and bumps, and suggested it could use extra shielding. At more moderate gain settings that was not raised as an issue.
Sources (3)
- Tone Bakery Creme Brulee Review, Premier Guitar, 2015-02-05
- The Klon Centaur Pedal And The Best Klon Clones In 2026: A Buyer's Guide, Delicious Audio, 2026-06-17
- Gear Review: Tone Bakery Creme Brulee Boost/Overdrive Pedal, Guitar World, 2014-05-30
