Tone City Bad Horse

The Tone City Bad Horse is a mini overdrive pedal in a small yellow enclosure, built around the sound of the Klon Centaur. Tone City describes it as "an amazing overdrive pedal with giving you a sweet creamy tone," and says the pedal is designed to change what players expect from mini pedals¹. The current Version 2025 upgraded the internal boost circuit and adjusted the tone, which the maker calls much better than before¹.

The circuit mixes clean signal with the drive path, and Tone City says that thanks to this clean-drive mix circuit and what it calls a germinated diode, the sound stays clear even when you increase the gain¹. Pedal of the Day's reviewer found the same, reporting that the v2025 "has enough grit to take you into a medium-gain crunch on its own" and that the controls are usable at almost any setting from 0 to 10².

A Klon-style overdrive with its own direction

Tone City is direct about where the Bad Horse comes from. On its product page the maker says the Klon tone has long been sought after, and that as a professional analog effects design brand the company respects the classic legendary sound while also trying to release tones with their own character, with the Bad Horse being one of the representatives of that approach³.

That places it among the Klon-style pedals rather than as a straight copy. In 2021, Andertons ran a blindfolded challenge ranking ten 3-knob Klon-style pedals, including the original Klon Centaur, and the Bad Horse was in that field⁵. Delicious Audio's later buying guide describes it as "this incredibly affordable three-knob Chinese pedal" that "delivers an acceptable Klon tone and gets remarkable reviews for it from buyers (4.6 stars out of 5)"⁴.

Clean boost and drive

The Bad Horse covers both sides of the boost-and-drive divide. Tone City says that when you set it as a clean boost, it preserves the character of your guitar and amplifier³. Pedal of the Day's reviewer put it the same way, finding that the clean boost mode "can assist the character of your guitar and amplifier," and that the sound stays clear even when you increase the gain².

For players comparing it against a dedicated boost pedal, the difference is that the Bad Horse also carries its own drive: the v2025 reaches a medium-gain crunch on its own, so one mini box can push an amp clean or provide the crunch itself².

What changed in the v2025

The Version 2025 upgraded the internal boost circuit and adjusted the tone, which Tone City and Pedal of the Day both describe as much better¹². Tone City also calls the v2025 "a perfect match for the single-coil neck pickup"¹². The mini format, yellow finish and three-knob control set carry over from the earlier version.

Power and connections

The Bad Horse runs on a DC 9V adapter only, drawing 10mA, and Tone City suggests its TPS series independent pedal power supply¹. There is no battery option, so the pedal needs a spot on a pedalboard power supply or a dedicated adapter. Bypass is true bypass, so the signal passes untouched with the pedal off¹.

What reviewers said

Pedal of the Day reviewed the v2025 in October 2025 and called it "an amazing overdrive pedal that gives you a sweet creamy tone," concluding it is an amazing choice for a mini super-sweet overdrive overall, with controls usable at almost any setting from 0 to 10². The reviewer also noted the v2025 is available from Osiamo Music Gear². Delicious Audio's June 2026 buying guide listed it at $54 and noted its popularity and buyer rating on Amazon⁴.

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