#CoffeeAndKlon is my (irregular!) Sunday morning magazine series, where I talk about whatever’s on my mind right now. There’s always coffee, and there’s normally chat about the Klon and its many competitors.
I’ve had my RYRA The Klone pedal longer than this blog’s been going, so why haven’t I featured it at all until now? Why hasn’t it had the love from me that its fan base says it deserves?
And is that about to change? Can I learn to love my RYRA The Klone?
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Today’s Coffee
- What Is The RYRA Klone?
- How I Got Here
- My Rig Today
- The Obligatory, Necessary Caveats
- Use Case 1: Clean Boost For A Clean Strat
- Use Case 2: Stacking For Rhythm Tones
- Use Case 3: As An Overdrive Pedal
- Final Thoughts
Introduction
(Looks worriedly at the calendar…) I have a huge backlog of First Impressions blog posts that I need to finish and publish before the end of June. I really shouldn’t be looking at this until they’re done.
So why am I looking at this now?
Of all the Klon klones in my collection, this is the one where my early opinion of it is completely at odds with just about anyone else’s. That makes me think that I’ve made a bad mistake. It’s bugging me, and I just can’t let it go until I sit down and take another look at it with a fresh perspective.
But first, let’s talk coffee.
Today’s Coffee
At the moment, Kristi and I are working our way through a bag of Ueshima coffee beans.
They’re a Japanese brand that’s completely new to us. Our local supermarket suddenly started stocking them, so we thought we’d give them a try. I’m glad that we did.
I find this coffee to be very drinkable; very more-ish. I’ve already had two cups this morning, and am resisting the urge to have a third (a bad idea during this hot spell).
In that respect, I find it similar to (say) Lavazza Oro Gold, or Union Coffee’s Revolution blend. Not saying it tastes the same; more that it’s the kind of coffee that I could drink every day without once getting bored of it.
Definitely a step up over most chain-store coffees, which are just too bland and forgetful for us.
Oh, and it’s very affordable too. Right now, Ueshima coffee beans are very competitively priced against store brands and the big brands like Lavazza, and a good 33% cheaper than the cheapest boutique coffee brands.
We’ve had three bags of beans so far, and we’ll be buying more.
Now, let’s talk Klon, and my RYRA Klone.
What Is The RYRA Klone?
- “RYRA” is the manufacturing company (it’s short for Rock Your Repaired Amp).
- “The Klone” is the name of the pedal.
“The Klone” is a little grammatically awkward to keep referring to, so for most of this blog post you’ll see me lapsing into just calling it my RYRA Klone instead.
RYRA posted a demo on their YouTube channel by MikeHermans in March 2015:
I can’t find any earlier mentions of this pedal (and the pedal’s website seems to have gone live in March 2015 too), so I’m assuming that this is when it was first released.
This makes it older than the JRAD Archer pedals by a few months.
The RYRA Klone is still in production today. Remarkably, the price has gone down over the years too. Not only is the cash price less than I paid in 2017, but allowing for inflation it’s about 30% cheaper than it was when I bought mine.
So, if you like what you’re about to hear, it’s definitely a great time to get one.
How I Got Here
My History With The RYRA The Klone
I bought my RYRA Klone just before Christmas 2017, about two months before I started this blog. It was one of the first Klon klones that I ever bought. (I bought my Wampler Tumnus in 2015; I didn’t get my JRAD Archer and Archer Ikon until 2019).
According to this old Twitter thread, I found it a mixed bag. It didn’t work for me as a clean boost (too much low-end), and didn’t seem to like being stacked behind other pedals. I decided to keep it, because I liked what it did for rhythm tones.
The only time I’ve mentioned it on the blog was while writing about the MXR Sugar Drive. I said that it lacked dynamics, and that I found it surprisingly dark-sounding.
It’s spent the rest of its life unused and decidedly unloved in its box on my pedal shelf.
Most People Don’t Agree With Me
The RYRA Klone is one of the more well-loved Klon klones. In fact, I think it’s fair to describe the RYRA Klone as a beloved pedal.
Folks online seem to love it, and agree that it compares well against original Klon Centaurs. In a world where it’s notoriously difficult to get folks to agree on Klon klones, RYRA’s The Klone seems to be one of the very few that no-one has a bad thing to say about.
That’s been bothering me. They can’t all be wrong. I must be missing something.
Why Write About It Now?
I’d argue that RYRA’s The Klone has largely been under the radar for most of its lifetime. That seems to be changing.
It came out right at the start of guitar YouTube, when audiences were much smaller than today, and it wasn’t featured on any of the major channels at launch. It was very much an old school, word-of-mouth boutique pedal.
And then, just a few months later, JRAD came out with the Archer and Archer Ikon. The news around JRAD’s prior relationship with Bill Finnegan probably drowned out all other klones at the time (apart from the Soul Food, which I’ve never understood).
Over the last couple of years, though, I’ve started to notice a revival of interest in the RYRA Klone. And slowly but surely, there’s been a nagging voice in the back of my head that’s encouraging me to revisit my copy of the pedal to see if my early opinion was just plain wrong.
Especially as I can look at it from a different perspective this time around.
Why Did I Buy One?
I got my Klon KTR back in 2014, and it quickly became essential to me. I ran it in the classic clean boost config into my beloved Mad Professor Sweet Honey Overdrive (SHOD for short), and together they helped me finally stumble across the guitar tone I’d been searching for for decades.
Unfortunately, it was incredibly difficult to find another one at the time, especially here in the UK where (AFAIK) it’s never been a regular stock item in guitar stores.
That’s how I got interested in trying Klon klones.
Back then, I was looking for a drop-in replacement for my Klon KTR. I wanted something that could act as a backup in case anything happened to it. I wasn’t interested in klones that gave me options: if it couldn’t do what my Klon KTR did, then it wasn’t for me.
(Why do klones exist that can’t do the clean boost role right? 😠I need to dedicate a blog post to that topic one day!)
But why the RYRA Klone?
I don’t have any notes from 2017 to explain why I went for it over other options at the time. Maybe it was simply what was in stock at Andertons at the time? Maybe it was the unusual cherry colour? Maybe I fell for the marketing?
I’ve Since Come To See Most Klones For The Options They Offer
I did eventually find the Klon klone that allowed me to “retire” my Klon KTR: the Ceriatone Centura. To my ears, my Centura sounds identical to my mid-2014 Klon KTR. (I need to put this to the test with my circa-2025 signal chain this year, to see if that still holds up!)
With that problem solved, I started to look at other Klon klones in a different light, and finally learn to respect them for their differences.
Regular readers will have seen me mention a few of them from time to time:
- Wampler’s Tumnus Deluxe is one of my go-to tools for EQ-shaping my signal chain.
- JRAD’s Archer Ikon is my go-to klone when I want to use one as an overdrive pedal.
Will the RYRA Klone find its way onto this list? I want to find out.
My Rig Today
Today, I’m playing:
- several guitars
- into the Axe-FX 3 (mostly for the tuner)
- out to my pedalboard
- back into the Axe-FX 3 (for amp, cab, delay and reverb)
- out to my audio interface
- and into my DAW.
I’ve picked three guitars to help me explore my RYRA Klone:
- my PRS Silver Sky (circa 2022),
- my Fender 52 Reissue Telecaster (aka Jessie) (circa 2024), and
- my Gibson Les Paul CR8 58 Reissue (circa 2012/3) w/ Snakebite PAF-like humbuckers (aka GP)
My love affair with the Klon KTR started with me using it with a clean Strat. My PRS Silver Sky is my preferred Strat-like tone atm, so that’s my starting point. From there, I’ll get into what I do most these days: using my Klon KTR for low-gain rhythm tones with either a Telecaster or Les Paul.
On the pedalboard, I have:
- RYRA The Klone (circa 2017),
- Bill Finnegan’s Klon KTR (circa 2014), and
- One Control’s Honey Bee OD 4K Mini Standard (circa 2025).
All pedals are in separate loops of my trusty Gigrig G2, so that they are completely out of the signal path when they’re not being used. The Klon KTR’s buffer is (imho) a critical part of that pedal’s sound; I’m assuming that the RYRA Klone has a similar buffer in it.
The Axe-FX 3 is running two of my pedal platform presets: my 57 Vintage and 65 Modern presets. Both presets have recently been remastered to take advantage of the latest Axe-FX 3 modelling improvements. There’ll be a brief guest appearance from my 65 Nashville preset too (DRRI into a V30).
All the delay and reverb that you can hear on my audio demos are from my Axe-FX 3 patches. I’ve done no post-processing at all in my DAW. I will have level-matched the audio before publishing.
For some of the audio clips, I’m going to be using this signal chain:
- guitar
- into Axe-FX 3 (for the tuner)
- out to the pedalboard
- into the Imperial MKII Preamp Synergy module (circa 2025) (housed in a SYN-1 enclosure circa 2018)
- back into the Axe-FX 3 (for EQ, poweramp emulation, virtual cab, delay and reverb)
- out to my audio interface
- and into my DAW.
I’m using the Imperial MKII Preamp Synergy module’s rhythm channel (its clean channel) with an Axe-FX 3 preset that I made for it. The preset’s using official Celestion V30 impulse responses that I bought from Celestion back in 2018.
The Obligatory, Necessary Caveats
Before I share the audio (and my personal experience), I need to set out the limitations of any pedal demo / comparison / discussion.
RYRA’s The Klone is sold as a reproduction of the Klon Centaur. I can’t do that comparison: I don’t have access to a Klon Centaur. Instead, I’m using my Klon KTR. It’s still an official Klon, it’s just not the sought-after hand-wired one.
RYRA’s The Klone will only ever (deliberately!) sound identical to the specific Klon Centaur that RYRA based it on. That’s just the nature of parts tolerances. Some differences between the two pedals at the same settings are inevitable.
I’m comparing the two actual pedals that I own. One is over a decade old now, and the other is over seven years old. If you own either pedal, they probably sound a little different to mine. Same goes if you went out and bought a brand new one today.
The idea here isn’t to prove that they’re identical (or not) at every setting; it’s to see:
- if I can use them to do the same job, and/or
- if my RYRA Klone gives me options that my Klon KTR doesn’t.
Finally, human hearing is subjective. That’s why I publish the audio demos, so that you can listen for yourself and form your own opinion.
Use Case 1: Clean Boost For A Clean Strat
Introduction
My love affair with the Klon KTR started with clean Strat tones, so that’s where I’m starting today.
I’m using these settings on my Klon KTR:
- Gain just below 8 o’clock (NOT on zero)
- Treble around 1 o’clock
- Volume just above unity (just above 10 o’clock for me and my rig)
These are the exact same settings I’ve used for many years in my blog posts. As we’ll hear in a moment, those settings produce a different result on the RYRA Klone.
I’ve spent the last few days just going back and forth between my Klon KTR and my RYRA Klone. Here’s what I’m hearing.
The Top End Rounds Off If The Gain Isn’t On Zero
I’ve dialled in my RYRA Klone with the same Gain and Treble settings as I’m using with my Klon KTR. Volume is below 9 o’clock: to my ears, my RYRA Klone has a lot more output than my Klon KTR, and needs dialling back quite a bit to level-match.
Here’s how that sounds:
What I’m hearing is that my Klon KTR has retained the Silver Sky’s top-end, while my RYRA Klone has rolled that top-end off.
It seems to be caused by the Gain setting on my RYRA Klone. If I roll that back to zero (which is what RYRA themselves recommend), then all that top-end comes straight back.
The Gain control on a Klon (and on decent klones) is dual-function: it also acts as a dry-blend control. My guess here is that, on my RYRA Klone, the dry blend is being reduced faster than on my Klon KTR.
I also think it’s easier to hear on my RYRA Klone because it seems to be putting out a little more low-end than my Klon KTR does.
(For the rest of this section, I’m going to keep the gain on my RYRA Klone down at zero.)
Low-End Differences Are Rig-Dependent
While I can hear more low-end coming out of my RYRA Klone, I don’t think it matters in this clean tone, clean boost scenario.
First, let’s hear both pedals through my “65M 4 Most Guitars” scene on the Axe-FX 3. This preset has quite a wide output frequency range, shall we say.
To my ears, my RYRA Klone is producing more low-end than my Klon KTR is. In this signal chain, I think my Klon KTR sounds a lot nicer, as it cleans up the low-end and brings the guitar more forward.
Compare that to the first audio demos. They were recorded with my “65M Balanced” scene, which chases a more recording-friendly output frequency range.
I haven’t touched the settings on the pedals at all, and yet the deepest part of the low end from my RYRA Klone has gone. And I think it’s turned my RYRA Klone into a very interesting-sounding pedal.
Just to confirm, let’s jump over to my Imperial MKII Synergy preamp, and hear that the rig is having the same effect (it’s getting rid of that excess low-end from my RYRA Klone):
So, yeah, I think the rig plays a big part in whether or not my RYRA Klone puts out too much low end for clean Strat tones.
The Mid-Range EQ Is A Matter Of Personal Preference
My RYRA Klone sounds much fuller than my Klon KTR, even after the low-end has been tamed by the rest of my rig.
I’m hearing two things:
- my Klon KTR tightens up the low-mids, while my RYRA Klone does not (or, at least, nowhere near as much as my Klon KTR does), and
- my RYRA Klone is placing less emphasis on the upper-mids than my Klon KTR does.
These two could be related. I might be perceiving less upper-mids from my RYRA Klone because I’m hearing the extra low mids. But, equally, it might be that my Klon KTR has a bigger mid-range hump than my RYRA Klone does. Using just my ears, I can’t tell.
I find this easiest to hear if I run this into a Fender Deluxe Reverb model on the Axe-FX 3, using my 65 Nashville preset (DRRI into V30 cab). This combination seems to emphasise the gap in the mid-range that my Klon KTR creates, providing a good contrast with the fullness of my RYRA Klone:
Most of the time, I prefer the overall tone that I’m getting from my Klon KTR.
I’m biased through familiarity, and that bias is probably baked into my amp settings. I’ve been using my Klon KTR for over a decade now, and it’s one of the core tones that I’ve built my entire signal chain around.
There have been moments, though, when the fuller (fatter?) sound of my RYRA Klone has been exactly what I wanted to enjoy. Just playing alone at home, it’s a bigger sound that fills my ears more than my Klon KTR does.
I’ve found this especially true when starting from cold (ie with fresh ears). If I fire up my rig and go straight to my RYRA Klone, that bigger sound is very satisfying.
It also feels really good to play, because it seems to be more compressed.
(Slightly) Less Dynamics From My RYRA Klone?
While I was practicing for this blog post, I sometimes felt that the note attack from my RYRA Klone sounded a little plasticky. This is something that I haven’t been able to clearly capture in an audio demo.
That’s a characteristic that I’ve come to associate with signal compression. I don’t think it’s a bad sound, just that it’s a little “tell” to listen out for. (Listen out for it on YouTube pedal demos!)
I don’t feel that my RYRA Klone is heavily compressed; far from it. It’s just that I reckon that I can get a little more playing dynamics out of my Klon KTR. I imagine those differences would be more noticeable to a better player than me.
Personally, I prefer having the extra dynamics from my Klon KTR … most of the time. When strumming chords, there’s something very satisfying about the playing feel of my RYRA Klone.
My Conclusions
So what do I think about using my RYRA Klone for clean Strat tones?
If you’re someone who thinks the Klon signature EQ is a little too strong for your tastes, then I think the RYRA Klone is worth a look. You may also prefer the playing feel of the RYRA Klone.
Personally, I’m going to be sticking with my Klon KTR. This isn’t a use case where I’m after options: I want the exact thing that my Klon KTR does.
That doesn’t mean that my RYRA Klone is going back in its box just yet, though. There’s still a couple of other scenarios to explore …
Use Case 2: Stacking For Rhythm Tones
Introduction
Regular readers may recall that, the vast majority of the time, I’m using my Klon KTR as part of my preferred overdriven rhythm tone. I use it at the exact same settings as with my clean Strat:
- Gain just below 8 o’clock (NOT on zero)
- Treble around 1 o’clock
- Volume just above unity (just above 10 o’clock for me and my rig)
I’m a big fan of how it stops (some) overdrive pedals from being overloaded by low-end input, while cleaning out mud in the low mids and giving me a more vintage-vibe tone with the added emphasis on the upper mids.
From what I’ve already heard with the clean Strat, I’m not expecting my RYRA Klone to be able to do the exact same job: the EQ profile seems to be different. So what can it do?
My Klon KTR Stacked
To demonstrate that, I’m going to stack both my Klon KTR and my RYRA Klone into my One Control Honey Bee OD 4K Mini Standard (HBOD-4K-Mini-Standard for short – still a mouthful!).
Here’s how my Klon KTR sounds, when I use it as a clean boost in front of my HBOD-4K-Mini-Standard. I’m running the pedals into my 57 Vintage preset to bring out the full vintage tweed-tone of the HBOD.
Almost forgot: I’ve switched over to my Telecaster too.
I am very happy with that sound. If that’s the best I can ever get, I’d be okay with that.
Filling Out My Telecaster’s Mid-Range With My RYRA Klone
I’m a rhythm player who loves his Les Paul, and I would love it if my Telecaster could sound like a vintage-voiced Les Paul – only with more clarity and less power.
I’m in luck.
I can get partway there with my RYRA Klone just by sticking with the clean boost settings I was using for the clean Strat use case:
- Gain on minimum
- Treble around 1 o’clock
- Volume just above unity (just below 9 o’clock in my signal chain)
If I stack my RYRA Klone with my HBOD, I get this:
The top-end is a little more rounded, and there’s a lot more fullness in the lower-mids. I think this leans into the tweed-tone character of this particular Honey Bee OD quite nicely.
Does it hit the mark? Does it give me that Les Paul character? Not yet. But all I have to do is turn up the Gain on my RYRA Klone to above 8 o’clock, and I’m there.
Going For A Smooth Rhythm Tone With My Telecaster
Sticking with my Telecaster for a moment …
Sometimes, I want to dial in a rhythm guitar tone that (for lack of a better description) almost fades away into the background. It doesn’t stand out, it doesn’t demand the listener’s attention. I can achieve that that using my RYRA Klone.
How? Remember how my RYRA Klone’s Gain control reduces the amount of dry signal in the mix? All I have to do is turn that Gain control up to taste (anywhere from 8 o’clock to above 10 o’clock):
This smooths out the overall tone at the cost of a bit of clarity. And, to my ears, it now has a bit of that vintage-voiced Les Paul character that I’m interested in.
This is something that I can’t easily do with my Klon KTR. If I turn up the Gain control to match (and leave everything else the same), I get quite a harsh tone:
There’s a few things going on here:
- Turning up the Gain control on my Klon KTR also increases the amount of signal coming out of my Klon KTR.
- My HBOD has a lot of input headroom, so it isn’t yet able to compress the top-end coming from my Klon KTR. We need that signal compression to kick in to smooth out the top-end.
The harshness is from the HBOD, because I’m pushing it in a way that doesn’t suit this circuit. (I’ve had similar experiences with other HBOD pedals in the past.)
The fault is mine, not either pedals‘.
I’m (deliberately) using a poor choice of settings on my Klon KTR for this function, to demonstrate how my RYRA Klone gives me a different option.
Making My Les Paul Bark
Switching over to my Les Paul, my needs are completely different to when I’m using my Telecaster. To demonstrate what I mean, here’s my Les Paul straight into the HBOD:
I’m playing with the pickup selector in the middle position. This sends a lot of low-end into the HBOD, and that causes it to kinda fuzz out, just like old tweed amps can do. There isn’t a lot of note attack at all, and this causes the notes to sometimes lack definition and sound like they’re a bit smeared.
Over the last nine months or so (ever since I started getting these tones from my DanDrive Tweedy 5B3), I’ve really started to get into this blown-out tweed sound. Expect a deeper dive into it in a future blog post.
When I want a bit more note clarity, that’s where my Klon KTR shines:
I can also get more note clarity by using my RYRA Klone instead, by taking advantage of the taper on that Gain pot. With the Gain on zero, it’s helping a bit:
but the HBOD still fuzzing out too much to give a lot of note clarity. However, if I turn the Gain control up on my RYRA Klone to around 8 o’clock, this happens:
Now I’ve got note clarity and quite a full and balanced mid-range. I’d describe this as a “barking” or “growling” kind of tone.
I don’t know how to get this sound using my Klon KTR. At these lower-gain settings, the EQ on my Klon KTR isn’t the same as on my RYRA Klone. I would probably have to adjust the controls on the Honey Bee too, which might not be what I want.
So here, my RYRA Klone is giving me a new option.
I Can’t Reliably Replicate Any Differences In Playing Dynamics
When I was practicing for this blog post, I thought that I could hear clear differences in the playing dynamics between the two pedals. I was very confident that my RYRA Klone had less playing dynamics than my Klon KTR does.
Now that I’ve sat down to record the audio, any differences that were there have gone.
- Maybe I haven’t quite dialled in the pedals the same this time around.
- Maybe I simply imagined it.
I suspect there’s a couple of things going on here.
First off, I’ve spent countless hours playing through my Klon KTR over the last 11 years. I’m incredibly used to that pedal. Anything else is going to feel different to me. Heck, if I picked up a second Klon KTR tomorrow, I bet even that would feel different, just because of how familiar I am with my Klon KTR.
Secondly, because I can’t use my Klon KTR and RYRA Klone at the exact same settings, some of my perceived dynamic differences are probably just down to the different amounts of dry signal blend in the output.
Either way, there’s no audible difference in the playing dynamics in the recorded audio.
My Conclusions
When I stack my RYRA Klone into my HBOD, it’s giving me options. And these are options that I can see myself wanting to use.
With the Telecaster, stacking my RYKA Klone gives me a fade-into-the-background type of rhythm tone that really intrigues me. And with the Les Paul, I’m getting a more mid-focused rhythm tone that feels like it’s got the potential to demand a bit more of the listener’s attention (in a good way).
My RYRA Klone does not have less playing dynamics than my Klon KTR. At least, none that I can demonstrate in recorded audio.
Use Case 3: As An Overdrive Pedal
Introduction
Some pedals – like my Lovepedal Les Lius – seem to work best as “character” pedals: last pedal on the pedalboard, shaping the tone but not being the main source of dirt. In those situations, I often stick my JRAD Archer Ikon and use it more like an overdrive rather than as a classic clean boost.
There’s a couple of ways to use a Klon or klone as an outright overdrive pedal:
- to overdrive an amp that’s already a little dirty, or
- as the main source of dirt
Earlier on, I mentioned that I wasn’t using my Klon KTR sensibly when I started turning up the gain? That’s because, as the pedal moves away from the clean boost settings, it’s a good idea to turn down that Treble control to compensate.
I’ll get to that in a moment. First, I want to give John Mayer’s Klon settings a go.
Forcing My Main Pedal To Overdrive: John Mayer Settings
According to photos on the Internet, John Mayer has his Klon setup like this:
- Gain around 11 o’clock
- Treble just below 2 o’clock
- Volume up above 10 o’clock
These settings seem to be designed to turn the Klon into a pedal that starts to slam the input of whatever comes next in the signal chain, to force it into overdrive.
I’m still on my Les Paul, still in the middle pickup position, and still using my 57 Vintage pedal platform preset. Here’s how both pedals sound on their own:
and here’s how both pedals sound when stacked into my Honey Bee OD 4K Mini Standard:
Note how neither pedal is a primary source of dirt there; they just have a bit of grit to them. And yet, they’re both driving my HBOD into overdrive. Lots and lots of overdrive.
That’s far too much overdrive for me. Let’s dial it back a bit, and explore my preferred sweet spot.
Forcing My Main Pedal To Overdrive: My Archer Ikon Settings
When I’m using my Archer Ikon to achieve the same thing, I tend to put everything at halfway between 9 o’clock and 12 o’clock.
What do these settings sound like with both my Klon KTR and my RYRA Klone? (Just with one tweak: I’ve turned the Volume up to around 12 o’clock on both pedals.)
Now that is interesting. There is almost no difference in tone between these two setups. What differences there are disappear after going back and forth a half-dozen times or so, due to ear fatigue.
I still prefer a lower amount of dirt though.
If I switch back to my Telecaster and drop the Volume control on both my Klon KTR and RYRA Klone to halfway between 9 o’clock and 12 o’clock, I’m back at the right amount of dirt for me.
Tone-wise, there’s still not much in it. The extra output from my RYRA Klone is driving the HBOD harder, and that’s making it very difficult to hear meaningful differences. I’m really not sure I could pick out which pedal was which in a blind test.
Just goes to show: higher gain really is the great (tonal) equaliser.
As The Main Source Of Dirt
The Klon is most famous for being used as a boost and general tone-enhancer. But it can be used as a source of overdrive into a clean signal chain. (The circuit itself is hard-clipping. Does that technically make it a distortion pedal?)
The late Jeff Beck used his like this, with these settings:
- Gain halfway between 12 o’clock and 3 o’clock,
- Treble up at around 12 o’clock,
- Volume halfway between 9 o’clock and 12 o’clock.
While trying these settings, it was really clear just how interactive the Gain and Treble controls are. Jeff Beck used a Strat, while I’m playing a Les Paul (which is a darker-sounding guitar). So I prefer to push the Gain controls up above 2 o’clock to add in more treble. I think that works better than turning up the Treble control in this scenario.
Here’s how both pedals sound straight into a clean amp (my 57 Vintage preset in the Axe-FX 3).
If nothing else, those audio demos really bring out the tonal differences between the two pedals at similar settings!
Neither of those tones do anything for me, not with this preset. My preset is just far too clean for this to work. It needs something to add a bit more character to the signal chain.
That’s exactly what the Honey Bee OD excels at. All I need to do is to increase the headroom on the HBOD by rolling back its Gain control to around 12 o’clock, so that it isn’t overdriving on its own.
I’ve also turned up the Bass control on my virtual amp, to fill out the low-end, and I’ve turned my Les Paul’s bridge pickup volume down from 9 to 8 (my neck pickup volume is still on 4).
Once again, these two pedals are very close. There’s a bit more top-end from my Klon KTR; a little more low-end from my RYRA Klone and a little more mid-range snarl.
I doubt I’d be able to tell them apart in a professional mix, unless they were used like this for featured parts.
My Conclusions
As the gain goes up, the differences between my Klon KTR and RYRA Klone matter less and less.
That’s not to say that they sound the same. In isolation, they don’t. But those differences have less and less impact on the overall tone when I’m using my Klon KTR or RYRA Klone as the main source (or cause) of clipping.
I doubt that I could tell either of these pedals apart in a mix.
Final Thoughts
I’ve missed doing these deeper dives into a pedal. I find that it’s a great way for me to learn what a pedal has to offer. At 29 audio demos, this might be my longest one yet.
I opened this blog post with the question: can I learn to love my RYRA Klone? That depends on what I’m trying to do.
- If I’m going for a totally clean signal chain, my RYRA Klone isn’t as useful as my Klon KTR. I prefer the EQ-shaping that my Klon KTR does.
- I really like how my RYRA Klone can fill out the mid-range for rhythm tones. The sweet spot there seems to be with the gain between 9 o’clock and 11 o’clock, depending on the guitar and the tone I’m going for. That’s something I never use my Klon KTR for.
- I also like how differently it worked with my Telecaster versus my Les Paul. That’s something I want to explore further in the future.
I have a strong bias towards my Klon KTR simply because I’ve been using one for the past 11 years now. It has shaped my playing and the tones that I dial in. In a side-by-side comparison, any klone is going to have to sound 11/10 to be better than my Klon KTR.
My RYRA Klone isn’t a better Klon KTR; it’s a different tool. And I’m okay with that. It gives me new options for rhythm tones.
It’ll be spending more time on my pedalboard in the future.