This conversation was originally posted to my Twitter feed.
Good morning! For this week’s #CoffeeAndKlon, I’m going to talk about using a Klone as your main drive pedal. It’s something that comes up regularly on Wampler’s Facebook group.
Why does it come up there?
- it’s a group that’s very friendly to new players
- Wampler’s Tumnus is popular as a main drive pedal
I’m sure that there are folks out there using Klon Centaurs and KTRs as their main overdrive pedal. Maybe it is more popular than using it as a clean boost in front of pedals or a dirty amp? I wouldn’t know.
I think there’s a specific reason why the Tumnus has found an audience as a main overdrive pedal. It puts out a lot more low-end than my KTR.
To test this, I’m running it into the Boss Katana. Turns out the Katana’s clean channel is very useful for testing pedals. It doesn’t give the pedal any extra help, and any loss of bass or presence comes across very obviously.
And I’m playing the new Tele I bought yesterday. Partly because I’m still really enjoying it. Mostly because it puts out quite a bit of low-end too. Will the Tumnus turn that tone into mud?
No … not at all 🙂
For playing at home, the extra low-end actually sounds really nice. It makes the middle position on this Tele a lot of fun to play with.
That extra low-end doesn’t suit everything though.
If I switch over to a Strat (which has a lot less mid-range output than the Tele), it doesn’t work for me. The Strat sounds a little muffled, and borderline muddy. The mids aren’t strong enough to dominate the tone.
It also highlights a big difference between the kind of tone we love for #HomeTone, compared to what a professional musician would go for.
For #HomeTone, we like signals that have plenty of lows and highs – because it’s just us, and we’re right next to the speaker cab.
In a recording or a live band, those wider frequencies cause a guitar to get lost in the mix. I wonder how the Tumnus would fare in a full band?
If you’ve tried that, I’d love to know what happened, and how you got on. I’d love to learn from you 🙂
Can other klones be used as main drive pedals? If you’ve done that, let me know 🙂
Have a great day, and head on over to the http://hometoneblog.com for more #HomeTone discussion!