The Klon Centaur was a boutique overdrive/boost pedal hand-made by a guy named Bill Finnegan that first appeared in 1994, I think. The circuit design is quite unique compared to most overdrives, and the pedal has a fairly distinctive smooth overdriven tone. The Klon was reputedly equally effective as an overdrive or (with the gain control turned down) as a clean boost. It quickly established a reputation as a very well made and extremely good sounding pedal, and the waiting list grew long and the price rose.
When he was making them, they sold for about $400, I think. He ceased production in December 2009; I'm not aware of the reason why. Anyway, between the reputation it had established and the lack of supply of new ones, the price on used Klons started going up....and up....and UP! It's a good sounding pedal, but only a fool or a rich man would pay $1000+ for one.
Yes, you can get a good Klon clone (widely known as a Klone, ha-ha). I recently built one myself from a new PCB available from GuitarPCB.com, called the MKC-1 Mini-Klon. You can see a couple of photos in THIS POST on the BYOC forums. Coincidentally, I recently posted here on behalf of a fellow moderator over at the BYOC forums who was looking to sell one of those clones. You could have gotten it for a mere $80:
Robert, I could put you in touch with him if you're interested in buying one. I'm pretty sure he's still making them to order, but I'm guessing that it would run a bit more than $80....
DVM's Ever-Expanding Gear List:
Guitars - W-A-A-A-Y-Y too many to list. Check 'em all out HERE
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