The Centaur is also a good deal more versatile than other overdrives. Each of its
three controls - Gain, Treble, Output - has a very broad range, and this makes the unit
capable of providing a variety of overdriven sounds with almost any guitar and amp;
even the signal from very-low-output pickups, such as Gretsch Filtertrons or Danelectro
"lipstick" pickups, can be beefed up effectively. The Gain control, in a unique approach
to an age-old problem with overdrives and distortion pedals, is a dual-ganged pot -
two pots on one shaft. The first pot controls the amount of gain and distortion in the
main gain stage, just as in any overdrive; the second pot, however, controls an entirely
different part of the circuit, a part that optimizes the circuit's overall tonal response for
whatever the main gainstage is generating in the way of level and distortion. This means
that the Centaur, unlike other overdrives, doesn't limit you to a "sweet spot" distortion
setting, one setting or a narrow range of settings that sound good with a particular guitar
and amp. With the Centaur, the entire range of the control is usable, and your Strat,
for example, will always sound like your Strat, as opposed to another Strat or any Strat,
no matter how much or how little distortion you want from the unit.

      If you want no distortion at all, the Centaur has an operating mode that certain of
my competitors have tried to imitate: clean-boost mode. At the minimum Gain setting,
the circuit is in this mode and has enormous headroom - it won't clip even if you have
high-output pickups and are really bearing down on the guitar. With the Treble control
at noon, you have exactly the same frequency and harmonic response coming out of
the unit as went in, with all the subtleties of your original sound intact. You then simply
use the Output control to determine how hard you want to hit the first preamp tube
in your amp with the boosted signal. Clean-boost essentially gives you an instant
same-pickups-but-hotter capability, a fuller, rounder, slightly more saturated version
of the sound you started with, and is perfect for players looking for singing sustain or
for a sound onstage that's a little more "out front" but not necessarily more aggressive.
The transparency of the Centaur's clean-boost mode is such that Ken Fischer, in evaluating it,
wrote "If you like the tone of your guitar and amp just the way they are, but wish for
more of the same, pumped up and more muscular, then the Centaur rates an A+ grade."
This transparency did not just happen: it took almost a year of hard work before I was
satisfied with the results, an amount of time and effort that, judging from their results,
my competitors did not put in.

      The Centaur was specifically designed for use with vintage guitars and amps and with
high-end modern guitars and amps, tools that players will pay dearly for simply because
they deliver the goods. The better the guitar and amp it's used with, the more the Centaur
will be able to show you, but it's not just for those of us with deep pockets - I get a lot of
satisfaction out of hearing from players who tell me what it's done for their good-but-
not-too-expensive rigs. The unit also does a nice job of making small amps sound bigger
than they are - it can turn a good Princeton or Deluxe into a very serviceable gigging amp
in many clubs, or into a killer recording amp that experienced players, hearing what's on
the tape, are likely to guess is something considerably heftier. Recording engineers take note:
this thing projects, and with the right ambient miking, you can get some pretty astounding results.

       As befits its sonic qualities, the Centaur is built like a tank: its enclosure is a custom
aluminum casting, and all its parts are the best that money can buy - Carling double-pole/
double-throw footswitch, Switchcraft jacks, CTS pots, precision resistors and capacitors
for tonal consistency from unit to unit, ultra-high-quality circuit boards with plated-through
component holes. The units are made one at a time, by hand, by the designer (myself), and
things will always be done this way - it's not possible to make something like the Centaur
any other way. Each unit is extensively tested before shipment, and comes with a ten year
warranty to the original owner covering everything except modification or abuse. As of
this writing, eight units of the approximately 4000 sold have failed, and I suspect that at least
four of those failures were attributable to the use of incorrect outboard power.

       For those who care about such things, the unit is a looker as well as a player: the casting
has a sculptural aspect, a very distinctive shape that's accentuated by both of the available
finishes, an anodized gold finish, and a burnished silver finish which makes the casting
look like a hunk of solid sterling. Dark red knobs and matching screenprinted graphics
(black screenprinting on the silver-finish units) are the finishing touches.

       As you might expect, the Centaur is both expensive and always backordered: it costs $279
plus shipping, and you will want to check current turnaround by calling or emailing Klon. As I am
not set up for credit cards, payment needs to be in the form of a check or money order, and there is
a two-day approval period so that you can satisfy yourself, with your own guitars and amps, that
the unit will do the job for you. If for any reason you don't think so, simply call within two days
of receiving it to let me know you'd like to return it, and then send it back for a full refund,
minus shipping. As of this writing, eleven units of the approximately 4000 sold have been returned.

      The texts of the seven published Centaur reviews in English to date - Ken Fischer's in
Vintage Guitar (the July 1995 issue), Pete Prown's in Guitar Shop (the April 1996 issue),
Joe Gore's in Guitar Player (the June 1996 issue), Ray Matuza's in 20th Century Guitar
(the August 1996 issue), Chris Gill's in Guitar World (the October 1996 issue), Bob Margolin's
in Blues Review (the June/July 1997 issue), and David Wilson's (presumably) in The ToneQuest
Report (the June 2000 issue) - are available elsewhere on this site; click on "Magazine Reviews"
below to read them. At any given time, there are also a number of reviews posted by Centaur
owners on various websites, most notably on the Harmony Central site (www.harmony-
central.com) - many of these are by experienced, perceptive players, and provide thorough,
real-world assessments of the unit's capabilities; click on "Owner Reviews" below to read them.
Lastly, I am often available to answer specific questions about the Centaur on the phone;
click on "Contact/Ordering" below for the number.