The vintage-style gear specialists dive into the legacy of two classic drive pedals.
The Warm Audio Centavo is an accurate recreation of the most sought-after overdrive pedal of the 90's and beyond. Whether you're after the fabled clean boost tones, transparent overdrive, or you want to push your dirty channels to true grit, the Centavo has all of the adored tones of the vintage box. In addition, the Warm Audio Centavo has the infamous "MOD" selectable on the back. When in the "up" position, low-end response on the bottom strings is extended. With a true-to-original, custom-cast golden enclosure & all the signature sounds of the original, Centavo delivers an authentically legendary pedal experience.
The Warmdrive is a true reproduction of a highly revered pedal known for delivering the tones of an unattainable overdriven amp. The original pedal is known to go from silky-smooth tones reminiscent of a special overdriven amp at the sweet spot, all the way to sustain-rich distortion. The Warmdrive combines carefully-selected components & true-to-original circuit design to achieve the same tone and sonic profile of the legendary pedal. The "secret sauce" of the Warmdrive, just like the original, is the unique voice/tone control combination on the stomp box. Giving artists extra versatility, this control allows the player to modify the frequency both before (Voice control) and after (Tone control) the clipping stages.
(Info courtesy of Warm Audio's website.)
PRSā first foray into stompboxes yields sonic gold.
Inside each box containing a brand new PRS pedal, thereās a little fold-out card with a picture of Paul Reed Smith and a simple caption: āI hate pedals.ā Itās not hard to imagine Smithās indifference to stompboxes. PRS guitars are immaculately executed, ultra-playable instruments that reflect a focus on elemental interactions between fingers, strings, and fretboard. Indeed, for much of Paul Reed Smithās career, stompboxes were probably held in the same regard as a broken toasterāa needless impediment to the communication of unadulterated tone.
Certainly, there is a visceral thrill to playing a guitar without effectsāparticularly one as nice as the average PRS. But while thatās true, stompboxes are, to many musicians, equally artful and thrilling vehicles of expression. And more than a few pedals have done their magic with a PRS guitar at the other end of a cable.
PRSā three debut pedalsāan optical compressor, overdrive, and dual flangerādo not feel like willy-nilly concessions to market pressures. In fact, in keeping with PRS tradition and ethos, these pedals seem selected and designed to offer minimal intrusion on the guitar/amp relationship if the player chooses that route. But they also have the bandwidth to be bold and even positively extroverted. Unsurprisingly, they are also built to a very high standard of quality and reflect an intense attention to detail.
Read the reviews of each pedal here.
Can a bona fide funk guru help design a better Klone?
Wide range of gain. Very useful EQ.
Doesnāt do the Klon clean boost as well as original.
$349
Jackson Audio The Optimist
jackson.audio
Jackson Audioās pedal collaboration with modern funk hero Cory Wong could have taken a few different paths. Considering Wongās style, a compressor would have been an obvious choice. Instead, the Optimist is a dual overdrive that builds on a Klon-inspired baseline, adds a second overdrive, and has a clever EQ to create a super-flexible overdrive. Named after Wongās second album, The Optimist suits Wongās exuberant and fun-loving personality. But it also describes the way you might approach a gig with this pedal in hand. Together, the two separate overdrives and active EQ give you enough tones to cover almost any gig this side of Slayer cover band.
Attacking the Klones
Jackson Audioās pedals are always practical, and The Optimist is especially so. Each overdrive circuit has dedicated volume, tone, and gain knobs. Just beneath those are a trio of tiny EQ controls that illuminate when you hit both switches at once. And because the EQ can be used independently, you actually get three stomps in one. Thatās impressive given The Optimistās small size.
Modeling a circuit based on the Klon Centaur is nothing new. But Jackson Audio added enough tone-shaping control to make the Klon-inspired OD1 side of The Optimist more versatile than the average klone. Without an original Centaur on hand, I used Electro-Harmonix Soul Food as a baseline, which I used with a Schroeder Chopper TL, Fender Player Jaguar, and a Fender HSS Stratocaster plugged into a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.
Some Klon users like that pedalās mid-heavy, medium-gain grind. Others prefer to use it as a robust clean boost. I found that the Klon-inspired side of The Optimist is most oriented toward the first application. With the gain all the way down, it has a bit more bite and grit than the Soul Food. In Clip 1 you can hear an example with the volume at about 1 oāclock and the tone at noon. Itās a very healthy low-gain tone that I can imagine as an always-on, foundational sound for a lot of applications. The range of the gain knob is especially inviting. I couldnāt find a ādeadā spot anywhere in the gain controlās range. Maximum gain levels have less high-end sizzle and a bit more overall gain than many klones [Clip 2]. And you sense that Jackson Audio and Wong aimed to find the most musical and versatile possible range of gain tones that a Klon-style circuit allows.
āFlat Is Fabulous
The OD2 side of The Optimist gives you flatter frequency response and more transparency. Wong compares this side of the pedal to a Timmy or a ZenDrive. Internally, your signal hits OD2 first then OD1 before the active EQ. Because OD2ās flatter response preserves more of your original tone, itās a great blank canvas. And with the EQ controls I could easily get more Screamer-like sounds or thicken my lead lines.
Setting all knobs to noon generated a fantastic crunchy tone that paired well with P-90s. As with the OD1, the OD2ās gain and tone knobs have a broad sweep. Neither side of The Optimist would classify as āhigh gain,ā even at maximum values, but there are plenty of nice hard-rock tones availableāespecially if you use humbuckers.
The Bandaxall-derived EQ engages when you hit both switches simultaneously. And you can boost or cut the bass, middle, or treble frequency bands up to 12 dB from the noon position. Used by itself, this EQ helped me darken the tone of an overly bright Telecaster and tame the woofy low end from a Jaguar. Iāve never used dedicated EQ pedal in my chain, but The Optimist certainly opened my ears to the possibilities.
The Verdict
I remember the first time I played a real Klon. It wasnāt my thing. However, over the years Iāve developed a healthy appreciation for this subgenre of overdrives. At this point there are so many variations on the circuit that authenticity is less important than what connects with your particular playing style. The Optimist takes this more open-minded thinking about a kloneās possibilities, and adds a flat-response overdrive and a nearly flawless active EQ that can help you tailor the pedal to your setup in very specific ways.