Based on what's widely regarded to be one of the best overdrive pedal (or at least most sought after) circuits of all time, Klon KTR pedals are due to start hitting shelves again in "about three weeks" after a period of unavailability, according to Klon founder and designer, Bill Finnegan.
The KTR is the production version of the legendary Klon Centaur - bearing the text "Kindly remember: the ridiculous hype that offends so many is not of my making" in relation to the stratospheric prices original Centaurs have began fetching over the last decade.
However, Finnegan recently took to Instagram to deliver the good news for boost-hungry guitar players, while holding what is presumably a completed new-version KTR, saying "Hi everyone - sorry for the serious delay with regard to new KTR production, but the light at the end of that tunnel now seems to be getting brighter every day; my hope is that a number of authorized Klon KTR dealers will have units in stock in about three weeks."
Due to a shortage of diodes used in the original design, Finnegan was forced to temporarily halt production on the KTR while he sourced more components. "I've tried for years to find more of those damn things." he said in September.
"I've really seemingly exhausted every possibility, I just don't think there are any more of them out there" Before going on to reveal that he had, in fact managed to find replacement diodes (of a different model), and that he had been playing through the revised KTR circuit in that very video, deliberately without disclosing which pedal contained the new components.
He added, "If you weren't able to hear any difference, that's a good thing. That means I've done my work." The shortage in availability of new KTR pedals has caused used prices to rise of late, as demonstrated in the video below by Riffs, Beards and Gear.
The Klon Centaur launched in 1994, priced at $329, and used prices for the original gold version regularly exceed the five grand mark. More recently, JHS pedals owner, Josh Scott listed his Klon (serial #2) for $500,000.
The KTR - designed to be attainable at a similar price to the original - was launched at around $300, with some sellers now achieving more than double that price. Keep your eyes on your preferred dealer to keep track of when stock will be arriving in stores.
