If you own a Wampler Tumnus overdrive pedal you know it's good; really good. But can the little golden wonder hold its own against a real Klon Centaur and the latest klone on the block from Warm Audio?
This Andertons comparison comes off the back of a multi klone blind test shootout the UK retailer did a year ago (the second video below) that the original Tumnus won against nine other pedals (including a real Klon). Here there's just three in the mix; the original Klon, Warm Audio's Centavo and the diddy Tumnus.
These kind of comparisons are tricky because pot values mean you can't really do it with identical settings and expect fair results, it really has to be done by ear. But you have to start somewhere and tweak by ear from there, which is Lee Anderton's approach as Danish Pete gets on with the playing.
Spoiler: there's really not much in it. For us, operating with a pedalboard with zero extra space, the Tumnus always wins on size and sounds fantastic for drive tones alone and for stacking; that's why it never leaves our rig. And we obviously can't afford a Klon. But the Centavo looks the part – and sounds like a winner here too, with a mod switch to add fatness adding a twist in tail.
Can't we all just appreciate that we've never had it so good with overdrives? Well unless we're driving ourselves mad with 'grass could be greener' comparisons, we're not really living the full experience as guitarists. But the main lesson here is all three sound fantastic.
Check out the Tumus and Tumus Deluxe at Andertons, as well as the Warm Audio Centavo. The Klon? You'll need to head to Reverb after a sober word with your accountant.
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