Bass effect pedal clones
With a Klon, you can go from a very clean boost, to a much more aggressive overdriven tone which verges on distortion when turning the dial. The Tube Screamer is fairly well known for its limited drive range, whereas the Klon’s range is expansive. Difference #4 Level of OverdriveĪgain, this may not be something you want to consider if you’re comparing clones of these pedals, however, the Klon Centaur produces more drive than the Ibanez TS808. It’s also worth mentioning that there are plenty of clones of both pedals available and the difference in volume may not even be a factor to consider if you’re not looking at the Ibanez TS808 and Klon Centaur in particular. This is one of the reasons why the Klon is considered such a powerful boost pedal, but by no means does the Tube Screamer lack ability in the boost department. Difference #3 VolumeĪlthough not a huge factor to consider because you can compensate in other ways, it’s worth noting that the Tube Screamer is a quieter pedal compared to the Klon. The Klon also adds a bit of upper-mids, but again does not have as much of an impact on the EQ as the TS. The Klon still cuts the bass a little bit, but not nearly as much, making it sound a bit smoother compared to the Tube Screamer. The Tube Screamer’s EQ also makes it sound a bit gritter than the Klon. On the other hand, the Tube Screamer can dramatically impact the EQ by cutting the bass frequencies and boosting the mid-range. The Klon-type overdrive pedal is described as a transparent overdrive pedal, meaning that it does not dramatically alter the EQ of the amp signal. However, the Klon tends to be less coarse compared to most hard clippers, and it only sounds more like a hard clipper when the drive is cranked 3/4 the way up. Hard clippers are more aggressive and compresses the tone so that is can almost sound like a distortion effect. Soft clippers tend to sound more natural and closer to the effect you’d achieve if you cranked a tube amp. The Tube Screamer is a soft-clipping pedal, and the Klon is a hard clipper. When you turn up the drive control on both pedals, you get different types of clipping. The Klon and Tube Screamer are both overdrive pedals, but they produce quite different effects. Since the original TS808’s release, many other brands have made Tube Screamer-type pedals, characterised by the soft clipping overdrive and boosted mid-range. You can check out this article I’ve written comparing the different Ibanez Tube Screamers here if you want to learn more. Ibanez have released several versions including a mini pedal, and the TS9 which sounds a bit grittier. The Ibanez Tube Screamer TS808 is the original type of this pedal.
This means that it changes the overall tone of the guitar and amp, to produce a unique tone, rather than just adding overdrive and volume. The easiest way to describe this, is to say that it alters the EQ by boosting the mids and cutting the bass. The Tube Screamer is not a “transparent pedal”.
It is characterised primarily by the boost in the mid-range that it produces, allowing the sound to cut through the mix for lead playing particularly well. The Tube Screamer is a soft clipping overdrive pedal.