Is the J Rockett Jeff Beck Model Archer the ultimate Klon Klone?

[Longneck Tenon]

Didn't know the Horse Meat was supposed to compete against the Klon. If I had I would not have started this thread.

The Klon is not a pedal for metalheads. It won't get a metal tone. That's not what it does.

It's not distorted and bassy enough.

It's not a super high gain pedal and its tone has a clarity about it even when it IS set for distortion.

It's perfect for me though. And perfect for the sound Jeff Beck wanted.

The Klon is a true icon of pedal design. The circuit design alone is truly original born of a very simple and strong concept. It was never intended to be a Swiss Army Knife but rather solve a very specific problem, and it does that better than any pedal out there including the Tube Screamer. For me though, it works best when stacked with another overdrive or fuzz pedal.

 

[Lewguitar]

The Klon is a true icon of pedal design. The circuit design alone is truly original born of a very simple and strong concept. It was never intended to be a Swiss Army Knife but rather solve a very specific problem, and it does that better than any pedal out there including the Tube Screamer. For me though, it works best when stacked with another overdrive or fuzz pedal.

All true.

My Klon KTR works great set as a boost driving another pedal. I use my Klon KTR either alone or to drive my Hot Cake.

With the two stacked I can get a huge, heavy, snarling rock sound with tons of bottom. Not that I ever use that tone live!

I read an interview with Bill Finnigan and he said that he designed the Klon to make a Strat sound more like a Les Paul.

I like Brian Wampler's pedals but as you said, what he did with the Tumnus and Tumnus Deluxe is create his idea of an "improvement" of the Klon sound.

For people like me who don't want the Klon to sound more dense and generate more distortion and who don't want the Klon to lose its clear top voice, the Tumnus doesn't work quite as well.

Setting the controls straight up on the Tumnus Deluxe, and then tweaking them, going back and forth between it and my Klon KTR, I can get close to the sound of my Klon and I can dial in some great sounds.

But the transparency of the Klon is not quite there. The Tumnus is too dense sounding, and I'm sure it's intentional.

I'm sure too, that like the Horse Meat, it's what the guys who think the Klon doesn't have enough gain, gristle and overdrive are looking for!

 

[ruger9]

Me too. Billy Gibbons always comes to mind when I step on the Hot Cake!

They're getting expensive. Are they still made?

I'm not sure? But the one I recently bought, new, was from The Music Zoo, a pretty decent sized retailer online.

 

[Lewguitar]

I'm not sure? But the one I recently bought, new, was from The Music Zoo, a pretty decent sized retailer online.

My Hot Cake was made by Crowther Audio, Auckland, New Zealand. How about yours?

Paul raves about the Hot Cake in this video:

 

[László]

I read an interview with Bill Finnigan and he said that he designed the Klon to make a Strat sound more like a Les Paul.

I've always thought the Klon sounded best with a Strat, now I know why!

 

[Bogner]

I Guess We Must Define Heavy...

As Much As I Like Jeff Beck I Wouldn't Call Anything He Does Sonically As "HEAVY" But That Doesn't Mean It Doesn't Sound Good.

This Is Heavy To Me.

 

[DISTORT6]

I Guess We Must Define Heavy...

As Much As I Like Jeff Beck I Wouldn't Call Anything He Does Sonically As "HEAVY" But That Doesn't Mean It Doesn't Sound Good.

This Is Heavy To Me.

You read my mind with this post.

 

[Bogner]

You read my mind with this post.

I Just Call It As I Chug It...I Mean See It.

 

[László]

I Just Call It As I Chug It...I Mean See It.

Haha! Excellent!

 

[CVS]

I have what I will term as a standard Archer pedal. I hope the Jeff Beck version is worth the extra $100.

 

[ruger9]

My Hot Cake was made by Crowther Audio, Auckland, New Zealand. How about yours?

I usually can't stand listening to or watching Paul. But that was great LOL. Like a kid in his bedroom again!

Where was mine made? IDK. I assumed they were all still made in NZ, since they have remained near-unobtanium. They aren't everywhere, often hard to find. And expensive (due to small supply) when you do find them on eBay or wherever.

That version Paul is using is a very early one with the mid lift switch. The mid lift switch was replaced with a pot, and renamed Presence.
The Hot Cake's Presence knob is NOT a "passive treble filter." It is an additive EQ band centered at around 800Hz. When the Presence is at 0, the gain of the EQ is at 0 so it is "flat mids." This makes SOOOOOOO much sense to me now, because there are literally only two notable things about the Hot Cake according to the internet: It was made in NZ in 1977, and the older version had a mid-lift instead of a Presence knob. Clearly, all Paul Crowther did in 2003 was make that switch into a potentiometer and give us a variable amount of gain @800Hz. Think about the pedal's gain character: As you increase gain, the Bass and Treble come up. How would you remedy this? By boosting mids!

Here is a cool thread on the history of the Hot Cake:

The history of the Crowther Hot Cake

having fallen back in love with my Hot Cake after it being off my board for a good 5-6 years, I decided to read up as much as I could on the history. there isn't a lot of info out there. which is surprising as it's just about the oldest overdrive / distortion pedal in compact form! it even...

www.thegearpage.net

 

[Lewguitar]

I have what I will term as a standard Archer pedal. I hope the Jeff Beck version is worth the extra $100.

Well it sounds pretty much exactly like my Klon KTR which now sells used for $600 - 800 on Reverb.

So with original Klon Centaurs going for thousands of dollars and Klon KTRs going for $600 - 800, I'd say "THE JEFF" at $300 is worth it.

Being made to the specs of the greatest rock guitarist of all time, Jeff Beck, gives it some serious credibility. He gave up using his Klon Centaur for it.

But I still want to try a Horse Meat. Seems to make a cool sound and I suspect the "chugga chugga" guys will like it.

 

[Lewguitar]

Paul says the name "Horse Meat" is just a joke and that it is NOT a Klon clone.

But he says he likes the Klon and describes it as being "Very musical" and "the Holy Grail".

He goes onto to say that it didn't do some things that he wanted it to do so PRS built the Horse Meat "from scratch".

Different circuit from a Klon.

 

[ruger9]

The v2 Hot Cakes ARE still built in NZ, and they are back in stock at TrueTone...

Crowther Audio Hot Cake Overdrive Guitar Pedal Made in New Zealand V2

Crowther Audio Hotcake PedalHand-made in New Zealand by Paul Crowther, the Hotcake is a boost/overdrive pedal designed to leave the undistorted component of the guitar sound unchanged while providing a nice fat distortion sound without resorting to a treble cut circuit which will also affect the...

www.truetonemusic.com

 

[Lewguitar]

The v2 Hot Cakes ARE still built in NZ, and they are back in stock at TrueTone...

Crowther Audio Hot Cake Overdrive Guitar Pedal Made in New Zealand V2

Crowther Audio Hotcake PedalHand-made in New Zealand by Paul Crowther, the Hotcake is a boost/overdrive pedal designed to leave the undistorted component of the guitar sound unchanged while providing a nice fat distortion sound without resorting to a treble cut circuit which will also affect the...

www.truetonemusic.com

Good to know. Everyone should try one!

 

[László]

I'm a low-gain overdrive person. I don't want the pedal to do more than add color and a little push to an overdriven amp.

But some medium or even higher gain overdrives also work well just pushing an amp over the edge with lower gain.

Here are my favorites, all-time, in no particular order:

Pettyjohn Chime Mk2.

Pettyjohn Edge

Klon (either KTR or Centaur, I can hardly tell the difference)

Mesa V-Twin (a completely underrated pedal)

Xotic BB

OCD.

All are very good to great, depending on guitar and amp.

I haven't tried every single thing on the market, but no other OD pedals have EVER worked for me. I don't know why, and that's the truth. I do want to try a horsemeat. I've yet to try a hot cake, but it's a little gainier in the demos than I'd run a pedal, so I dunno. Most of my gain comes from the amp.

 

[Bogner]

I'm a low-gain overdrive person. I don't want the pedal to do more than add color and a little push to an overdriven amp.

But some medium or even higher gain overdrives also work well just pushing an amp over the edge with lower gain.

Here are my favorites, all-time, in no particular order:

Pettyjohn Chime Mk2.

Pettyjohn Edge

Klon (either KTR or Centaur, I can hardly tell the difference)

Mesa V-Twin (a completely underrated pedal)

Xotic BB

OCD.

All are very good to great, depending on guitar and amp.

I haven't tried every single thing on the market, but no other OD pedals have EVER worked for me. I don't know why, and that's the truth. I do want to try a horsemeat. I've yet to try a hot cake, but it's a little gainier in the demos than I'd run a pedal, so I dunno. Most of my gain comes from the amp.

Have You Ever Tried The Komet Koda Or The Ethos Pedal? I Would Imagine You Would Like Them. I Sure Do For That Territory You Mention Above.

 

[László]

Have You Ever Tried The Komet Koda Or The Ethos Pedal? I Would Imagine You Would Like Them. I Sure Do For That Territory You Mention Above.

I forgot, I liked the Ethos! Great pedal! Haven't tried the Koda, though.

 

[BigChrisW]

Mesa V-Twin (a completely underrated pedal)

I had one of these when they came out in the 90s... let it go when times got tough and have regretted it ever since. Great pedal. Still on the hunt for a decently priced Chime pedal to add to the Pettyjohn collection.

 

[Lewguitar]

I have what I will term as a standard Archer pedal. I hope the Jeff Beck version is worth the extra $100.

I'm sure it's great! Didn't Jeff Beck use the standard model before asking for some tweaks to make it sound a little more like his Klon Centaur?