When a guitar player’s bored, they’ll likely go on Reverb and search for the most ridiculously weird or expensive stuff on Reverb or eBay. We bet that this is even more interesting to do today as some vintage gear prices have skyrocketed. Just over $200k for a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard, or about $6k, $7k, and more for a Klon Centaur distortion pedal in an excellent condition – these aren’t uncommon sights on the internet.
The Klon especially has a specific cult following. Although we could discuss whether the price is justified, it’s no secret that the pedal is pretty great when paired with a suitable tube amp. Not to mention that plenty of famous guitar legends have it in their signal chain. One of them is John Mayer.
Speaking of Klon Centaur and John Mayer, a heartwarming video from the musician’s live show has emerged online (via jennyharnett @ Instagram), where he autographed a fan’s copy of the legendary distortion pedal.
And that’s not all. Mayer also took a moment to mark the settings that he’s using on the pedal, making it easier for the said fan to get the right tone. Now, that’s the way to treat your fans. You can check out the whole thing in the embedded player below.
Klon Centaur is a hand-crafted pedal manufactured by engineer Bill Finnegan from 1994 to 2008. The circuitry was covered with epoxy resin, so this further made these pedals so interesting.
Of course, it was the specific tone and response of the pedal that made it popular. However, the hype got out of control and the resale value ended up being much higher than what Bill could sell them for. In 2008, he announced that the manufacturing costs just weren’t worth it and has discontinued it altogether. It is estimated that there are about 8000 Klon Centaur pedals in circulation today.
Photo: Instagram screenshot, ArtBrom (Klon Centaur)
