What are everyones thoughts surrounding clones of pedals?
Can they be just as good? not quite as good? Crap?
I was thinking about it recently when i was GASing for a Klon Centaur. There are a lot of 'Klones' on the market that are substantially cheaper than the real deal.
Some of the 'Klones' claim to be just as good as the real thing. What i don't understand is why is it that you can pay £300-£500 for a used Klon but you can pay a lot less for a clone. Do they use cheaper parts? Is it just hype that makes it expensive? There HAS to be something in it!
There are a load of pedals that are being cloned for cheaper than the originals, whats the crack?!?!
Comments
In other cases some clones aren't just copies; they may have tweaked the original design a bit, either to adjust the sound or to fix issues.
There isn't a single answer.
The resale value of the original may be better.
The build quality (and thus reliability) may be better.
They may feel that it's right to reward the person who came up with the design (assuming it's at least vaguely innovative).
They may just like the colour of the original more than the clone.
The aftersales support may be better - if you're only making a tenner on each pedal you knock out in the evenings or at weekends you have almost no margin to cover repairs and returns (given that Special Delivery back to the customer will cost almost that much).
On the flip side, the clone (if it's from a big company) may be lower in cost, better made, have better back-up, no waiting list... there are so many possibilities in each direction that it just isn't possible to make useful generalisations.
I've not tried one myself, but a few people on here like the Fredric Golden Eagle Klone (IIRC that was what @stickyfiddle got?)
The stuff that's sold as "this is the best [insert renowned boutique pedal] clone!" strikes me as lazy and morally questionable - they're using the brand value of the original to sell knock-offs.
The stuff that's based on a classic design but with some tweaks is rather different. The Timmy, the OCD, the Zendrive and so on - that strikes me as OK; they're not using anyone else's work to sell their pedal.
The stuff that's a straight clone but pretends not to be - I'm just not sure about these. On the one hand if they're claiming great innovation but it's [insert renowned boutique pedal] with one value changed then, again, that's lazy. But there are only so many ways to mangle a signal.
I often find myself, on this subject, in possession of opinions stronger than I can actually justify, so I'm trying to be as fair as I can.
In addition to what Sporky wrote, my own feeling on it (which is liable to change at any time) is, if it's bringing something new to the market, it's ok. "Something new to the market" can be a number of things. So if it's a tweaked clone which fixes "flaws" with the original design, that's ok. Even if it's debatable if they're actually flaws, if some people would prefer it, fair enough. If it's at a cheaper price, that's ok, too, because normally that goes hand in hand with lesser build quality and it's probably not stealing many customers who'd have bought the original. If it's something that's not currently available, or which has a contrived massive waiting list for no good reason, then that's ok too.
I don't like people who pretend they've reinvented the wheel when it's a straight clone, or very lightly modified clone, though. Especially if it's super-expensive. That's shady, IMO.
I also don't see the point in a straight clone with roughly the same level of build quality at roughly the same price. Kind of pointless.
All of that is my opinion, obviously.
It's worth pointing out that there are very few rich boutique pedal makers.
I thought he stopped making Klons for a long while. If you're selling something in demand that cannot be patented, and do not make very many, you have to live with the risk that people will make their own, or worse - someone else will mass-manufacture them. I think the Zen drive guy has taken the right step - team up with a bigger firm.
Anyway my klone is a madbean sun king PCB one, I think it's excellent for adding a little grit and sharpness - I run the gain at 8 oclock, My Zendrive 2 sounds much nicer with any higher gain though.
Nice to see folks here accept that a clone could sound as good or better than the original, there's usually so much voodoo snake oil around - "no one today can build a guitar or amp as well as a guy did by hand in 1950-something", etc. Yet strangely we all know that a bassman is not better than a JTM45, an AC30 is not better than a DC30. There's some amount of recognition/hype needed before an "influenced by" product gains full legitimacy. Look at all the fender-amp-derivative makers, very brands succeed (e.g. Victoria)
I'd forgotten that - fair point.![:) :)](/plugins/EmojiExtender/emoji/fb/1.gif)