All over the internet theres this hype about a certain drive pedal that sells upwards of $1500 USD?? Are you kidding me? No not really… the Klon Centaur is the most coveted drive in history, showing up on eBay and Reverb at prices close to $1500 all the way to 2000 and sometimes more. Let’s be serious about this. We love God, love to worship, and love to buy gear. But when a price tag like that shows up it’s hard to consider this type of investment, well at least it is hard for me when I can think of at least 10 other things I need/want/should add to my rig. So how do we get Klon tone for less? Enter the Electro-harmonix Soul Food.
At a price tag of under $65 USD that includes a power adapter and 9v battery (yep, an EHX brand) you should seriously consider this pedal. The Soul Food is a replica of the original Klon in a very small footprint. At the size of the mini line of pedals Electro-harmonix released a few years back, it serious packs a lot a value into a small (and did I mention cheap) pedal. It has the standard knobs the original Klon has, Volume, Tone, and Drive. Inside, it has a switch that lets you pick between buffered bypass and true bypass. Something the original did not have. It also comes in a huge box with all the goodies I mentioned before. So how does it sound? Below are a few audio clips to to help you decide for yourself.
For these clips I used a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe because it is a great clean platform. The 2 guitars I will be using are a Fender American Standard with Porter Custom Tele Pickups and a Duesenberg Starplayer TV. The amp is on the clean channel (yes, loud!) and the EQ is flat with the presence just above 9 o’clock. Here we go!
American Standard Telecaster
Off/Clean Tone
Gain at 9:00
Gain at 12:00
Gain at 3:00
Duesenberg Starplayer TV
Off/Clean Tone
Gain at 9:00
Gain at 12:00
Gain at 1:00
Gain at 3:00
Soul Food w/ Delay
So there you have it. Would you buy this Pedal? Well, while it does not have any collectibility value (currently) at the price point you can’t beat it. If you want to get even closer to the Klon, JHS pedals offers a “Meat and 3” mod for it. This mod will get you original Klon Clipping and a bass knob that will increase some of the low end the the Soul Food sometimes lacks. The price for the modded version from JHS is You can buy it fully modded for $115 or get your own modded for $45. There are videos that compare them and its so close it will have you questioning if there is really a $1400 tonal difference or not. I currently use the JHS modded version and I love it. Till next time! Godspeed!
1 Comment
Definitely going buy !!!! … .thanks for the contribution