Aluminum Falcon - the best Klone for the bucks?

[groovington]

Originally Posted by larrysingtran

So to your ears the "Klon" sounded more like a Tubescreamer opposed to like a Blues Breaker???

I've copied/pasted my 4th sentence into my post down below so you better can comprehend my review and I will overlook your somewhat condescending remark about the tubescreamer/blues breaker comment.

"I have never owned a Klon so I can't comment on the authenticity of the tone."

And besides all that, just think about the "opinions and a-holes " saying and how that may be applied to the post above this one.

[larrysingtran]

I wasn't being condescending... It was a legit question... I've never played a real Klon either or a Aluminum Falcon or STUD... I was referencing your comment...

"...and I can set my Aluminum Falcon to match the exact same tone as my 1981 TS-808"

[cugel]

Originally Posted by SuperSonic

It has been gigged with and is stellar. I run a handwired 808 copy into it for leads. It stays on and drives the dr. Z ezg.

can you give a ruff idea of your settings? the 808 INTO the klone? interesting. i have a double klone/hotkake and the klone into the hotkake can work pretty well but i also have a screamer, naturally

[dougb415]

Originally Posted by stellablue

Back to the pedal. It does a great job smoothing out a big muff if you put it after the muff in your chain. The main use is to push an amp that is just on the edge of breakup, into the magic zone. With my amp at lower volume, the Falcon, like the Klon, can sound nasal and boxy.

Probably wouldn't do much for my Mustang III then.

[b3john]

Originally Posted by dougb415

Probably wouldn't do much for my Mustang III then.

The Klon was designed for tube amps turned up enough to have some room to breathe, not for bedroom volumes or SS amps.

[groovington]

Originally Posted by larrysingtran

I wasn't being condescending... It was a legit question... I've never played a real Klon either or a Aluminum Falcon or STUD... I was referencing your comment...

"...and I can set my Aluminum Falcon to match the exact same tone as my 1981 TS-808"

I'm sorry about the comment then. From what you said though, I was wondering why you would ask me about the klon and blues breaker when I don't know what either sounds like for sure. I realized after re-reading that klon was in parenthesis and you must be using "klon" to mean the Aluminum Falcon. Even if you said "So to your ears the Aluminum Falcon sounded more like a Tubescreamer opposed to like a Blues Breaker???" I would have been confused by your post because I never mentioned a "blues breaker," and the excessive use of question marks really emphasizes a tubescreamer/blues breaker comparison that I never implied or made.

So back to my review, and answering your question: Yes I was able to dial the Aluminum Falcon in to achieve tones that come out of a vintage ts808 that people pay $500-$700 for on Ebay. Was that was I looking for in this pedal? No. Did I find it? Yes (and this is very odd to be because the circuitry is very different). Did I use that sound? No. I actually kept dialing and found a tone that I liked even better than the ts808. No, I have no idea if it sounds anything like a blues breaker. I've been using various ts-9s and 808s for the last 10 years as that is the sound I really like and I find it works well with all my gear. But it seems as the the Aluminum Falcon has me changing up my pedal board a little bit.

[Jamar]

Originally Posted by larrysingtran

..Maybe cuz all my friends aren't crazy enough to pay $1000+ for an overdrive... Or maybe cuz we are real fulltime "poor" musicians and not "Lawyer Blues Players" - That's for another thread...

Sorry if I stepped on any "Lawyer Blues Players" toes - Sue Me

What ya got against blues players Larry?!?! you're so condescending. gahhh! (I'm just messing with ya) Only 2 more weeks of waiting then you'll be able enlighten the rest of us as to what you you think about the Falcon.

[orogeny]

Originally Posted by mcknigs

I'm not very familiar with Klon-type pedals and their derivitives. I used a Klon once and liked it. Apologies if this is a silly, over-asked question, but given that so many people tend to use these pedals as clean boosts (which is how I used it) would there be a market for a version that eliminates the overdrive feature from the pedal? Has one of these been made? I would think it would be less expensive and take up less real estate.

the overdrive is pretty nice, if you ask me. . .
and mojopedals makes a klone that is sonically spot on as well in a smaller package. that falcon is a nice job, for sure.

[guitarslinger21]

Originally Posted by BBender

Got mine!! Had to dress her up a bit.

How did you do that?

Are those clear stickers made from some type of colour printer? or did you screen print them?

It looks awesome.

Thanks!!!

[macmax77]

for the first time i am going to say it.
I am tired of all of this talk about a very stupid pedal.

There are great pedals out there that do what this Magical Mojo Wonder does without all of this BS

[cj_wattage]

Originally Posted by macmax77

There are great pedals out there that do what this Magical Mojo Wonder does without all of this BS

Yes, of course. Especially the Clay Jones Overdrive!!

[rootbeersoup]

Good Klon drama.... Another day at TGP

[fr8_trane]

Originally Posted by larrysingtran

But me as a player and not a builder, I want to know how a klon/klone/aluminum falcon actually sounds???... I understand it does the "clean/chimey/dynamic thing really well. Adds so much clarity and sparkle" - Thanks Codyj84

But does it sound kinda like an souped up Tubescreamer? Timmy? JHS Morning Glory? SHOD? KOT? BOR? Butah? SHO? Mix of these?

And believe me I've seen/heard all the ones on youtube...

Well... lets see.

With the gain off its a fairly transparent boost. It might add a bit of its own pleasant tonality but then again that could just be the Fletcher munson effect.

However as you turn up the gain it blends in the separate overdrive circuit with the clean boost. The overdrive has a distinct mid hump similar to a TS (a bit lower or wider in the mid frequency range) but with out the bass loss.

To my ears there is a sweet spot between 8-10:00 on the gain where your tone becomes BIGGER/FATTER without being too dirty or too honky. I'm not especially fond of higher gain settings.

At the sweet spot, there is some slight compression but pick attack and dynamics are largely retained. For blues/rock playing its a pretty damn good sound especially with single coils.

The way I like to use it is as a semi-clean, mid booster with a touch of compression. Or... the EmBIGenator.

[Brian Scherzer]

I have deleted a number of posts on this thread. Issues between builders should be handled privately and members are asked to not get involved with these things on TGP. We (TGP) are not legal experts and cannot/will not try to makes decisions on legal matters. It is outside of our "expertise" and means that we will not attempt to verify statements made by anyone. Some posts were deleted because they quoted other posts that were deleted. TGP's stance as a discussion website is to stay out of any decisions that could be interpreted as "taking sides". Members are free to make their own decisions, but we do ask that you not get involved on TGP in matters that really need to be settled privately or via legal options between companies.

[Realfi]

Originally Posted by fr8_trane

To my ears there is a sweet spot between 8-10:00 on the gain where your tone becomes BIGGER/FATTER without being too dirty or too honky. I'm not especially fond of higher gain settings.

At the sweet spot, there is some slight compression but pick attack and dynamics are largely retained. For blues/rock playing its a pretty damn good sound especially with single coils.

The way I like to use it is as a semi-clean, mid booster with a touch of compression.

Bingo. That's the sweet spot that a lot of us Klon users love irrespective of the genre we play. A lot of people who use the Klon as a boost aren't strictly using it in straight ahead clean boost mode with the gain all the way off. That's the thing about that circuit and why I imagine having diodes that sound the same is important if a Klone is to have the same utility as an actual Klon.