I don’t know why I follow guitar stuff online sometimes. I really don’t.
I saw something recently where a company’s new sparkly had been been either accidently or purposefully leaked. I point that out because it, honestly, looked like it could have been either. It’s a really cool new sparkly. Truth to tell, it’s a sparkly I’ll probably pick up at some point because it’s a sparkly unlike any I have, and it could be fun to play with.
Neeways, I got to reading through some of the comments. And that’s what I really need to stop doing. In the comment section, some people were talking about how cool the new thing was. Others were talking about how nobody needs another thing like that because they already exist. And others were pontificating about how they would buy one if it has this component versus another component, and how if it didn’t have the component that they want, it won’t remotely be worth what they’re asking for it.
Which got me to thinking about the whole corksniffery aspect. There are some folks that love a Klon and think nothing sounds as good as they do. Then there are Klon haters that hate it for a million different reasons. Some of those that love them deride any klone as a cheap imitation. Some of the haters say that one reason they hate them is because you can get a Klone for cheap.
My take on the Klon debate is a little different. I’ve never had a Klon Centaur to A/B with a klone, but I have a Klon KTR, and I’ve used it to A/B every klone I’ve ever had. Yes, to me, the KTR sounds amazing. It is one of the best sounding OD pedals that I have. And most of the klones I’ve had have sounded pretty dang good too.
But here’s the rub (to me). Sitting in the quiet of my little music studio, I can hear the difference in some of the klones. There’ve been a couple that I have kicked because they just don’t sound as good as the KTR (or the others). But, if I’m being honest with myself, outside of the quiet solitude of my little music room, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. They’re all dialed in to pretty much the same sound, and add in a bass, drums, maybe some keys, and somebody singing, and one klone may as well be any of the others.
Heck, Mr JHS even got a Bad Monkey pedal to sound like a Klon, and it’s not a klone. I loved that vid just because it should make all of us stop and think about how half the gear industry is what we think we hear and not actually what is being heard.
That’s where the comments about the new sparkly had me equal parts laughing and irritated. Would those commenting really be able to hear the difference in the components being used? I’m sure some probably could. I’ve got a buddy who has the ears of a bat, and he can discern subtle differences in tone that I can’t. He’s also a sound engineer, and I’ve got tinnitus from loud amps. I bet folks like him are easily in the minority. I would be willing to bet large sums of money that most folks couldn’t tell the difference. They’re just parroting that they’ve heard one is better than the other, so they’re sniffing corks. We’ve all done it at some point.
So, if they couldn’t actually hear the difference in the components, why do they care what’s in them?
That said, like I mentioned, in the quiet of my music room, I do believe I can hear a difference in pedals. In fact, my Germanium Tumnus kicked the KTR off my board because it has a something to it that I hear in the quiet that makes it the best sounding to my ear. And the nicer pedals are generally the ones on my board because some do sound better, and it makes me happy to play them even when I’m not able to hear the difference on a stage.