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Decibelics Golden Horse: My Klon Journey Is Over!! (+ Wampler Tumnus)
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- Опубліковано 17 сер 2024
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So, today we're talking about the Klon Centaur. Full disclosure from the start: I've never played an original; nor would I ever pay for one given what they sell for nowadays!!
For a few years now I've used the Wampler Tumnus on my pedalboard - which I've really liked as I've mostly used it as a standalone overdrive, so the extra low end & slightly relaxed upper mid-range it has really suited me. But more recently, I've wanted to use it more for what the Centaur was originally intended for - boosting an already-overdriving amp. The low end of the Tumnus has a tendency to make the sound a little bit mushy when doing this.
So I've been on the hunt for a more true-to-form Klone - which led me to the Decibelics Golden Horse. This thing is an absolute work of art inside - hand built one at a time in Barcelona, Spain by a lovely chap called Guillem Vilademunt - and he matches every Golden Horse to his original Gold Horsie Klon. As you'll see at the start of the video, it's absolutely indistinguishable. He uses original NOS 1N34A Germanium diodes (the so-called 'mythical' diodes); the capacitors are made by the same manufacturers as the ones used in the Klon....it's nerdy beyond belief, in the best possible way. And it really shows...!!
This pedal has answered all my Klon prayers - it's phenomenal! It has the distinctive 'bitey' upper mids that defines the Klon, and doesn't have the low end bump. For all intents & purposes...it's a Centaur! And plus, it's in a mini-pedal size, so I don't have to rebuild my pedalboard around it...it's a drop-in replacement for the Tumnus!
What do you think? Do you love the Golden Horse as much as I do? Do you prefer another Klone? Do you like the low end of the Tumnus? Comment below!
Guitars recorded through a Dr Z Z-Wreck (Aston Spirit Condenser) and Dr Z DB4 ('70s Sennheiser MD441) with a Schoeps CMC6 room mic.
0:00 Intro
3:29 Buffers
4:07 Clean Boost
5:15 Low Gain Boost/Drive
6:45 Medium Gain Overdrive
8:23 Maximum Gain
9:44 Boosting A Dirty Amp
11:23 Outro
joeperkinsmusic
jp@joeperkins.co.uk
Vector images by freepik.com
The Decibelics is like a blanket is lifted off the tone. Huge difference to me, although both do still sound great overall.
Just grabbed the Wampler tumnus germanium. Those magic diodes do make a difference !!
Almost passed on ordering but figured it'd likely be easy to sell if I didn't like it (huge understatement based on these Reverb flipper prices) but I've had my Germanium Tumnus for 48 hours and I've never been so impressed by a new pedal. I've been lukewarm on the Klon since I first encountered it in the 90, same way I felt as the klone stuff began as cottage industry of hobbyists to a full blown ecosphere unto itself, companies that exist to only make a klone or various takes on klones and nothing else. But just because my preference is for quality TS/BB circuits along with magic sauce miracle transparency clean boosts/drives like Red Snapper, Lightspeed, Budi G, Timmy doesn't mean I hate the klon and its family of lookalikes. On the contrary, I rarely finish a board without one as it serves as a great utility for many things and its unobtrusive vanilla nature makes it an ideal blank canvas to stack on top of, so nobody is more surprised by this result than me. I'm not kidding when I say in the last 48 hours it's possible this (tiny) new Tumnus king kong'd itself straight to the throne of all thrones, even more surprising as I used to own the regular (gold) Tumnus and found it too dark and muddy even with EQ trying to mitigate. The best thing about this Germanium version is that it doesn't try to emulate the original Klon the way every other klone does. I've always found it weird that unlike Bluesbreakers, 808/TS9, Rats, muffs, etc where creativity is celebrated, klones appear to be made by and for purists who seem to value who can imitate most accurately instead of doing something new or unexpected that may leapfrog it into the start of something new that could one day have its own little cottage industry of diy buildings doing crazy clones. Anyway I'm gonna pause this novel to dy his Germanium Klone is one of the best pedals I 've owned or played and that's a lot! It's also easily the best 'klone' I've ever played, as well as the one Klon I have access too. It's tiny, zero noise floor, surprisingly responsive for a klone, tiniest pedal I've ever owned, and sounds like a million bucks. I wanna see the UA-camrs and other notable faces from the Klon defense ministry sit down for a blinded and unbiased comparison. It'll be the the 2 buck chuck debacle over again.. The myth, the $6k investors and the tone monks with audiophile gold plated placebos... the Klon's Vh1 'behind the music' moment when it all comes crashing down and the new kid on the block gets all the shine. Ok the mushrooms are far too strong to tyupe more. Sofa, Germanium Tumnus and kitty await. Hope you realize I'm being honest about how good this is when yours shows up. Enjoy it either way and pardon any typos bizarre autocorrect randomness I'm not sharp enough to catch presently.. not easy to communicate through letterbuttons when every thought has to contend with the overwhelming intensity of bright flashing neon algebra waging candycorn carebear war in my brain sten. I'm full of excuses!
Decibelics is the best, Iast year I bought a golden horse, this year l bought a Reverend ... Thanks, Joe!
Nice video, great playing! They both sound so close. The gain seems a bit tighter on the Decibelics. Wampler seems a little muddy in comparison. As a clean boost they both seem identical. I have Tumnus deluxe. Sounds great!
Congratulations for your amazing comparison between those 2 awesome pedals! You made an excellent video Joe! The Decibelics definitely has more mids. I have both the Wampler Tumnus and the Tumnus Deluxe, you make me want to have a Decibelics now. Thank you! :)
Cheers mate - yep, it's an incredible pedal :-)
I got the fire red version today. It’s not overhyped nor overpriced. This pedal has a magic to the fidelity that is unlike anything. It’s the most sparkly thing ever. It has this lightning fast attack and response. I love the trebly midrange heavy sounds of the 60’s: Beatles, Byrds, Syd Barrett... this is that pedal. I have other Klones, some are incredible but this one is the best.
Couldn't agree more...having never played an original but owned several Klones, this is my favourite hands-down :-) It's phenomenal!
The Golden Horse has a special sparkle in the mix, at higher volumes.
Decibelics has that extra detail that the original has ....dare I say delicate and very airy gossamer like sound.Impressive. I too have the Wampler and I find it annoyingly muddy.
Detail is exactly the word! It has such a lovely clarity - especially at higher gain levels, I can hear every note when I strum a chord, whereas the Wampler tends to be a bit muffled. I love the GH! :-)
To my ear, they both sound great. The Tumnus is a little heavier on bass, but the Golden Horse has just a bit more bite in the high end. Cool shootout. Cheers
Both of these pedals sound really close! Great demo Joe!
Ive ordered a black decibelics one. Great review with the wampler.
I’ve got a RYRA, Tumnus Deluxe but I just bought a Way Huge Conspiracy Theory and it’s by far one of the greatest pedal I’ve ever bought. It’s crazy good.
Good choice!
I just ordered the ryra...I actually had an original I sold for an amazing profit This pedal doesn't color much which if I want that I use my Xotic Super Clean boost but good to hear the Way Huge is good So better or different than the ryra ?
@@paulcowart3174 I’d say the Ryra is a better clean boost. It’s great for that. Ryra is ultimately the way to go. Gold Archer Ikon smashes both, though, just incredible.
Great comparison, thanks for doing this for us pedal junkies! Love that Golden Horse!! I really don't need another pedal, but....
None of us _need_ another pedal...but that doesn't tend to stop us :P
@@JoePerkinsMusic AMEN!!
upper mids! right on point!
GREAT VIDEO!
Thanks mate :-) Yeah, it’s such a good pedal!
Hey friend, I have watched this video at least 4 times if not more, and aside from the fantastic comparison, this video IMHO is the best video on YT showcasing the Decibelics Golden Horse. I enjoy very much both your "everyman" approach, as well as the atypical guitars you use to demo said pedal. I obviously liked, sub'd, and favorited based of this video alone, duh.
Ah that's great to hear, thank you :-) It really is a phenomenal pedal...can't recommend it highly enough for the K-style thing!!
@@JoePerkinsMusic It's amazing and easily worth the price of admission, I just got mine yesterday in the mail and have been playing the feck out of it.
@@FretLevelMidnight Excellent! It really is magic :-)
Thank you!
Wampler tumnus deluxe. Absolute killer pedal
Sounds amazing on the strat it cuts
I just bought a fire red Golden Horse and I’m so excited. I can’t wait to get it. But, I must reiterate, I’ve got loads of boutique pedals and love them, but I have 2 mass produced pedals that are as great or better than any of them: Way Huge Conspiracy Theory and the Wampler Belle. I use 59 and 52 reissue Telecasters and a 65 RI Jazzmaster into a Vox AC15. Those 2 pedals are always my go to. To give you an idea, Syd Barrett, Byrds, early Pretty Things are my favorite tones.
Nice one John! :-) Yep, pretty much all pedals are excellent nowadays, even mass produced ones...I still prefer to support the smaller "boutique" builders, but I've played plenty of 'stock' pedals that will give them a run for their money :-)
So how'd it turn out for you?
Great demo! I really like that Decibelics more than the Tumnus.
I would like to see it compared to the Archer Ikon.
Always hard to judge a klone imo when one has not played or heard up close a Klon Centaur (I have, fortunately)…, the Decibelics gets there very well indeed.
Very true - I'm just judging this one by Guillem's side-by-side with his original, and having it sound indistinguishable! But yes, people seem pretty agreed that the Decibelics really is one of the very best!
Decibelics Golden Horse for me
Great demo brother, been looking for a good Klone!
This is one of the very best :-)
Well Joe, based on this review I took the plunge and bought one. It’s just arrived from Barcelona. I hope it’s as good as the (your!) ‘hype’😉
Aha - no pressure!! Let me know how you find it - I think it's such an ace pedal!!
Once again Joe, your word is gospel! What an absolutely amazing pedal. Totally blown away by its tone, clarity, pick dynamics, versatility and overall quality. I’ve had loads of Klon Klones (RYRA, Centura, J Rockett Archer and Ikon, Tumnus, Mystical Overdrive etc etc). This beats them hands down! Love it so much just ordered the Golden Royale. More hard earned cash well spent and can’t wait for that one. Cheers dude!
I have this theory. It runs counter to what many others, some of them very smart and experienced, think. My theory is that I want my crunching rhythm tone to be a bit on the bright side, just so long as it doesn't clash with the audio spectrum characteristics of the singer's voice too much. Then, when it's time for a solo, a bit more of the lower frequencies can be brought into my tone. The singer won't (hopefully) be singing over my solo and the other instruments in the guitar's sonic range will (hopefully) have dialed down their volumes a bit, so taking up more of the spectrum won't clash with or get drowned out by the other instruments.
From that point of view, with its tighter low end, I think the Decibelics pedal would suit my needs better than the Wampler, either as a stand-alone distortion/overdrive or as a slam-the-front-end boost. I also liked how the Golden Horse "sounded louder" at roughly the same sound pressure level. That's your "cutting through" right there.
Unfortunately, I can't afford the Golden Horse at present, but it's good to know it's out there for when my ship finally comes in...
Does the singer even matter anyway...? ;-) haha
@@JoePerkinsMusic *_They_* sure seem to think so!
@@OgamiItto70 Do we care? :P Haha!
They both sound very similar
Golden Horse for me☝️
Sounds really good Joe. Nice and clear compared to the Tumnus. Just a suggestion but get a right angled lead for your 330! One enthusiastic strum too many and a whack to the jack and the top will crack!
Oh, absolutely - I've only had it for a few weeks but have already discovered that slight design flaw! :P I'm being v. careful for now but will be getting a righty jack as soon as I can!!
How did Golden horse work out in the long run?
Both sounded great, just managed to get a used Tumnus, did i need it not really but i have a soul food and something lacking, so tha was the excuse haha.
I am using Decibels Golden Horse for 2 years or so and since German sent it is always on. No way i switch it off.
i mean, Decibels is exactly the original components in a very small, beautiful, manufactured one. (me and friend compared with 3 differents originals from a friend, 2 golds and 1 silver). No way of distinct it (even in the audio recorded)
I cannot tell the difference through UA-cam compression. But then I am 60 and I don't hear high treble any more!
I'm 36, the Decibelics Golden Horse is a Klon, it just is.
6:44 - 7:23 This riff is so catchy, is this a famous song, or one of your own? Lol, it keeps getting stuck in my head.
Aha, that's one of mine that I was working into a bigger piece of music - am yet t record it!
@@JoePerkinsMusic Sounds good, dude.
At certain times during the demo I feel the Wampler sounds better. BTW the Klon Journey has no end.
'Better' is all subjective though, eh?
Joe I would love to hear that pedal thru a more diverse range of amps, fender 68 custom deluxe, orange rocker 15 terror head, Marshall sv20 head , a range of amps with very different midranges to show how well or not that pedal does or doesn't integrate, does it favour one type of amp over another , my guitar of choice is the telecaster, love fender types and hate guitars with humbuckers, hopefully you can further develop your demo's of this pedal joe
If only I had any of those amps...!! ;-)
Seems a Mosky with diodes replaced and a couple of smaller tweaks
Who is your yellow friend?
You've never come across Flat Eric?!?
LIke#184 and Subs....Thx 4 Ur Video and Nice Funky chunk :)
I was very disappointed with the Tumnus. I kept the Soul Food and sold the Wampler.
I liked the Tumnus in terms of being a standalone OD that was more pleasant to listen to, but for me, the Decibelics is the Klon sound I've heard so much....much more true to the original circuit. Never tried a Soul Food, but for the price you can't really go wrong!! :-)
What's the price tag ?
Think they're about £220 - so they're pricey, but significantly cheaper than the KTR (if you can find one!) and the same as the Centura/RYRA/etc.
@@JoePerkinsMusic cool thanks
Decibelics sounds clearly better even on bypass. The Tumnus sounds lo-fi / squashed / lacking detail /dynamics in comparison.
Decibelics more mojo...
Absolutely!
the gold klon is little darker and warmer a little more low mid than thee decibelics in this video at the beginning i don t like the wampler
….ya its 300 for that pedal...…...
An original Klon is much better value...! ;-)
@@JoePerkinsMusic if you want less low end and clearer highs, get a soul food!! And make sure the buffer is on!!😉
If you look inside a KTR or at that Klon without the goop photos you will find that the chips and everything else does not look at all like you little pedal. It is much much more dull then this.
Oh hi, Fredo! :D
I prefer the Tumnus . The Decibelics sounds more like a tube screamer. Tumnus Klon Decibelics it doesn’t Mather. They don’t deserve the hope or their prices. All are overpriced and overrated. And I have two of them.
Al of course. I have one. And I’ve said “ more like a tube screamer “. And I have a Soul Food and a Tumnus mini. After trying the Archer and Way huge theory of conspiracy.