British effects pedal maker Origin Effects have today announced the release of the Halcyon Gold Overdrive, a new overdrive pedal based on the iconic Klon Centaur. It is also the latest effect in the company’s range to use their proprietary Adaptive Technology, which allows its voicing to adapt in response to pick attack and volume knob changes.
The company say that they have gone to great lengths to recreate the Centaur’s mid-forward voicing, and to replicate the exact characteristics of the now unobtainable vintage diodes used in the classic design. It also aims to expand on the original, though, and comes equipped with some features that allow it to go beyond the capabilities of the unit that inspired it.
The Halcyon Gold Overdrive expands on Klon's iconic Centaur pedal.The pedal’s key feature is the inclusion of the company’s Adaptive Technology. Engaged using an Adapt switch on the top panel, the technology allows the pedal’s mid-forward voicing to fade away as the pedal ‘cleans up’ in response to the lowering of a guitar’s volume knob, with the effect gradually regaining low- and high-frequency content as the signal falls below the clipping threshold. As a result, players can move seamlessly between Centaur-inspired tones and a transparent boost without adjusting the controls on the pedal itself.
Other additions to the original design include a Voice switch, and a Dry level control. The former offers the choice between two different overdrive characters, with a KLN setting providing the aggressive mid-range peak and clipping characteristics of the original unit, and a MOD option delivering a softer-sounding tone with a wider mid-range boost that is said to work particularly well with single-coil pickups and clean amp sounds.
Combined with the main Level dial, the Dry control makes it possible to control the volume of the processed and unprocessed signals independently. Boosting the level of the dry signal can help to add some definition when using the pedal to boost a low-gain amp sound, whilst lowering it allows users to get the most out of the pedal’s high-gain tones. Finally, a Tone control allows users to introduce some overall high-frequency roll-off, the amount of which is also reduced as the level decreases when using the two Adapt modes.
SOS Review
We've already put the Halcyon Gold Overdrive through its paces here at SOS, click here to check out our review.
Key Specs
- Dimensions: 124 x 58 x 64 mm (length x width x height including controls)
- I/O: Quarter-inch TS
- Input Impedance: 1MΩ
- Output Impedance: 1kΩ
- Power Supply: 9V DC (2.1mm centre-negative)
- Current Draw: 200mA
Pricing & Availability
The Halcyon Gold Overdrive is available now, priced at $299£249 including VAT / €249.
