Review of the Warm Audio Centavo, a clone of the legendary Klon Centaur pedal!

The Symbol of Guitarists’ Desires: Distortion Pedals
Most guitarists set sail on a voyage to find the best drive pedal.
They experience being in a constant loop of buying, selling, and buying again.
As a result of this endless struggle, the guitar world has created several legendary pedals in which the prices of these have considerably gone up.

The most famous legendary pedal is most likely the Klon Centaur. This time I tried out its clone, the Centavo from Warm Audio.

WARM AUDIO / Centavo

This pedal looks exactly like the original Klon Centaur which should satisfy you just by owning it. Apparently, the Centavo internal design is an exact replica of the original, so I was curious to listen to how it sounds.

I didn’t know about the original when I first tried out the Klon Centaur, which was owned by my musician friend, before trying out the Centavo for this review.

The moment I plugged the Centaur in, I heard the mellow sound coming out, and above all, the depth of the sound was just outstanding.
I always felt this depth usually from legendary microphones, recording gears, and of course from pedals.
I think this depth of the sound is what people commonly describe as ‘airy’ or they say “the sound becomes thicker just by connecting the pedal.”
The sound sounds as if it transformed from a 2D sound to a 3D sound.
Anyway, this original pedal’s depth of the sound and the ability to make a good sound no matter where the knob is set is nothing short of a miracle.

After getting a feeling for what the original Klon Centaur was like, I connected the Warm Audio Centavo.

In this video where I tried out the Centavo with a Stratocaster (neck position)>pedal>Fender guitar amp, I played the same phrase while switching the MOD switch (Jeff Beck Mod) on and off. This changed the response of the bass strings in three levels of GAIN/TREBLE: low, medium, and high.

I played using two types of amp settings: The driven clean and the pushed drive channel.

My first feeling was that the sound became thicker just by connecting the pedal.
The same effect was reproduced by this clone pedal, too.
It’s not just the sound becomes thicker since it’s not a maximized or macho sound, but the sound becomes somehow rich and mellow.
This is the mellowness of a high-quality distortion pedal.

The distortion increases when turning up the GAIN knob, but the texture is exquisite, with a moderate roughness that has a vintage taste rather than a modern fine-grained quality, and it mixes well with the original sound.

I turned up the TREBLE knob. There are many effects pedals with EQ and TONE knobs, but most of them have the preset levels set close to the center of the knob.
I have the impression that there are only a few pedals that can be used when the knobs are turned all the way down or fully turned up.
However, the Centavo does not sound too harsh when the TREBLE knob is turned up. Instead, it adds clarity to the sound.
Honestly, I was surprised. I dare say that I think that the Q-curve and frequency point sound exquisite.

I personally prefer the MOD switch to be on because it makes the sound stronger.
It really depends on the band ensemble, but I prefer it to be on when listening to the guitar alone.

I think that many people expect this pedal to resemble the original as much as possible.
If you were to ask me how similar they are, they’re actually quite similar.
The Centavo sounds slightly more modern than the original, but the original may have inconsistent quality among units or deteriorate over time.
But overall, the Centavo is a great distortion pedal.
Its tone brings out the best of the guitar sound and is versatile enough to be used in any genre of music or setting.

The original pedal is now being sold at astronomically high second-hand prices so high that you can even buy a car for the same amount. It’s not a good idea to bring it to music venues or on tour.
From a practical standpoint, I think that is a major concern.

“A pedal that stomps like a centaur.”

In that sense, this distortion pedal would perfectly fulfill that duty.

As a side note, I use the WA73-EQ mic preamp from Warm Audio in my daily work as a composer.

This mic preamp is a recreation of the legendary 1073, and like the Centavo, it has a distortion with depth that makes it an indispensable piece of equipment in my collection.

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