Overdrive / Boost / Buffer

Modernized, yet true to the original.

Modeled directly after its predecessor’s circuit board, the Klon Centaur, Harby Centauri is built using the highest-quality components to give you that rich, clear Centaur sound without the Centaur price tag.

Original price was: $169.Current price is: $139.

In stock (can be backordered)

Free shipping for orders within United States.
$10 shipping for international orders.

Other buying options

Demo by Sascha Rebbe

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History

In 1994, Bill Finnegan made a legendary contribution to the guitar industry: the Klon Centaur overdrive stomp pedal. With a clear, well-articulated sound that’s free from synthetic, solid-state distortion and unnecessary heaviness, the Centaur became a favorite among guitarists everywhere, and its popularity hasn’t declined since.

Not everyone could get their hands on one, though. Finnegan only built 8,000 units, and these days, they command prices in the neighborhood of $7,000. So naturally, many guitarists opened up Centaurs to study the circuit board schematics in order to copy them and build their own. For years, these guitarists were thwarted by a thick layer of epoxy coating every Centaur circuit board. It wasn’t until 2009 that Martin Chittum finally managed to remove the resin from a Centaur and the schematics were revealed.

Like our fellow pedal junkies, we decided to recreate the Centaur to take up less space on your stomp board without sacrificing the original’s clarity and sweetness. Using the original circuit board design and parts that Finnegan himself relied on, the Harby Centauri can be used on any pedal board for a huge range of applications. Use it on its own to juice up your output, get a clean boost with the drive knob turned all the way down, or combine it with fuzz and distortion pedals to add a slightly thicker character to their heavy grit. And with its buffered bypass, the Centauri, like the original Klon Centaur, is never truly off—its mellow, clear tone can always be relied on in the studio and on-stage.

All that said, we’d never claim that the Centauri is a perfect sonic match to any Klon. Finnegan himself said that the sound varied from Centaur to Centaur, due to the nature of the clipping diodes he used. We’ve simply attempted to replicate the Centaur’s quality and richness through a faithful reconstruction according to Finnegan’s specifications. The results speak for themselves.

Demo by Eric Merrow

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Specifications

Modernized

The original Centaur’s components were attached to the circuit board using “through-hole” techniques, with pins that go through the circuit board and are soldered on its underside. This process got the job done, but it was expensive and time-consuming. Eventually, Bill Finnegan began producing his pedals using surface-mount technology (SMT), attaching the components directly to the circuit board’s face. This is the method we used to design the Harby Centauri.

True to the original

Bill Finnegan once said of his 1N34A germanium clipping diodes that they are “… the most important factor in how the circuit sounds when it’s being used to create distortion.” As a tribute to his insight, the Centauri uses only 1N34A diodes, with an original forward voltage of 0.35v (±15%). It’s also built using the original Centaur circuit board layout and features its buffered bypass, rather than the more modern true bypass.

Technical
  • Original Centaur circuit board layout.
  • Gold-plated PCB (ENIG).
  • Genuine Texas Instruments op-amps (TL072).
  • NOS 1N34A germanium clipping diodes with original forward voltage of 0.35v (±15%).
  • Solid anodized aluminum knobs (volume, drive, and tone controls).
  • Neutrik input and output jacks.
  • Buffered bypass.
  • 9v DC operation using a standard negative center power supply.

Free 2 day shipping

We planned to have all orders on this website fulfilled directly by Amazon fulfillment services (FBA); however, orders have been crazy. We’re now shipping directly from Idaho for all orders placed on this website until Amazon processes our restocking shipments. Place your order before 3 pm PST Monday through Friday, and your pedal will ship out the same day. Pedals get shipped via USPS and, in most cases, arrive in 1 to 3 business days.

Shipping within the United States is free. Anywhere else in the world is $15.

Pre-order pedals are dispatched directly from Harby Pedals, LLC. in Moscow, Idaho, USA. via USPS and will ship once they become available.