The Unobtanium promises to obtain the sounds of some of the rarest and most expensive pieces of gear in history
(Image credit: Crazy Tube Circuits)
A Klon Centaur overdrive pedal and Dumble guitar amp are two pieces of gear that just about every electric guitar player would love to get their hands on, but for 99 percent of guitarists there are two pretty big obstacles in the way: they’re both incredibly expensive and very hard to come across.
Crazy Tube Circuits seeks to solve such issues with the Unobtanium – a two-sided overdrive that looks to obtain the unobtainable and cram both Klon and Dumble tones into one compact pedalboard-friendly unit.
It’s a tall order, to say the least – numerous Klon clones exist, though two-in-one units of this nature aren’t as common – but that hasn’t stopped the Greek-based boutique pedal builder from giving it a go.
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(Image credit: Crazy Tube Circuits)
(Image credit: Crazy Tube Circuits)
The pedal’s right side is concerned with the Klon, and features a reproduction of the original circuit complete with the Klon’s germanium diodes. Like the Centaur, there are three control knobs that dictate Gain, Treble and Volume, though the Unobtanium also throws two toggle switches into the mix.
While the first switches between true bypass and the original buffer bypass that supposedly adds clarity, the second switch flicks between stock clipping and compression, and enhanced gain and headroom.
Over on the left, the Unobtanium introduces an all-analog amp-in-a-box circuit, headed up by Volume, Gain, Tone and Emphasis parameters. The first three are fairly self-explanatory, but the Emphasis knob is described as a pre-drive EQ to control presence and bottom-end response.
To really tap into those Dumble tones, the left side of the pedal features a third and final toggle switch: SSS promises a “clean and transparent overdrive with natural organic compression”, while ODS is dubbed a “higher gain overdrive with enhanced mid frequencies and harmonic overtones”.
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For further tonal control, the pedal also offers internal trimmers to adjust both the EQ and volume boost of the overdrive voicings, while an external footswitch allows users to connect a third-party footswitch to take control of the SSS/ODS toggle.
Each side can be used independently, but when used together, Crazy Tube Circuits says the Unobtanium will provide “near infinite smooth sustain”.
Other appointments include a passive series effects loop to connect other pedals in between each section and click-less true bypass footswitches.
The Unobtanium is available now for €289 (approximately $303). To put that into perspective, regular Klons usually go for upwards of $8,000, while Dumbles regularly exceed the six-figure mark.
Matt is a Senior Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.
