Back in 2019 I became aware of the NuX brand of pedals. Maybe it was actually the end of 2018. It was whenever they announced that they were making a Klone. At that time, I was on a kick to try just about every pedal of that variety that I could find, especially the cheap ones. I already had several, and had my favorites (which are still my favorites today), but NuX announced their Horseman. It caught my interest because, knowing there were two types of Klons (the gold and silver), but not really knowing what the difference in them was, NuX was apparently making a klone that could be changed from one type to the other just by holding the switch down long.

So, shortly after it was announced, I placed my order for it. It was supposed to ship in like 2 months. After nearly 3, I got a notice that shipping had been delayed, but it was still coming. After waiting a total of about 4 months, I finally got it in hand. I excitedly pulled it out and put it in my chain to test out.

I was underwhelmed on all counts.

Granted, I'm not a huge Klon fan, I think in the right places, it is a standout pedal. Yes, I am one of those folks that Josh Scott hates because I like it at the front of all my drives on an amp that is just beginning to get some hair. Set the volume to push the amp and the drive at about 9 o'clock, and I think, on the right amp, that is one of those guitar tones that people chase. Sorry, not sorry, Mr JHS.

The NuX Horseman just didn't do much for me. It quickly got put in the closet and forgotten. A few months later, I pulled it out and tested it against some of the klones I had at the time. It didn't do very well. In fact, it went back in the closet, and was one of the first pedals I grabbed in the great gear purge of 2020.

On a sort of related note, in that same gear purge, I got rid of a Vertex Steel String Clean Drive. I had never really bonded with it, so it got sold. I'll come back to this in a sec.

So, earlier this year, I kept getting those targeted adds for the NuX Ace of Tone. I was completely unfamiliar with it. Turns out it is a double pedal with their Morning Star on one side and their Tubeman on the other. Two things caught my eye about it. First, it has a switch so that you can change the signal so it routes to the side that you want it to hit first. So it can go left to right or right to left. Second, the MS side is supposed to be their Blues Breaker circuit, and the TM side is a TS-type circuit. A good TS of some sort has been on my board since I first started buying pedals. The first OD pedal I bought was a TS-copy, but I didn't know it at the time. 

Neeways, it was the BB side that I really wanted to try. I had heard a couple of guys talking about those along with the legendary King of Tone just before I started seeing the ads. I had never tried a BB-type that I knew of, and only knew that the KoT was talked about in the same hushed tones as the original Klons. Since, this had the circuit that I wanted to try as well as the circuit I always used and I could route it through either side first, I figured the worst that could happen would be for me to buy it, and then flip it because it sucked.

I had some Amazon gift credit, so I grabbed it there on the cheap. Got it the next day, plugged it in, and it has held a spot on my Affordaboard since. I prefer it routed right to left (BB -> TS). Honestly, I'm not super impressed with the TS side. It's just missing something that every other TS-type I've got (and kept) has. But I forgive that because the BB side sounds really good to me. It has a little thing on it called Shine-mode that pushes the treble, and, with that on, the pedal just sounds super good to me.

Then, back during the fall, I was talking to someone about trying to get that Robben Ford sound, and they told me that a lot of it was because he was using a Dumble amp. I don't ever see me getting a Dumble. Even if I am ever in a position to afford one, I don't think I could rationalize it. So I decided to try a D-type pedal. When I googled those, I saw the NuX Steel Singer. Since I had been liking the Ace of Tone so much, I decided to check them out. I found one on Reverb for $25 that looked in good shape, so I got it.

When it came in, I thought it looked an awful lot like that Vertex I had never liked. So, I immediately discounted it because I never really liked the Vertex. Although, in retrospect, I may not've given it a fair shake. I plugged the pedal in and started playing around with it. I immediately dug it! Kind of like this klones I have always had at the front of my ODs, I leave the gain really low and was using it to just push the amp. I like it better than any of my sub-$100 klones enough that it ended up taking that space on my Affordaboard.

Then, last week, I was thinking I wanted to try a cheap Marshall in a box. Saw one of the NuX Plexi Crunch pedals on Reverb for $20 and grabbed it. I don't have a Marshall to judge it against, but it sounds about like I expected it to sound. It'll probably get traded off at some point, but I'll hang on to it for a while.

Now they're advertising that Queen of Tone. It's a BB-circuit and their klone. Granted, I didn't like their stand-alone klone, I may give the dual pedal a shot. Just because. I haven't decided though. I got the Ace of Tone brand new for $110, but they're asking $200 for the Queen of Tone. I could get the two individual pedals for $120, so why would I want to spend an extra $80 just for them to be in the same box. If they drop the price to the price of the Ace of Tone, I may grab one.

That's been my NuX journey since I first heard about them. Some of their stuff has been extremely average, and some of their stuff I have really liked. You'll see the Steel Singer and Ace of Tone both on my Affordaboard below.

What budget-minded pedals have you tried that surprised you? Was it a good surprise or a bad one? Did any of them stay on your board? Let me know in the comments.

So the other day I decided to pull out my Klon-type pedals, do some side by side comparisons, and see if my thoughts on them had changed at all.  I figured this would be a good time to do this because I just got the NuX Horseman that I had ordered back in April, and was playing with it to see how I liked it.  So, here they are in my order of preference.

Before I go into the pedals, I should also mention that I always use the Klones in the same way.  With the amp just at the edge of breaking up, I'll have the gain on the pedal set minimally, the treble set in the middle, and the volume set a couple of clicks above unity so that it's pushing the amp a bit.  So it's more like a clean boost I guess.  This is where I believe these pedals really shine.

1. Klon KTR - I paid $300 for it new back in like 2015.  It's the botttom left, red pedal.  I was actually surprised that this one made the #1 spot.  In the past, I always said that it wasn't as good as the some of the copies.  According to Bill Finnegan, this one is supposed to sound just like the Centaurs.  I've never had a Centaur to demo, but when I pulled this one out of the closet the other day, it sounded good.  Really good.  Good enough, in fact, that I think I finally understand the mythos surrounding the original Klons and why so many have sought to create Klones.  I, also, think this may've been the first time I've played the pedal that I didn't go into it with some sort of preconceived bias against it since it's the one that "set the standard" and I could add up the cost of the 4 lesser priced Klones I have and still not have cover the cost of this one. 
   This is a very smooth sounding OD.  It retains the warmth of the amp without really coloring the tone.  This really is what the Klones should aspire to be.
2. Tone Bakery Creme Brulee - I paid $100 for this one a year or so ago.  It's the pale, not really white or yellow pedal in the bottom right.  As far as copies go, this one pretty much nailed it.  It became my go-to klone as soon as I bought it back in 2018.  One of a very small handful of pedals that I've bought, plugged in at the house, and was pretty much taken back by the tones I immediately heard in it.  To my ear, this one will come closer to the KTR sound than any of the others.
3. EHX Soul Food - I paid $60 for this one the day that I saw they were available.  It's the top left pedal that's kind of pale yellow inside the silver pedal-case border.  I had heard rumor maybe 6 years ago that EHX was going to start making a klone and selling it for less than $100.  I didn't pre-order this pedal, but I did order it the day that I looked at the Sweetwater website and saw that it said In Stock.  Until I got the Creme Brulee, it was my go-to klone.  It sounds really good.  I'm not sure that I can put my finger on what the Tone Bakery and Klon pedals have that the EHX is missing, but, played back to back, it's like it has the sound without the sparkle or something.  Still a great sounding pedal, and, if I played out a bunch, this might be the one I used just because you can get it cheaply at any Guitar Center in the country.  The KTR and Creme Brulee aren't as easy to come by.
4. Wampler Tumnus - I pre-ordered this one direct from Wampler for $220 I think.  It's the gold color mini-pedal in the middle on the bottom.  This one hurts me to be listed at the #4 spot for a couple of reasons.  First, I'm a HUGE Narnia fan, so the fact that it's called the Tumnus makes me want to default it to the #1 spot.  Second, I've had the pleasure of exchanging emails with Brian about some things on like 4 different occasions (not trying to name drop here - by my own admission, I don't know the guy and he'd be like "snarf who?" if you mentioned my name to him), and he seems like a stand-up, genuinely nice guy.  I like a LOT of what he does within the pedal community, and am a big fan of him, his company, and the pedals that he makes.  I think his take on the Klon is very similar to the Soul Food.  Only with a touch less sparkle.  Maybe I just got a Monday morning  example of the Tumnus and all the others are outstanding, I don't know.   I really want this one to be so much better than it is.
   I feel like I should quantify the sparkle comment I've made real quick since I've now used it about 2 of the 4 pedals.  Several years ago I would eat at Popeye's fried chicken place up the street from my office about once a week.  I like their spicy chicken strips.  One day I got back to the office, and noticed they had dropped a little packet of something simply called "Sparkle" into my bag.  being curious, I opened it up, saw that it was spices of some sort, and sprinkled it on my chicken.  It was A.Ma.Zing.  I still have no idea what was in that packet, but every time I went through that drive thru from then on, I made sure to request a packet of Sparkle.  All the way up until the day that the lady apologized and told me they no longer carried it.  I still don't know what it was (and changed jobs so haven't been back to Popeyes in years), I just know that it made a pretty good fast food meal transform into something that made me want to lick the inside of the box good.
5. NuX Horseman - I pre-ordered this one and paid $65 for it.  It's the gold colored mini-pedal in the middle on the top.  It's ok.  Notice I didn't say it was good.  I heard about this back the first of this year, and it caught my eye that it has the 2 different Klone-modes to it...gold and silver versions.  So I had to get one and try it out.  Next to the other pedals, it pales pretty quickly.  It's not super smooth, but it's also not really harsh.  At least the gold-mode isn't really harsh.  To my ear, the silver-mode starts to get into that territory.  I don't know that I'll ever use it in silver-mode because of that.  I also got this one because I had been seeing a LOT of NuX stuff on the market lately, and I was really curious about it.  I figured that, since this would be a pedal I'd be interested in, I'd grab it, and use it kind of as my gauge for the rest of the brand.  If this one is any indication, I won't be getting much from them.  It's an overdrive.  In a crowded room where half the folks are drunk and the other half wish they were, it probably sounds as good as the others.  In an environment where you can use a bit of a discerning ear, it's an extremely average pedal.
6. Caline Pegasus - I paid $30 for this one about 6 months ago.  Top right pedal that's brown.  I will occasionally buy the cheap, Chinese pedal copies because sometimes they will surprise you and be a really good sounding pedal.  Sometimes.  This was not one of those times.  To my ear, this one is just a harsh sounding overdrive.  It's a klone that doesn't do the klone thing particularly well.  Truth is, it's harsh enough that, when compared to any of the top 3 pedals in this list, I'm not sure how they manage to call it a klone.  I haven't been able to find those smooth, sweet, transparent tones in it.  Can't say a lot good about the sound of this pedal, but the graphic on the front of a winged centaur (not a pegasus as named, but rather half-centaur, half-pegasus...a pegataur or centasus maybe?) was worth the price of admission.

What are your thoughts?  Tried any good Klon-type pedals that just really stood out to you?  I've heard really good things about the J Rockett Archer, but haven't gotten my hands on one of those yet.  I've also heard there are some really good ones from back before the recent onslaught...the Aluminum Falcon, the JHS copy that they no longer make, the MXR Sugar Drive (although I think this one may be one of the recent ones), and others.  Some day I'll have to make it a point to pick some of these up and give them a shot as well.

I haven't actually used a pedal board in a while...several months probably.  I've gotten to where I just go straight to my amp.  If I feel like I need a pedal in the mix, I'll stick a pedal in the mix, but it's just one pedal.  No board.  But I decided to put a bit of a board back together the last few weeks.  

Being a gear-a-holic, even if I haven't been using a board or even many pedals, that hasn't stopped me from continuing to pick up pedals and other gear just because whatever it is catches my eye and looks interesting.  On the board the I put together recently, I have two pedals that are two of my most recent acquisitions and two that I have had longer than probably any others.  Here's what I have at the moment.  The signal chain goes like this.  Guitar goes into...

Boss TU-2 Tuner.  This was the 5th pedal I bought (I think) and the first pedal tuner.  Back when I bought it, I was playing in the worship band at the church that I attended.  Playing there, I had a wall immediately to my back with the sopranos in the choir behind me.  To my left was the horn section of the orchestra.  To my right was the bass player who was using an 8x10.  In front of me was an 8' Steinway grand.  My music stand pretty much rattled against the piano all the time.  I realized pretty quickly that, in all that noise, clip-on tuners were pretty useless.  So I got the pedal tuner.  Built like a tank, and has never given me a problem.   The tuner goes into...

The Tone Bakery Creme Brulee.  I forget where I first heard about this one, but it's another one of those pedals that goes into the Klone camp.  I've got several of this type of pedal, but this I picked this one up back the end of summer, and have enjoyed playing around with it since then.  I have the gain just barely cracked open, and the volume set to about 2 o'clock.  I have it on most of the time and use it as that clean boost to just push the amp a little more.  Same way I use any other Klone I've got.  The Creme Brulee goes into...

The Visual Sound (now TruTone) Route 66.  This pedal is the 4th one I ever got.  It's probably the pedal that comes the closest to staying on my board all. the. time.  On the occasion that I pull it off, it doesn't stay off long.  To my ear, it can get a little dirtier than a regular TS pedal.  It can pull off that throaty growl better than anything than any pedal I have.  I run this one just the opposite of whatever Klone I have on the board at the time...volume not too high and the gain turned somewhere between noon and 3.  When I first got this pedal, I used it much like I use a Klone nowadays.  Funny thing was, when I used it like that, had never heard of a Klon or of folks using it like that.  These days, it gets used more as that gainy OD pedal.  When I don't have a Klone on my board, I typically use this one in conjunction with a TS.  The Rt 66 pedal runs into...

The TC Electronics Flashback X4.  I picked up this delay pedal on the cheap from a buddy like 2 or 3 years ago, and never used it.  It's too complicated.  However, when putting a board together, I always feel like I need to have a delay of some sort on it for some slapback.  So, rather than my usual delay, I pulled this one out and stuck it on.  I figured I'd play around with it for a while and see if I could figure it out a little better.  It's probably not going to last long, but we'll see.  I always fall back to that whole, keep-it-simple-stupid thing when it comes to pedals.  As I was playing last night, I was already thinking that I needed to go ahead and switch it out.  SO we'll see how long it lasts.  The delay runs into...

The TC Electronics Hall of Fame 2.  I picked it up the first of October.  I had sold a bunch of stuff on Reverb, and was trying to spend the Reverb Bucks I had.  Didn't have a reverb pedal (never been a big fan of them), but decided I'd spend some of the earnings on either this pedal or an ElectroHarmonix Oceans 11.  I ended up with this one only because it was cheaper.  Other than that, like I said, I've never been a big fan of reverb pedals, so I'm giving this one a shot just to see how it does.  The reverb pedal goes into...

The Morley ABY.  I used to have an ART ABY, and it always seemed to be giving me problems.  As often as anything, it buzzed.  Made me think something wasn't soldered quite right.  So I opened it up, but couldn't find anything that would be causing it.  It would buzz today, and be quiet tomorrow.  Never could figure it out.  So I finally ditched it and bought the Morley.  Haven't had a problem since.  It's been rock-solid.  The B side of it goes to one of my Blackhearts.  The A side of it goes to...

The Boss RC-20xl looper pedal.  This is the third pedal I ever bought.  I picked it up less than a week after the pedal hit the market.  It's old school looper tech, but it was state of the art when I bought it.  16 minutes of recording, which was like triple what anything else had at the time.  These days, depending on the looper, you can get hours of looping fun, save to an SD card, send it to your computer via usb or any number of things like that.  This one has none of that.  Heck!  Memory cards weren't that advanced and nothing had usb back when this one hit the market.  But it's been another mainstay in my arsenal (for practice anyways), and I don't see it going anywhere.  I've never upgraded it because I like the simplicity of it.  This pedal runs out to my Fender SuperChamp set on the clean channel.

Now keep in mind that I'm not currently playing out.  This setup is mostly to keep all my pedals in one place, and to keep the music room floor from having pedals strung all across it.  If I were playing out, I'd tailor the board to whatever the gig needed.  This just works pretty well for what I've been practicing the last few weeks.  It'll change I'm sure.

Since I've mentioned the 3rd, 4th, and 5th pedals that I ever bought, I feel like I should mention the first two.  The 1st pedal I ever got was the obligatory Boss DS-1.  I got it from eBay for like $15.  Had no idea about pedals back then.  Didn't realize there was a difference in distortion and OD.  Bought it, used it for like a week (because I honestly had no idea what I was doing with it), and then quit using it.  I have no idea what ever happened to this pedal.  Did I sell it or trade it off?  Is it stuck in a box out in the garage somewhere?  I honestly couldn't tell you.  The 2nd pedal I got was the Danelectro Cool Cat chorus.  Kind of like the DS-1, I got it off eBay because it was cheap and I thought it looked cool.  The surf green colored one that is built like a tank.  It's still my go-to chorus pedal.

I had the Cool Cat and looper for like 5 years before I bought the next pedal (the Rt 66).  After the Rt 66 and tuner, I have no idea what pedals I got in what order.  At this point, I've got a closet full, and have given away, traded, or sold off quite a few others to either finance others or just to get rid of them because I never bonded with them.

What's on your board right now?  Any of these pedals that you like or think should never have been made?