Guitar Pedal clone / bass pedal clone & replicas
Warlord custom can build pedal clones and replicate pedals. We can do it if a specific pedal clone is what you need. Pedal cloning is something that’s always been around, and it’ll always be here. Pedal builders will always clone pedals.
A guitar pedal clone is usually a copy, a clone, of a famous guitar or bass pedal. Technically speaking, a pedal clone is an identical duplicated circuit that performs exactly as the original. It’s build on the same specifications of the original, and it’s build using identical components (or components that perform exactly the same) as the original’s. For example, you can find many pedal clones of the Tube Screamer overdrive in the market. Most of the Overdrive pedals out there are either modified pedal clones of the Tube Screamer, or heavily based on it.
Manufactures produce an X unit for an X period of time. When production is over, it may be hard or impossible (after years) to find that original X unit in the market. And if you do find it, its price may be very expensive because it’s rare (if you got the money, and you are a collector, then DO buy it!). If the tone and sonic characteristics is all you need, then clone it! That’s where a pedal clone is very handy.
Cloning also comes handy when a manufacturer offers a pedal at an extremely high price. That’s usually an issue at signature models. I have found a legendary pedal clone with an artist’s signature at a ver high price. Don’t want to name the company, but that’s how they make money. So, why buy a big company’s “original” signature pedal at a price of $350 just because it’s got the X artist’s signature? Build a pedal clone if you like the tone and don’t have the money. Buy the original if you are a collector or big brand supporter. It’s always up to you. Chances are, you can build a pedal clone with less money. You can also build a pedal clone, when a manufacturer has a turn around time of e.g 4-5 months, and you want your pedal NOW! Drop us an email, and we’ll see what we can do. IMPORTANT : Warlord’s signature distortion pedals, are original designs. Not pedal clones. And they are cheaper! For a list of the advantages check this post.
So, cloning is not bad. Cloning is bad if you simply present or sell a clone as a unique, original design. That’s fraud for Warlord’s philosophy.
Most of the custom pedal shops, have guitar pedal clones or bass pedal clones in their product line. Reasons are obvious as mentioned above. Modified or not a legendary pedal usually adds confidence to a guitarist’s gear arsenal. That’s why clones will always be here. Warlord’s Standard Series for guitar or bass, is based on modified clones. The legendary original pedal our clone is based on, is always mentioned in every pedal’s page. Our signature guitar pedals are unique designs.
Some custom pedal shops, have a very wide product range. That way, they direct the customer to select a product from their collection.That’s not bad, as it provides the customer with a “ready to go solution”. For example, they may offer 5 overdrive pedals, so 1 out of the 5 may be appropriate for you.
Warlord doesn’t work that way. Warlord is a pure custom shop. We want to listen to you, talk about your needs & the tone that you’re after. That’s how we build stuff. For example you may need pedal with the tone of Joe Satriani, but you also like the tone of Steve Ray or even Paul Gilbert’s. So you may need a pedal that could be used for both styles of music. That’s how Warlord works. You tell us what you need, we suggest you a few things, and the choice is up to you. It’s all a matter of taste. Of course borrowing “building blocks” from other pedals is also a creative thing to do. For example, you may like the Tube Screamer’s tone, but you may also like the Marshall’s JCM800 tone too (even if it’s an amplifier). Warlord will sit down to figure out what or how to do it to make you happy. If it’s something we cannot do, we will let you know. We cannot build everything. We don’t lie. We want to build trust, or even help you find your way to go, even if we are not the ones that’ll finally build your pedal.
Keep in mind that when you clone stuff you clone its problems too. So a better approach for a build is to suggest a pedal you’d like, and let us make a further step to improve it. A very good example on this, is my amp switch pedal “the Switch”. There are 100’s of amp switching pedals in the market. Most of them have the same problems (popping sound, clicking, noise, humming, out phase issues etc), because they’re based on the same schematic. Warlord’s amp Switch pedal is unique. That’s what we like to do. Create unique designs that stand out. Original design is something exciting and when the result is successful, it’s also encouraging. Going that way, you will know, that you own a pedal that nobody else out there owns.
By George Liagas – Google
