Centaur
A drive with headroom, because it runs its rails well above the battery.
What the circuit does
An internal charge pump takes the 9V supply and generates a much higher internal voltage for the circuit to swing against, so the stage clips because it is asked to rather than because it ran out of room. The clean signal is blended back in alongside the driven one rather than replaced by it.
What to listen for
The amp's own character surviving underneath the gain, and a treble lift that opens the top end rather than adding fizz. Because the blend keeps a clean path, the note attack stays intact where a fully clipped drive would smear it.
Where it goes
The overdrive and distortion slot
After the fuzz and before everything time based. Distorting a signal and then delaying it keeps the repeats clean; delaying a signal and then distorting it drives the repeats and the dry note together into one smear.
This one has a buffered output. Useful for driving a long cable run without losing top end, and worth knowing about if a vintage-style fuzz sits after it, because the fuzz will be hearing the buffer rather than your guitar.
Controls
- Gain
- Treble
- Output