Silver Archer vs Gold Archer Ikon

  • Thread starter Thread starter Little Pigbacon
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Re: Silver Archer vs Gold Archer Ikon

Not an expert cork sniffer but I believe the JRADs are Klones of the original silver and gold Klons.

Me, I grabbed one of the last Build Your Own Clone Silver Ponies (Silver Klone) and I’m more than happy!


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Re: Silver Archer vs Gold Archer Ikon

https://youtu.be/XnDEadZTV80

The Archers are played from roughly ~8:15-15:40. I can't speak for the originals since I've never played one of them. The guys from "That Pedal Show" seem to hear the gold klon having more compression. Let your ears be the judge. To my ears, I dig the gold klon with single coils more.

FWIW, if you're looking for a good klone, you should look into a Tumnus which is played after the Archers (~15:40-18:27). Tons of volume and bass on tap. It sounded the best out of the entire video demo. I still have my tumnus after massive gear purges throughout 2017 lol.

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Re: Silver Archer vs Gold Archer Ikon

I’ll say find a Klon KTR. I sold my Klone’s when I got my KTR.

Mine were all Aluminum Falcons...another great Klon Klon.

But there was no point in owning them after getting the KTR. And it’s a real Klon.
 
Re: Silver Archer vs Gold Archer Ikon

Lewguitar said:
I’ll say find a Klon KTR... And it’s a real Klon.
Click to expand...

I finally looked into the KTR. Very nice! Dig the tone for sure. It's very close and more true to the originals. I did manage to find this video of a KTR vs Tumnus. Again, the Tumnus has tons of low end on tap. I wish the amp in the demo wasn't being pushed so hard to let the pedals shine more, but still a good reference. Will need to hunt one down and compare for myself.

https://youtu.be/KI2HUHDmJho


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Re: Silver Archer vs Gold Archer Ikon

I believe the only difference between the Gold and Silver Archers are the clipping diodes. The Gold has the original Germanium, I’m not sure about the Silver.

My recollection is that the Archer is the Bill Finnegan approved Klone, he “blessed” the circuit, components and layout with JRAD doing the construction. I believe this was before the KTR hit the market.

Also, Bill says there is no difference between any of the versions (Gold, Silver, long tail, short tail, horsie, no horsie) just component tolerances.

For the record I have a Gold Archer, I got it from PGS Saturday Night Special for a song. It works well for me.
 
Re: Silver Archer vs Gold Archer Ikon

Little Pigbacon said:
Which one does a proper lady or gentleman use?
Click to expand...

A Wampler Tumnus.
bLtGReD.jpg
 
Re: Silver Archer vs Gold Archer Ikon

I’m afraid I couldn’t possibly buy that without a funny video from Brian.
 
Re: Silver Archer vs Gold Archer Ikon

Lewguitar said:
I’ll say find a Klon KTR. I sold my Klone’s when I got my KTR.

Mine were all Aluminum Falcons...another great Klon Klon.

But there was no point in owning them after getting the KTR. And it’s a real Klon.
Click to expand...

It may be as close as I’m going to get without spending $2k, but I just can’t deal with that stupid slogan printed right on the face of the pedal. He may be right, but I don’t want it staring at me all the time.
 
Re: Silver Archer vs Gold Archer Ikon

Little Pigbacon said:
It may be as close as I’m going to get without spending $2k, but I just can’t deal with that stupid slogan printed right on the face of the pedal. He may be right, but I don’t want it staring at me all the time.
Click to expand...

Well...since I don’t play my guitar while laying on the floor, staring at my KTR, it’s never been an issue for me. ;)
 
Re: Silver Archer vs Gold Archer Ikon

YeRedHouseOverYonder said:
I finally looked into the KTR. Very nice! Dig the tone for sure. It's very close and more true to the originals. I did manage to find this video of a KTR vs Tumnus. Again, the Tumnus has tons of low end on tap. I wish the amp in the demo wasn't being pushed so hard to let the pedals shine more, but still a good reference. Will need to hunt one down and compare for myself.

https://youtu.be/KI2HUHDmJho


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Click to expand...
. The beauty of a Klon is the way I can leave it on all the time and go from clean to distortion using the volume control of my Strat.

But they’re not for everyone.

Some guys want more distortion...some want more low end...etc.

Some guys prefer a Tubescreamer!

I like them both and have both.
 
Re: Silver Archer vs Gold Archer Ikon

Little Pigbacon said:
It may be as close as I’m going to get without spending $2k, but I just can’t deal with that stupid slogan printed right on the face of the pedal. He may be right, but I don’t want it staring at me all the time.
Click to expand...

I don't think the KTR is as close as you're going to get in that it's not built like the originals. The Klon circuit is well studied and there are plenty of clones out there, in ready built or kit form, that nail it. You don't have to spend $279 on the KTR to get the tone. May be subtle differences in a head to head, pedal versus pedal, but in a mix ... nah. Of course, if you have to have a BF pedal or buy into the magic diode thing, then that's totally cool. Buy the KTR.

This may not be accurate at all but I have read that when J. RAD first came out with the silver Archer he used germ. diodes in them. When he released the Archer Ikon, he used the germ. diodes in the Ikon but switched to Schottky diodes in the silver Archers. Again, it may not be true but if it is, the gold Archer Ikon is a safer bet as a clone of a Klon than the silver Archer.

Andy did one of the better head to head videos, IMO.

 
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Re: Silver Archer vs Gold Archer Ikon

Little Pigbacon said:
LOL. I thought it meant “boyfriend pedal”, as a cheeky way of saying “fanboy”.
Click to expand...

LOL. I can be a smart-a$$, but I wasn't trying to be in this instance. Back on point ... If you do go with one of the J. Rockett pedals, I'd suggest the gold Archer Ikon. I did some digging and found some photos of the internals and I saw both germanium and schottky diodes in the gut shots of the silver Archer. So, I do think the story is true that they initially used germanium diodes and then switched to the schottky diodes after they build the gold Archer Ikons. All the photos I saw of the Archer Ikons had germanium diodes (Russian D9E). There was some drama between J Rockett and BF and the Archer pedals but personally, I don't care. I like J Rockett and think they make some good pedals. I kind of want a J. Rockett Dude pedal. I owned an Archer Ikon at one point. It sounded great but I didn't get along with the buffer. In retrospect, I don't think it was the buffer itself. I think there was something going on with something else later in the chain. I currently have a klone that I built myself. Cool pedals.

At any rate, I'm sure you'll sort it out. As I wrote, there are lots of clones out there. The diodes do make a difference but as long as they are germanium and close to the "correct" forward voltage drop, differences are pretty darn subtle, IMO. Any well regarded klone gets there. And again, there is always the KTR. Not sure why BF didnt just either go with an original looking enclosure or go smaller. He could have accomplished the same thing in a different box. A lot of people seem to hate the aesthetics of that pedal. And there simply isn't enough going on inside that it has to be that big of a box.
 
Re: Silver Archer vs Gold Archer Ikon

Best sounding KLON clone I've played is the Ceritatone Centura. I've owned two KLON's - silver and gold. Sold them both years ago. I recently picked up 3 Centura's, and they are every bit as good as my KLON's were.

 
Re: Silver Archer vs Gold Archer Ikon

After a 3 hour practice session, I'm actually digging the Ceriatone Centura more than either of my KLON's. I don't know if it's a result of hardwiring the gain pot to the PCB vs the ribbon cable of KLON, but this pedal kills! The Centura sounds much better at higher gain settings than either of my KLON's did. I also constructed my Centura using gold pin op-amp sockets. Others have said the same (in regards to higher gain), so I'm thinking it's the result of using wire instead of a ribbon cable.
 
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