Mosky Golden Horse, clone of the Klon Centaur

[bgmacaw]

Here we go. An exhaustive comparison of most of the Klones on the market right now.

For all who are wondering about the silver horse it would seem that it might be the same PCB as the golden horse but with a clipping switch that merely gives a huge volume boost and changes the EQ slightly. The mosky also has the least amount of headroom of any of the pedals.

After watching that video I was glad I replaced my broken Golden Horses with a Sugar Drive.

 

[AndyPanda]

I've watched a lot of those comparison videos and who knows what variant of the pedal they are comparing. A lot of the older ones had different charge pumps and had a high frequency noise/whine. I just bought a Golden Horse and it has tons of clean headroom and is very quiet. With the pedal connected to an oscilloscope and a signal generator-- gain knob at zero, you can output a clean sine wave at about 25 volts peak to peak so I don't know what else to say to the guys claiming it doesn't have enough headroom. Mine has the 7660S chip which has the oscillator frequency above audio range (35khz I believe) and I bet some of those comparison videos are using older, noisy pedals with different chips.

EDIT: just read the spec sheet on the 7660S and max Voltage in is 13v vs the 9v max on the older chips --- those older pedals would fail with power adapters that were even a little over 9v

25.6v peak to peak (8.6v RMS)

 

[xambackwards]

Nice clean boost on the DSL green channel and combined with a mildly driven disruption pedal gives clarity, overdrive with control.

laying for 5 minutes.
I opened the pedal to fin

Thought I'd throw some pics up anyway.

Noticing mine has a full size charge pump chip.

This is after I added the second jack ground wire.
Actually I removed and replaced all of the original wires.
All original wire were black, I used red for the signal.

I forget which jack was missing the ground wire, I think it was the output.

While I was in there I replaced the blinding bright blue LED with a red.
The red is very dim, but much better than being blinded.

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Man! This is what I needed to see, same issue on my silver horse.

I saw that while one of the jacks has the ground hooked up, the other one is not grounded - also there is no potruding metal bit for the ground cable to be soldered to... can I just attach the cable inside of the jack itself?
Its hard to explain but I'm sure you'll get it...

Getting it back in the case was also a nightmare, severed the jack connections and have to resolder it.. oh well that's what cheap pedals are for i guess.

Also would you think replacing C1 with a .1uf cap would help the hum?

 

[J-bass&Tele]

Yeah, ”headroom” seems to be having a broad meaning, or several interpretations...
A lot of pedals (mostly boosts) are marketed how many Decibels of boost they can put out. I’m mostly concerned with input headroom, as in how many volts can the input handle.

Sometimes i play very clean and even the Lpb-1 can deliver a lot of boost but if my Tele volume pot is anywhere 8-10, the Lpb breaks up. With my Jazz Bass it’s even worse.

I am waiting for a Silver Horse and if it hasn’t got enough headroom, at the input, then I guess I’ll try to build a 18v clean boost. Mxr CAE Mc-401 with a charge pump might do it.

I've watched a lot of those comparison videos and who knows what variant of the pedal they are comparing. A lot of the older ones had different charge pumps and had a high frequency noise/whine. I just bought a Golden Horse and it has tons of clean headroom and is very quiet. With the pedal connected to an oscilloscope and a signal generator-- gain knob at zero, you can output a clean sine wave at about 25 volts peak to peak so I don't know what else to say to the guys claiming it doesn't have enough headroom. Mine has the 7660S chip which has the oscillator frequency above audio range (35khz I believe) and I bet some of those comparison videos are using older, noisy pedals with different chips.

EDIT: just read the spec sheet on the 7660S and max Voltage in is 13v vs the 9v max on the older chips --- those older pedals would fail with power adapters that were even a little over 9v

25.6v peak to peak (8.6v RMS)

View attachment 642025

 

[AndyPanda]

I’m mostly concerned with input headroom, as in how many volts can the input handle.

If it would be helpful I can measure the voltage swing the input can take before clipping and post another pic .. I can send it way more input signal from my tone generator than a passive pickup and I don't see any clipping. Is your guitar active electronics with a boosted ouput?

Anyway, the two Golden Horse pedals that I bought recently (Amazon) both are able to take a very hot signal without clipping the input and can put out a very hot signal without clipping the output.

 

[J-bass&Tele]

If it would be helpful I can measure the voltage swing the input can take before clipping and post another pic .. I can send it way more input signal from my tone generator than a passive pickup and I don't see any clipping. Is your guitar active electronics with a boosted ouput?

Anyway, the two Golden Horse pedals that I bought recently (Amazon) both are able to take a very hot signal without clipping the input and can put out a very hot signal without clipping the output.

Oh, that would be very helpful. How generous of you.

It’s a standard Fender Tele, no active electronics. There are a couple of scenarios where most 9v boosts start to clip. After a wah-wah, after an OD and sometimes even just from the transients. The transients from the Tele seems to be bigger than from my Gretsch (Megatron pickups), which is roughly as loud but more compressed.

It sounds promising that the Golden Horses seems to be able to take a hot signal. I was hoping that the Silver Horse with the “voicing” switch (Diod lift? LED/1n4148?) could help with this further.

 

[J-bass&Tele]

silver horse inside on pics, leds for clipping are not very usable, different pump chip. No problems in one month.
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The switch, would you say that it’s just switching between two LED’s and two Germanium diodes?
That would explain the difference in amount of clipping at the same gain pot settings.

 

[m0b1liz3]

I just picked up one of these off ebay. Not too much noise when on but when I engage the switch there is a loud pop. Is there any way to fix this or should I just request a refund?

 

[Axis29]

I just picked up one of these off ebay. Not too much noise when on but when I engage the switch there is a loud pop. Is there any way to fix this or should I just request a refund?

Try switching it on and off a time or two before turning up the sound on the amp. I had a pedal a few years ago that I needed to do this to... Then, I'd have no more pops the rest of the session.

 

[MusicGroup]

The switch, would you say that it’s just switching between two LED’s and two Germanium diodes?
That would explain the difference in amount of clipping at the same gain pot settings.

2 LEDs and two Germanium,

For single PUs LEDs are not much affective, so it has to be HB or preamp before them

 

[J-bass&Tele]

2 LEDs and two Germanium,

For single PUs LEDs are not much affective, so it has to be HB or preamp before them

I would guess the LED’s are there so that the signal limits/clips there instead of just lifting the Ge diodes and therefore risking clipping in the next op-amp stage, and still get more of a boost character.
Perfect for my intended use.

I just got mine in the mail, haven’t had time to open it up.
BTW, what is it with Mosky and their intent to blind their customers with the LED’s? The other Mosky I have, the “Spring Reverb”, also have the super bright, blue LED. Until I got time to change it, it gets some electrical tape over it.

 

[supermoose]

I have a silver one on the way, and i have taken notice about the recessed power jack on this (and many other) pedals after watching this thread. Anyone came up with a smart way to shield the area around the jack?

I am using a one spot style adapter with a daisy chain.

 

[supermoose]

Anyone know if the DC-input jack is stuck on the board?
If not i would like to slide the jack in from the outside. That way the thick plastic area would stick out and surround the jack.

 

[Marc1kim]

View attachment 683276

Anyone know if the DC-input jack is stuck on the board?
If not i would like to slide the jack in from the outside. That way the thick plastic area would stick out and surround the jack.

I've been wondering myself. My buddy ordered stome grommets to try but they're being shipped from China so might take a month to get here.

 

[Marc1kim]

I bought both me and my buddy stome Golden Horses. Great pedal. Much thanks to this forum for alerting about the possibility of shorting out to the metal case, when plugging in. He's ordered stome grommets to help prevent accidental shorts. Has anyone else found a remedy for the problem?

 

[Michael A.]

I'd like to hear more about the grommets you mention to avoid shorting. Can you post a link? I have this pedal too and really like it, but it is my only klone, so I can't offer any comparisons.

 

[DougM]

Just plug in the power plug before the input and output and then even if you short to the case there won't be any damage. That's been my experience with my Silver Horse, and I've had it for two years now. The circuit isn't active until they're plugged in, so even when I've seen sparks when the power plug accidentally touches the case, it does no harm, because the circuit isn't on until the input and output are plugged in.

 

[DougM]

As far as all the other Klones, I've tried the two Mosky ones, the Joyo Tauren, the Tone Bakery Creme Brulee, the Tone City Bad Horse, the Xin Sound RM10, the Caline Pegasus and Medusa, the two Chinese no name Centaur ones (one has the input and outputs on the top, one has them on the sides), the Soul Food, and the Sugar Drive. The last two are my least favorite. I couldn't get rid of the Soul Food fast enough, and the Sugar Drive was way too bright and not very dynamic, and sounded nothing like a Klon circuit to me. My absolute favorite is the Caline Medusa, then the Bad Horse, followed by the Pegasus, the two no name Centaurs, the Tauren, the Creme Brulee, the two Moskys, and finally the Soul Food and Sugar.

 

[Windstone Ranger]

I was apprehensive about purchasing the Mosky Golden Horse at first, but thought... hey it's only $25 bucks. The reviews out there on the web are generally favorable, but mixed. Some complain of noise, some say the gain is not as pleasing as other Klon style, it just quit working...etc. I have now had the pedal for about 3 days now and I am completely satisfied. It might quit on me tomorrow, but it looks and sounds very solid. The case has some weight to it and the switch and knob seem solid. Much more (On all accounts) than my Caline Pure Sky, which I still love and is on my backup board since getting an actual Timmy. I haven't experienced any noise, unless the gain or output is dimed. The gain seems smooth and pleasing compared to most other Klones. But honestly IMO, with most all overdrives the usable gain generally reside between 10 and 2 o'clock. I haven't heard many or any OD's that sounds good with the gain all the way up. They all start getting harsh to me at a certain point. I also must say that I am not using it as a stand alone, but have the option of stacking my Timmy or RC Booster into the Golden Horse with it's gain at 12 o'clock.
So....at this point I'm completely satisfied and if it does decide to go bad I'm only out $25 bucks.

 

[charlie chitlin]

I got a Golden Horse yesterday.
I've been loving my TS9, but ONLY with an LPB-1 after it.
I don't like the TS9 enough to use on its own.
The GH has some sounds that are good enough to use on its own.
It's also really nice with the LPB-1.
I'm very satisfied.
$20 well spent!