Analogman King Of Tone
The King of Tone is a two channel overdrive effect pedal manufactured by Analogman. History Edit. The original King of Tone came about when Analogman's Mike Piera worked with Jim Weider to create an overdrive that did not compress and color tone as much as a Tube Screamer circuit. The version 3 of the pedal was created in late 2004, but only about a dozen were sold due to some foot switch problems.
The AnalogMan King of Tone overdrive pedal has earned a reputation reserved for only the highest echelon of effects units. This handmade, custom-order overdrive pedal has become a pedalboard standby for players of all genres, including guitarists like Marc Ribot, Eric Krasno, Brad Whitford, and Jimmy Herring.
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Enthusiasm among big-name players has, of course, been a large cause for the pedal's celebrity. But AnalogMan's famous waiting list for the pedal has only fueled its renown—and opened up a large second-hand market where it commands high prices—piquing even more interest from pedal freaks who need to know what all the hype is about.
To Wait or Not to Wait?
Those willing to wait the current estimate of 22 months for their own King of Tone direct from AnalogMan are able to get the overdrive pedal for the base price of $245, plus additional costs for optional upgrades.
Obviously, that's a long time to wait once you've set your mind on a piece of gear, so many people have turned to second-hand sources, where the pedal commands much higher prices. Currently, the Reverb price guide estimates the value for a used King of Tone at $410 to $510 USD, but final prices of more than $600 are becoming less of an anomaly.
This causes much dismay for AnalogMan founder Mike Piera. When asked why he doesn't just raise prices by another $200 or so, he is dismissive. 'I want our pedals to be used by average players, professional players, young players. If I raised it much more than it is now, it would just be too expensive. I think the price that it's at is correct,' Piera says.
So what is it about this pedal that has garnered so much enthusiasm? Guitarist Marc Ribot has been using the King of Tone regularly live and in the studio for more than a decade. When asked for his thoughts on the pedal, Ribot said, 'The King of Tone pedal remains the closest analogue to real tube amp distortion I have ever played through. And, when you think about it… what more do you need?'
And of course there's much hype among the many threads dedicated to the pedal in forums like TheGearPage.net, where commenters often discuss whether it's worth the wait or the second-hand price. YouTube's That Pedal Show has dedicated several episodes to the pedal, even visiting AnalogMan HQ and host Daniel Steinhardt calls the pedal, 'Just wonderful.' While conducting a shootout between the King of Tone, an Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer, and a Boss DB-2 Blues Driver, Steinhardt explains, 'I can use the King of Tone with any amplifier.'
The Past and Future King of Tone
In the early 2000s, Piera was working with guitarist Jim Weider of The Band when he began developing the initial versions of the King of Tone.
Piera explains, 'I had fixed his old TS808 several times and he had gotten tired of the Tube Screamer's excessive mid-range and compression, so he wanted to try something that might work out better. We were told to check out the old Marshall Blues Breaker, so we got one and thought it had some promise. We worked on it like crazy to get something that would not change your tone but get the amount of drive and compression that he wanted through his Deluxe Reverb, to make it sound a lot like the Deluxe Reverb cranked up all the way.'
'If you like your guitar and want to keep your guitar tone, and if you like your amp and you want to keep your amp tone, that's what this is designed for.' - Mike Piera
Piera always had a clear concept for the King of Tone and sees it as an overdrive pedal for players who already like their tone.
'It's not a heavy overdrive—it's less gain than a Tube Screamer, so it's not going to change your amp,' Piera says. 'If you like your guitar and want to keep your guitar tone, and if you like your amp and you want to keep your amp tone, that's what this is designed for. It's not gonna change it a lot. It's for people who just want to add these different capabilities of gain and volume.'
The V4 is a dual pedal overdrive, each with independent settings and boost/overdrive/distortion modes switchable via internal dip switches. AnalogMan now offers additional features, such as a popular high gain option, which supplies about 25 percent more drive, as well as optional toggle switches in place of dip switches, extra output jacks, and custom colors.
In the 12 years since the release of the V4, the success of the pedal has been huge for AnalogMan. It has, however, also created a sort of administrative nightmare for Piera.
'People like to think that we did this waiting list as a business strategy, as a way to create hype, or as a way to make money. You can't make money on things you're not selling,' Piera says. 'There are actually a lot of issues dealing with waiting lists. I had to hire someone as a King of Tone waiting list administrator just to deal with the emails.'
While one possible solution would seem to be simply increasing production of the pedal, the diodes and capacitors required for the design were discontinued several years ago. 'If I hire 20 people to build them, then I'll be done in two months and never be able to build any more, because there's only so many parts,' Piera says.
What does this mean for the King of Tone? Will it only increase in value and become more rare? Only time will tell. For now, well over a decade into the pedal's lifetime, it's clear that the enthusiasm among players is only growing—and there's no sign of that stopping.
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Guitar Distortion & Overdrive Pedals
Whether you want to play rock, metal, or some other genre, having a good distortion or overdrive pedal for your guitar makes a critical difference to your sound. Depending on the pedal, such as those by TC Electronic, MXR, and Electro-Harmonix, you can get anything from a warm, rich overtone to a harsh and brutal sound. Doing some research is key to ensure that you get the right pedal with the right sound and the right price.
What is an overdrive pedal for?
An overdrive pedal is a tool that changes the tone of your guitar. You connect it to your guitar and your amp so that the sound will travel through the pedal on the way to the amp. You can turn them on or off, or adjust them with pedals and switches that you can tap with a foot. OD pedals work in two main ways: They can add gain to a signal to break up the tone of a tube amp or simulate that same effect digitally. Modern pedals often do both.
What is overdrive on a guitar?
Overdrive is a specific type of distortion. In a traditional amplifier, the sound is boosted by vacuum tubes. Overdrive involves saturating the signal going into these valves, and the amount of saturation determines how bright, warm, sharp, or otherwise altered the sound will become. Modern digital amps and pedals can also digitally process the audio signal to mimic this effect without needing any actual tubes.
How does an OD pedal work?
An overdrive unit will oversaturate the audio signal so that it becomes distorted when it hits the amp. Some guitar effects pedals, like the Ibanez Tube Screamer, have their own tubes while others rely on the ones in your amp. A digital pedal doesn't need tubes, but it won't be able to replicate the exact same sound.
How does a guitar distortion pedal work?
A distortion pedal, like the Boss DS-1, can create distortion using a power valve located inside the pedal itself. The alternative approach is to use a digital technique called direct injection to alter the audio signal. This won't produce quite the same sound as the distortion pedal, but it does protect the speaker of the amp from damage. Adding too much analog distortion can risk overloading the speaker because it pushes the speaker past its limits. This is not the case with the digital approach because the signal enters the amp safely while creating some distortion sounding for the guitar.
What is a guitar fuzz pedal used for?
Analogman King Of Tone Schematic
A fuzz effects pedal is similar to a distortion pedal. It produces a warm guitar sound. Fuzz first appeared in the 1960s when rock and blues guitarists experimented with broken equipment and electronics to create distortion or fuzz. Modern fuzz pedals can capture the fuzz effect digitally without requiring misaligned tubes or other altered electronics.