« I wished I would have known »

After about one year wait I final got my KoT in the mail. There was such a hype around this pedal which was fun but sort of disappointing if it doesn't live up to that hype. I found out that I was on that latter side. I was so hyped up about it that how can any piece of gear live up to. You could buy it for around $250 if I remember correctly and sell it on ebay for over $400 making an instant profit.

Let me be clear this pedal does sound very good and is extremely transparent. I guess the hype was so high and I was looking for it to do something it wasn't capable of doing. In the right setting I think this pedal shines and that setting being in front of an overdriven amp or used as boost to another pedal. It is so clean and transparent to which I believe the reason for the name King of Tone.

It is really two overdrives in one box with the same controls as follows...

Volume, Drive, and Tone x2. with some dip switches on the inside that control the clipping and distortion.

I found myself really blazing this pedal out and it really doesn't saturate too much. It really just adds to your existing tone if you need to sweeten it up a little bit. I have owned numerous Analogman pedals and trust his mods and pedals so much but this I think was a little bit of a let down for me. Not that it would be for someone else who is more into classic rock or clean guitar tones that just want a bit of a push. I play hard rock/ metal and at the time of purchase I was using it for my church band. I already owned several pedals such as a TS9 (from Analogman), SD-1, and an OD-2 from Boss. These seemed to fit my style a bit more so I dumped it.

UTILIZATION

It is like any other pedal with volume and distortion and tone. It came with two sides which was cool and I found myself using both sides at the same time all the time. The dip switches on the inside are kind of a pain to use. I think they would be better suited on the front of the box or on the sides next to the input guitar jacks. But your probably going to set it and forget it anyway.

The manual I didn't even read too much since I'm a guy and we never ask for directions. So that was a moot point. Though I did read a little about the dip switches since this was unique to me and to this pedal.

SOUND QUALITY


The sound was really just enhancing your existing guitar tone. I didn't find it to change or color it at all. So if you are happy with what you sound like and want just a little more, than this will be for you if you can wait long enough to get one.

I used it with a Strat into a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. I had typically been using a Boss OD-2 and I switched it out one day at church for the KoT. To be completely honest I wasn't that found of the pedal. I really liked what my OD-2 was doing and this didn't live up to the hype or sound I was wanting to get. I think this unit is made for adding to other pedals or boosting an overdriven amp. By it self I felt it was pretty weak and sort of dull. So that was my first experiment. Then I ran it with the OD-2 and that is where is lived. But then I had to change my setting a little bit on the OD-2 to compensate for the added effect.

OVERALL OPINION

Quite honestly I did not like this pedal at all. The year wait and the price was just not what I was looking for. Others may rave about it but I think it just lacked in what I was hoping it to do. So I sold it for a profit and called it a day. Since then I have bought many other products from Analogman and most likely will in the future. Currently I have 3 pedals of his on my pedal board. This to me is a miss and I would only recommend it to someone who knows that this pedal is exactly what they are looking for in an OD box. If I would have used it simply as a boost pedal I think I would have liked it more. I guess I was searching for something at the time and didn't find it in the hype.