Thots on the Analogman King of Tone?

[Lewguitar]

Christian (TGWIF) kindly gave up his place in line when he reached #1 with Analogman and gave that spot to me.

It was my birthday a couple of days ago and I had a couple of bucks in my wallet (a rarity these days...) so I ordered myself a KOT.

I like to gig through two amps. Usually two Deluxe Reverbs each with a Celestion 12. I like my tone but sometimes I can only turn them up to 4...maybe 5. That's still a little clean. Great for chords but kind of clean for solos.

The KOT seems to be the type of overdrive pedal I like: one where I can leave it on all the time and go from clean to overdrive with my guitar's volume knob.

I've used my old Boss DS-1 like that and liked it a lot for harder rock styles, and used my old Rat like that too. But both the Rat and the DS-1 have a little to much of a hard rock edge for my jazzy/blues playing and the KOT seems like it might work with my playing style better. I hope so!

Had a Zendrive for a while. Just not my thing. Works for some of my favorite players, like Robben Ford, but it wasn't right for me. Same thing with my TS-808. I like it but I don't want a pedal I have to stomp on when it's time for a solo. Don't like the abrupt change in sound. I like a pedal I can leave on.

I ordered the KOT with Mike's high gain mod on the red side. Left the other side stock.

Kind of wondering if I could adjust one side for my Strat and the other side for my ES-335?

I could plug my two guitars into my ART A/B/Y pedal and plug that into the KOT.

Just dreaming tho...you know how that goes. :scratchch When you get the device, then the fantasies end and you find out what it's really all about.

 

[Lazarus1140]

Re: Thots on the Analogman King of Tone?

I have mine set for OD, DRIVE 1:00, VOLUME just above unity, and TONE set to match the dry signal. I have the right side set to Distortion, Drive around 4:00, VOLUME 10:00, and TONE set kinda dark around 9:00.

I only kick in the Dist. when I want a little more dirty volume and it's really mellow because of the tone setting.

I never thought about setting up the two sides for separate guitars. That's a great idea!

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Thots on the Analogman King of Tone?

we are all dreamers here man! Let us know how it works out for you when you get it.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Thots on the Analogman King of Tone?

ive had one and gave it to a friend of mine who i play with often. he needed some tonal help pretty badly lol

its a good pedal and i think youll be happy with it once you get it dialed in.

you can set both sides the same and use the red for your strat and the amber for the 335 with no issues. very versatile pedal

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Thots on the Analogman King of Tone?

I have run it like Mike sets it up...right side fo OD left side for boost and I've run it "backwards" of that where the left is the OD and I can kick in the right for more drive and sustain but I have also run each side set for different guitars (singles and buckers)...all of them are good options it just depends on what your needs are.

The DIST setting is to me what a DS-1 should be...it's got some hard clipping to it which I like from time to time but it doesn't cut the low end off and it sounds far more natural and real then a DS-1 plus it reacts to your guitars volume and your picking hand better than a DS-1.

The OD setting is cool but in all honesty might be my least fav setting. It's still a cool setting, a tad less drive than a TS-808 but a much more even tone all around.

The CLEAN or BOOST setting is worth the price and wait on it's own...I like to run the CLEAN side with the drive high (which is still very little in terms of grit/distortion) but it has such a special thing going on with it...it's fat and nasty in ways but still very clear and articulate and very sensitive to the player.

I am not sure but I think I have both sides set to the CLEAN setting right now one with the drive over half for a very mild OD/boost and the other set nearly full (which is still rather low gain) for my sort of main dirty sound.

It's also worth noting that the cool thing about the KOT I think is how it wort of melts with your amps natural tone and switching guitars still makes a difference...a Tele still sounds like a Tele and a 335 still sound like a 335!

I hope you enjoy it Lew!

 

[jeremy]

Re: Thots on the Analogman King of Tone?

when i had mine i ran both sides on the clean setting too, best sounding option of the three imnsho. drive cranked or really close, it retains much of the natural guitar/amp tone but pushes things in a great way.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Thots on the Analogman King of Tone?

when i had mine i ran both sides on the clean setting too, best sounding option of the three imnsho. drive cranked or really close, it retains much of the natural guitar/amp tone but pushes things in a great way.

Yep!

The OD setting is cool, the DIST setting is cooler but the CLEAN side is the bomb!

 

[Lazarus1140]

Re: Thots on the Analogman King of Tone?

Christian, don't you have the HP mod as well?

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Thots on the Analogman King of Tone?

Christian, don't you have the HP mod as well?

You mean the higher gain mods??

When I bought my first KoT there were no high gain options but I sent it back to Mike right after they started the HG mods and had both sides modded to higher gain.

 

[ericmeyer4]

Re: Thots on the Analogman King of Tone?

I had one and it was cool, but its not worth the ridiculous prices people are asking due to the waiting list IMHO. That being said I sold mine and made a nice profit.

 

[Farkus]

Re: Thots on the Analogman King of Tone?

I have one made prior to the high gain option as well.

I think it does have its own thing going on for sure, and does add some flavor without altering the basic tone to a great extent. It's a nice pedal for certain applications. For example, I run it in front of my BF Bandmaster for more tone shaping/gain options as that particular amp doesn't really dig most gain units but the KoT works there for me.

You can easily set it up for two different guitars.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Thots on the Analogman King of Tone?

I had one and it was cool, but its not worth the ridiculous prices people are asking due to the waiting list IMHO. That being said I sold mine and made a nice profit.

What is the "normal" price and wait time?

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Thots on the Analogman King of Tone?

About a two year wait. $235 for the pedal. $10 for the high gain mod on one side only. $20 for the high gain mod both sides. They sell for more than that on Ebay and other websites if someone has one and wants to sell it and you want to avoid the wait.

You can read all about it and hear some YouTube demos of it here: http://www.analogman.com/kingtone.htm

I won't know if it is what I'm looking for until I get it and try it for a while.

Maybe a Klon Centaur or clone, or a Wampler something-or-other (maybe the Ecstasy) would be more what I need.

Only one way to find out so I took Christian up on his kind offer and ordered the King of Tone.

 

[GoldenVulture]

Re: Thots on the Analogman King of Tone?

My apologies:

 

[Surgeon]

Re: Thots on the Analogman King of Tone?

I like what I've heard. However, the waiting time is retarded and the price as well. It's been shown to be nothing more than two bluesbreaker pedals in one enclosure with a very slight change to a cap and a couple of switches.

Don't get me wrong, it sounds great and I'm glad so many folks like it but when it ended-up being traced and shown to be a very slightly tweaked popular DIY build, I got a bit more unimpressed.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Thots on the Analogman King of Tone?

I like what I've heard. However, the waiting time is retarded and the price as well.

That is why I asked my questions. I watched the videos and don't hear what the big deal is.

I have a box full of overdrives, and I still prefer my old TS-9 (which if I remember correctly, I bought from B Bent).

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Thots on the Analogman King of Tone?

I don't have it yet so I'm not speaking from experience. But many guitar virtuosos swear by it - Carl Verheyen for one.

It's not for overdriving the daylights out of your amp like a TS9 or TS808 will do or any of those "bagful of bumble bees in a pedal" type overdrives will do. There's tons of fuzzy sounding pedals that will do that trick.

The KoT is for mature players who want something more subtle. It's probably not for metal players although Brad Whitford uses one for Aerosmith type hard rock tones.

I'm a mature bluesy player who uses jazzy chords. I play mostly clean/semi-clean. I want to retain my individual sound that is the result of my touch and taste and I don't want to sound like anyone else and don't have the musical tastes of a 20 or 30 year old.

I have my own musical tastes and want the tone of one person only: me. And I've been playing the guitar for about 45 years.

Don't know if the KoT is what I'm looking for or not. If it's not I'll just sell it again for what I paid for it or a little extra if I can get it.

And then I'll try a Wampler Ecstasy or Klon Centaur (if it ever gets released again) or a Klon clone next.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: Thots on the Analogman King of Tone?

I was not trying to sound like a hater, just that most of these "boutique" overdrives that people are paying through the nose for don't sound too far off a good TS9.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Thots on the Analogman King of Tone?

Here's what I sound like straight into a pair of Deluxe Reverbs on volume 5. This is Hideaway. My chord tone is fine. But I want a little thicker, slightly more overdriven tone when I'm playing lead. And I DO NOT want to have to stomp a pedal on and off to get it. I want a pedal I can leave on all the time. I can't do that with my TS9, TS808, Rat, Fulltone 69 or Zendrive.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Thots on the Analogman King of Tone?

I was not trying to sound like a hater, just that most of these "boutique" overdrives that people are paying through the nose for don't sound too far off a good TS9.

Quite a difference in my opinion.

In general, the KoT is more open, more expansive and not so squashed, squeezed and compressed as the TS9.

Some of the tones he dials in are similar, but those are also the tones I don't much care for and probably would never use.