Analog Man King of Tone

Here's the way I see this: If you can't figure out how to open this and change the dipswitches you might be considered a dipswitch yourself. Internal trim pots for fine tuning are similarily straight forward if found necessary. If Mike had these controls on top they would add too much to the price - be too fragile and space consuming etc etc. It works just fine as designed.

The sound quality is excellent. Period. Very transparent with my Strat and 66 Super Reverb, allowing sound of guitar to come through on all settings. Here's the deal - every high end OD I have ever bought (Klon, Eternity, etc) all have a unique and wonderful sound. The AC Plus is a very simlar pedal - but my ears prefer the KOT for what it does. What is killer about it IMHO is the combination of versatility, transparency and SOUND in one pedal. This is the grab and go pedal for a sit-in situation. I use the Red side for crunch and then punch it up with the Yellow for Lead - or the Yellow just to get a clean boost. But that's just me. The possibilities are legion.

As long as The Fridge doesn't get up and rap at my mic and stomp the thing by accident I am quite sure it will be fine.

I have never NOT gotten a response from the guys at AnalogMan - and they have even answered a question NOT related to their products. (But don't bug them too much or that will stop).

This is a great overdrive - and suits me just fine for all OD situations. I haven't tried the Distortion settings inside the pedal as OD is what I use on gigs.

Only reason I gave the Sound a 9 is that there is always something to shoot for sonically - and I don't want Mike to ever stop his Quest.

Just received the pedal by mail - of course, my review may be biased because this is a new toy.. Though, I've tried a lot if different ODs. Mine is stock with higher gain option on the right channel. Controls are obvious and simple.

custom shop les paul custom or custom shop fender time machine '60s strat -- fulltone clyde dlx -- peterson strobostomp -- KOT -- cusak screamer fuzzV2 -- ehx dlx memory man into DRRI.
Sound is perfect both with les paul and strat. combined with the screamer fuzz I get a bunch of very cool sounds - from crunch to dirtiest fuzzy distortion. It is not that I have been desperately waiting for 2 years for this pedal - but the bigger ehx English Muff'n and Graphic Fuzz are now going away from my pedalboard. They are very good pedals but their design is much of a luxury when you get on the road and don't have the roadies to carry your stuff.

I cannot judge so far. It looks pretty solid and reliable. Though, I use to OD/dist pedals all the time anyway.

The shipment was fast, this is a good sign.

I play blues, funk, some jazz, hard rock for about 11 years. I have tried a lot of different pedals and currently I tend to choose the pedals which work for me right away.. Tweaking is something you have to do with many of the pedals and you can really get great sounds but somehow I think a real thing should be staightforward..
My main OD pedals have been English Muff'n and the screamer fuzz. KOT can nail most of the settings range I used with the Muff'n, so, with more compact size and 2 channels it wins. Screamer fuzz stays in for the perfect controlled dirt it can produce. I find the pure fuzz pedals too "uncontrolled", this one is a compromise and a perfect match to KOT.
So, KOT is great but maybe a little overpriced and the whole situation with the waiting list is kind of.. looks like to much of a PR project. But it doesn't deprive the pedal of its qualities.

I just got the KoT4...no special gain or other options. I don't want to compete too much with the excellent review below by Stevo.

Very ez to use..

2 buttons woulda gotten a 9.
1...a 10...ha.

I will give this unit a 10...the sound is fabulous. OD is my fav effect and I have some of the known models and mods...with the exception that I've never had a Fulltone product (would like to know how it compares).

But for me this is a 10. Check out Mike's webside and the explanation / comparison with a tubescreamer is spot on. If you are happy with your 'just' hands, amp and guitar sound and you want a beautiful 'finishing' OD to top it off...this is a fantastic purchase. Is it the best...? I dunno...'cause as mentioned...although I've tried a lot of units...I haven't tried them all. But this is a great one in my opinion. You name it "The King of Tone" and enclose it in a kool royal purple case...it better be great...ha.

Had it only a couple of days...but it seems to be very well built....excellent case.

This is my first AnalogMan purchase...but I've emailed questions before and Mike has answered everything very quickly. It's pretty obvious these guys pay attention to their current and future customers.

I luv this unit. I also luv my TS808HW and Cusack and Keeley Mods (TS808 and BD2) and the old Danelectro Blue Paisley and others. We are so lucky that that so many talented engineers are making really great stuff for us.

But...and I would never part with my other OD's...there is something very special about the KoT4. It was worth the 18 month wait for me.

Very easy to get a good sound out of. The way Mike has it set up (Dist on red side, Boost on yellow) is great for many sorts of applications. Of course, as straightforwards as the pedal is, there are a lot of different types of soutnds that you can get from it. The reason it gets a 9 is because you have to open the back panel to switch the voicings (unless you have Mike install an external toggle, which I did). But you could just plug and play this baby quite easily.

I don't give 10s in this category. I just don't. Until now.

Setup: Gibson LP/Blueshawk or Fender Strat --> Keeley compressor --> Teese RMC3 wah --> Keeley Java Boost --> KOT --> TIM --> Digitech Hardwire RV-3 --> SPF Ego Booster --> Boss Loop Station --> BBE Sonic Stomp.

My KOT has the full metal jacket of add-ons. I had Mike put in the external toggle for the right side, an extra set of jacks so I can run a pedal between the two sides (haven't yet), and the high gain option on the right side.

With these extras, I am able to get almost any type of sound I'm looking for. The toggle and high gain are particularly important, I feel, with the high gain being something that probably should be standard on one side. The toggle is great because I am always trying to find the right voice for each particular song I write. That said, the overall voice on this box is perfect, responsive, warm, open and uncompressed, just an absolute joy to play with.

There are three voice settings for the pedal that are controllable through DIP switches on the inside of the pedal.

Overdrive: Probably the best tube emulation I have ever heard. I can't say enough about this setting; I use it often and it stack VERY well with the Java Boost or the TIM (the latter combo is my favored lead tone).

Distortion: Also excellent, and I'm not sure why more isn't written about it. My suspicion is that many of the guys who wait for this pedal are classic rockers who are looking for classic OD voicing (which the OD does in spades). However, I can get a great punk rock sound out of this pedal with the neck pup on my LP and the Dist channel. Talk about range.

Boost: I use this side least (I have the right side on Dist, usually, sometimes toggle to OD, and the left side is perma-set to OD) as I have a dedicated boost pedal that sounds perfect. Still, it adds a lot of depth to the sound. My one wish on this pedal would be the ability to disengage the tone control (which I can do with my Ego Booster). I emailed Mike and though he liked the idea, he said the tone contol was already really complex.

So, to sum up, the pedal is perfect. And to the dude below me on these reviews, a short blurb about how you hated waiting for this pedal is hardly a review. And your issue with the high end could have been rectified by messing with the internal treble boost knobs. I feel it was worth the wait, and I would totall buy it again.

Like a tank, plus Mike is great w/ customer service.

Always top notch with Mike. Emailed him three times, got responses within a day. Good man.

I play mostly "medlodic distortion" which encompasses a lot of styles, but is really just my own. Since I value correct harmonics, the fidelity of my effects is paramount, and the KOT is about as good as it gets. To be fair, the TIM is more transparent (almost as if you are gettingn a clean signal and a distortion signal blended), and I love using the combo of pedals for lead, but the KOT's voice is just amazing. I dig it quite a lot.

Expensive? Yeah, kinda with the mods. High Gain = $10/side, Toggle = $50, 4 jacks = $75 for a total of $470 (yikes), but I figured that I'm only gonna get one shot at this pedal, go for broke, no pun intended. I'm glad I did, as I'm sure I won't be replacing this pedal for a long time, and probably not ever. My search for OD/Dist is over.

Easy.

The description from the website, though wandering, is pretty accurate. It really does take on the character of the amp it's plugged into. I use everything from pre CBS Fenders to a Classic 30, guitars have p-90's in them. Plays very well with my other pedals.

It's reliable.

Very supportive.

When you come up on the list, order it with the high gain option on both sides and get the toggle switch.

Easy to dial in.
The trim pots take a little time?

I like the tone of this pedal.
There's not as much description
to that tone as I hoped. That being said, it
still has it's own nondescript voice.
The EQ is pretty good, but is high end heavy.
Was it worth the 2 plus year wait??

I'm certain it will presently out live everyone on planet earth.

I have one problem with Analogman.
It takes over 2 years to get this pedal & they decide to list
the KOT on Ebay to Qoute "DRIVE THE PRICE DOWN"?
What the hell is that about? They did such a good job the
pedal they listed sold for over $400. Good job in driving the price
down for a $245 pedal with a 2 year waiting list.

No doubt this pedal has some good tone.
Is it the end all OD pedal, No..
Still a cool sounding pedal that I will most likely depart with
at some point. May be the King of Tone to some, just not to me..

Very simple. However, one needs to take time with it to learn it's nuances with their particular setup. This pedal is sensitive to the input source, which is a very good thing.

First off, it has replaced any other OD and boost I had on my board.
I'm playing a Tele with Custom Shop Nocaster pups through an S2 Amps
Custom Micro Plex with a 12" Weber Silver Bell Alnico which is my
favorite amp to date. I set my amp to break up slightly with harder
dynamics and like the pedal to get it there the rest of the way. It's
the only OD that truly sounds like the amp sounds cranked. I say that
but it actually sounds a bit better than the amp cranked. It's
really more like I have cranked the amp rather than stepped on a drive
pedal, as there is no awkward transition to the "drivier" sound. I
have both sides set for the OD tone and when both are on it makes for
an excellent lead tone. Often I'll use my higher volume/less gain side
setting with the neck pup for some fantastic blue tones. It doesn't
just do blues though. It's quite honestly the most versatile overdrive
I have used.

Another thing that has amazed me is when I'm playing a lower volume
gig. Just set my amp where I usually set it, leave on one side of the
KOT on for the whole low vol gig, dial the volume back on the KOT,
drive up a ways, tone up a ways and it sounds pretty darn similar to
my amp. Amazing. I've tried alot of things at low volume gigs and this
has been the best solution. Although I still prefer the sound of it
pushing my amp a bit, this works well when I am forced to use it this
way.

Built very well. Very solid. No cheap parts.

Mike has always responded personally and been very helpful any time I have had questions for him. He's a gentleman and indeed supports his product well.

I'm a producer and recording engineer. This is how I feed my family.

If an artist comes in and I can't get what I need out of his/her amp, I use my setup mentioned above - which starts with this pedal. If they insist on using their amp, I kick them out. Just kidding but I really do put the King of Tone in front of their setup and it repeatedly has saved the day.

I'm giving this a qualified ten, because although i can get a great overdrive sound easily, there are a lot of variables involved when deciding how to set the other side.

I got a great sound with almost no effort, plugging into the stock red side and bringing up the knobs a little bit. With all the variables (treble boost knob inside, four possible dip switch settings for each side, interactivity of both sides together, etc.) I think it will take me some time to figure out how i want to set the yellow side, but the fact that this pedal is versatile and requires some effort on my part to get the most out of it is not a down side. even if I never use the yellow side, it's easy to quickly get a good sound using the stock overdrive sound.

I'm playing a classic style tele through a blackface style deluxe reverb. I'm not getting any extra noise, but I've put a lot of money into getting my gear shielded so that helps a lot.

Here is the most important part of my review-- This pedal sounds as good as any overdrive or amp cranked up that I've ever played through. I have a lot of modified tube screamers, a modified blues driver, and i've tried the excellent tim overdrive. all of those are great, but the king of tone is the best overdrive sound i've ever heard.

i basically agree with the thoughts on the analogman site-- this pedal has a clarity and rich full tone that tube screamers do not have. i love tube screamers-- i've been using them for almost twenty years, but hearing this king of tone sound, i'm happy to switch my allegiance. i'll probably use tube screamers now as backup, or to give me a couple more combinations live without having to tweak knobs. i suspect that i'll be using the king of tone in the studio as my default from now on.
it's not an over-the-top high gain/crazy distortion kind of thing. it's a very warm, bluesy sound-- trashy with clarity, if that makes sense. as mike says on the site, each individual string has clarity. sometimes, with the compression and midrange boost, tube screamers can give you uneven or inconsistent response, but the king of tone sounds good all over the guitar.

note-- one reviewer says this pedal cuts off all his bass response. i can only add that mine does not do that, and i doubt that mike piera would say in an email that the king of tone cuts out bass. this is not consistent with my experience, nor is it consistent with the info on his site.

i've never had problems with any analogman pedals, so i expect the same reliability from this one.

mike is always very gracious, helpful, and quick about getting back to me.

I've been playing for about thirty years. I play a variety of styles-- rock, country, jazz, blues, etc. For me, this pedal was worth the two year wait-- and pretty cheap considering the amazing sound. while i waited for my name to come up on the list, i bought a ton of other pedals. with the king of tone, i will be able to go to a gig with a much smaller collection of gear.

most of the reviews here of this pedal are pretty glowing-- I agree with them, but recommend to prospective buyers that you read the info on analogman.com before you decide if this pedal is right for you. it is versatile, but it has a definite personality to its basic overdrive sound. it's right for me, but might not be for you.

i don't know if harmony central will cut this comment out, but i'd like to say that i think a lot of reviewers expect gear to sound magical with no effort from the player. it also seems to me that some reviewers buy something without trying to figure out first what they want, and whether a pedal is right for them. i'm always amazed when a pedal has a sea of great reviews, and then one really angry disappointed guy.

beyond that, i'll try to justify my gushing review by saying that this really is the sound i've wanted for years-- it sounds like a tube amp cranked up, but at low volume, and none of the notes mush out. when i have that, it's hard for me to think of anything negative to add. as soon as i played through the king of tone, i immediately got back on the waiting list for another one. i hope it doesn't take so long this time!

As simple as any other overdrive pedal but there's two of them. The dip switches need a bit of time so that you can work out what's best for you but once done it's set up.

Really one of the best drive pedals you can use. The K.O.T does everything from light blues/jazz to hard rock. It's not until you take this pedal to a show when you realise it does what it does so well. Fat but not muddy and with clarity. I use Teles and strats into an ac-15 or classic -30. Awesome sounds and very versatile.

Built like a tank!!!!!!

Analogman is renown for his great customer service, no worries there.

I play a lot of styles of music, live gigs and sessions and I've been doing it for over 25 years. I love the sound, full stop. I've compared it to about fifty other drive pedals, some I own and many that I've played over the years.
Just get on the waiting list, great value at $235....it's just a long wait.

Controls are pretty standard for this kind of pedal and easy to understand.

I play a PRS Santana III with Seymour Duncan pickups. My pedalboard sends a stereo signal to a Mesa Boogie Blue Angel and a Dr. Z Maz Jr. For a pedal interfacing with two tube amps, it is relatively quiet. If you like the basic sounds of your rig, this pedal provides the most musical sounding overdrive you will ever use. The pedal is extremely sensitive to manipulation of tone and volume controls on your guitar. I couldn't disagree more with the review than panned this pedal but raved about the Fulltone OCD. This pedal is much more natural and "old school" sounding. I favored the Fulltone until I got the KOT. Now the KOT is on most of the time, while the Fulltone is reserved for really high gain situations.

Been using it for 6 months in smoke filled clubs - so far so good. But I am on the waiting list for a backup - just because I can't imagine being without it for a show.

Haven't had any issues yet.....Mike answers emails.

I do the cover band thing in a 3 piece - everything from Johnny Cash to Weezer with a hefty dose of southern rock thrown in. I have been playing for 30 years. This pedal sounds like ROCK to my 47 year old ears. I also use a fulltone OCD for a high gain distortion and a tubescreamer set clean for boosting. I would definitely replace this pedal if something happened to it. I am on the waiting list for a backup just because I love this pedal so much. My ONLY complaint is the waiting time - life's too short to wait two years for a pedal.

I guess there is no need to repeat the features of this pedal.

People are talking about the KoT beng a transparent pedal. How can you say so when it cuts off all your bass response?
I e-mailed Mike and asked if there was something wrong with my pedal, and he said it was supposed to do that, and that the original Tube screamer did that as well.

Say you play through a british amp that already doesn't have that much lows, and then you cut off even more?
You end up with a megaphone sounding tone.

I own the Analogman Beano boost as well, and I was supriced to hear how similar they sounded. They cut the lows as much, but as the treblebooster colors the tone more I like it better, as both kind of ruins the fatness in your tone.

I didn't like that the knobs turned that easy. If you just grace the knobs with your foot you turn them.

Being the singer and lead guitarist in my band I simply don't have time to look where I'm stomping. I can't believe why so few pedal builders think about this??

I've been in touch with Mike a couple of times. He is very helpful.
My only 10 still goes to Geoffrey Teese of RMC!

Nothing with this pedal convinced me to keep it. It's a waste of time to wait around two years for this thing. Get a T-Rex or something if you want a Tube Screamer type pedal.

I should add that a Tube screamer kind of pedal is not my thing in the first place. I have recently purchased a Fulltone OCD, and it's the best overdrive/distortion pedal I've ever tried, hands down.

Three knobs for each channel is a bit much but it's a must if you demand complete control over your sound.

I play a PRS 513 into a Swart Space Tone Reverb and this is the quietest pedal I have. It's unnoticeable. The sound quality of the overdrive it adds is second to none. Not at all like a Tubescreamer. It really lets you control most of your sound from your guitar's volume knob. At low volumes it's very clean but you can crank your knob to 10 and get some gritty crunch when you need it. I especially like to run it into a BSM Treble Booster and then into the amp. Whoa!

I've already bought a backup but my original has given me zero problems so far. Hey, it's built by Analog Man so it's pretty sturdy.

Mike answers every question, usually within 24 hours.

A bit expensive but totally worth it. Don't wait the two years, get one off of eBay. You need to hear this now.

It's pretty easy to get a good sound out of it but it's still not the easiest pedal to get the controls just right for. You may find that any one of the three knobs for each channel needs to be tweaked a little here and there as you play and you want your sound to stay fluid and changing. Lots of great pedals are like this. It's hard for me to give any pedal with more than one knob a 10 in this category, so I'll give the KoT a 9.

Simply unbelievable. You have to hear it personally to understand. Much less signal compression and/or distortion than pretty much every other overdrive pedal out there. That's not to say that it's wimpy by any means. This sucker can reach out and stab you in the midsection so quickly that you won't know what hit you. Best overdrive I've ever heard.

Analogman builds some pretty sturdy stuff and this seems to be no exception. I've only had it for a couple of months but I would have no hesitations about gigging without a backup.

If you've ever had any dealings with Mike Pierra you know he's pretty much the gold standard for outstanding customer service.

I couldn't wait two years for my name to come up on Analogman's wait list so I went ahead and snagged one off of eBay. Yeah, it's kind of an expensive pedal if you buy it that way but I'd buy another immediately if anything ever happened to the one I have. Highly recommended.

First off, mine is the KOT V2. 4 knobs, 2 stomp switches. Right out of the box, it is easy to find usable settings. For those of us who like to tweak, there are 4 internal dip switches. I knock off a point for having to open the pedal to access these.

I use this with a variety of guitars. Reverends, PRS, Gibson Marauder, custom Telecasters. I use an 18 watt handwired Revenge amp or a Musicman 210-65. My pedal set-up is: Boss Tuner, KOT V2, Lovepedal Church of Tone, Ibanez Flying Fingers delay. I have chosen my rig to cover a variety of styles. I play in 3 different bands, and we do different styles of music. With a few knob twists, I have many usable tones in my hands.

Now, as far as the KOT is concerned, do not expect this to be a Tubescreamer. Mike says on his website that it is not, and it really isn't. It is a two stage boost pedal, and one side is hotter than the other. It is incredibly musical, and responds well to picking dynamics and the volume of your guitar. I play loud (relative to my amps), and of course this pedal introduces a little noise, but it is a BOOST pedal, and I've not tried one that didn't.

Built like a tank. I do 5-6 gigs a month, and never have a back-up.

Mike is great. One of the best in the business at customer service-

I play in two original bands, one rock and one punk band. I also play in a cover band, sadly (that's where the money is in Little Rock, AR). This covers all of those situations. I own lots of gear, and this is among the best boost pedals out there.

I didn't enjoy the 2 year wait for it. I understand that Mike is busy, though, so it wasn't a huge deal.

Super Easy, Basic and straight froward. The four dip switches are a pain but you set them once and leave em where there at.

Super transparent tone does not change the sound of your set-up if you suck at playing don't get this pedal. If you do suck get it and it will make you better player because this pedal doesn't hide anything. Great dynamics. It sounds good with Humbuckers but it sounds better with single coils (Lindies) ;) . You can change the chips for different tones...Great! For a little more push I use a ts9 with the 808 mod for the creamer sound I guess as a boost.

There's a pretty long wait for the v. 4 I think a year or so?? So if you want one you gotta wait or ebay for 400 plus ouch! I say great value because it's $225 at the analog man site and its worth every penny

Two stomp swithes..... on - off nothing too complicated.
The adjustment of the pedal's tone is where the tones can really be tweaked. You can spend a day going through all the possibilities, but once you plug it in to "your" board, you'll find that it just does everthing amazingly.

This is where the pedal blew me away. I don't want to repeat too much, so let me describe. There's a song by john mayer called Gravity. if you listen to the opening guitar part, you'll hear that it was recorded using one of his $20,000 dumble overdrive amps. it sounds so warm and clean but with a little breakup in it.
The problem with most pedals is that they can "do" a specific tone, but an overdriven amp dynamically responds to your playing... ie light, soft strumming or picking will give you a pristine sound, but as you increase the attack, the amp starts to break up more and more.
Most of us don't ever get to hear that tone, due to the fact that most of us don't practice with out fender twin amps turned up to 12.

This pedal is the ONLY pedal i've heard that takes your tone and makes it sing. It gives you complete clarity and grit all at one setting.
I play a single coil strat and can have the pedal on almost all the time. I can play the Ramones on the bridge pickup, and then switch it to the neck pickup and bust into a slow blues jam.
This pedal is NOT a Tubescreamer.
a tubescreamer sounds like this pedal would if you took a thick wet blanket and threw it over your amp. everything gets muffled and compressed...... good single tone, but not very versitile.

Having two sides to this pedal gives you the ability to have a clean boost or a second distortion setting. there's a treble boost option or a distortion mode option.
this pedal was created for the ovrdrive setting so I don't think the distortion mode is as transparent, but you get closer to the sound of a boss SD-1. Again, you have two sides and can set any side to any setting.

I like the size of the V4 pedal. It's big enough to feel through boots, but doesn't take your whole pedalboard. I wouldn't recommend a version without tone settings for each side.

so far no issues. it's handmade so I'm sure it will last longer that others mass produced in china.

Mike is great..... always responds to emails.

I play a fender 75 amp with an american strat (lindy fralin pickups)
this pedal makes the guitar and amp so incredibly flexible. I can sit down and just get "lost" in the music. This is an amazing addition.
After waiting two years for my name to come up on the list, i had pretty high expectations. I don't normally write reviews but this is an amazing acomplishment.
I need this on my board.
It has become part of my tone. (at least until I can afford a Dumble Overdrive :-)

This pedal is quite simple to use. Though you do have some controls inside.

Ok, here we go. Two years and $240 later, I'm just not impressed. I sucked it up and waited TWO years for this pedal. I don't even believe it's worth the $240 let alone $400 on Ebay. Is it a good pedal, yes. Is it the best OD pedal I have ever used, not by any means. I actually believe the pedal is a bit sterile sounding. I own better for considerably less money. One thing that did impress me was the volume of the pedal in the "Clean" mode. Worked well for just boosting my distortion channel over the top, but so do about a hundred other pedals. Definitly did not live up to all the hype.

Mike builds solid stuff. Just that simple.

Great Guy!

As I stated earlier, good pedal just not for what you have to do to get one. To me, this pedal would be a good value for $150 bucks and not even in the ballpark of a two year wait. I am pretty bummed about it. I really was hoping for more. One up side was it was easy to get my money back from it! And no I did not sell it for $400 on Ebay. I priced it so low it sold in less then 30 minutes on Ebay.

Very easy to use. Plug it in. Set your Drive, Tone and Volume for each channel. Wail away.

Fender SRV Strat---Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue---'69 Super Reverb---KoT---Keeley TS9 Mod Plus---Keeley Compressor

Very Very Transparent Overdrive. I don't think you will have to tweak that much to pull a good tone from it. In about 5 minutes I had a great sound from it. If you play with a light touch it cleans up great but then dig in and it will set your house on fire. Very responsive and doesn't color your tone like a Tubescreamer or other overdrive pedal. Sometimes color is nice. Then switch on the KoT and forget about your other pedals. I wouldn't lie to you.

Great sturdy construction. Don't plan on finding out if it will take some abuse. Would gig without backup as Analog Mike's pedals are top notch and dependable.

I have e-mailed Mike various questions and comments and he has been friendly and prompt. When you purchase an Analogman effect you know what kind of service you will be getting.

I play blues guitar and this thing has really helped me put my own stamp on MY tone as opposed to sounding like every other bluesy. Been playing about 18 years and have been to the ends of the gear earth. Get on the list for this one if you are into blues or classic rock. I'm sure there are many other styles you could incorporate this into. It ain't gonna get lost but if it were stolen? I would drive around town till i found them...then beat them with it. I paid a lot more for my pedal but I didn't wait on a list for 2 years to get it and don't regret my purchase at all.

It's easy as pie...two switches and four knobs. Also, there are some switches inside the pedal that I have not messed with. Good sounds are a plenty. The KOT seems to thicken what you start with, so if your tone is decent uneffected, the KOT will take your sound and add the level of drive you prefer w/o the compression and midrange coloration that other drive pedals I've tried seem to add. I don't play metal or modern rock, so this pedal is all I need or will ever need. I was on the waiting list for quite a while and I've had the KOT for a little over a year now. Right out of the box, the KOT became my only drive for studio and performance use.

I use new fender guitars and vintage fender amps (tweed, brown and blackface). Besides the KOT I have an old brown fender reverb box and sometimes I may use a ZVEX fuzz factory. No other effects used or needed. I try to keep my set-up simple. The KOT is not noisy in itself, even running full steam, but if your amp is noisy (due to grounding issues or something similar) the KOT will make that louder...So keep your amp in good order. The KOT effect stays true to your sound. The pedal can be subtle or it can drive your tone to an articulate and clear distortion with good definition between notes in the chords. Again, it's the last drive pedal I'll buy.

I've had it a year and I gig a few times a month. I've also recorded with it. No problems yet. I did loose a screw for the bottom plate but that was my fault, not the pedal's.

I haven't needed customer support, but I've heard good things.

The KOT is great. Buy one if you want one. Is it worth the ebay price? I don't know. I guess it's worth what you're willing to pay. It seemed like I waited almost two years for mine. I got on the waiting list early on. It was worth the wait. Compared to other similar pedals I've owned, the KOT wins out. I sold all others.

Appears simple to use on a superficial level. However, it will take a bit of time and fooling around to get it sounding GREAT with your gear.

Fender CS Strat > Fuzzface > Teese Wah > KoT > Maxon AD999 > Deluxe Reverb & 18 watt Marshall or Fender Twin

This pedal is very transparent and overall has a very hi sound quality. It just sounds better than other overdrives. After a few months I tried to go back to my beloved TS808 and it just sounded like junk next to the KoT. It is a different sounding pedal though, no compression, very much like just playing through a good sounding overdriven amp. YOu can set it up to get some gain out it though when using both channels at the same time. Like a snarling Marshall or something...Hi gain but not metal sounding...More like a nice tube amp sounds before it is about to explode...

Very well designed on the inside. Very rugged construction. This is not made in China or wherever...Hi quality caps and resistors on the inside. Rugged wiring and shortened paths; everything is arranged so that it wires up using the least possible amount of wire. Somebody put thought into this and knew what they were doing.

Analogman offers great customer support. He answers questions honestly and if something goes wrong he'll fix it. His whole marketing scheme for this pedal and selling it for only $235 speaks to his integrity. He could farm out the construction for this pedal to Asia and still charge $350 for it. Instead he makes them one at a time, by hand, himself, and charges a very low price.

This is a great sounding pedal. The voice of your guitar and pickups really come through when using this pedal. Their is no coloration. I think that is why some players do not like it or say it sounds like whatever other cheap pedal they own. If you play this pedal with junk gear, your still going to sound like crap...Sorry. Peerlesstone.com gave the best review for this pedal and convinced me to give it a try. They explained how this pedal puts the tone back into your fingers and the KoT pedal will not flatter inexperienced players who don't have their gear and sound together. My favorite thing about this pedal is its versatility. Once you gain some experience with this pedal you can tweak it extensively for your rig. You can even change out the chips because they are mounted on sockets.

Don't pay ebay prices for this pedal; thats just dumb. Get on the waiting list and be patient.

It's pretty straight forward but like anything it takes time to get it to sound how you want it to.

This pedal is as good as it gets but it's way over priced if you try to buy one on Ebay. I have a Barber LTD and a Diamond J-Drive and all three pedals sound EXACTLY IDENTICAL when compared through my '79 Deluxe Reverb at a fairly low volume. The Barber LTD sells for $110. on Ebay while the Analogman sells for $450-$500.
I've read forums where guys own lots of boutique overdrives and they say the Analogman is the best. I can't say that. I think they're either splitting hairs or they play with their at amps at real loud volumes - even then there's probably a very slight difference.

Don't know - just got it.

It's a great pedal but IMO it's not any better than a Barber LTD or a Diamond J-Drive. I actually like the Barber alot because you can change the distortion without it affecting your volume or tone.
The Analogman and Diamond pedals can't do that.
I will actually be selling my Analogman pedal because I have the same sounding pedal but at a fraction of the cost with the Barber LTD.
It seems to me that once overdrive pedals reach a certain quality,
it is impossible to go beyond that quality because that's as good as it can get. All three pedals I have mentioned are fantastic. They sound like your guitar but overdriven.

I just received my version 4, KOT and WOW!! I took me all of about 5 minutes to have two separate kick *** effects set up and ready to gig later that night. The directions are one page back to back and pretty superficial, but unless you've never turned a few knobs before, you figure it out pretty quickly.

I play a G&L ASAT Special Tele >> MORLEY A/B >> Vocalist Live 4 >> KOT >> CRATE Palomino V32 Palomino. The KOT is true Bypass and a very quiet effect. Cleanest sounding OD I've ever played....great for a gutsy Blues sound which is what I'm looking for. SRV, Coco Montoya, Duke Robillard, Tab Benoit, The Kings and Collins, are my inspirations.

Built like a tank as they say....haven't had any problem in the short time I've had it. I've heard good things about Analogman products.

I've dealt with Mike thru Emails....very responsive and informative. No BS

I play Smokin' Roadhouse Blues and some zydeco. Straight ahead rock and roll when necessary. Been playing 30+ years. If stolen, I would hunt the bastard down and steal it back. What I love about it??? They don't call it King of Tone for nuthin'....he ain't kidding...this thing was worth the wait.

This is a King of Tone V4. The manual is minimal which is all that is required. My learning curve was about 15 minutes, however that doesn't mean I won't get a better feel for it as I go. It would be nice to have the internal pots accessible from the outside, but I ended up with everything pretty much back at the factory settings.

I have too many guitars. Or not enough... I have had the pedal for about a week so I should probably hold off but I'm not. The main guitars I have used it with are a Grosh strat, Hamer Newport w/Phatcats, Fender Tele Hot Rod 52, and a Grosh setneck. One of the guys I work with has heard the pedal before and commented that it just sounds like two clean overdrive pedals in one box. On one level that is true. At first I was a little disappointed, especially after a year plus wait. Then I played around some more. I don't use heavy distortion and when I want more overdrive I tend to prefer cascading one pedal into another rather than turning it up more. I play in stereo through a Mesa Express 5/50 and a Savage Rohr 15. The pedal reminds me a little of a Pete Cornish overdrive pedal I had access to for about a week. It took a little while for me to appreciate it. I mean, it doesn't really sound like anything. It sounds like you turned up your amp. So what? Well, nothing except that is what I have been looking for forever. My two favorite overdrive pedals are the Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor and the Reverend Drivetrain II (incredibly good and cheap and gone). The Hughes & Kettner is a great OD that sounds like your amp, although I don't care for it's second channel. The KOT is just as good, the second channel is an extension of the first, although I didn't like the internal distortion setting, and it FEELS right. I have, after a number of years, retired the Reverend, although it will stay on the bench. I am using the KOT followed by the Hughes & Kettner. This is really, really good. I typically play at small room levels and this allows me to get a sound like I am in a big room and turned up. Perhaps not for everyone, but I love it. I had a Hermida Zen drive and, although it is a good pedal, I never understood the buzz. I was concerned that after the long wait I would feel the same way about the KOT. I like it.

Analogman has a very good rep. Other than that, I have had it a week, what can I say?

Reasonably prompt response, funky website.

God help me, I would not only buy another one, I would wait a year for it. If you want to pay double, you can get one off of Ebay. I do respect him for not doubling his price and production and taking advantage of the buzz.

I am guessing at the price. It's been so long since I ordered it I don't remember.

I just received my version 4 about a month ago. VERY easy to get a good sound. The manual is very easy and straight forward to understand. The only reason that I'm giving this a 9 is that you have to open up the back to switch modes from the standard KOT setting to the distortion mode.

I've had this pedal 1 month and have rehearsed and gigged with it. It sounds superb, and does just what Mike states on his web site: It takes an amp at reasonable settings, and makes it sound like it's cranked at 10. Very very natural sounding. I play a 56 relic strat through a 65 deluxe reverb. My effecs are as follows: analogman mini bi-comp, analogman sunface, sweetsound mojo vibe, liquid chorus/echo, king of tone, analogman sd1 808 silver mod, and a cry baby wah. While the 808 silver mod sounds fantastic, it does sound more effected and not as natural sounding as the KOT, although I use it from time to time. Basically, the KOT is the most natural sounding, smooth, overdrive I've used to date. I love this pedal. The distortion mode is also great. It actually sounds more like a smooth overdrive, not overly compressed.

I've only had this a month, but have used analogman pedals for years and never had a problem to date.

never had the need for follow up.

I'm in a regulary gigging classic rock band, and also play blues/blues rock, in another situation. I've been playing over 40 years. I play 2 strats, an 80's model, and a newly acquired 56 relic that sounds outstanding. I mentioned my affects in the sound quality section. I also have a 65 Super Reverb Riessue, but have been taking the deluxe to the gigs. Something abount the sound and vibe of the deluxe. It this were lost or stolen, I'd get on the list again or try to purchase one off ebay. Again, this pedal sounds great. I general use the standard KOT mode.

This is for the Version 4 King of Tone. I've owned it for almost a year now.

For an overdrive box, it's a bit tweaker than most but is pretty straight forward. The only reason I'm not giving it a higher score is because you have to open it up to access the treble controls. However, I don't often feel the need to mess with the treble controls very often as the mid knob effects that area a bit.

The KoT's two strongest suits are this:

1. Natural sounding, dynamic overdrive.
2. Flexibility.

I was reading some of the earlier reviews where some folks are saying, "Oh, it sounds like a Tube Screamer but better!" (whatever "better" is supposed to mean) or "It sounds like an old Fender Deluxe!" The KoT is extremely flexible in that you can really customize it to get a sound to your own liking.

I use it with either my Mesa Stiletto Deuce through the clean channel or my black face Champ. With the Mesa, I use it at cleaner settings to bump up the gain and, with the Champ, I use it as a straight ahead distortion box (those little amps are still too loud to crank up at apartment levels).

I won't go into the controls; the information on the Analogman web site is very accurate. But I will say that the DSP switches for setting up the gain structure are really handy to get the pedal set for your needs. I use the red channel set to distortion and the yellow channel set to overdrive. With that setup, I can go between the Mesa and Champ then dial in each channel's gain control to suit the amp. It sounds great with the Mesa cranked up but it's really cool being able to use it with the Champ at low volume and still have the sound and feel similar to a cranked up amp. In essence, I'm able to get sounds I like at both high and low volume into two very different amplifiers without having to screw around with the pedals controls very much and that, in itself, is pretty amazing.

I use a pretty flat tone setting (treble and mid controls on the pedal) for the overdrive channel with just a bit of the treble rolled down for mild gain settings and a darker setting for the distortion channel. I like this because I think it works especially well for clean amps as it gives a closer approximation of what the amps sound like when cranked up and compressing.

Like all gain pedals, there's some noise at higher settings, but it's not as noisy as some others I've used in the past.

For the record, the guitars I use are a Gibson LP Custom and SG Junior and a Fender 57 RI Strat and 52 RI Tele. I have a bunch of other pedals I mess around with now and then but usually the only other one I use besides the KoT is a Foxrox Captain Coconut 2.

I've been using Analogman pedals for several years and have never had a problem with any of my other ones.

Mike Piera has always been very helpful and friendly whenever I've contacted him.

I play rock and roll (mostly of the "classic" variety and the KoT is great for it. I've been at it for about 25 years.

I love the pedal for it's flexibility and great, natural sounding and feeling overdrive. In fact, I like it so much that I got on the waiting list for another one - just in case.

The only modification that might be nice is to move the treble control to the outside of the box but, as I stated earlier, I don't often feel the need to mess with it.

Some folks feel it's an expensive pedal but, when you consider that's it's really two pedals in one, it's actually an excellent deal. You can certainly go with a Boss pedal or something that is substantially less expensive, but in the realm of "boutique" pedals, it's a steal.

Ease of use? I'm using the settings staight out of the box. There's a two sided instruction sheet that comes with it that describes how to set the DIP switches inside and get different dynamics from each channel. There's also plenty of info on Mikes website if you need to go deeper.

Sound quality? Most everyone has covered it. I waited since March '05 and I'm glad I did. I'm also glad I didn't pay a ton of cash off of ebay, but it would have been worth it still. While waiting for this I picked up a Zendrive, Timmy, AC boost, OCD, and a Woodrow. I already had a Fulldrive II, Distortion Pro, and Barber LTD and Direct Drive. This pedal beats them all hands (feet) down - no contest. The others do have their own voice and I would use them again, but it's not going to be for a long time. I'm playing the KOT thru a Maz 38 1X12 combo with a PRS McCarty and a G&L Skyhawk (Strat style). They both sound amazing. It's just like getting a new amp. The pedal is not noisy. My effects are a Keeley Compressor, Fulltone Choralflange, Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe & Analog Chorus, Boss Tremolo & Harmonizer & DD6 Delay. I had a Fatboost but took it off - not needed anymore.

I am going by the reviews underneath mine - looks pretty reliable to me. I'm sure Mike will take care of any problems. He's taken his time in making these so quality control has to be great.

I dealt with Mike when I emailed for a status re my name on the KOT list. He felt embarrassed to inform me I still had a year to wait.

I play mainly rock or blues, but I'll sit in with just about anyone except for metal - not my style. I've been playing since '68 but just started getting serious about tone around '92. If lost (how would that happen?) or stolen (that, I could understand!) I would replace it - as soon as possible. Of course Mike may have version 7 or 8 by then. What do I love about it? The transparency of it. It's there but doesn't interfere with, or degrade your guitars tone thru the amp. If I took it off my pedal board I would get used to my others again. They are very good pedals. But this one is just a few points higher - quite a few.

I FINALLY got version 4 of the KOT overdrive. Yes, it was a long wait, but it was well worth it. I am a player who uses clean, sparkling high overhead tone, so I am not really an overdrive user. Simple to get a good sound and the manual is straight forward and easy to understand...read on:

1)This pedal is VERY unique. To me, it sounds like no other...BETTER. I try not to sound like anyone but myself, but I guess you could get the sound of many blues rockers.
2)Overdrive is PHINOMENAL. Pristine sound qualiy.
3) NOT noisy at all. TBPed. I use a PRS Custom 24. When I first plugged this pedal in, it was into my '59 Bassman...we had a recording session the day before, and I had let my bass player use the Bassman. I actually thought I had the tone and presence knobs turned up, but no, it was the KOT. Sounds JUST like a tweed. the overdrive is rich in harmonic content and blooms like a tweed. Hard to describe, but you know you have a good tweed when you bend a note and you hear one tone going up, and one tone going down. This pedal does that effect precicely. AMAZING harmonic bloom. almost reminiscant ofd a ring modulator. This thing drips of sweetness and is my #1 overdrive from now on. Blown a Fulldrive out of the water. Just look at the circuits. Fulldrive looks like a toy, and the KOT looks like a NASA produced space aged circuit. amazing
4) so far, always sound great
5)use this with either a tweed Deluxe 5E3, a '64 Vibroverb or my original 5F6-A Bassman (1959)

otally solid and dependable. I was going to order a second, but feel I don't need it.

Mike answers ALL emails in a timely manner. He is super nice guy and very helpful. No, I do not know him. I just am blown away by this pedal....rad on:

I guess we do "Jam Band" music. From jazzy improv, to psychedelic, to Chicago blues. This is a perfect match and jsut can't say enough good things. Odd part about it: I was TOTALLY skeptical and was ready to throw it onto ebay if I did not like it. If it were stolen, I would accept NOTHING but KOT version 4. My favorite thing about it is the harmonic structure of the tones, and the way it blooms like a tweed Fender. No other amp or pedal has this much punch. Also, it is completely transperant. Metal-heads look elsewhere, This is an EXTREMELY pleasent sounding pedal, very pleasing to the ear. I wish it was cheaper and more readily available, but it was worth every penny and well woth the wait!!!!!

I have one of the first versions. I personally find the size of the pedal too small but that's just me. It's easy to mount it to something to give it a more stable footprint. I like the LED layout a lot in that you always know where you are even if the pedal is turned off.

I think the previous reviewer was bitter because they had to wait and felt offended or something. If you look at the average rating in this catagory without that one review I think it would be about a "10" with about thirty reviews. That's pretty amazing. I did a shoot out last night with a Seymour Duncan Twin Tube, a Xotic RC, a Barber Small Fry and a Clark Gainster. I have some other pedals but these are the ones I wanted to compare. The KOT easily sounded the best. It had the most musical harmonics and open sound. I'm a big fan of the Barber Small Fry though. The King of Tone seems to be in it's own class. I've owned a Klon and OCD and a lot of other pedals that have come and gone. I know the wait list is almost bizarre but if you look at the price Mike could be charging for these I think it says a lot about his ethics. He's not taking advantage of the supply and demand factor.

Great!

Completely first rate. Whenever I have emailed or spoken to Mike he's been humble, open and super friendly and supportive.

The best overdrive pedal I have ever played through.

Easy to use and understand - two channels...etc.

For the money, I was significantly disappointed. I figured I needed to try this since everyone seems to be talking about it - whatever. For the money, check out Home Brew or Fulltone - Barber does a good job too. But major bucks for this is not necessary. Lots of folks order these only to sell them on Ebay for twice what they payed for it.

Built very well!

Don't know but I've heard good things.

Just not worth the major money for what you get - sorry - I love Analog Man stuff - it's great - but they build them so slow and there are so few available I felt cheated when I finally tried it. Not too many better pedals, but much better values elsewhere.

This is a very simple pedal to use. There are two dedicated sides, and each has its own drive, tone, and volume control. You can assign one of three modes to each side: clean, overdrive, and distortion. Assignment is done with a 4-way DIP switch inside the pedal.

The manual is very helpful and clearly states how to assign a certain mode to a certain side.

Otherwise, its straight-forward just like nearly every other overdrive pedal.

Its hard to put into words how phenomenal this pedal is. The easiest way to describe it is to say it sounds like your rig, but more of it and better. Its extremely transparent. The Clean mode makes for a great clean boost, and you can dial in subtle amounts of grit. The Overdrive mode sounds like my amps (Dr. Z Prescription Extra Strength and VHT Deliverance D60H) cranked. It does an impressive job of maintaining the character of your tone, but adding a fantastic overdrive that is both full frequency and natural. In Distortion mode, its smooth, natural, and articulate. I'm surprised you don't hear about this mode more often...it sounds amazing. In many ways, it reminds me of the smooth and articulate lead tones of Larry Carlton when I'm running my PRS Singlecut w/ DiMarzio Virtual PAF's into the KoT, then into my Dr. Z RxES w/ open-back 2x12 w/ Alnico Blue Dog and Alnico Silver Bell.

I can't say enough how amazing this pedal sounds. Its bar-none the most amp-like and natural sounding overdrive pedal I've ever heard. I dare say, it sounds better than my Dr. Z's natural distortion at loud volumes....

When I opened the pedal to change the DIP settings, I was greeted with the quality I've only seen in Analogman's pedals. The PCB is military grade, and the component selection and craftsmanship are second to none.

I have no fears about the reliability of this pedal.

Analog Mike and his crew are some of the most helpful and cordial people in the music business. When I place an order with him, I know I'll be treated with respect and all of my questions (no matter how ridiculous) will be answered in a timely manner.

There is a reason why I've bought an embarassing amount of pedals from Analog Man.

I play a lot of different styles of music, ranging from various forms of jazz, to poor attempts at blues, classic rock, all the way to the more brutal sides of metal. I've been playing guitar for 11 or 12 years, and have been giving lessons for a year.

I have a small handful of guitars (PRS, Gibson, Fender, Ibanez), that go into an RMC Picture Wah > FoxRox Captain Coconut 2 w/ NKT-275 fuzz card > Tonebone Switchbone. The Switchbone sends the signal to 2 possible amps. 1 > straight into VHT Deliverance D60H w/ D412. 2 > VHT Valvulator > AnalogMan Bi-Comp > AnalogMan King of Tone > MXR Phase 90 Script > Ross Flanger > AnalogMan Bi-Chorus > Analogman TR-2 Super > T-Rex Replica > Dr. Z Prescription Extra Strength w/ Avatar Premier 2x12 w/ Alnico Blue Dog and Alnico Silver Bell.

The KoT is a great pedal that does an amazing job of remaining transparent and natural. It compliments both of my amplifiers, and now that I have it after waiting over 2 years, I have a hard time imagining my rig without it.

I realize that 10s across the board is suspicious, but seriously, this pedal is the best overdrive pedal I've had the opportunity to play through. Do yourself a favor and get on the list now.

Takes a while to truly appreciate this pedal, but once you play around with the settings. It starts to sink in that this pedal is amazing. I tweaked the treble knob on the inside because it's a little dark. This just blew me away, gave the tone a little grit, but not piercing highs or thin treble. I usually use the factory setting for the DIP switches. I give it a 9 because you need to experiment a little.

Most reviewers say this isnt a Tube Screamer clone and they are right. I tested it side by side with one and the KOT can come close to that TS tone but BETTER, more flexable but it's in a different class.

Nice tight bass response, and balanced mids and highs. The distortion is very rich, and pure. Both channels are very usable, just pours out tone.

A few reviews back, one guy said this amp was designed with a Blackface Deluxe in mind. I disagree, because I have a Blackface Vibrolux and it is simply stunning. He was right about one thing, devine intervention! I have a Custom Shop Strat and I smile a lot thinking about the combo of these three.

Nicely built, clean neat wiring. Excellent design.

Yes, great support. Always answers emails quickly and extremely polite. I am sure he gets tone of mail, and is always professional, helpfull, and pleasant.

I have a Klon(great for clean boost), Tim(Nice unique Distortion), Tube Screamer, Original Big Muff, Fuzz Face, Sun Face, Sunliion, Banzai Cold Fusion, and a few others. I guess I need to thin the shelf a little.

I would say the Klon and King of Tone are my favorites and will stay on my pedalboard. I have a Landgraff on the way and am always searching for better tones. I must admit, KOT might be the end of my search.

I got my King Of Tone about a month ago. I tried it out at home for about an hour, then took it to a couple of gigs. I found it very simple to get a good sound out of both the clean side and the distortion side. My KOT (Version 4)is the six knob, two button variety. Both sides have a volume, drive and tone control. There is an internal treble boost as well, one for each side. I haven't tried that yet. The manual is a single sheet of paper with print on both sides, but I don't think anything more that that is necessary.

When I first tried it out at home, I felt that the pedal ever so slightly darkened and thickened my sound. I was tempted to experiment with the treble boost, but decided to wait. I'm glad that I did, because once I used it on a couple of gigs I thought "Jeez, this thing is amazing"! I used it with my '66 Telecaster and my Tone King Comet, and it added some wonderful new choices to my sound palette. My Tele's pickups sound great at age 40, but the magnets aren't what they once were, so they're not very loud. With the clean side of the KOT I can get enough of a boost to stay in the Comet's clean channel and play solos ala Cornell Dupree or Steve Cropper (think Dock Of The Bay). It's cool for a jazzy/bluesy thing or a nice countryish sound using the back pickup. The distortion side is beautiful. Very warm, very musical, no loss in the low end. Roll down the pickup and I get a great grainy rhythm sound. Open it up and the solos really cut through and sing. If you're a metal type of guy (which I'm not), maybe you won't get what you're looking for here, but for what I'm hearing in my head, this pedal is great. As far as noise, I have 40 year old single coil pickups, and boosting the signal will bring up everything the pickups are creating. The pedal itself isn't noisy.

Analog Mike builds little tanks that sound great. I have only one KOT (and I waited patiently for it!), and I use it with no backup. My setup sounded good before, and if the pedal crashed on a gig (highly unlikely), I'd go straight into the Comet.

I've dealt with Mike before, and he's a great guy. He always answers emails, and he even seems to like my sense of humor! Well, he puts up with it, anyway. I've already purchased his BiComprossor, which is another great sounding device. Now I'm thinking about the Sun Lion. And the tremolo pedal. Maybe I should just buy stock in the company!

I've been playing for almost 40 years. I've played a lot of different kind of gigs, from Jazz to Soul to Rock & Roll to Broadway, etc. The King Of Tone is a great match for what goes on in my head musically. If it were to leave me I'd get right back on that line for another one. I have a bunch of stuff, including a '75 Strat, a '66 Super 400, a '66 Casino, a '70 Twin Reverb, etc. I didn't compare the KOT to any other pedals, I just took a chance and wound up very happy with it.

After a 2 year wait production has begun again. I oredered the new version 4. Essentially a 2 channel overdrive pedal, yellow and red. This model has 6 knobs, volume, drive and tone for each channel. The two channels can be cascaded, yellow into red, for more drive. It also has a treble boost knob for each channel mounted internally. there is also a 4 way dip switch inside to allow more gain, overdrive and distortion options. Right now I'm very happy the factory settings which are; treble boost off on both channels, yellow channel being in clean boost mode and red channel being in overdrive mode. Lots of variables here so not as simple as a Tubes Screamer.

Review is only based on low gain parameters:
So far I've only used this with my Dr Z Stang Ray head and Dr Z 2 x 10 cabinet. Up until this point my favorite o/d pedal is my black Reverend Drivetrain with the gain all the way down. In the last few years I've tried Xotic BB, Menatone, HBE, T-Rex, Bad Cat, MJM, Keeley modded Blues Driver, Nobels, Texas Two Step, Tone Bone Classic, Speedster Turbocharger, Butler Tube driver, Maxon tube overdrive, Fulltone OCD and several versions of Fulldrive (I don't know what people see in these things!) and more I'm sure that I can't recall. The Xotic BB, Bad cat and Speedster are the standouts here and are more or less equal to the Drivetrain. The King of Tone is better than them all, but I'll keep the Drivetrain forever. The KoT has shot the Drivetrain out of the saddle. Very, very natural sounding with no fizz or rasp at all. It has a slight mid boost, slight darkening of highs and slight thinning of low end. This is what I want the pedal to sound like. The mids help sustain and feedback but the mid boost is hardly noticeable. What I want from this pedal is to take my amp's very clean tone with volume on 10:00 to the sound of the amp at 2:00 without the commensurate volume bump. I can't imagine a pedal doing this any better. This pedal gets along fine with my One Spot power supply.

Very well built, company has great reputation, I can only imagine trouble free operation. Mike has always answered my emails in a timely manner.

No need yet but expect no issues. As a contrast, I wanted to get a Cochrane Timmy pedal while I was waiting for the KoT but gave up after about 7 calls. Different scenario I know since the Timmy is built as a side job by the designer but the bootom line is the same result.

I play jazz and jump blues but this pedal also sounds good for Cream style rock/blues and would be excellent for country and classic rock. Metal and Gen-Xers, I'm sorry I don't know what you want from listening to your music so i don't know if this pedal would do it or not. I suspect it would be good for Phish type music because it's so smooth and organic.
I am REALLY happy with this pedal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very easy to use as all settings sound great. Six knobs, two switches. Just dial the amount of overdrive you want, set the tone you want, and then dial the volume in. You might want to A-B the volume of each channel with the bypassed level. Owner's manual is straightforward. You can change the drive levels and bright levels with the internal DIP switch. I left mine at the factory settings.

Awesome! This overdrive lets the sound of your playing, guitar and amp shine. This is not for beginners playing entry-level equipment looking for metal tones. It IS for players with good equipment (guitar and amp) and ears, looking to make their tone sing. Sweet, sweet singing is what this pedal does and does well. I leave the clean boost on all the time and then add the overdrive when I want it.

I'm playing a 60's burst strat w/Kinman traditional pups into a reissue 65 Deluxe Reverb Amp. EFX are; compressor (MXR DynaComp but Analog Man Mini BiComp was just ordered) > volume pedal > Analog Man DS-1 > Analog Man KOT v.4 > Analog Man stereo chorus > Analog Man DD-6

Although the KOT is designed to make a guitar amp sing as if it were cranked up, I have also used it directly into the PA system on small gigs with excellent results. I prefer to use the KOT in front of my tube amp but I can get great overdrive tones through my KOT into the PA also. This is much better than using any of the digital modeling overdrives which I've struggled with many times in search of a decent "amp-less" tone.

Mike's (Analog Man) work is top notch. Built like a tank by hand in the USA from the best hand picked and tested components. This will last a lifetime. I gig it without any backup all the time.

Mike's service and support are the best I've encountered in this business. He personally answers my questions in a very timely, professional and informed manner.

I play jazz/rock/flamenco fusion in a working band. I?ve been playing a long time, and have owned many guitars, amps and effects over the years. The nice thing about experience (getting older) is that you can identify and appreciate fine quality. The King Of Tone gives my sound that fine quality which keeps me up playing way past my bedtime.

If you haven't noticed, I love Analog man products and mods. They sound great. If you want your own fine quality signature sound, I recommend you get on the waiting list for the King Of Tone. Do it today!

Really easy to use- too easy. Wish it had both bass and treble control but then it might not sound the way it does. I'll trust that Analogman knows best in this regard.

Well, put it this way; I go to the gig, set up my amp, plug in the KOT, turn it on, play all night, turn it off, pack up and go home with a big smile on my face. I think this pedal was designed with a blackface Deluxe Reverb in mind. That's what I play through. I'm begining to suspect devine intervention played a part in this pedal's conception....It's perfection.

So far so good

I've never bought anything directly from Analogman but he's always quick answering emails.

Well, I didn't want to wait the 18 months to get one of these so I grabbed one for a hugely inflated price on ebay. After playing with if for a while now I don't miss the money a bit. I wish they could get these built a bit faster but I have to give Analog Mike lot's of credit for still making them one at a time with strict quality control over each and every aspect of the manufacturing process. If you can get one of these you won't regret it at almost any price.

Very easy to use. Straightforward and logical. Nice bright lights.

I use Strats with vintage Fenders (Princeton, Deluxe, Pro, depending on size of room). The problem with tube amps is that you must achieve a certain volume setting to hit the "sweet spot", which can be too loud for many rooms, especially for blues. The KOT delivers that sweet overdriven tube tone at any volume. There is a wide range of gradual and usable overdrive. I liked my Guyatone OD-2 too, but I lost some bottom end. With the KOT, I don't lose that bottom end, which is important when playing E fifths (half chords) in a driving blues tune. I have not owned a lot of different overdrive units, but I have tried a lot of them. Most sound too compressed or gritty or thin to me. With the KOT, you can keep your "edge" without being "too edgy".

Hasn't let me down yet. I have been using it on all my gigs for almost 2 years. I have a Guyatone OD-2 for a backup.

I haven't needed much support, but I have received prompt and friendly responses to my emails.

I play rhythm guitar in a Chicago style blues band. Great match for me. I have been playing seriously for over 20 years. There is no doubt I would get another of lost or stolen. I love everything about the pedal, including the purple color with hand-painted gold artistry. I also use a Dunlop Rotovibe and an AB switch. That's it. What else do you need for blues? I think there is a little magic in this purple box! Well done!

Just wanted to add to my first review now that I've had the pedal a little over a year. I've used it on 98% of the gigs I've played in the last 14 months, and on the rare occasions when I didn't bring it to the job, I regretted it. Mike's K.O.T. pedal has become an indispensable tool for me. Even though I don't leave it on all the time, it's a total part of my sound, unlike no other OD pedal I've previously owned. I sold my original TS-808 soon after buying the KOT and I've never regretted it for a moment. At times I use other OD and distortion pedals together with the KOT (it plays well with others), and occasionally change them in and out of my setup, but the KOT always stays, it comes to every gig, big or small. It always sounds great with every guitar, never grainy or squishy, sweet but always clear and defined. I would buy it again in a heartbeat if it was lost or stolen. I have learned to use the clean side of the pedal, which at first I avoided. I don't use it often but sometimes it's very handy just for hitting the front of the amp a little harder but not losing any dynamic range. Thanks again to Analog Mike for making a really useful piece of gear.

I'm a pro player, playing mostly classic American music such as blues, rock n roll, cajun, R & B, etc.

The King of Tone is very easy to use. I found straight away I was enjoying both channels with minimal tweaking as they did exactly what I expected. The gain knob is nice and even in it's response and I love having separate volume controls for each channel. The supplied manual explains the functions of the knobs, the internal trim pot, and the various DIP switches clearly. It did take me a while to get used to the way the footswitches were configured which is different from other dual-channel pedals I've used such as Fulltone FD2s. I don't consider this a fault, just an issue of familiarity. The King of Tone shows a dim LED to indicate which channel has been selected when the pedal is in bypass mode. If I had one criticism it would be that I don't find this very visible under some lighting. Perhaps adding an LED near the on/off switch and using this in combination with full brightness LEDs indicating channel selection would be better? I understand this would draw more power but I use a pedalpower and I'd imagine most of Mike's clients would use something similar.

My set-up is as follows: 98 Collectors Tele> TU2 > King of Tone > Timmy > Demeter Trem > Vox AC30.
The first thing I'd say regarding the sound of the King Of Tone is finally!!! For years playing in small pubs & clubs I've struggled to get a good semi clean/slightly dirty rhythm tone at moderate volume. This is where the yellow channel of the King of Tone excels, the "in-between sounds". The red channel provides a singing solo boost with warmth, clarity and not too much gain for my alt-country rock tones.
I have tried a number of the newer "transparent type" overdrives (OCD, AC Booster) which have sounded bland. It's almost like too many harmonics are being subtracted across the spectrum to get the clarity. On the other hand the TS style pedals while richer, have sounded too 'narrow' and mid boosted for rhythm sounds. The KOT is representative of my guitar and amp while adding a nice subtle thickening and enhancement. It was worth the wait!
I also have one of Paul Cochrane's Timmy pedals. The Timmy is a little grainier than the KOT but also very natural & has very usable EQ. In combination with the yellow channel of the KOT it sounds fantastic.
I could get by fine with just the KOT given the dual channels but the Timmy/KOT combination is nice to have.

The King of Tone is my first pedal from Analogman and I haven't had it for long, but having a look inside the pedal gives me plenty of confidence.

There's been plenty said on various forums regarding the waiting list for the King of Tone. I have to admit it was frustrating waiting over a year for mine to arrive. I have to say though, that every time I sent an email regarding the status of my order I got a prompt reply. Mike has been happy to answer any questions I've had about his products. I had initially ordered a 5 knob KOT. Mike was very honest about the fact that it did have a slight popping issue between channels. When I decided to change my order to a 4 knob model there was no problem at all and he was happy to refund the difference.

There's no doubt that the King of Tone is a fixture on my pedalboard. It addresses a number of issues I've had in the past from other dual-channel designs. Firstly it has volumes for both channels. I've found that most other dual-channel pedals have boost channels that provide a lot of extra distortion but not very much volume lift. I always wanted a less-gainy pedal that had the ability to set the solo boost much louder than the first channel.I tend to use the first channel as as rhythm level clipping and need to be able to boost my solos beyond the band from the stage as we often have mixers who aren't familiar with the band.
The King of Tone is perfect for the Alt-Country rock style I play. I want a sound that is transparent enough and representative of my guitar/amp, but not bland & sterile-this is where the KOT excels. If it was stolen I'd be ordering another-I just hope that I'd survive the wait!

Analogman guitar effects are by far the best place you can put your money if you are, to quote the website"...sick of the mass produced overhyped junk being passed off as effects these days..." The King of Tone pedal continues with this theme in giving you the most user friendly, easy to get a good sound out of pedal on the market. I used this with single coils, humbuckers, through various amps, and this pedal simply came up with the most thick and rich overdrive of any pedal I have ever used. The amps I tried it with include a marshall 18 watt reissue, fender deluxe reverb 1970 model, a 15 watt Siegmund Midnight Special, and a princeton reverb. Granted it won't take a bad amp and make it soud great, but sure did a hell of a job in making my great amps greater-er(ha ha)

The manual explains the DIP switch settings and what they all do, it is very straight forward, the only thing that took some getting used was the light doesn't go off when switching from side to side, but from what I understand from the website, this situation has been rectified. I have one of the first 20 units produced, so this one does not have that feature. My only other issue with this is I wish it was offered in a larger housing as I have accicentally switched the unit on/off with my large feet.

I think I covered a lot of this i the above reading, I will recap it though: The clean mode can take a typical single coil sound and fatten it up nicely, both neck and middle positions on a Strat sound full and sufficiently loud enough to come through a noisy band in a live setting.

It is quiet in my chain as well, in fact, I was using it along with a Boss blues driver in my chain and it performed much better in terms of keeping the hum quiet during lighter passages. I can't say enough good things about this pedal.

Built like a tank and going strong after a year of heavy use!

Analog man answers questions the quickest of any in my experience. He doesn't BS you and will make a problem right. THis is by far the best place you can put your hard earned dollars if you have the GAS.

I sold a lot of pedals after using this and that in itself is a testimony. Get yours now!

Very simple to use. One page manual cam with the KoT & pretty much goes over anything you would have a question about. BTW, this is the second revision model with the 4 DIP switches. Mine is #188.

I play a pretty straight-forfawrd rig. I mainly use my Fender American Series Strat through my original 1965 Fender Pro Reverb (one of the most underrated Blackface models...). My pedal board is run like this: AM Large Box BiComp->Ernie Ball Volume->AM King of Tone->AM TS9/808 Brown Mod->Boss TR-2 Tremolo w/AM Mod->Line6 DL4 Delay->AM Clone Chorus (can you tell that I am a fan of Mike's work?). I also use a Boss TU-2 Tuner, but that is not in my signal chain, it is run out of the tuner output on my Volume Pedal. In response to the basics for this section: It is only noisy in the manner that all overdirve pedals are noisy-- it boosts the gain of your signal, and will amplify any noise problems you might have in your setup. I have not yet been able to coax a bad sound out of this pedal--a little clarification; I have not had a crappy sound come thru it that was not due to something else in my signal chain whether that was guitar, amp, or other pedal--I hope that speaks to the transparency of the KoT.

This one has been on my pedal board for over a year without a hitch. It seems very solid. I would (and do) use it without a backup.

In case you haven't already heard about how Mike is an absolutely top-notch guy to deal with, here is another endorsement. He responds to emails with the utmost speed, and I have no reservations about believing him when he says he stands behind everything he builds--though, at this point, I have never had to cross that bridge.

I have been playing guitar now for 10 years. I play primarily blues, rock, alternative, & even a little alt-country. This pedal absolutely kicks ass for all of these styles. I have a feeling it would be amazing in just about any application, as it is very transparent, full, and rich in both OD or Clean Boost Modes. That is what I love about this pedal--what comes out sounds like me; it does NOT produce overly-colored tones, but rather does just what Mike says it will-- it allows the subtle nuances of your individual style and tone to come through. It has made me contemplate selling my Tube Screamer on several occasions, as the KoT sounds so much fuller in comparison. This pedal could not get "lost." It has earned the honor of permanent status on my pedal board. In fact, I have gotten on the waiting list for another one, just for the hell of it. If it were stolen... well, we won't go there. I end this review with a response to the question, "Does it help you make music, or does it get in the way?" Good question, and here you go, for what it's worth. Never have I owned a pedal like this, which became such an integral part of my rig and which helped me create without stepping on my toes. I highly recommend getting on the waiting list for this one. It is worth the wait, or the nearly $500 on eBay; whichever you can afford.

Well, a sheet of paper came with the unit but I didn't look at it. I started playing with the unit and it was all pretty obvious. But all the controls work nicely in well designed box.

I received the KOT pedal (w/Drive Mod) tonight and I am amazed by
this thing. I have an amp built in small numbers by a local guy here in the Chicago suburbs. The amps is great for jazz but has almost NO
overdrive/distortion at all, even on turned up to 10 there is almost no breakup.
This pedal is nuts! As I played through
it I was stunned by how great the clean boost was with a Strat, and how beautiful the overdrive channel is with my ES-335 and Les Paul.
For $200 I now essentially, have a 3 -channel PTP wired 20 watt tube amp.
I've never been excited about one overdrive pedal that I've purchased, but just saw them as a necessity to get some
overdrive at useable volumes.

Just received it, so I don't know

Mike was very helpful and friendly, although a bit rushed. He must be really busy!

For someone who starts with a completely clean sound this pedal has given me clean boost and over drive with a foot switchable unit.
I play lots of jazz chords (with altered dominant extensions) and comping/chording is a big part of what I do. Therefore, my amp has to be clean at a band volume.
However, the clean sound is too anemic for solos and I've considered buying a 2 channel (clean/ overdrive) amp. However I have no desire to throw away more thousands of dollars on gear. This $200 unit solves the problem.
I ordered another just as a back up.

SImple to use, plug and play. There are switches inside, but set them to your pleasure and go.

THE BEST!!! I have tons of effects (new, used, vintage, boutique) and this one is great. I run into a MAXON compressor, then the KOT and then the new SUNLION and it is all of the overdrive/distortion/fuzz that I need. I use a variety of guitars, teles, strats, LP's and hollow bodies through mostly Fender and Vox amps, this pedals makes them all sound better than straight into the amp! I tell my friends that this pedal and the MAXON are now always on. Another thing that I have found is that any overdrive/distortion pedal sounds better when it is put AFTER the KOT. You guys try it and see what I mean.

Built like a tank. There are alot of one man shops around that do custom pedals, but no one does them like Mike. His mods on existing pedals are great and his own pedals are the best. WAIT TILL YOU TRY A SUNLION!!!!! Mike will always take the time to help you out...

THE BEST. SEE above

Been playing awhile and have the funds to afford whatever stuff I want. I have vintage and new, custom shop and hand made. I try not to sugar-coat reviews, if I don't like something, I sell it. The KOT is the real deal. If mine is lost or stolen, I will wait 2 years for another. Analog Mike is the guy to deal with if you have pedal questions. By the way, read his book!!!

It's too small. That's my main beef. It's too easy to kick knobs when you're stepping on it, or tip it towards you when it's not velcroe'd down.
Beyond that it functions as easily as any OD pedal. There are some controls that are inside the pedal, but they are all of the "set and forget" variety, so no problem.

I use a Rivera Quiana w/ a variety of Strat-type guitars. The thing just plain sounds great. At it's lowest settings it adds a vibe that is almost more "felt" than "heard"; a subtle liveliness that makes playing a joy. As you turn up the drive it adds the perfect sheen to your sound and just a touch of hair.
I'd second what the earlier reviewer said: it's the only OD pedal I've tried that really does not sound like a pedal.

It's built very well. The LED's poke through the holes loosely and wiggle a bit, which I thought was weird.

Mike is great. He always answers email quickly and takes the time to make you feel just as important as his high-profile customers. I have no doubt Mike would stand behind his pedals 100%.

One of the best sounding OD's I've heard, and a real keeper. The size is my only issure. I know Mike has made some bigger ones, and if the waiting line wasn't so long I'd get one of those. I'd be willing to bet his new version of the KoT will be in bigger box, as I'm pretty sure this is a common concern.
This pedal has received my highest rating: a strip of velcro.

This box is transparent. You can take it from your existing tone up to a round and musical, singing overdrive. The manual is straight ahead and simple.
Dialing up sounds is easy since the knobs are very responsive.

I use Fenders and Gibsons with Fender twins, deluxes or Marshall plexi amps.
Not too many boxes on the floor in front of me. Just the KOT and an Aphex guitar exciter. I use a digital FX processor in the loop sometimes. This box always sounds great. No one ever asks me "what was that box you were using to get that great tone?" They ask about the amp or guitar I was using. I think that says alot about the tone enhancing qualities of this pedal. It won't change the sound-it will just crank it up and add gain and sustain. or just a little growl.

I think it looks pretty road worthy. I would and do use it with not backup.

I was very pleased with my emails to Mike. I felt like I was dealing with friends through the whole process of buying my pedal. .I highly recommend them.

I tend to play a lot of rock. I enjoy soul and blues stuff as well. I have been playing for 29 years now. The thing is, I really like the amps and guitars I use and I like to enhance them not effect them. This pedal will always come through for me. I like it better that the Fulldrive or the Klon. Both of those sound good to me too but the add mid-rangey color to the tone, this just adds mojo. When Mike says "your sound" he isn't kidding.

Recently I thought my gig bag was stolen with about $600 worth of gear in it.. The only thing I kept thinking was.."oh god my king of tone was in there."

The KOT has a very clever design that allows you to switch between bypassed, clean boost, and overdrive with two switches. As some have commented, you have to be careful to hit the right switch, but it sure beats having two separate pedals for these functions.

I'm using the KOT with nice parts Tele or a '66 ES335 and a '64 Deluxe Reverb. I use this pedal and sometimes a Clyde wah- that's it. It's the perfect pedal for this rig and for my needs. I can get a nice clean or crunch sound from the clean boost, and the od sound, while not over the top, has plenty of gain for my needs. It's very musical and has a nice balance of lows, mids, and highs. The internal dip switches and especially the treble boost trim pot (inside the unit) are very useful also- I was able to adjust the boost and od tone so that it was almost identical to the bypass sound, which is my goal. I hate it when the od sound loses highs or lows. I have to adjust the treble trim pot a little to optimize it for Tele or 335, so I guess i need two- one set up for single coils and one for humbuckers!

I've tried the Klon, the Barber LTD, various TS9's (old and new), the ZVex SHO, the Bad Bob, the Tim pedal, the Clark Gainster, Diaz Texas Ranger, Stampede SOV-1, Nobles ODR-1, and various attenuators. I've also tried cranking my Princeton Reverb and using an A/B box to switch amps for rhythm/solos. All of the above have their good points, but the KOT is the best sounding and most versatile of the lot. It's a keeper!

Not sure yet- but it appears to be rugged.

I've emailed Mike with a few questions and he has been very helpful.

I play blues, R&B, roots rock, reggae, funk- anything that feels good and has a rootsy orientation. I also play jazz and old school country/western swing, but I just plug straight into the amp for those gigs. I use as few effects as possible in any situation, and the KOT has become my #1 pedal. I've been playing for 30 years, and have a variety of Gibson and Fender guitars and a bunch of old Fender amps. My newest amp is '68 PR. If it were lost or stolen I would definitely get another, and I'm on the waitng list to get a second one as a backup and to set up for my humbucker guitars.

It has a very satisfying and organic sound that makes me want to play, which is the best indicator that it works for me.

Stupid easy to get a good sound. But care needs to taken when stomping on the pedal, as it is easy to hit both switches, or the wrong switch if you are not careful. I'm still getting used to this. So I gave an 8 in this category as it is not quite as easy to use as a stock OD with one switch.

I've used this pedal with a Matchless, brown Fender Princeton, SF Princeton Reverb and a Jamison amp. It sounds fantastic throught everthing. It makes the guitar sound "bigger" with a touch more drive and has none of the mid-range honkiness of the original tube screamer. Mike obviously did a lot of thinking and testing when creating this pedal. For the first time I am acutally considering selling my original TS-808.

Super rugged and dependable, I don't see how there could be any problems at all with it.

Mike is the best, answers every email and seems to be a very positive person.

I play blues, R & B, R & R, Zydeco, funk, etc. I have a bunch of different guitars with different kinds of pickups in them, some vintage, some newer. The KOT pedal works as well with my Les Pauls as it does with my Fenders. The KOT is espeically groovy with a strat. I knew Mike by reputation and had communicated with him before so I was confident that this would be an excellent product, and it was. The only thing about the pedal that I can criticize is that I pretty much never use the clean boost switch, (although sometimes it gets stepped on by accident). I kind of wish it wasn't there at all, and that the pedal was just a straight-forward OD pedal. I've have the pedal a couple of months and have used it on a bunch of different gigs, perhaps I'll find a way to set it up so that the secone chanell is more useful to me, but so far I just like the beautiful sound of the red channel. I gave the pedal a 9 because I dont' really use the second channel, and it is a fairly pricey pedal. However, the build quality is top notch and it is definitely worth the money.

Clearly Mike and his merry elves toiled intensively to perfect the KOT's range of adjustment. Unlike similar dual-stage OD's like the Brontoboost, Full Drive, or Blackstone, the KOT is easy to set up and get great tones in all three modes (yellow, red, and bypass) with excellent consistency from one mode to the other. Drive and tone adjustments behave naturally. Then setting the level of each mode comes easily without adverse effects of any kind using the two "V" volume knobs. The internal settings lend a level of customization not seen on other pedals, and the instruction sheet is very informative. The only complaint I have is the cramped front panel - once in a while I bump a knob when I'm going for a footswitch.

A play a '99 LP R9 ('59 RI) with Burstbucker Pro's into a Vox AC15TBX with a pedalboard full of other true bypass pedals. The KOT plays nicely with all of them, something I can't say of many other pedals out there. I can cascade my BJF Emerald Green and Pink Purple Fuzz into the KOT and get every combination of OD, distortion and fuzz that I need, from crisp, gorgeous clean boost and bite, to big british distortion. And every combination and setting is ultra transparent. By itself, the KOT provides THE most perfect clean boost and transistions beautifully to overdrive in the red mode. The tone is open and full range and never fuzzy or unnatural. It's like a natural extension of the amp.

Many "boutique" pedals look hand made, and I don't mean that in a good way. It's clear Mike's pedals are painstakingly engineered and built with the love of a human touch, but they're also absolutely solid and professionally constructed of the highest quality components. They're also some of the classiest looking.

There is no cooler manufacturer in the business than Mike and the whole Analog Man company. Friendly and accomodating beyond expectation. Mike is clearly one of the busiest guys around yet he never fails to come through with helpful assistance and advice.

If I could have only one pedal this would be it - no question. I've been playing over 20 years and I've gone through so many OD's: SIB, Marshall, Fulltone, Colorsound, Blackstone, NVN, McFuzz, Siegmund, Everman, Tube Works, Tonebone, Boss, Ibanez,... tossed 'em all for the Analog Man King Of Tone! (BJF's pedals are the only others I've found that are consistently good.) I've been using the KOT for about 4 months now live and recording. I've never been more fulfilled. My searching is over. I've got an awesome guitar and amp, but the KOT is the element that really makes them live and breathe.

Simple to use, Volume, tone and Drive with 2 channels. Once you get use to adjusting the volume between channels for the sweet spot you are golden.

I currently run thru -Boss TU2 - Modified Dunlop Wah -Sweet Sound Ultravibe - Klon - Fulltone FD2 - Maxon AD-80 Analog Delay into Vintage Blkface Fender Tube amps, guitar is either a vintage Strat or Hamer Newport. I have been running the Klon always in clean boost mode to fatten up the sound and the FD2 for leads. I was looking to add a clean boost with just a bit of grit.. Brian Setzer/Rockabilly solo sounds... I could switch to comp-cut mode on the FD2 for cleaner leads, but it is a pain making the change live and getting the knobs back on a dim lit stage is not always easy.

The KOT kicks ass ! it does not try to do the often repeat TS9 copy or improvement thang, it is like no other. It does a great job as a clean boost with just a bit of grit, plus having the extra semi dirty OD channel is a great plus and sounds great. Both Channels are usable and have great tone no matter how you set them !

Now I use my FD2 for dark heavy OD tones, Like SRV's "Crossfire". It really does well for that style singing sustain tone or heavier gain situations. The KOT does a unreal job with the Setzer solo tone or early SRV Texas Flood album tone/ Classic R+B Steve Cropper tone. It really nails the true sound of a Fender tube amp cranked into natural OD.

The FD2 can do it great with the Comp off, but is a pain to switch on stage..I considered getting 2 FD2, run one comp and one non-comp cut. then I got wind of the KOT, 100 fold better than the FD2 non comp, much clearer and true to the amps sound, just boosted or with killer OD depending on the channel chosen... The KOT is killer for that slightly distorted tone or Mid gain tones..It really is true to the amps tone no matter how you set it.

IMHO the Klon is the best out there for a vintage fender amp clean boost, when you leave it on all the time it sounds better than the rest, and I tried a bunch.. The FD2 blows the doors off of any TS9 style or OD for Mid to High gain tones.. But the KOT is like neither, clean boost your volume and/or add OD without changing the amps fundamental tone... Killer ! It also sounds great OD staking with the non boosted FD2 as well.. This is worth every dime and will not leave my board anytime soon ! If you play Blues this is a must have !

I have dealt with Mike since the Mid 90's, he is the best. I do not anticipate any issues as the KOT is well built, but if anything happens, Mike will take care of it ASAP.

Analog Man is the best, They answers every e-mail in a prompt time frame, even the stupid questions. I have played for 15+ years and dealt with many companies along the way. I can say with all honesty, Mike is one of the best to deal with. Keep it up Mike ! No worries at all.

I have played in R+B bands for over 15 years, The KOT is a drop dead tone machine. It really lets the player shine through...Worth every cent...

Took a few minutes to get the balance of the red and yellow channels right, but after that - watch out. Raise the gain, it gets louder and overdriven. The yellow keeps the input of my Vibrolux Custom and drives it mad. The red takes you into saturation heaven.

You only need one pedal and this is it - unless your a metal player (too bad for you. My Vibrolux is a great amp and this doubles it's tone. Unbelievable but true. So many combinations can be had.

A tank.

Well I bought this from Analog Man and the King of Tone Jim Weider himself at the fall Philly guitar show. #9 and signed by Jim. I thought well Jim and his tele and deluxe sounded great with this pedal and so I had to have it. When I got home and played it for my wife even she noticed how it improved the tone. Great job guys!

If you buy it and don't love it switch to the clarinet.

This pedal is very user friendly , the internal adjustment may take some time to tweek. I personally like the standard setting.

This is the one! I have tried numerous pedals.I like the KOT best. It is important what sequence you use when setting up your pedal board. I use an Ecoplex and I place the KOT first. This makes for a killer tone on ever guitar I have tried.Fender Tele 51 relic Nocaster, PRS CE Dragon 2, Fender 62 reissue strat, PRS McCarty P90 rosewood neck. I Play through a Victoria Bassman 410, or a Fender 64 reissue Vibroverb. If you like playing the blues , this combo is great.

I don't know , but am certain that Mike made it correct to start with.

Mike is the best in personal response . No arrogance just service

I love this pedal. It an my Replex are the best pedals I have. Could do without the rest if I had to. Would I buy It again.You bet I would. Jim Weider is the man when it comes to tone.

idiot proof..... simple lay out perfection made simple

simulates a fender deloxe tone,l this pedal sounds amazing like kicking the shit out of a deloxe or super, the tones are fantastic.

yes, its made by analogman... no worries mate

mike has always answered my e mails within a day and when i hade a problem with my captian coconut he literealy answered me in less then 5 minutes. mike is the man for customer support. thanks mike

......... just check it out and you'll want to get one. trust me.
i bought mine off of ebay for $295 and its worth every dime. also try using the bicomprossor before the kot i do this with my favorite tele and it just sounds beautiful, especially through a good fender amp with ten inch speakers.. i could go on about the different gtrs (over 150] and amps i own and the 250 plus gigs i do a year but it doesnt matter. this is the coolest sounding overdrive i've heard in my 30 yrs of playing gtr and if you're serious about your tone you owe it to yourself to check this kot out. 'nuff said......

i'll give it a seven in this category because there's some internal switching options that can take some time to master but the pedal itsself is really easy to use. One gain knob, one tone, and two volume knobs for the two different channels. Can't gwet much simpler but you can internally adjust the treble and the amount of distortion so it's a little more complicated when you open it up (if you even need to).

well nothing gets a 10 but this pedal comes damn close. It sounds like a tubescreamer with less gain and more output. It doesn't have the midrange muddyness of a tubescreamer though and that's why I like it so much. I use the KOT with a 2 el-84 mesa boogie and the KOT's clean channel (the yellow channel) can add a ice grindy sparkle that really gives the amp a nice extra punch to it...pretty subtle but very nice sounding. The red channel has more gain and really sounds like a overdriven amp...not like a pedal. I've found many overdrive pedals sound like pedals and while this can be nice sometimes it's also nice to have a pedal that enhances the tone of any given amplifer and this is what the KOT does...it won't drastically alter your tone but it will give you a nice, detailed grind that really dirves the amp to sing...I love the sound and combined with my analogman sun face and a wah pedal you get some of the greatest distorted lead tones I have ever heard...no joke.

Don't know...haven't had it for an incredibly long time but it comes in the same housing as the analogman sunface which I have had for about a year with no problems...I wouldn't go around trying to crush a $200 pedal but it seems pretty sturdy.

excellent...Mike will return your email in a day and is very helpful...actually I think analogman probably has some of the best customer support of any company I have ever dealt with. You can tell that Mike is a guy who really cares and I appreciate that a lot.

Great great pedal...it'll be in my rig for years to come. Some things I would like: two drive knobs for each channel...but this actually isn't as bad as one would think because the pedal is so dynamic...it'll clean right up with a twist of your guitar's volume knob. Overall, this pedal is a tremendous value when one considers that a Klon centaur goes for close to $300 and a Langdraff overdrive costs like $500 or something insane like that...so if your a dentist that likes to play your $5000 les paul at home once a week a Langdraff is a great choice...me, I'm a working musician who likes my tone to sound good but can't see the reason for paying $500 for a pedal. The KOT is an amazing value and I'd take it over any other boutique overdrive nay day of the week.

Very easy to use, and a little more tweekable than a tube screamer. It has 2 channels. The red channel is overdrive and the yellow is more of a clean boost. They both share the drive and tone knobs but have their own level knobs, which is great for using one channel as a rhythm channel and the other as a lead boost. Each channel has it's own light, but share a toggle switch to change channels. The other switch is to engage or bypass the selected channel. When the selected channel is bypassed the light is dim, if engaged it lights up bright. If you want to be adventurous you can open it up and change settings for more drive, more treble, or change the way the indicator lights work. The manual is very clear and to the point.

My setup is as follows: '57 Les Paul Custom >Earnie Ball volume >Dunlop 535Q wah >Analogman Mini Bicomprossor >Analogman King of Tone >Analogman Clone Chorus >Fulltone Supa Trem >T-rex Replica >DOD 270 A/B switch >Bad Cat Hot Cat 30. I bought the KOT to replace my modified tube screamer. I needed 2 things: an overdrive that didn't color the sound or lose the low end, and a clean boost for solo work. I use the red channel with the clean channel on my amp when I need a mild overdrive. The yellow channel I use for lead boost on the distortion channel of my amp. There is pleanty of headroom on both channels. Not as much distortion as a tube screamer, but way more volume. Unlike the tube screamer, the KOT actually sounds great when you back off the drive setting. My amp is very sensitive to the input signal this pedal does not color the sound in the least. My Tele sounds like my Tele, my Les Paul sounds like my Les Paul, etc... Also, there is no loss in low end frequency like so many other overdrives.

Hand built, excellent quality components, thoughtful layout. I don't use any gear that I think I might need a backup for. If I need a backup, I don't want it. I have a backup guitar in case I break a string, and a spare set of power tubes for my amp. All my gear is mounted in a board for protection and ease of setup.

If I could give a higher rating than 10 I would. Mike is very busy, but always takes time to answer even the most trivial emails, usually within 1 day (even on weekends). He is very down to earth and does not act self-absorbed like some other boutique builders I've dealt with. His products are hands down the best I've used, and I've used a ton of gear.

This pedal has exceeded my expectations and is just what I was hoping for. I have owned the Klon Centaur, Menatone Blue Collar, modified TS 9, modified Blues Driver and the list goes on... None of those got used much because they didn't sound that good. I play a variety of styles; mostly rock, alt. rock, alt. country. I've played over 25 years. I'm not a flashy player, I just play for great tone and the King of Tone delivers! Far exceeded my expectations.

The KOT is very easy to use for its intended purposes.

This pedal is outstanding. It's very honest, and is nothing
like a TS, which is good for me. I'm using it with the distortion switch on and just roll back the drive knob to my needs. It also seems to like all the amps I've tried it with. I've plugged it into a Marshall 50 watt (EL34), Fender Super Reverb, Divided by 13 (4 EL84), and a Jim Kelley (4 6V6). That covers a lot of ground and I noticed right away the od/distortion sounded like the individual amp, not the pedal overtaking the amp. That is a good sign. I also appreciate the range Mike chose for the tone control and the fact that the bottom is left intact. With the distortion dip switch on there is actually quite a bit of gain available. Pro players should love this thing while guys looking for a particular sound (someone else's) might not get how good it is.

I don't anticipate any problems because of Mike's reputation.

He answers emails very quickly and sends products out right away.
I received the KOT in a week.

I've tried most of the od/distortion pedals and as stated earlier, this one does not change the sound of your amp. The two channel set up is well thought out and quite different from the FD2. The list of pedals I no longer have is quite long, but this one is a keeper. The only ones left are the KOT, FD2, old Fuzzface and a Beano Boost. By the way, the Beano Boost is a riot as well.

Took less than 60 seconds to dial in a righteous tone. The instructions are clear on how to operate, but it really comes together when you just plug in and play. Excellent control layout. Well thought out. The controls outside and inside of this box provide an incredible potential to meet different tastes and uses.

I plugged a telecaster into this box and then straight to the clean channel on a couple of different amps to hear the true effect of the pedal on the signal. Clicked it on. Suddenly, I had a vintage amp on my hands! I just stood there looking at the pedal. I made a couple of adjustments to suit a tele, started playing and went into a trance.
Whatever your playing, this pedal some how enhances the tone. No degradation of original tone quality. The previous reviews and the notes on the website are true. I have never experienced a pedal like this. The tone is uncolored, the bass is still there. There is the grit and feel of an amp on the verge of break up while you're comping chords and fills....then a saturation that sounds natural when you wade into a solo.
This pedal isn't about being a better tubescreamer, klon or fulldrive. It's about plugging into a vintage amp that lets your technique or style flow out so seamlessly that you forget about the equipment. You just make music. Warm...inspriring tone. Frankly, the results are stunning.
No running noise. Strong signal. Kick ass pedal!

Solid. Solid. Solid. And not only that, the pedal is looks great!

First rate. Can't say enough. Every email answered. These cats get it done! No worries mate!

Look. Stop whining about the cost of "boutique" pedals and learn something here. Yes. Yes. I loved SRV too. Yes, I have my tubescreamer as well. And Landgraff, and Fulldrive, and (yawn)..etc. But you have got to look outside of the typical "overdrive" or "the chip" mentality to find something special. This pedal is a phenomenal start to finding your own sound or capabilities.
I have been playing a lifetime. Been down the long road with just about any equipment you can name or think of. If I haven't owned it, I've used it. From high end to low-fi. It takes me less than five minutes to know whether a piece of equipment is worth a damn or not. This one is worth it.
Best advise? Read these reviews and be aware of Analogman's intent for this pedal. (I wouldn't recommend it for shred for example.)
When you've pulled all this together. Stop what your doing. Email Mike and order this pedal. Do it now baby. No way this stays a secret.
Well done Mike and the crew at Analogman!! Excellent!!

Let me start out by saying that I love AnalogMan equipment and modifications. Everything Mike has done for me (overdrive mods, Clone Chorus, Bi-Comp) has been excellent and very useful to a working musician. The new King of Tone (KOT) overdrive pedal is quickly living up to the same standard of excellence. The reason for the '8' in this category is the use of a single drive control for both channels of overdrive, instead of employing separate, dedicated drive controls. Just plugging the unit in, it sounds great and it is easy to dial up a great overdrive tone. However, balancing the 'red' and 'yellow' channels took a little work and acclimation. There is not a great deal of difference between the two channels, or at least the first time one uses it. The users manual clearly indicates this is an intentional aspect of the design, and the end result (after one becomes accustomed to the set up) is a very tasty overdrive pedal.

I purchased the KOT with the intention of using it as a clean boost, and this is in fact how I am using it although the 'red' channel gives me a little extra 'kick' when needed. The signal chain is usually something like this: Fender or Zion guitars (usually single coil Tele or Strat style)-- Teese RMC3 Wah-- Sho-Bud Volume-- AnalogMan mini Bi-Comp-- AnalogMan KOT-- AnalogMan modded TS-9/808 Silver-- Klon Centaur overdrive-- Nobles Tremolo-- Delay-- AnalogMan Clone Chorus-- Boss TU-2 Tuner-- amplifier ('64 Deluxe, '71 Vibrolux, or Alessandro Plott Hound, depending on the situation). I am a working musician and therefore play LOTS of different styles of music, so versatility is important to me. My own personal preference for tone, however, leans toward vintage sounds and blues and jazz-rock styles of playing, ie. Robben Ford, Larry Carlton, Phil Keaggy, etc.

The KOT sounds great, most importantly because it is VERY uncolored and allows for the guitar's natural tone to pass through to the amp. Other od units make this claim, including the Klon Centaur on my floorboard, but they fall short of THIS od. The KOT makes the Klon sound mid-range heavy in comparison. The Klon has a unique voice and is a great and useable overdrive, but in comparison the Klon sounds very colored up against the KOT's clear tone. The bottom end of the tone is typically sucked away with most overdrive pedals, but NOT with the KOT. It is all in there! Tone is not 'influenced' by the KOT as it does NOT have a 'unique' voice. The KOT 'enhances' your tone without changing it.

As mentioned earlier, one has to fiddle a bit in order to achieve a balance between the red and yellow channels, but learning to use the individual volume controls is a key. If I had my way, I'd like separate drive controls, as well. That is my ONLY criticism of this pedal.

The box housing the KOT is very rugged and will take lots of OTJ abuse. Workmanship of all of my AnalogMan products is excellent. I never have problems with Mike Piera's work. And if I ever do, I am completely confident that Mike will fix the problem competently and with lightening speed turn-around.

Mike is one of the nicest and most helpful guys in the business. 'Nuff said!!!

An excellent overdrive pedal, well worth the price paid which is cheaper than many of the boutique overdrive pedals on the market such as Klon and Menatone, etc. The best feature of this unit is the way it allows YOUR sound to pass through; I'm not playing to the sound of the effect, but rather the effect is enhancing my playing. THAT'S the way it is SUPPOSED to work!!

SIMPLE TO USE.

I AM AMAZED. THIS PEDAL SOUNDS EXACTLY AS DESCRIBED. I'VE OWNED 3 FENDER DELUXE REVERBS IN MY TIME AND THIS PEDAL SOUNDS LIKE A DELUXE. A VERY GOOD DELUXE. THE PERFECT AMOUNT OF BREAK UP. I HAVENT EVEN LISTENED TO THE DISTORTION SOUND ON IT. THE FACTORY SETTING IS JUST AWESOME. I PLUGGED THIS INTO MY 80 WATT BOGNER SHIVA. IMAGINE THE SOUND OF AN 80 WATT FENDER DELUXE. AN ABSOLUTE MUST HAVE..

VERY RELIABLE. DURABLE.

GREAT COMMUNICATION. VERY FAST SERVICE AND THE QUALITY OF EVERYTHING I'VE BOUGHT OFF HIM IS ABOVE AND BEYOND.

I USE THE ANALOGMAN CHORUS, BI-COMP, BEANO BOOST AND NOW THE KING OF TONE. GREAT STUFF. NO OTHER OVERDRIVE PEDAL SOUNDS LIKE THIS. I MEAN IT..

The King of Tone comes with a two-sided instruction sheet that clearly describes settings, sounds, recommendations. Clearly written and helpful. After reading about the unit on Mike's web site, I ordered one and added it to my board. I immediately achieved some great sounds. The KOT is easy to use and the two overdrive channels give you some great flexibility. External knobs are master tone, master drive, plus individual volume knobs for each overdrive channel. Internal dip switches change function of overdrive channels and an internal treble boost gives you more sound possibilities.

I'm using an American Fat Strat Texas Special with a Rivera Quiana 112. My board includes a Teese RMC3 wah, Analogman pedals (Bicomprossor, Chorus), Analogman modified pedals (Boss DS-1 with Pro mod, Boss DD-6 with high cut switch) and Captain Coconut 2 (excellent). The KOT is an outstanding addition to my rig. It delivers as promised - warm, open, musical sounds with low to moderate amounts of overdrive. It's not a shred pedal. It's important to remember this pedal was designed to emulate the sound of Jim Weider's favorite 60s Deluxe Reverb "when cranked, to simulate the natural tube amp distortion of preamp and power tubes." KOT was designed with Weider's input. It is NOT another tube screamer circuit. If you want some real soul and great vibe, order this pedal! When I want some extra crunch and distortion I can of course use the Rivera's second channel or simply push another pedal with the KOT, using either the clean boost setting or a bit more overdrive on the other channel. There are many sound options, even if you're using the KOT with just a guitar and amp.

No question about reliability. I have total confidence in Mike's work and I've been using some of his other pedals for a while now. Of course anything mechanical/electronic could conceivably go wrong, but I give Analogman pedals the highest marks. Great construction with nice aesthetic touches.

Mike Piera is the best I've come across. In spite of being swamped with orders he responds to all my emails with helpful information. He's tops in customer service and support. (Makes you feel like you're valued customer #1.)

I play contemporary Christian music every week and blues/rock/jazz/pop on my own. I've been playing for 30 years and have twice tried rack setups that never really satisfied. I'm definitely an analog guy. Love the sound and simplicity. Along with the pedals mentioned above I also use a Barber Electronics Direct Drive. It's an excellent pedal also with different overtones, frequency emphasis than the KOT. I love the fact that the KOT has two channels - opens up the options, particularly in combination with other pedals. When it comes to guitar, amps, effects, gear in general, the critical question is: Does it sound good and does it inspire me to play better? The King of Tone, along with Analogman's other pedals and mods, definitely do. I highly recommend his work. I would buy another King of Tone immediately if something happened to my current one.

4 knobs, Drive Tone Vol1 Vol2. 2 Very nice foot switches 1= on off, 2= overdrive/or/Distortion . True BYPASS

I absolutely hate stomp overdrive and distortion boxes. I always use tube preamps or at least a 2 channel switching amp cause I love the all tube sound.

This is the first stomp box that I like, NO that I love! Blows away the ts808... even a moded one.

Very sweet and tubular, I USE A STRAT AND A TUBE AMP!!!!

Getting tones like Robbin Ford, reminds me of a bogner sound.

Again amazing work by Mike. (

I've had tons of stomp fuzz, dist, od and gave them all up.) This is a keeper.

Time will tell, but analog man has always supported the products I have by him.

Very well made. Sturdy, strong switches etc. Pro all the way.

In the past Mike has been the best, also was on this sale. Quality shoppe

I personally think analogman makes the best sounding pedals on the market at a very reasonable price. I've got the bicomp, clonechorus, and now the King of Tone.

I'm really partial to the ones mike creates himself, vs. the mods.

Well worth the cash, and you are not raped!

Been playing for 30 years now. Have used everything out there. Am a tube fanatic. Custom strat by Zion (another great shoppe).

Everything is subject to the beholder's ear, but for pro overdrive distort... this is a great product.

I suspect this will end up being THE classic stomp for OD for the next 10 years.

With four knobs and two footswitches it cannot get much easier but this pedal is full of great low to medium gain overdrive sounds and clean boosts

This is Mike Piera's(AnalogMan) first form scratch Overdrive and is really great. I feel that it will definitely become a classic like the Fulldrive and Klon already have. It is warm, articulate, open and airy and very musical. It iwll give you nice, non-compressed OD sounds from mild grit thru some great bluesy and singing sounds with a neck humbucker and tone backed off a notch. Inside is a treble boost pot which I have not used yet and also a three DIP switch control which will allow you to set differing combos of OD and Clean sounds. This pedal has a second footswitch which goes between the OD channel and the Clean channel. They are not cascadable but that is the beauty of this pedal. The clean side is very warm and makes your amp sound bigger, rounder with the slightest amount of drive. DIfferent than the Klon in Clean Boost mode. I also have a Klon and an original Fulldrive in my rig. The KOT does not emulate a TS style pedal on the OD side but is also much more full and sustaining on the OD side versus the comp cut mode on the newer FDII's which I like and have also used.

One word- actually two- Analog Man!

Mike Piera is great and ranks up there with the best in support and tweakability and customizing gear for your sound as opposed to sounding like (name your fav players). While that is cool playing music is amount creativity and expression and not about cloning someone else. Of course there is definitely nothing wrong with emulating and being influenced by the great players out there but maintain individuality too! The KOT will help you in that quest...

A really welcome addition to my new Bradshaw built custom switching rig. The KOT is a keeper!!!