Analogman King Of Tone overdrive Ver 3 Features

Analog Man King Of Tone overdrive Ver 3 June-04

Analog Man, in collaboration with Jim Weider,
have come out with the pedal we have been looking
for for many years - the King Of Tone. There are
many overdrive pedals on the market, but none of
them have been quite right, preserving the tone of
the guitar and adding the right amount of overdrive
without compromise.

The Version 3 KT was developed due to popular
demand for a separate DRIVE control on each

channel. Previous versions had onle one DRIVE
knob. We were able to do this by using a special relay to switch the drive knob, and also to switch
the DISTORTION mode which previously was fixed on or off by a DIP switch. There are 2
channels available on this pedal by pressing the switch on the right. Each channel has it's own
Volume and Drive control and LED. We use SUPER BRIGHT Yellow and Red LEDs so you can
easily tell which channel is selected. When the pedal is ON the red or yellow LED will be on and
VERY bright. The switch on the left is a normal on/off switch, true bypass of course. The red
channel’s LED will glow dimly in when the pedal is off in red mode. This does not take any more
power as they are extremely efficient LEDs. If no LED is glowing, then you are in yellow mode
with the pedal OFF. So you always know what mode you are in, and if the pedal is ON or OFF.

If the DRIVE knobs are set at quite different settings (one up high and one down low), there may
be a POP when engaging the Yellow channel. This can happen when switching from RED to
Yellow, or from OFF to Yellow. It’s not bad, I use this version on my board, but it’s annoying so
we will not be making a lot of Ver3 pedals. We will continue offering Ver2 until Ver4 is available
which we will announce only when it’s ready to ship.

There is also a master TONE control on the pedal, which is active on both channels. In addition,
there is a TREBLE BOOST knob on the inside of the pedal. Turn the treble boost all the way down
for normal setting, most people may like it best turned up a few notches especially with a darker
sounding guitar or amp.

There is also a 4 position DIP switch on the inside of the pedal, which you can use to choose
between Clean or OD modes and a DISTORTION mode. I designed this switch to allow almost
anyone to be able to find the exact sounds they want in this pedal. The modes are:

1) Normal Overdrive mode (OD mode): This is the standard King Of Tone sound, which Jim likes
best- a little less drive available than a tube screamer. Factory DIP switch setting has this mode on
the first (red) channel. This mode can get about 4 times louder than a tube screamer if desired.

2) CLEAN mode : This mode has less drive, can be used for clean boosts or clearer, louder sounds.
It's sort of a cross between a true clean boost and an overdrive. CLEAN MODE is even less
compressed than the standard OD mode. The factory DIP switch setting uses this mode on the
second (yellow) channel. This mode can get twice as loud as the OD mode.

3) DISTORTION mode : This mode has more drive than the standard mode- a touch of hard
distortion. The sound is a little more compressed, yet retains the pedal’s character. This mode can
get almost twice as loud as a tube screamer. Distortion mode is not available at the factory DIP
switch setting.

At low DRIVE settings, or when playing softly, there is not much difference between the three
modes, they all can get pretty clean. The abilility to clean up when playing softly is a very useful
feature of this pedal.

DIP switch settings

There are 4 DIP switches. Factory setting is
1 2 3 4: OFF ON OFF ON (down, up, down, up)

This factory setting OFF ON OFF ON sets the red channel to OD and yellow to CLEAN, so you
can decide if you like one sound best, or would like to have both available. If you want both
available, leave switches in this setting.

To set both channels to be OD mode (CLEAN mode will not be available) then set switches to:
ON OFF OFF ON

To set both channels to CLEAN mode (OD not available), set to: OFF OFF OFF ON

The third DIP switch is for DISTORTION mode on the Yellow channel. The red channel is
unchanged and can be set to OD or Clean mode as above. When you turn the DIST switch ON,
you get significantly more and harder distortion, and less volume on the yellow channel. You can
choose any of the OD / CLEAN DIP settings along with the DIST setting. Best setting for DIST on
yellow channel is probably the BOTH OD setting for OD on red, dist (on top of OD) on yellow:
ON OFF ON ON.

The fourth DIP switch is to disable the relay which activates the 2
This allows running the pedal at super low current drain but both channels will use the 1st drive
knob and DIST mode will not be available. Turn it OFF (down) if you want to disable the
switching relay to save power (green mode!). It may also be quieter as less switching will occur.
This setting makes it the same as the old 4 knob KoT.

POWER SUPPLY: A Standard Boss PSA120 type 9V DC adaptor will work fine. Center is
negative. The pedal uses about 10mA of current at 9V, and only 6mA when off, or if the red
channel is selected. You can get a fuzzier sound if you want, at lower voltages, for example the
SAG mode on the pedalpower2. When your battery dies you will notice the pedal will not get nice
and clean, the sound will be hairier. Also the 2
your battery gets below 7 volts. Use a good Alkaline battery like a Duracell, or a power supply.

CHIPS: You can also try other standard dual op-amp chips in the king of tone. Just make sure you
put it in the right way, lettering is readable when holding the pedal with jacks towards the top and
the sunface on the board is right side up. Also the dot or cut on the chip will be facing left. The old
TS-808’s JRC4558D chip sounds good in this pedal, especially with single coil guitars and smaller
Fender type amps.

nd

drive knob and DIST MODE may not function if

nd

drive knob and DIST mode.

ENJOY!!!! Analog Man Guitar Effects, 1D Garella Road, Bethel, CT 06801

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http://www.analogman.com [phone]