Hey, when one of you says: "I like that one better", the next question should be "Why?" or "How come?" not "Uh? Ok?". Makes for awesomerhappierinformation. ;)
You're right about the BB having pronounced upper mids. It really gives your tone definition, like a mild treble booster. I love it on it's own, but it also stacks well with other drive pedals.
Thanks for doing this :) I always forget to do this when I have these pedals at the same time hahaha!! I had someone ask me about them and you saved me some time :) so... I'll toss in my 2 cents in case anyone out there is trying to decide which way to go original blues breaker pedal (black box like this video) is based around the older style TL072 FET opamp is has a subtle overdrive but hints of sparkle in there. It stacks great on both sides (into it and into others). It is a soft clipped circuit in the second stage. It is less compressed feeling than a Tube screamer because it doesn't have discrete transistors as buffer on the in and out of the circuit. I think thats what make it cool. all those black box marshals are cool Guvnor being my fav of the bunch...The blues breaker has a tiny nit of low end loss which isn't a problem because it cuts through with its mids bump. but the pedal is not a choice for bassists like me in a stock state. The clipping also is a quad of silicons like a Timmy for example instead of a pair like a tube screamer. this translates to a more open sound. The Bluesbreaker uses standard 4148 or 914 diodes. If you are on a budget and have been down the TS808 road and want something a little lighter this is for you. So the King of tone is a supped up version for a big kid who likes his tone and wants some options to keep em busy...It has a more modern op amp package JRC4580 it is a non FET IC so it won't be as sparkly it has a more rounded tone in the mids, less top end fizz more amp like overall sound. Second it differs because it breaks up much faster hence the higher gain feel right off the bat. Then the diode switches allow you to soft clip it like the blues breaker or hard clip it like a rat for example. What also give the KOT a edge is you can mix and match hard and soft clipping which is very cool. Allows you to make the circuit work for you and your gear. The KOT also lets more bass out of the end of the circuit so it can push pedals and amps better for the best kind of dirty sounds. The prince has all that too. The king is this X2 so you can have 2 setting in one box or stack em. Use one for low gain one for lead so it is a really treat. The diodes used in the KOT and prince are more hand chose as well thats what results in that faster break up feel and more saturated sound. It Depends on when it was made many have MA856 and 1S1588's some have others BA278...as some of these parts are getting harder for builders like to round up SMD is taking over ahhh... Ok for the why get the KOT or prince... if you like to have options to change the tone beyond vol tone gain... If you stack you pedals or push a tube amp, if you want a very great sounding bluesy rock tone.... and on and on I know people can be shocked why would I pay $$$ for a pedal. simply put Mike uses top of the line parts, he hand makes them literally not just bolting on a jack and soldering a power jack like some builders claim handmade means. The biggest reason... if you haven't learned you get what you pay for yet you will. It is a terrific circuit made by a terrific group of people. It holds its value as time goes on it can go up in value as some people like to track down stuff from certain eras. Like version 2 OCD or Silver KLON yada... If you want to nerd out here are links to the schematics to compare and see whats going on in there... I make FX so I like this stuff but I also am a firm believer in just fire it up and turn the knobs and stop when it sounds good. It can be a mistake to obsess over details and never actually play hahaha!! bluesbreaker schematic... www.google.com/search?q=bluesbreaker+schematic&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwisqI3BjvnUAhWpy4MKHb_ZDCYQ_AUICigB&biw=1279&bih=662#imgrc=jQ_oQuWQ35FeTM: king of tone schematic... 3.bp.blogspot.com/-fmqfL3ltHZ4/VjeHm1jj2gI/AAAAAAAAAf4/QKZa99CT-pI/s1600/schem.gif shoppers also don't confuse the smaller blues breaker pedals for this one it is a totally different animal it has in and out buffers and sounds very blanketed kinda a dud. It's modable if your adventurous but it's always easier to start with the right one. -Rock on!!! -RYAN @builtbyryan
Very informative. I have both the BB and the KOT. The BB has specific magic sheen on the high end when used with good gear. It is great for boosting solos, stacks wonderfully with everything and provides a nice “amp on the verge of breakup” sound on a clean amp. It has a very slight metallic sound to the top mids. The KOT is much more hi-fi in sound quality. It doesn’t have that magic sheen in the highs, but it is much more versatile, it won’t do heavy distortion but you can use it for everything from slight breakup to full Neil Young “my amp will explode any minute” mayhem, very strong overdrive with chord definition, meaning that chords with 6ths, 9ths and 7ths will be heard completely. It works fine with any amp and guitar, stacks well with anything. It is that good.
The Prince of tone was much louder because you were on Boost mode, no diodes/ clipping, more headroom/ volume. The OD mode with diodes clipping just like the BB or the red side of the KOT. In upper position will be identical to the KOT
Hey Guys, I've owned both KoT and PoT. The PoT sounds different if you leave the internal switch set to factory (it's a bass boost of something) if you turn it off, it sounds waaaay closer to the KoT (IMHO). Just mentioning incase you haven't tried changing it :)
I bought the Bluesbreaker pedal new when I was 17 and have used it ever since. (Its had a new switch and one pot changed out). I wish I'd bought a couple of spades when no-one wanted them. (That said, I still think they're great value considering the price of a lot of other collectable pedals). They're great for both taking the edge off an amp at low volume or pushing an amp harder at breakup.
The prince of tone is exactly half of the King of Tone. Its no different otherwise. You can get higher gain versions of both pedals. There is a long wait time, 23 months for mine. There are INTERNAL dip switches that set each half of the pedal seperatly. otherwise there is no difference. The POT has the switches outside. You can also get optional KOT higher gain mods, dual seperate outputs, shared dual power in out so you can power another analog pedal, external switches(like POT), custom colors. Glad I waited, dont reccomend paying scalpers.
I found the Prince of Tone really sounded best at 18v. Gives it tons of headroom and boost! I've since switched to a Queen of Bone, which is a King of Tone clone with a 18v charge pump built in and mine has the high gain mod on both sides. Definitely a different tone than the Prince (I actually prefer the Queen's tone) even when the dip switches are bumped around in the Prince.
i have made all three the only difference is the clipping diodes and for the king of tone hi gain just use a 330k resistor instead of the 220k more than likely
I'm seeing the BB at 250 (US) used, The King at???? 450 for V4 & the Prince at 199.00 On my end the difference is so minimal I'll take the Prince all day long.
Analogman themselves only charge 239.00 for the King of Tone bone stock without any modifications. All of the prices of the pedal and modifications are on they're website on the King of Tone page.
It's like $239 for a stock KOT. I just bought one last month. Prince is exactly half of the KOT. Both halves are switchable from boost/ OD / Distortion modes, internal switching is stok on KOT, mounted on the outside for the POT.
blues breaker sounds better, more open and natural. I had a KOT, it always sounded nasally and unnatural and I sold it to someone else who believed the hype, as I once did, when I compared it to a lovepedal amp11
That is the most beautiful Jag I've ever seen, could you do like That Pedal Show and tell us the stories of your guitars? Cause I'd really like to hear that Jaguar's story
I have both KOT & POT, POT lacks transparency that KOT exhibits superbly and is the real deal with KOT pedal. For a stand-alone OD pedal, POT is good and has that Marshall flavor in its tones but not as TRANSPARENT!!
Finally someone compares the King of Tone with inspiration and as you can see it does not sound heavy modified. The heavy modification is basically different diodes and IC. In that note, a TS808 is a heavy modified TS9. Why did you push the tone on the BB higher than the others? King of Tone success is based on the rarity of the Bluesbreaker, don't really understand why Marshall doesn't reissue their old circuit what a waste. Marshall Bluesbreaker - the most underrated pedal of all time (until Mayer used it). Let the myth believers pay fortunes for snake oil.
The guy stops playing everytime everything is perfectly adjusted... So i say "Ok, now let's listen to the real differences" and he stops playing... Is he embarassed of playing? hahahahah
Hey, when one of you says: "I like that one better", the next question should be "Why?" or "How come?" not "Uh? Ok?". Makes for awesomerhappierinformation. ;)
You're right about the BB having pronounced upper mids. It really gives your tone definition, like a mild treble booster. I love it on it's own, but it also stacks well with other drive pedals.
Thanks for doing this :) I always forget to do this when I have these pedals at the same time hahaha!! I had someone ask me about them and you saved me some time :) so...
I'll toss in my 2 cents in case anyone out there is trying to decide which way to go
original blues breaker pedal (black box like this video) is based around the older style TL072 FET opamp is has a subtle overdrive but hints of sparkle in there. It stacks great on both sides (into it and into others). It is a soft clipped circuit in the second stage. It is less compressed feeling than a Tube screamer because it doesn't have discrete transistors as buffer on the in and out of the circuit. I think thats what make it cool. all those black box marshals are cool Guvnor being my fav of the bunch...The blues breaker has a tiny nit of low end loss which isn't a problem because it cuts through with its mids bump. but the pedal is not a choice for bassists like me in a stock state. The clipping also is a quad of silicons like a Timmy for example instead of a pair like a tube screamer. this translates to a more open sound. The Bluesbreaker uses standard 4148 or 914 diodes. If you are on a budget and have been down the TS808 road and want something a little lighter this is for you.
So the King of tone is a supped up version for a big kid who likes his tone and wants some options to keep em busy...It has a more modern op amp package JRC4580 it is a non FET IC so it won't be as sparkly it has a more rounded tone in the mids, less top end fizz more amp like overall sound. Second it differs because it breaks up much faster hence the higher gain feel right off the bat. Then the diode switches allow you to soft clip it like the blues breaker or hard clip it like a rat for example. What also give the KOT a edge is you can mix and match hard and soft clipping which is very cool. Allows you to make the circuit work for you and your gear. The KOT also lets more bass out of the end of the circuit so it can push pedals and amps better for the best kind of dirty sounds. The prince has all that too. The king is this X2 so you can have 2 setting in one box or stack em. Use one for low gain one for lead so it is a really treat. The diodes used in the KOT and prince are more hand chose as well thats what results in that faster break up feel and more saturated sound. It Depends on when it was made many have MA856 and 1S1588's some have others BA278...as some of these parts are getting harder for builders like to round up SMD is taking over ahhh... Ok for the why get the KOT or prince... if you like to have options to change the tone beyond vol tone gain... If you stack you pedals or push a tube amp, if you want a very great sounding bluesy rock tone.... and on and on I know people can be shocked why would I pay $$$ for a pedal. simply put Mike uses top of the line parts, he hand makes them literally not just bolting on a jack and soldering a power jack like some builders claim handmade means. The biggest reason... if you haven't learned you get what you pay for yet you will. It is a terrific circuit made by a terrific group of people. It holds its value as time goes on it can go up in value as some people like to track down stuff from certain eras. Like version 2 OCD or Silver KLON yada...
If you want to nerd out here are links to the schematics to compare and see whats going on in there... I make FX so I like this stuff but I also am a firm believer in just fire it up and turn the knobs and stop when it sounds good. It can be a mistake to obsess over details and never actually play hahaha!!
bluesbreaker schematic...
www.google.com/search?q=bluesbreaker+schematic&client=safari&rls=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwisqI3BjvnUAhWpy4MKHb_ZDCYQ_AUICigB&biw=1279&bih=662#imgrc=jQ_oQuWQ35FeTM:
king of tone schematic...
3.bp.blogspot.com/-fmqfL3ltHZ4/VjeHm1jj2gI/AAAAAAAAAf4/QKZa99CT-pI/s1600/schem.gif
shoppers also don't confuse the smaller blues breaker pedals for this one it is a totally different animal it has in and out buffers and sounds very blanketed kinda a dud. It's modable if your adventurous but it's always easier to start with the right one.
-Rock on!!! -RYAN @builtbyryan
sorry so long hahaha!! king of tone also has a trimmer inside to adjust the presence of the gain stage too. Just a great pedal.
Whoa...thats probably the most in-depth comment we've ever received...thanks for taking the time to do this Ryan! And thanks for watching!!
Very informative. I have both the BB and the KOT. The BB has specific magic sheen on the high end when used with good gear. It is great for boosting solos, stacks wonderfully with everything and provides a nice “amp on the verge of breakup” sound on a clean amp. It has a very slight metallic sound to the top mids.
The KOT is much more hi-fi in sound quality. It doesn’t have that magic sheen in the highs, but it is much more versatile, it won’t do heavy distortion but you can use it for everything from slight breakup to full Neil Young “my amp will explode any minute” mayhem, very strong overdrive with chord definition, meaning that chords with 6ths, 9ths and 7ths will be heard completely. It works fine with any amp and guitar, stacks well with anything. It is that good.
👏👏👏
The Prince of tone was much louder because you were on Boost mode, no diodes/ clipping, more headroom/ volume.
The OD mode with diodes clipping just like the BB or the red side of the KOT. In upper position will be identical to the KOT
Great quality comparison guys.
Long time user and addict of the KOT v2... you've given us a very fair, and balanced review.
Hey Guys, I've owned both KoT and PoT. The PoT sounds different if you leave the internal switch set to factory (it's a bass boost of something) if you turn it off, it sounds waaaay closer to the KoT (IMHO). Just mentioning incase you haven't tried changing it :)
I didn't even know that there was a switch...thanks Know
Glad to help :)
"Similar but different"
You guys would make great politicians
Haha...how to answer a question without answering it
I bought the Bluesbreaker pedal new when I was 17 and have used it ever since. (Its had a new switch and one pot changed out). I wish I'd bought a couple of spades when no-one wanted them. (That said, I still think they're great value considering the price of a lot of other collectable pedals). They're great for both taking the edge off an amp at low volume or pushing an amp harder at breakup.
The prince of tone is exactly half of the King of Tone. Its no different otherwise. You can get higher gain versions of both pedals. There is a long wait time, 23 months for mine. There are INTERNAL dip switches that set each half of the pedal seperatly. otherwise there is no difference. The POT has the switches outside. You can also get optional KOT higher gain mods, dual seperate outputs, shared dual power in out so you can power another analog pedal, external switches(like POT), custom colors. Glad I waited, dont reccomend paying scalpers.
The Marshall sounds like the most clear one in the demo. The Analog Mans sound muffled by comparison…
pls, make a stacking overdrives with shredmaster, some klon and some bluesbreakers!!!! the best channel!!!!
I found the Prince of Tone really sounded best at 18v. Gives it tons of headroom and boost! I've since switched to a Queen of Bone, which is a King of Tone clone with a 18v charge pump built in and mine has the high gain mod on both sides. Definitely a different tone than the Prince (I actually prefer the Queen's tone) even when the dip switches are bumped around in the Prince.
I wonder if there’s a way the KOT could be modded with 2 power jacks - where you can supply 2x9v supplies to get to 18. Would allow for more options
i have made all three the only difference is the clipping diodes and for the king of tone hi gain just use a 330k resistor instead of the 220k more than likely
I'm seeing the BB at 250 (US) used, The King at???? 450 for V4 & the Prince at 199.00 On my end the difference is so minimal I'll take the Prince all day long.
Good job by the way.
Yeah the prices are a bit crazy with the KoT...
If you buy from Analogman directly, the price is extremely reasonable.
Analogman themselves only charge 239.00 for the King of Tone bone stock without any modifications. All of the prices of the pedal and modifications are on they're website on the King of Tone page.
It's like $239 for a stock KOT. I just bought one last month. Prince is exactly half of the KOT. Both halves are switchable from boost/ OD / Distortion modes, internal switching is stok on KOT, mounted on the outside for the POT.
blues breaker sounds better, more open and natural. I had a KOT, it always sounded nasally and unnatural and I sold it to someone else who believed the hype, as I once did, when I compared it to a lovepedal amp11
That is the most beautiful Jag I've ever seen, could you do like That Pedal Show and tell us the stories of your guitars? Cause I'd really like to hear that Jaguar's story
We just recorded a podcast (with some video stuff too) where we talk about our gear...stay tuned for that coming out in the next few days!!
You can build your own BB, someone built me one on the original design, it is the one pedal I HAVE TO HAVE all the time with me...........
what was the best internal configuration of this pedal ????
The difference between the Prince and the king will be potentiometer tolerances
Vic Audio Mount Pleasant destroys all of these - it is the God of the Breakers.
Gotta check it out
The original has a dark vibe that cannot simulated by the kot or any other pedalin the market.
find an old one guys you will not regret it.
Sorry I couldn't make out what you said the KOT stacked with is insanely good? What pedal is it? Cheers
This is about 3 or so years old...I don't really remember...maybe the Zvex Box of Rock?? I use them together a bit
I have both KOT & POT,
POT lacks transparency that KOT exhibits superbly and is the real deal with KOT pedal.
For a stand-alone OD pedal, POT is good and has that Marshall flavor in its tones but not as TRANSPARENT!!
Hey guys, are you planing on reviewing the Strymon riverside when it comes out?
absolutely...very interested to try it
i OWN 4 bLUES bREAKERS... THAT SAYS SOMETHING ABOUT MY PREFERENCE !!!!!!!. i WWILL NEVER HAVE LESS THAN TWO.
Great video guys!
Thanks Chris!
KoT vs. KoT would be great!
I think kot would win
jhs morning glory vs prince of tone pretty please! Love the show boys!
Thanks Trent... we don't have a Morning Glory... got one we can borrow??
Finally someone compares the King of Tone with inspiration and as you can see it does not sound heavy modified. The heavy modification is basically different diodes and IC. In that note, a TS808 is a heavy modified TS9.
Why did you push the tone on the BB higher than the others?
King of Tone success is based on the rarity of the Bluesbreaker, don't really understand why Marshall doesn't reissue their old circuit what a waste.
Marshall Bluesbreaker - the most underrated pedal of all time (until Mayer used it). Let the myth believers pay fortunes for snake oil.
Hi! Is it possible to know what font you use for the logo? Thanks!
As in the "SuperFunAwesome..." font at the start? Its called "Avenir Next - Bold"
The SuperFunAwesomeHappyTime Pedal Show! Thanks!
Boss HM-2 vs Wren & Cuff Hangman vs Empress Heavy.
Sounds good to me...will try and get a hold of them!
Jim Weider is the client, take load off Mary.
3:50 - 3:58 :D
Thats how pedal demos can be
Haha...yep!!
If you were blindfolded you wouldn't know one from the other
And the Mooer Blue Crab is crazy close to the BB...$50
Gotta check it out...thanks Dennis
Close but a lot more trebly, I keep the treble on 0 (I have both the Mooer and the original Marshall)
I love the Mooer Blues Crab, it's the most adorable pedal on my board!
I like the blue one.🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈
Wicked
You superfunlovinghappy guys......a three way? Kinky. Anyway, nice riffage in beginning of the vid.
That teenage joke made me really uncomfortable.
What...? As in when I said that the Prince of Tone is the teenage version of the King of Tone?
The guy stops playing everytime everything is perfectly adjusted... So i say "Ok, now let's listen to the real differences" and he stops playing... Is he embarassed of playing? hahahahah
theres a chinese one, costs 120€s!!!!