setting, you get into high-gain territory. In the King circuit with both hi-gain and Distortion on, you still have a nice, hairy sound with plenty of notes coming through. You can also hear the third in the cord, which is a plus.
IN USE: Blues Mode Now to the Blues circuit. The original Bluesbreaker pedal was known for its smooth, rich tone and a signature“ Marshall amp in a box” vibe. The original was a simple three-knob pedal: gain, tone, and volume. The Throne of Tone version honors the original pedal sound. It’ s brighter than King mode, even with the Gain knob at zero. Turn up the Gain knob, and the Blues circuit becomes more aggressive. To me, it still has the unmistakable British vibe and some of that classic scooped Marshall amp character. It’ s perfect for crunchy rhythm parts and cleans up nicely by turning down the guitar volume. I love the sound with the gain and distortion cranked. It’ s very Marshall-like. In clean mode, you have plenty of headroom, so you could choose this or King for that. In overdrive mode, there are more tonal options, but I love the gain.
MY TAKEAWAY: Throne of Tone is a beast of a pedal. I did a lot of research on the original pedals this one is based on— a super interesting deep dive. Both circuits are revered by pedal collectors everywhere. Warm Audio did an amazing job adding the King’ s switches on top, which would normally be inside the pedal. I checked the waiting list online for the original KOT. They are just now shipping orders from 2019— amazing. Here, you can get your hands on one, actually two, right now. The added Bluesbreaker is a plus. I love the many tone options, including the switch to change the circuit order, which was very helpful and made a noticeable difference. It reminded me how important pedal order is. The only challenge is deciding whether to use one side as a boost-only circuit or another circuit. Throne of Tone offers a ton of possibilities, and I imagine it becoming a staple on many pedalboards. Throne of Tone sells for $ 229. For more information, go to:
$ 229 WarmAudio. com
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76 March 2026 Subscribe for Free...