King of Tone, is it that good?

hotpickups

Wazmeister said:

riscado said:

In my opinion it isn't a "transparent" pedal at all, it is a pedal that does it's own thing, which I really like. If it was "transparent" I probably wouldn't like it and wouldn't have bought it. It does add it's own sound to the amp, which is a bit of a sweet gnarling compressed and distorted sound, and is dynamic and adds to the existing sound of the amp rather then masking it.

I must say I have found my to be completely transparent... 

@john_p ; man, that white one is lush !!

How do you ever find it on your board then @Wazmeister ? Sorry I could t help myself lol

ICBM

TimmyO said:

ICBM said:

Isn't it just a really expensive way of buying two Marshall Bluesbreakers?

Actually how different are the MkII BB pedals than the originals? 

Very. The circuits are nothing alike really.

I can't remember ever having compared the two directly in use - but I don't remember much at all about the original other than it being one of the most boring dirt pedals I've ever tried. Entirely unmemorable in every way.

So it's probably not surprising I thought the same about the KOT as well…

The BB-2 is fairly bland as well but seems to have a bit more going for it as far as I can tell.

Wazmeister

hotpickups said:

How do you ever find it on your board then @Wazmeister ? Sorry I could t help myself lol

A bit of gold dust

http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q493/Warren3333/IMG_0206.jpg

Dominic

Yup,great pedal all round 

hubobulous

If it's a transparent drive, how does it differ from a Timmy - supposedly the ultimate transparent drive?

Heartfeltdawn

hubobulous said:

If it's a transparent drive, how does it differ from a Timmy - supposedly the ultimate transparent drive?

Which it isn't compared to the Tim but far fewer people have used a Tim...

The KoT which is still my biggest meh moment when it comes to any pedal. For me it's a bland cleaner clearer Bluesbreaker with none of the nice things I like about the Bluesbreaker (a bit like all the Ruetz modded Rat clones and how they sound dull compared to a Rat 2). I do realise though that I'm not the target audience in terms of sound though. KoTs and Klons can piss off

slacker

Heartfeltdawn said:

 KoTs and Klons can piss off

That's a valid comment and proves that it's all subjective. 

Heartfeltdawn

slacker said:

Heartfeltdawn said:

 KoTs and Klons can piss off

That's a valid comment and proves that it's all subjective. 

Of course it is. What pedals you like is as subjective as why you like band A and someone else doesn't. 

Klons and KoTs are boring to me. I'd rather have a good American Rat and an HM-2. 

John_P

Wazmeister said:

hotpickups said:

How do you ever find it on your board then @Wazmeister ? Sorry I could t help myself lol

A bit of gold dust

http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/q493/Warren3333/IMG_0206.jpg

I still like that one - I asked Mike and he says they might do some gold ones in a few months but if I want one quickly it has to be the current colour options.

57Deluxe

...only if you have a Mod probably...!

Aidanspaghetti

DannyP said:

I HAZ ONE

Fancy bugger - modded knobs.
They charge ya for that?!

Gassage

Heartfeltdawn said:

hubobulous said:

If it's a transparent drive, how does it differ from a Timmy - supposedly the ultimate transparent drive?

Which it isn't compared to the Tim but far fewer people have used a Tim...

The KoT which is still my biggest meh moment when it comes to any pedal. For me it's a bland cleaner clearer Bluesbreaker with none of the nice things I like about the Bluesbreaker (a bit like all the Ruetz modded Rat clones and how they sound dull compared to a Rat 2). I do realise though that I'm not the target audience in terms of sound though. KoTs and Klons can piss off

So agree re the Tim. Apparently down to bigger pots, so I am told.

However, if you put a KoT next to a Thorpy PK the latter will spank it every time. (IMO of course).

johnhe

Regarding the "it's just two Bluesbreakers", two original Bluesbreakers would cost you a pretty penny. I'm sorry to come out with a bold, sweeping statement, but the BB2 really is incredibly underwhelming IMO. It doesn't sound at all like the original to my ears.

ICBM

johnhe said:

Regarding the "it's just two Bluesbreakers", two original Bluesbreakers would cost you a pretty penny.

I never thought to check, but you're right - there are people paying well over a hundred quid for beaten-up ones! Dear god. I thought they were still as I remembered and worth about £30-£40 on a good day…

Still, you shouldn't need to pay anything like that for a decent copy, it's a very simple circuit.

TimmyO

... and significantly changed in the KOT, so they say 

ICBM

TimmyO said:

... and significantly changed in the KOT, so they say 

I would dispute that. The layout and almost all the component values are identical - the KOT does have an extra clipping network which can be switched in and a presence trimmer inside, but that's about it.

Assuming these are correct…

Bluesbreaker

http://www.gmarts.org/pix/schem/a_mbb.gif

KOT

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fmqfL3ltHZ4/VjeHm1jj2gI/AAAAAAAAAf4/QKZa99CT-pI/s1600/schem.gif

Basically a dead-on copy apart from the input resistor value (which will make no practical difference), the second (D5/6) clipping network, the 'presence' trimmer and the extra output cap. The KOT also has a resistor to limit the lower end of the gain range which the Marshall doesn't. The chip is different too but that won't make that much difference at the relatively low gain these are capable of - most of the overdrive character will come from the clipping diodes.

TimmyO

Cool, that's interesting. Was just repeating what they say on the site. 

Is the BB2 different again do you know? 

ICBM

TimmyO said:

Cool, that's interesting. Was just repeating what they say on the site.

It's remarkable how many "heavily modified" circuits turn out to be basically the same as the original . Often changing just one component value or something simple like the clipping diodes makes an apparently drastic tone difference, so it's easy to believe a huge amount of work has been done when really it hasn't.

TimmyO said:

Is the BB2 different again do you know? 

Yes, really quite different. It's hard to find a schematic online, but this appears to be correct -

http://mrotqch.webcrow.jp/stomp/zoo/Marshall_BB-2.png

Much more complicated, with three discrete transistor stages as well as the dual IC.

hotpickups

So are we saying that the KOT is a bit of a con then price wise?

RaymondLin

I just use a JHS Morning Glory