MXR Duke Of Tone Vs Analog Man King Of Tone overdrive pedal

MXR
(Image credit: MXR)

While $150 is still a fair amount of investment by mini effects pedal standards, the MXR Custom Shop Duke Of Tone comes from the impressive lineage of Analog Man Mike Piera's King Of Tone and the Prince Of Tone overdrive pedals. The young Duke is cheaper than both, and in the case of the former, doesn't come with a five-year waiting list (or silly used market prices). So how does it compare?

UK retailer Peach Guitars has attempted to find out with this comparison video below featuring tonehounds John Priest and Jack Griffiths going deep on the sounds. The obvious starting difference is the KOT is a dual footswitch pedal with its two separate channels, but the Duke offers the same three-mode overdrive, boost and distortion of the original pedal.

While it's true, The Prince Of Tone is the true comparison to the Duke, this 30-minute video if a treat for overdrive pedal lovers to hear what both pedals can offer. 

Spoiler: it's a close call – the Duke Of Tone sounds great! So buy two Dukes and skip the queue? 

Find out more at Peach Guitars.

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Rob Laing
Guitars Editor, MusicRadar

I'm the Guitars Editor for MusicRadar, handling news, reviews, features, tuition, advice for the strings side of the site and everything in between. Before MusicRadar I worked on guitar magazines for 15 years, including Editor of Total Guitar in the UK. When I'm not rejigging pedalboards I'm usually thinking about rejigging pedalboards.