Just got mine after being on the waiting list since september 2017 . I read a lot how expensive it is but how many "boutique" drive pedals go under 200 + $ . It sounds absolutely fantastic i must say . This video helps a lot cause i got high gain on both sides.
Hi there, Joe. Fantastic demo. I've had my KoT for nearly six months and I'm still astounded by how versatile it is and how amazing it sounds. Yours is one of the most concise and comprehensive reviews I've seen. Very well done!
not much unnecessary talking, just a quick and on point overview of the features, thanks a lot for this video. Waiting to get to the top of the KOT waiting list...... :D
Awesome tip about the treble trim pots at 2:28. Had been wondering what those were. I haven't seen any info about those in the AnalogMan documentation. Great review! Sub'd.
I have had one siting on my board because I use a 1960's tube screamer..... I really "dont" need the tube screamer but going through a 62 twin it sounds so good so what am doing that is totally stupid is using the left as a blues slight boost, then hitting the right for the, then slamming the screamer for the off the hook peak of the lead but its so confusing. Would love to use just this pedal but the screamer does it for me.... maybe im old school.
For the record, both sides are NOT identical. I have one with no high-gain mods (or any mods, for that matter) and the right (red) side is DEFINITELY more compressed and higher gain than the left (yellow). This is even true with the dip switches set the same as well, as AM himself admits in the 50-minute long interview with the "That Pedal Show" guys. I experimented one day and set both yellow and left to boost mode (all switches down) and the red side was still hotter than the yellow. One of the reasons I like this pedal is that I essentially have two different pedals, an overdrive and a distortion. I rarely stack them, rather I just stomp on both sides simultaneously when I go into "lead mode." Good video though. Keep it up.
I have noticed that difference in gain too, and in my KoT there also is a difference in EQ between the two sides. I hear less bass on the yellow side, which makes sense if you are boosting your amp into overdrive with it - you don't want muddiness from too much bass. I've changed out the yellow channel op amp to an OPA2134 for less sputter at higher gain settings, and run it clean boost mode on both sides, with 18V power for extra headroom. This pedal is not the best for very high gain, but for low to mid gain it is wonderful. There's a slight mid hump (much less than a tube screamer) which helps the lead tone come forward in the mix without sounding overly nasal. The amount of volume boost available is surprising. This pedal seems to work best with single coil pickups. It fattens them up without a ton of dirt, and you can have some dirt too, if you want it. Great review, hardly anyone bothers to show the versatility of using both sides at once, or the internal trimmers on both sides for enabling extra treble if needed to EQ a dark-sounding guitar or amp.
The clipping diodes are different on the red and yellow sides (1S1588 and MA856). So if both sides are set to OD (or distortion), one side has a bit more compression than the other (lower forward voltage drop = more compression.) This makes no difference to me, since I don't use diode clipping. I prefer both sides in clean boost mode, placed in the audio chain after other boosts and distortions.
I've had this pedal for a while. I don't like the overdrive side at all, but the clean boost side does wonders. It brings clarity to each string and note.
I've set both sides of mine to the clean boost mode & then stack them together when more drive is needed...prefer the dynamics of that; OD setting was a bit too compressed for me.
Joe Perkins I’ll try that. I’m also going to try to place a boost pedal before the KOT. So far my xotic super sweet is doing wonders when placed before overdrive pedals.
I bought my KOT in 2014 and waited "only" 9 months for it. I love and this video has given me even greater insight into the pedal. Thanks! As an aside, it is bizarre how much people are willing to pay on Reverb to get one.
Thats how I got mine made, only the Red side High gain, dual ons and outs (in case I want to insert something betwee) and dual power jacks to share power with another pedal. Then I failed to realize I had checked off for a Green KOT. 23 month wait, just got it a month ago.
Definitely worth the wait, I'd say! I run mine as two clean boosts - prefer the dynamics that achieves. Keep the yellow side as a boost, and then punch the red side into it...works a treat! :-) Enjoy the KOT...it's amazing!
Hi Joe I got a kot 6 months ago I got 4 jacks mod, a buffer and high gain on one side with switch I opened the pedal just to see was there any dip switch inside to change anything on the yellow side but no dips switch any help would be much appreciated thanks
Ooh, I'm not sure on that one to be honest...I thought the KOT always had the dip-switches regardless of configuration. Maybe they're in a different place/more hidden to accommodate the 4 jack setup? Best shoot Analog Mike an email on that one...sorry I can't be of more help!
I'm going to get high gain both sides so I have the option to run the red side into a higher gain yellow side for an extra gain option. Analogman says themselves that you can achieve the same tone as the original KOT by just rolling the gain back, so why not just get high gain on both sides and turn the gain down?
I have a KoT with both sides higher gain (it's only a small bump in gain), DIP switches for both sides in "clean" mode (no diode clipping), and using 18V power supply voltage for extra headroom and volume boost capability. It's a glorious sounding pedal! I also found that I preferred the distortion tone of a Burr-Brown OPA2134 on the yellow side, less "spitty" sounding than the stock JRC4580. It's a piece of cake to swap out the op amps, they are socketed and don't cost much money. If I want to make the red side distort more, I can crank up the volume on one of the pedals before it in the signal chain. But that's pretty unusual since the KoT distortion sounds best when it's not very heavy.
John Shalamskas nice. My favorite sound right now is stacking my JHS bonsai with the yellow side of the KOT. For whatever reason it has a great thickness to it as well as clarity.
@@ChrisPBacon-fu4dw Also try stacking a klon, fuzz, or amp in a box pedal in front of the KoT. If you get the gain distribution balanced, the tone is quite satisfying.
Both sides are identical - so they’re both the same modified BB circuit. The only difference is how you set the internal dip switches and/or whether you get the high gain mod on one of the sides 👍
Depends how you're going to run it. A buffer won't make much (if any) difference to how this pedal sounds; but it will make a difference to the pedals after it, if you need to drive a long cable run when it's bypassed, etc. And if you want to have a fuzz/treble booster after the KOT, you definitely _don't_ want a buffered bypass. So think of it in terms of how it'll affect the rest of your rig; rather than how a buffer might make the KOT sound on its own.
Awesome breakdown of the pedals functions! Does having the high gain mods change the tonal characteristics of that particular side of the pedal, compared to if it wasn't added?
Yeah, very sure! Bought it directly from Analogman, it says 'Hi Gain Red Side' inside the base plate & as you'll hear at around 1:25 the red side is more compressed than the yellow :-)
Ah yeah I hear it quite clearly now (Headphones)! Cheers for confirming, too many videos on YT where people don't say... or simply don't know which one they have! Was convinced they wrote on the 'H' on the chips though.. I've seen the guts of double sided high gain KOTs and both red chips have the 'H' hand written on. Greta video anyway, really thinking about getting one of these from AM.. I currently run a Route 66v2 into a modded TS808 for a boost which is a good setup and quite expensive pedals... But man the videos and reviews for the KOT is seriously about hurt my wallet I think! Cheers
Aha good stuff mate :-) Not sure about the 'H' - I've not heard of that being done before....maybe they used to do it but not anymore? Or maybe certain builders at AM do it but not others? Who knows!! If you're happy with the sound of your amp cranked up then you'll likely love the KOT - it's one of the more transparent ODs out there, so it gives you 'more' of what you've already got rather than giving you something you don't...if that makes any sense. It's not for everybody...but I'd wager running your 808 into the KOT and using it to push your amp harder will sound epic :-)
Hmmm... I think I'll likely love it too! Better get on the list. There's one on eBay for £400 but I would prefer to support Mike directly and just wait. Cheers, have a sub!
Aha yeah - think it's about 18 months long at the moment. Yep, they're generally around double the price on eBay, but it's much better to wait for a bit & support Mike...he's a great guy! :-) It only takes a quick email to join the list & there's no obligation to buy once you're at the top, so nothing to lose by dropping Analogman a line ;-)
@@JoePerkinsMusic sorry I didnt catch it!! My fault, the kot seems to work well with a driven clean tone, do you set the gain on your clean channel high?
@@grahamkelly8299 I've started showing the amps more recently but they're always in the description - for this one, a Hughes & Kettner Puretone Combo (recorded with an sE Electronics RNR1 Ribbon) and a Cornell Romany Plus (recorded with a 57). All my amps are single channel, non-master volume and I typically run them with headroom to spare, especially for demos.
There's been reports this pedal doesn't work well at low volumes. Analogman says it wasn't designed that way and it's better at loud volumes. Il pass, only a home player. I really like JHS Morning Glory
I think the only way it might not 'satisfy' at low volumes is that it doesn't have a huge amount of low end - makes it great for punching you out of a mix. But that said, I use it at 'bedroom' volumes all the time and think it sounds amazing. But...it won't be for everybody :-)
@@JoePerkinsMusic A bit late to the party with this comment, but it works great at bedroom volume with a Klon style pedal after it that can add in a bit low end. I appreciate recommending a KOT and Klon together is ridiculous gear snobbery, but there are some great Klon clones out there.
It's about the same price as any 2 hand wired american dirt pedals so I dont know what the problem is? $245. Buy a TC Spark and and OCD and you will pay more new. Then again perhaps you just prerfer something with a mid hump. Like you said there are hundreds of dirt boxes. I like this one but keep a half dozen others around for now. I wonder what is sounds like on a bass?
@@9999plato The KoT also has a mid boost but it is not nearly as pronounced as it is on the tube screamer. When doing lead tones the mid hump is usually a good thing, especially with a guitar that has a scooped midrange.
Amazing demo. First one I've seen that actually shows how much gain you can get
Excellent work: informative, helpful condensed. Brilliant watch for those of us who have already seen plenty KoT demo vids.
Best demo of this pedal I’ve ever seen! Answered all the questions I had regarding its functionality. Thanks! Cheers!
Just got mine after being on the waiting list since september 2017 . I read a lot how expensive it is but how many "boutique" drive pedals go under 200 + $ . It sounds absolutely fantastic i must say . This video helps a lot cause i got high gain on both sides.
Brilliant and explicit demo showing the various stacking options: thank you !
Hi there, Joe. Fantastic demo. I've had my KoT for nearly six months and I'm still astounded by how versatile it is and how amazing it sounds. Yours is one of the most concise and comprehensive reviews I've seen. Very well done!
Thanks Aaron...glad it was helpful! :-)
not much unnecessary talking, just a quick and on point overview of the features, thanks a lot for this video. Waiting to get to the top of the KOT waiting list...... :D
No probs mate :-) Hope you haven't got too long to go!!
great video and demo of the dip switches and trim pots...thanks for doing this
Awesome tip about the treble trim pots at 2:28. Had been wondering what those were. I haven't seen any info about those in the AnalogMan documentation. Great review! Sub'd.
Thanks Rommel!
Thanks for taking the time!.
Im still waiting.... ;)
Isn't everybody?? :P
I have had one siting on my board because I use a 1960's tube screamer..... I really "dont" need the tube screamer but going through a 62 twin it sounds so good so what am doing that is totally stupid is using the left as a blues slight boost, then hitting the right for the, then slamming the screamer for the off the hook peak of the lead but its so confusing. Would love to use just this pedal but the screamer does it for me.... maybe im old school.
Very helpful video, thanks!
Sounds great...I have a Prince of Tone, which I love. Still on the waiting list for the KOT :)
Did you receive it? xD
@@pianoworld89 Yes, I've had it for quite some time now...I really love it!
This should be included with every purchase of the KOT. I love mine as well. Great Video.
Thanks mate - I might remake this video soon as (the comments are right!) my guitar went hopelessly out of tune!
For the record, both sides are NOT identical. I have one with no high-gain mods (or any mods, for that matter) and the right (red) side is DEFINITELY more compressed and higher gain than the left (yellow). This is even true with the dip switches set the same as well, as AM himself admits in the 50-minute long interview with the "That Pedal Show" guys. I experimented one day and set both yellow and left to boost mode (all switches down) and the red side was still hotter than the yellow. One of the reasons I like this pedal is that I essentially have two different pedals, an overdrive and a distortion. I rarely stack them, rather I just stomp on both sides simultaneously when I go into "lead mode." Good video though. Keep it up.
I have noticed that difference in gain too, and in my KoT there also is a difference in EQ between the two sides. I hear less bass on the yellow side, which makes sense if you are boosting your amp into overdrive with it - you don't want muddiness from too much bass. I've changed out the yellow channel op amp to an OPA2134 for less sputter at higher gain settings, and run it clean boost mode on both sides, with 18V power for extra headroom. This pedal is not the best for very high gain, but for low to mid gain it is wonderful. There's a slight mid hump (much less than a tube screamer) which helps the lead tone come forward in the mix without sounding overly nasal. The amount of volume boost available is surprising. This pedal seems to work best with single coil pickups. It fattens them up without a ton of dirt, and you can have some dirt too, if you want it. Great review, hardly anyone bothers to show the versatility of using both sides at once, or the internal trimmers on both sides for enabling extra treble if needed to EQ a dark-sounding guitar or amp.
The clipping diodes are different on the red and yellow sides (1S1588 and MA856). So if both sides are set to OD (or distortion), one side has a bit more compression than the other (lower forward voltage drop = more compression.) This makes no difference to me, since I don't use diode clipping. I prefer both sides in clean boost mode, placed in the audio chain after other boosts and distortions.
I've had this pedal for a while. I don't like the overdrive side at all, but the clean boost side does wonders. It brings clarity to each string and note.
I've set both sides of mine to the clean boost mode & then stack them together when more drive is needed...prefer the dynamics of that; OD setting was a bit too compressed for me.
Joe Perkins I’ll try that. I’m also going to try to place a boost pedal before the KOT. So far my xotic super sweet is doing wonders when placed before overdrive pedals.
@@RPSartre01 I do both of those things. Also try running 18V if you have KoT version 4. It will give you more headroom / less compression.
I bought my KOT in 2014 and waited "only" 9 months for it. I love and this video has given me even greater insight into the pedal. Thanks! As an aside, it is bizarre how much people are willing to pay on Reverb to get one.
Yep, completely....though last time I checked, I think the waiting list is now closer to 3 years, so I can understand how some want to avoid the wait!
@@JoePerkinsMusic Yep, time is money.
@@JohnShalamskas now 4 years….
Helped me greatly with my KOT! Great job, Thank you!!
Good stuff mate! Enjoy - it's a killer pedal!!
Thats how I got mine made, only the Red side High gain, dual ons and outs (in case I want to insert something betwee) and dual power jacks to share power with another pedal. Then I failed to realize I had checked off for a Green KOT. 23 month wait, just got it a month ago.
Definitely worth the wait, I'd say! I run mine as two clean boosts - prefer the dynamics that achieves. Keep the yellow side as a boost, and then punch the red side into it...works a treat! :-) Enjoy the KOT...it's amazing!
Thank You 🤙🤙
Hi Joe I got a kot 6 months ago I got 4 jacks mod, a buffer and high gain on one side with switch I opened the pedal just to see was there any dip switch inside to change anything on the yellow side but no dips switch any help would be much appreciated thanks
Ooh, I'm not sure on that one to be honest...I thought the KOT always had the dip-switches regardless of configuration. Maybe they're in a different place/more hidden to accommodate the 4 jack setup? Best shoot Analog Mike an email on that one...sorry I can't be of more help!
He is quite active on Instagram if you have had troubles reaching him out. Mike piera I mean. @analogmike_piera
I'm going to get high gain both sides so I have the option to run the red side into a higher gain yellow side for an extra gain option. Analogman says themselves that you can achieve the same tone as the original KOT by just rolling the gain back, so why not just get high gain on both sides and turn the gain down?
Very true. Mind you, I run both sides of mine in the clean boost setting, so the high gain mod probably wasn't necessary for me! :P
Just had my email woo-hoo
I have a KoT with both sides higher gain (it's only a small bump in gain), DIP switches for both sides in "clean" mode (no diode clipping), and using 18V power supply voltage for extra headroom and volume boost capability. It's a glorious sounding pedal! I also found that I preferred the distortion tone of a Burr-Brown OPA2134 on the yellow side, less "spitty" sounding than the stock JRC4580. It's a piece of cake to swap out the op amps, they are socketed and don't cost much money. If I want to make the red side distort more, I can crank up the volume on one of the pedals before it in the signal chain. But that's pretty unusual since the KoT distortion sounds best when it's not very heavy.
John Shalamskas nice. My favorite sound right now is stacking my JHS bonsai with the yellow side of the KOT. For whatever reason it has a great thickness to it as well as clarity.
@@ChrisPBacon-fu4dw Also try stacking a klon, fuzz, or amp in a box pedal in front of the KoT. If you get the gain distribution balanced, the tone is quite satisfying.
Would anyone know which side of the KOT is based on the Blues Breaker?
Both sides are identical - so they’re both the same modified BB circuit. The only difference is how you set the internal dip switches and/or whether you get the high gain mod on one of the sides 👍
Very useful! Cheers!
Cheers Ces! :-)
Fantastic!
Gracias!
I dig it !
sounds goood
I need expert opinion to order with buffer or no buffer?!!
Depends how you're going to run it. A buffer won't make much (if any) difference to how this pedal sounds; but it will make a difference to the pedals after it, if you need to drive a long cable run when it's bypassed, etc. And if you want to have a fuzz/treble booster after the KOT, you definitely _don't_ want a buffered bypass. So think of it in terms of how it'll affect the rest of your rig; rather than how a buffer might make the KOT sound on its own.
Awesome breakdown of the pedals functions!
Does having the high gain mods change the tonal characteristics of that particular side of the pedal, compared to if it wasn't added?
Nope - sounds exactly the same, just a few % more gain :-)
@@JoePerkinsMusic Awesome, thank you!
Got on list in October 2020. Three and a half year wait currently.........
Ouch :/ Was less than two when I bought mine a few years back, and it felt long then!!
How are the dip switches configured when shipped?
I believe it's OD on the right, Boost on the left
Dip switch 1 is on and 2-3-4 are off. That sets it like Joe said.
Are you sure this is the high gain mod version? They write an 'H' on the red chip bit corresponding side and also on the inside of the base plate
Yeah, very sure! Bought it directly from Analogman, it says 'Hi Gain Red Side' inside the base plate & as you'll hear at around 1:25 the red side is more compressed than the yellow :-)
Ah yeah I hear it quite clearly now (Headphones)! Cheers for confirming, too many videos on YT where people don't say... or simply don't know which one they have!
Was convinced they wrote on the 'H' on the chips though.. I've seen the guts of double sided high gain KOTs and both red chips have the 'H' hand written on.
Greta video anyway, really thinking about getting one of these from AM.. I currently run a Route 66v2 into a modded TS808 for a boost which is a good setup and quite expensive pedals... But man the videos and reviews for the KOT is seriously about hurt my wallet I think!
Cheers
Aha good stuff mate :-) Not sure about the 'H' - I've not heard of that being done before....maybe they used to do it but not anymore? Or maybe certain builders at AM do it but not others? Who knows!!
If you're happy with the sound of your amp cranked up then you'll likely love the KOT - it's one of the more transparent ODs out there, so it gives you 'more' of what you've already got rather than giving you something you don't...if that makes any sense. It's not for everybody...but I'd wager running your 808 into the KOT and using it to push your amp harder will sound epic :-)
Hmmm... I think I'll likely love it too! Better get on the list. There's one on eBay for £400 but I would prefer to support Mike directly and just wait. Cheers, have a sub!
Aha yeah - think it's about 18 months long at the moment. Yep, they're generally around double the price on eBay, but it's much better to wait for a bit & support Mike...he's a great guy! :-) It only takes a quick email to join the list & there's no obligation to buy once you're at the top, so nothing to lose by dropping Analogman a line ;-)
The best overdriver menatone red sneapper 90’s
is the higain mod on both sides?
No - I show the difference at 1:10
Thanks for the good KOT info but please please please tune your guitar!
Do tune your guitar for these. Please.
Hi, what is your clean tone? That fenders pickups sound hot as hell!!
Clean tone appears briefly at 1:07. Sorry - should have shown it more!
@@JoePerkinsMusic sorry I didnt catch it!! My fault, the kot seems to work well with a driven clean tone, do you set the gain on your clean channel high?
Just watched back, I missed it because it doesnt show your pickups or amp?so what amp and pickups are used for the clean tone?
@@grahamkelly8299 I've started showing the amps more recently but they're always in the description - for this one, a Hughes & Kettner Puretone Combo (recorded with an sE Electronics RNR1 Ribbon) and a Cornell Romany Plus (recorded with a 57). All my amps are single channel, non-master volume and I typically run them with headroom to spare, especially for demos.
@@grahamkelly8299 Pickups at this point in time would have been some Lundgren 60s-style. Since been changed though!
There's been reports this pedal doesn't work well at low volumes.
Analogman says it wasn't designed that way and it's better at loud volumes.
Il pass, only a home player.
I really like JHS Morning Glory
I think the only way it might not 'satisfy' at low volumes is that it doesn't have a huge amount of low end - makes it great for punching you out of a mix. But that said, I use it at 'bedroom' volumes all the time and think it sounds amazing. But...it won't be for everybody :-)
@@JoePerkinsMusic A bit late to the party with this comment, but it works great at bedroom volume with a Klon style pedal after it that can add in a bit low end. I appreciate recommending a KOT and Klon together is ridiculous gear snobbery, but there are some great Klon clones out there.
Hype
Joe Simon Wrong.
Robert Wright Whatever....sounds like 100 other dirt pedals.
It's about the same price as any 2 hand wired american dirt pedals so I dont know what the problem is? $245. Buy a TC Spark and and OCD and you will pay more new. Then again perhaps you just prerfer something with a mid hump. Like you said there are hundreds of dirt boxes. I like this one but keep a half dozen others around for now. I wonder what is sounds like on a bass?
@@9999plato The KoT also has a mid boost but it is not nearly as pronounced as it is on the tube screamer. When doing lead tones the mid hump is usually a good thing, especially with a guitar that has a scooped midrange.
Tune your fucking guitar!
Man, you should tune your guitar