I built the KING OF TONE Pedal Kit from StewMac: Is it any Good?

[@nickmiller425]

Great video! I just built this pedal about a week ago and found an error in their booklet. You probably noticed that you have to have the volume cranked to get unity gain. That's because in the instructions they switched the drive and volume pots. I found this out on a forum and after swapping them it made the pots respond how I would expect. I should also add, I built this pedal once and nothing worked. I went back and forth with their support and they ended up sending me an entirely new kit. Their customer service is next level. Hope that helps!

[@steinhalvorsen_]

Hope he sees this and can fix it. :)

[@ParaBellum2024]

As I watched the demo, I suspected that there must be a simple error somewhere. It'll be interesting to see if there's a follow-up video.

[@sjn456]

Great tip! I followed your advice and made sure pots matched what was on the PCB.

[@christyler1647]

I put in the wrong resistors for the LEDs (fix in progress) and I have a buzzing which I think I have fixed. I spent a lot less for a project I didn't know would work. Having StewMac support would be great to have. :)

[@MoneyCrespin]

So are the volume pots supposed to be the A100k? the book currently has them at B100k.

[@bsjeffrey]

my first pedal build attempt, due to probably numerous builder errors, ended up being a very cool dog training clicker box, and it changes the pitch of my dogs bark.

[@TheGuitarGeek]

I would love to see this in action 😀

[@tylerdurden5122]

That’s still got to be more useful than that fart pedal 😂😂😂

[@nedim_guitar]

@@tylerdurden5122 Or the Miku Stomp. :)

[@sjn456]

This pedal was challenging for me. Mine didn’t work either for me initially but I was able to fix. I had two mistakes 1) I soldered the input jack lead wires backwards. So signal was going to ground. This was easy to fix. Clip, remove solder and redo correctly. 2) The 2nd issues isn’t kind of not my fault but sort of: One of the tone knobs was shorting out the PCB. They give you foam tape for this but a component lead was poking through the foam.. To fix I cut all the component leads under the tuner pot as close as I could to the board and added some additional electrical tape to insulate the board from the metal pot.

[@TheGuitarGeek]

Try it for yourself and get The TWO KINGS Pedal Kit here - stewmac.sjv.io/kj5LRz

[@MostlyTorso]

I’ve had a KOT clone, a POT, and the KOT itself. None of which required the volumes to reach 90% before you could even hear them. Might want to check that out. Great video, easy to follow. Thanks.

[@rullopat]

I'm building this kit right now, in fact on the manual it tells you to position the A pot where on the PCB there's written to put a B pot and viceversa, so it puts an A pot for the volume and a B pot for the drive, that is wrong.

[@miahorg]

18:05 a better iron makes a ton of difference. Cheaper tools have a wider temperature variance and that can make for inconsistent timing and also being too hot. I've also found that spending more money to buy nicer solder also helped me get cleaner results. The more often you solder the better you'll get at it, basically by the time you've burnt your fingers completely off and given yourself lead poisoning you'll be good at it (but unable to feel things with your fingers or do basic math, such is life!).

[@fondoman3884]

.. so true. For me the cheap ones are completely useless; made me waste a lot of time, energy, solder, ruin etc etc .. gave me neck aches, burnt my fingers, made me inhaled dangerous fumes. Get a real proper iron .. constant usable heat ready for you .. dependable and convenient.

[@jonkerr2050]

I just finished building this same kit. I’m super impressed by it. I’ve built a number of guitars. But this was my first pedal. The instructions were stellar. I didn’t do the 100k option and have the left side set as distortion and the right side as overdrive. I’m in love with it.

[@wayneweil]

Andy, thanks for the great video! I just built my own King of Tone and had so much fun doing it....BUT, THERE IS A MISTAKE IN THE DIRECTIONS!!!! The placement of the Volume and Drive pots (A100K and B100K) IS REVERSED!!! That's why you had to turn everything up so far. If you look at the marking on the PCB, you will see that your A's and B's are swapped. I discovered this AFTER I had soldered and had to undo/redo. I found a discussion online (and have notified StewMac about the error). Also, the direction you turn the Trim Pots for more/less treble are reversed. Otherwise, a super fun project!!

[@RockinTones]

That would totally explain why the volume had to be cranked up to get unity volume! The high gain side does sound a little quiet though, might be worth double checking the resistor values with the multimeter 👍 Great video Andy! Love your enthusiasm!

[@TheGuitarGeek]

Oh no!!! This means I’m adding to the misinformation. Thank you so much for letting me know and I will also contact stewmac regarding this and make some kind of fix video. Thanks Wayne

[@TheGuitarGeek]

Hey Glen. Wayne is on to something here I think. Regarding the resistors, they are definitely correct. It must be something else wrong. I’ll do my best to find out what

[@ralphcohn]

I just checked the schematic and you are correct, StewMac has the pots switched. Probably too much effort to pull mine apart and try to switch them, but new builders should make this change.

[@LeMans512]

“Fizzy” is exactly the word is used to describe the the KOT when I got it. I sold it quickly (this was before all of the hoopla about “transparent “ overdrive). When the Duke of Tone was announced I ordered one. It too is “fizzy”. Rolling off the tone dulls the sound too much if you don’t first turn down the internal trim pot. Then the fizziness becomes some nice airy high end. Very usable. That’s my 2 cents. Great video. Enjoy your new pedal.

[@kevinwdavies]

Two quick recommendations (I'm a hobbyist and chemistry professor that builds research instruments so I've built some stuff) - grab a sharpie and label both sides inside the case - it won't be visible anyway and makes it easier to stay oriented when flipping. Secondly, sticky tack! (College dorm posters- that stuff) Stick components directly to a printout of the manual on the parts list, and use a little (stuck to the side of the components and box) to hold pieces in while flipping. My daughter (12yo) just built a Sun Fuzz and it went great!

[@kevinwdavies]

Oh - and in a pinch hot glue is a great way to insulate the back of the pots.

[@anthonybeers]

cheap 2.5x reading glasses work great for soldering things, I used to smd work with 3x glasses from the drug store. It may not work if you use strong eyeglasses.

[@Sea_Jay]

Stewmac kits often has missing parts. My Ghost Drive kit was missing resisters and included incorrect capacitors. That said, their tech support is amazing and they got the correct parts out quickly and at no additional charge.

[@TheGuitarGeek]

That is good and bad news. I really don't know if the dipswitch was missing but the parts i did have were the correct ones. When was this?

[@TedSchoenling]

They are also WAY too expensive.. as they are for ANY electronic parts they sell.. their tools are fine.. but they are a total rip off

[@Sea_Jay]

@@TheGuitarGeek I built mine back in May 2022

[@sparksnguitarsmike]

Unfortunately, I had the same experience. StewMac was great about sending the missing parts out quickly. Ghost Drive kit was missing 2 of each of 2 resistors and 2 capacitors. The Two Kings kit had a missing resistor and wouldn't work when finished. After sending many videos and pics to StewMac they sent me a new kit that worked on first try after build.

[@genekloszewski5484]

I would not bother trying to build anything from them. Any missing parts,.. means it's taking more time than it's worth, their prices are crazy also.

[@jeffjohansen3458]

You weren't kidding! Trying to get the board assembly into the case while trying to thread the LED legs into the PCB was nearly impossible. But I finally pulled it off. Thanks for the video.

[@martialbodiestv5041]

I appreciate the wrap-up you provided regarding what went well and what did not. Not that it mattered, and at the same time, I'm happy that you addressed the labels :) For the pedal itself, It seems like a nice pedal - especially with the high gain side. With that said, since I play death and industrial metal, I don't have a spot for it in my rig. It looks like it has some room to mod to make its way into my "play around" rig. As for my favorite kings . . . mine would be Cyrus the Great of Persia.

[@scottw9732]

Just a week ago I finished my first build with Stewmac's Sun Fuzz kit. Really well thought out and helpful instructions in full color made it a fun and enjoyable time. Worked as advertised on the first try and sound like a face style fuzz should sound like. I highly recommend their kits for anyone's first builds.

[@TheGuitarGeek]

Great to hear!

[@LeighFugeGuitar]

Andy my love, Next time you're in sunny Wales come over and try mine out! I got mine with the high gain mod on the red side too. To my ears the yellow side of that kit sounds too clean, there should be a bit more breakup when the gain is pushed all the way (Think Bluesbreaker/Tubescreamer territory gain). Over this video, the high gain mod on the red side sounds like it's some similar gain levels to the stock yellow side. Maybe Analogman use a slightly different resistor value to high that extra gain. I wouldn't be surprised if they experimented with values all the time.

[@johanedberg1033]

There is an error in the assembly instruction. The potentiometers for Volume and Drive are mixed up in the picture on page 26. The Volume potentiometers should be 100k type A (log) and the Drive potentiometers should be 100k type B (linear). They are labeled the right way on the circuit board.

[@-processdrone-]

The way you're holding the soldering iron in the thumb picture made me very uneasy.

[@jeremytee2919]

That moment when you searching for a third hand and Shiooow

[@ThomasGeist]

There is a famous stock photo where a worker holds the soldering iron like that. Maybe he was inspired by it?

[@johnyang799]

wdym I do that all the time.

[@kidlargo1]

@@ThomasGeist I’ve seen it. It was a woman lol.

[@nikhayes3396]

haha, I just went back and looked…. yeah boys and girls that part is incredibly hot

[@rcope76]

Saw the comment about the mix up with the Volume and Drive pots. I think Stew Mac has since corrected this error. However I ran into the same problem with one side being REALLY quiet. I opened the pedal back up to see if it was the pot mix-up issue only to find that while trying to fit the 2 PCBs into the chassis I unknowingly snapped one of the tone pots. Given that the PCBs don’t fit quite as neatly as the stew mac diagram would lead you to believe I have a feeling this is the same problem in he has in the video.

[@hellhorse01]

Great vid Andy. I built a ghost drive after watching your vid and enjoyed it so much, I built another for a friend. it was missing the 3 chip sockets. I got a hold of StewMac and they shipped them the same day. No muss, no fuss. They really do stand behind their products! I have since bought a two kings and am really looking forward to putting it together. Thanks. Oh, and my favorite two kings are Elvis Presley and Christone KINGfish Ingram!

[@TheGuitarGeek]

KINGfish is a GOOD one! Glad to hear you having some success and fun. I am really looking forward to the next build... I think it's going to be a fuzz

[@andrewwest2386]

To avoid the "links too short" problem of wiggling in the switch sub-board after fitting the main board: Install them all at the same time before tightening any of the nuts. This also avoids putting stress on the wires and joints: You don't want to break one, it could be difficult to fault-find. Also: It would be better to have shorter connections to the input & output jacks and to twist these connections (twist the signal and ground wires together in a spiral) if you can. Congratulations on a working build. I hope you enjoyed it.

[@Amish_Trivedi]

Martin Luther and…Steven seems fine! My Screamer kit was missing something and they sent it out right away. It was probably missing is my guess! Apparently happens frequently. I agree the experience is the thing and def wish I had started when I was young and had good eye sight!

[@jeremy.thejeweler]

I’ve started building pedal kits recently. I’m a diamond setter/hand engraver by trade so I happen to have a bench microscope at home and I use that to do all of the soldering. I had done some soldering before, but I was still essentially a complete novice. The microscope practically eliminated the learning curve and saved me a ton of time and helped me to avoid a ton of mistakes like orientation of the components and not using too much/too little solder. It’s also massively beneficial in inspecting the quality of the solder joints, and that ability is worth the price of admission alone in my eyes. I’d highly recommend looking into getting a bench scope if this is something you plan to do more of, especially if you ever have to or want to work with SMD components. There are a lot of great affordable options for stereo microscopes out there, and I’d be happy to help you find one or answer any questions you may have. I tried making a pedal without the scope once and it just makes a world of difference.

[@bodaciousstudiobeats1225]

Fell upon your video about the ghost drive 💪🤘. I'm a tumnus fan. Already but would seriously consider building one. Came here to see the KOT. And your thumbnail😮..😂😂😂bro I'm dead LMAO

[@TheGuitarGeek]

😂 glad you like it mate!

[@joshevans3961]

I'm hazarding a guess, but that "it's working!" Made me think of young Skywalker fixing his podracer and it made me smile

[@dr_streudel]

Hey it looks like you did a pretty good job with that build! The soldering iron definitely makes a difference and it looks like you're definitely developing those soldering skills. That being said, I have the King of Tone and this build doesn't sound right to me, it seems a little quiet/thin. It looks like you're having to set your controls pretty drastically to get a usable sound out of the pedal which is unusual. If your resistors are all the right values and in the right place, I'd try swapping in some different op amps just to make sure nothing funky is up with the ones you've got in there.

[@nikhayes3396]

Stew mac should provide the parts organized in a way you did. Huge help.

[@johnlee4316]

StewMac would absolutely take care of you if you email them that you are missing a part. I was missing a couple of caps for my Ghost Drive and offered to pay for them (since I thought I lost them) and they mailed them to me with no issue and no charge. Their customer service has been excellent for me!

[@christyler1647]

The video is great, quality is great. Thanks. BTW, I am building a Paragon from PCBPedal. I didn't forget the DIP switch but they didn't have any 4 switch units in stock. So I am in a similar situation. LOL

[@christyler1647]

The Paragon calls for Male Header Pins for the connection between the main board and the switchboard sub-pcb board. I just switched mine project to that and it works very well. It should be the same for the 2Kings but be mindful of how the holes line up. They have to be a bit more exact.

[@Mike_S_Swift]

Saw a post and a short video that the volume and tone pots are reversed in the directions to what the board says. I’m going to take the pedal apart and pull one pot to verify. I just finished mine but haven’t put the cover or knobs on yet. A minor delay of game ( or gains) post says the A pot should be on Vol B pot on Gain Also said something about the trimmer pots. He had experience with the KOT and said reversing the pots made it act like the KOT and less noisy at high gain. So you may want to check yours too and if wrong make a new update. I made mine with the left side high gsin resistor and Red LED. RIGHT side clean/ OD yellow LED I had on hand. Haven’t really tested it out for sound. Didn’t really like it with my hi output humbuckers. I plan on running the Ghost drive into the 2Kings. Time will tell if I leave it before or after the 2kings. // amendment to above. I just redid my pots after verifying this video link is right on. Easier to dial in the tone now kzbin.info77EffJLPyVQ?feature=share

[@jstro-hobbytech]

It makes a good entry way into learning about thr basic circuit theory which governs audio circuits. Then you can 3d print the box and build ones from online schematics and troubleshooting them when there's an issue.

[@KarimAyadi]

hey mr. TheGuitarGeek. thx a lot for telling us about your enthusiasm. this and your whole kind of presentation makes me really getting closer and closer to my first pedal build. 🙏🏽 👋

[@TheGuitarGeek]

Thanks Karim. Go for it! I have been a little scared for years but am having so much fun with it

[@josearaujo8616]

Creole and the coconuts... Just a suggestion, you should also show the difference the trim pots do.

[@keithzibrat5721]

I had a blast doing the ghost drive! So much that I got this kit and did it as well. THEN built a 18 watt Marshal head kit. So enjoyable!!! That kit was from Mojo Tone, while I was looking I recall a company in the UK selling a similar kit,,,,

[@nine9whitepony526]

My favorite King is the King of Hearts. Wow, I discovered your channel after buying the Hammertone Fuzz and was looking for a review. I had no idea that you built these DIY pedals but now you got me hooked on watching your builds. Cool video man. Rock the hell on man 🤘🏿🤘🏽🤘🏼🤘🤘🏾🤘🏾 plus this 👻👻👻

[@Jonobueno]

I've built 2 x 5E3 Stewmac Tweed Deluxe amps and Tape op Echo , EC Expander pedal also a Ghost Drive. Haven't built this pedal yet. The amps are sweet as and the pedals are REALLY good. Ive got an old Fender HR Deville , said to be one of the best "Pedal Platform" amps in the world and these pedals are killer. If they're put together right and you have a good guitar, you can tweak these pedals into a realm not possible with stock screamers and digi delays. Not even close. I've had people who know their tone listen to me using this stuff and they're putting orders in. Learn to solder get a magnifying headset with a light and go nuts. You will not regret it. Ive been playing for 45 years and have owned and played everything. Stewmac are in the US and I'm in Australia and i didn't have one single issue with their customer service or turnaround times. Git some.

[@TheGuitarGeek]

This is some wonderful input. Thank you!

[@DGRussMB]

I’m in middle of building my 2kings. My snag is the LEDs didn’t fit in the plastic plug. …and then I broke the wires trying to fit them in. So I’m waiting for my replacement LEDs and new bezels. This one was a bit more quirky than when I did the Ghostdrive. I like the blue paint job! I went the purple route with mine. I also went ahead and modded both sides with the boosted gain. You can always dial it back to match the 1k. Your pedal sounds great! Can’t wait for mine to arrive! It was great to see you complete yours! My hang up happened today, so I have to wait about 4 more days. ( it being a Saturday). How bout we go with The KINGsmen. (I’ll be right back! )

[@douglas714]

Have this, the Ghost Drive and the Sun Fuzz on my bench waiting for the free time to dive in. Enjoyed your video. B.B. King and Sting (King of pain). Cheers!

[@Crawdini]

Nice build. Favorite Kings are The Kings "Switchin to glide"

[@Danielallanz]

Intermediate skill level,I'd say Is when your designing and making your own boards..I do kits when I want something clean for my board but I build on copper clad to prototype

[@michaelogden5093]

Building a pedal... that's dedication to a channel. My opinion, it's not that good but the video is great.

[@joeljezequel]

I broke my first (cheap) fuzz kit, but it made learn how to properly solder. Now I can change all the electronic of my guitar as I want, when I want with a perfect grounding. And my favorite king is Albert... Albert King!

[@bryanh3057]

Those instructions are top notch! Thanks for doing these! BB and Freddie for Kings! ;)

[@TheGuitarGeek]

You bet!

[@sjn456]

Thanks for posting! I’ve built several Stew Mac pedals and this by far was the most difficult. I chose the clean boost for the right and distortion for the left (switch 4 on). When both switches are on I’m getting some phaser like sound. Not as strong as an actual phaser pedal but there’s some wah wah in the sound.

[@jrg770]

Good review. I have built circuits using the service manual schematics of long out of production pedals. 1980's era BOSS\Ibanez\MXR mostly. It does require you to design your own layout and etch your circuit boards which is all part of the enjoyment and satisfaction. I currently have breadboards with a Supreaux Deux, Ibanez FL9 and a BOSS CE-2 waiting to be finished. As long as you have the schematic and parts you can build any circuit you want and save yourself a whole lot of $$ in many cases. The last few years of kits being available is a great way to get people into building their own. Nice results you achieved including the effort to paint the enclosure \m/.

[@michaelnc4450]

Great post... thanks for taking the time to post! 👍

[@JohnPArgueta]

Cool stuff man. I watched the Klon video and think that would be more my speed for a first pedal build. Agree that a good Solder is very important. An organized work station would be #2. 😂 Also, 👑 Crimson & 👑 Nothing. 🤘🏼

[@vasotoe]

Veeeery interesting build! Always learning, not sure about the fav kings ha!

[@mardin56]

My experience is that the caution about not doing this pedal as a first build try is on target, maybe understated. I spent eight or more hours struggling to solder tiny joints, and....the ghost drive didn't work. Nothing. I reached out to StewMac support and the rep pointed out that my board had a bunch of bad solder joints. Great--but the board cannot be taken apart for re-soldering without risking breaking it. So if one wants a $120 addition to their garbage can, go for it.

[@DavesGuitarGear]

Hey, really enjoyed this vid. I am defo going to look into getting a kit for myself. My Favourite kings will be on the label for each side of the pedal, Arthur on one side and Richard the lionheart on the other!

[@adeptgopnik]

Its always a good idea to "rock it before you box it" and test it before you even go through putting it in the case. You got lucky that did work given how much of a pain it was to do. Good stuff though, cheers!

[@markburgess4528]

Great stuff. Guess your new iron was a higher wattage and got the heat into the components quicker. That's the secret to good soldering.

[@randall4411]

Pedal kits are a lot of fun . I will do that again .

[@TedToob]

Fun Vid! I like Freddie, Albert and BB King!

[@shearfury147]

again great video. i just built my own fuzz pedal from scratch. point to point soldering,3d printed enclosure single transistor. on my board now

[@TheGuitarGeek]

Nice work! I really want to get a 3D printer

[@shearfury147]

@@TheGuitarGeek Ror 200 bucks you can own one. I got mine on sale for 100$. its not rocket science and the internet is full of resources on set up etc, If you know someone who has one and is willing to show you the ropes, even better! If you go to my youtube channel i have the circuit iIbuilt vs the russian big muff. For comparison only. I love EH and all of their products. the comparison is simply to show the difference in sound only. The russian big muff is awesome! Thanks for the chat and keep up the good work.

[@mtkidd121]

Watched this today, Oct 30, 2023 and I am wondering if he ever figured out that the problem with the pots. I have ordered mine and the manual has corrected the A100K and B100K pots are incorrectly switched in the previous manual...

[@tedsmart5539]

neat build. Any king named Leopold gets my vote

[@wideyxyz2271]

Great video and a cool build. Kings, BB and the King Bill (Pub) where they used to have live bands on and I used to DJ (rock and Punk) in the late 1980s. Good times.

[@keithh8661]

Wow,how cool is that! Way cool! King of clubs ,and king of ❤️, thanks Andy

[@thesjkexperience]

Thank you for reminding me why I wind pickups and build guitars. Maybe a treble booster would be more my speed lol. 5 parts lol.

[@waitin4winter]

I have the KoT and I can say it is not fizzy by any stretch

[@joshuajkoplin]

I built the Sun Fuzz. It’s pretty wild and untamed like a fuzz face should be.

[@gregh2723]

King Curtis reckons the overspray inside the case is affecting the tone. 😂 loved this vid. I’ve found my next hobby!

[@TheGuitarGeek]

Thanks for watching! I will clean the enclosure with fresh spring water from the mountains of Heimdell

[@rcannonp]

The StewMac Screamer pedal was my first pedal build. I got it because it seemed like a good way to get some practice with such things before I tackled an amp upgrade kit, and I'd have a new pedal when I was finished. I'm thinking of trying out the KOT or Ghost Drive next. I'll go with Arthur as my favorite king.

[@Leychen]

Not bad! I mean Stewmac prices are kinda crazy but your video is good.

[@martinclayton7260]

Have you tried the MXR/Anologman duke of tone? I bought two of them to try to get the king of tone experience. My favourite Kings, BB King, and Freddy King.

[@pedrojintan7407]

I put isolated paper between the back of potentiometers and the board .

[@stephen9944]

The board has nice symmetry, seems likely another company made it for them, like Axion or PedalPCB. I have to say Stephen and King Diamond are my faves. Next level is procure your own parts, use sockets for diodes and transistors and start putting your own flavour into these kits.

[@autocratdaddyjones]

Really inspriing - would love to have a go at one of these one day. I assume that StewMac ship to the UK? Apropos of nothing, my favourite king would have to be Alfred the Great.

[@mattstacy1652]

I’m looking for nothing more than a clean boost. I play acoustic guitar in a bluegrass band. I need a simple 10 decibel volume boost for solos and that’s it. Eq would be nice but not necessary with my other set up. Any ideas?

[@anthonyrosa5006]

I ALWAYS HAD CHEAP SOLDERING IRONS AND THEY ALL SUCKED. I bought a 90 watt adjustable heat iron and it works fabulous. Its a beast that gets up to temperature in 30 seconds. You may not need 90 Watts, a 65 Watt unit or 75 Watt may fill your needs perfectly. I cannot tell you how much of a difference it makes. The quality and success of your project hinges 100% on this tool above all others. A quality tool will last you for many years or possibly a lifetime of use where a cheap tool may not last through your first project. Be sure to choose your weapons wisely. PS.I have a real KOT and in the back under the cover there are dip switches for both sides. Either side can be configured as a Boost, Overdrive or Distortion and that is the purpose for them. You could set one as distortion flowing onto boost or the other way around. I had some options installed too. I have a dual power jack to feed a tuner from the same power supply, I have the unit set up with dual input and output jacks so it's trully like two Prince of tone pedals, you can go from the boost out of the pedal to lets say switcher pedal to create a new loop then from a switcher back to the second part of the KOT to give you distortion. I have not used it yet. I also opted for the boosted drive on the second half of the pedal. I'm not sure if that was an improvement or not or merely additional drive on tap without changing its character. I'll test it when I have the time. Regardless this looks like a fun proiject to build. The real KOT took 23 months to arrive. I dont know that any pedal has magic pixie dust sprinkled in it. At some point they all start to sound alike unless there is one sound in your head that you believe you need. Ever notice how the really good you tube trviewers like Pete Thorn or Brett Kingman can make anything sound good? Perhaps its them making it sound good not the pedal making it sound good.

[@angusmclennan952]

Great video. My favourite kings are Smo and Drin.

[@WetSoilStudioLymm]

Good video! Albert and Freddie are my kings 😊

[@mikestroud9969]

Always best to be organized when messing with electronics. Good video Thanks buddy 😎👍👌💯🎸. Take your time!! 👍👌💯

[@TheGuitarGeek]

Cheers Mike!

[@myeyesarewaiting]

you should check out the Ana Sounds kits. Instructions are even better from what I've seen.

[@Furtheronmusic]

I actually now run my King of tones (clone) with low gain both sides with two gain/level settings because I run a Klon (clone) before the pedal and use that as my "clean boost" and can stack it with either KOT circuit. Just my choice after some trial and error

[@ikestoddard2458]

I just wanted to check in that my two fave kings are B.B. and Albert. Nice video! I think your volume pots may have been connected wrong. Would be interested to find out the correct cause. Will get back to you if corrections.

[@anthonynonya]

Melvins front man King Buzzo would be my favorite king.

[@TheGuitarGeek]

Oh he is a good King!

[@TheElrondo]

I don't want to talk your built bad, but the "low" side sounds strange to me, using headphones. I'v built 15+ King Of Tone clones over the years and none sounded like your's, i think that "fizzle" ain't typical for KOTs on low gain and the very left "Level" pot should have some more range, headroom so to speak. I never have to dial it fully up to get a decent level. But i totally liked the video, very entertaining and informative.

[@s9plus20]

Great video! Sounds fantastic! A good soldering iron really helps a lot! An underpowered 25 watt iron is terrible. A good iron will let you use a higher temp (between 350 to 400degress Celsius) With a high temp you easily heat up both the solder and the component fast which is A. less stressfull on said components and B. makes sure both the component and the thru hole are bonded properly. I'm sure even King Arthur would approve of this video :^)

[@TheDilligan]

I have the 68 pedals king of clone and they put the High-gain modification on a switch so that you can change it. I honestly don't see why you'd want to go with low gain.. Maybe if you have a really loud guitar? Active pickups? The pedal, even on the high gain mode, doesn't have that much gain. You can always roll the gain down if it's too much. Most of the time, even on high gain mode, I have that knob at least 3 quarters of the way up.

[@bouzoukiman5000]

If you're ever missing a part SM will quickly send more or you could just pick it up from your local electronics store for like $1 or less

[@alwaysrockn2009]

That was a cool build. Great job! The choice of paint looks great. I’d like to give it a go myself. Kings: Elvis and BB.

[@omikl]

I have a KOT clone and indeed I had the high gain put on the right side. I leave it set for right as Distortion & left as Overdrive

[@billwittman0504]

I did mine 2 months ago and love it!

[@sincityguitarhack3598]

My favorite King is BB. I design and build tube amplifiers. My latest is a push-pull 1-watt output using both triodes of a 12AU7, with a Modded JCM-800 preamp. Your videos are well done and fun to watch. We all lose parts, but when you've been doing this as long as I have, you'll have a substantial stash with good chances there will be another close by. I have so many pedals that the only way I would buy a Stew Mac kit is if they came up with an original that wasn't a copy of something that's already available. Now that would be an adventure. Cheers, Paul from Las Vegas.

[@insearchoftone9602]

I dont know much about kings.... sorry 😝 That looks like a fun project, yeah maybe a little advanced for beginners but then again maybe not. Probably easier than idea furniture 🤷‍♂️. When you postulated whether the new soldering iron made a difference in the experience I would say 100%. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to get good solder joints with an iron that doesn't heat properly.

[@astrologyambience240]

Nice work to the L.A. Kings

[@TheMerc1950]

Definitely trying this next paycheck.

[@MaxCarton]

Hye Andy! Seems like a cool build and sounds great! Only thing I wonder is if the levels are the same on the real king of tone. It sounded/looked like you had to really crank the levels to get to unity gain with the clean tone. I could be wrong here. Just something I noticed. Gonna check out your ghostbuild now, I really think these builds/mods are your best content! Cheers

[@kidlargo1]

My 2 Kings has way more vol than that. he had to max it out. I haven't had to come close. I also went with the high gain on both sides unlike what he's done. The entire build sound weak and fizzy. Mine rips. My test amp is '69 Super Reverb, so it was just the pedal, amp, and a touch of reverb.

[@akwamarsunzal]

Fantastic video Andy! Bit underwhealmed by the pedal to be honest. I have the ToneCity Golden Plexi two channel pedal and that absolutely rocks! Plug and play! Cheaper than this kit. I understand the joy of building your own kit, I have built a couple of guitars, but the kits need to be cheaper than this! Favourite King? Carole King 🙂

[@jimmysmother8452]

The reason your volume doesn’t start until almost mixed out is because the instructions are wrong on where to place the pots. The A100k should be volume and B100K drive.

[@ChernobylAudio666]

Nice job, man!

[@joshuaevans1922]

Good King Wenceslas is a favorite, as well as Alfonso El Sabio de Castilla. Looks like a fun build, though from what I can hear it's nowhere near the KoT. My good friend has one, and I've got a PoT (1/2 the KoT). This pedal sounds like a poor copy, which I suppose it is. Anywho, lovely video. Love following you on these pedal building adventures.

[@TheGuitarGeek]

Good call!

[@joshuaevans1922]

@@TheGuitarGeek Listening again...does it seem like the left side, the low gain side, has incredibly low gain and volume?

[@HughesandKettneramps]

well done mate!

[@GlasVelo]

Another interesting and potentially frustrating build. Keep up the great work! Kings....BB and maker :)

[@june8299]

The three kings that brought that stuff to that baby in that place

[@LarsonGuitarPlayer]

Hi. The volume seems to be too low. Maybe you should go through all the solder joints again. I'm afraid there might be a few more of them that's bad. There are some videos demonstrating the pedal. They don't seem to have that volume problem. Fun video! Made me decide I'm not going to do that build. 😉

[@TheGuitarGeek]

Thanks for the tips! Will take a look at it again

[@robschweitzer3659]

Favorite Kings? Freddie, Albert and B.B.

[@pzuliomaccavellion9711]

Another great vid! Love your pedal builds! Very honest! Cheers..King Richard the Turd!

[@tomgerman1484]

I think stewmac would’ve helped you out with the missing part, no questions asked. If you think something about the sound seems “off” (whether you like it or not), I bet the stewmac folks could listen and help you understand if there might be an issue that could be corrected. Then again, a lot of what we love about rock and roll arose from happy accidents. Tut and Little (in the little green bottles).