$229/£219, warmaudio.com
Texas based Warm Audio have earned a reputation for quality sonic hardware – based on classic vintage designs – with a look that often scrapes painfully close to the originals. Cheeky, but we will allow it. In the case of the new Throne of Tone this means a double wide anger box bristling with no less than eight knobs, seven toggle switches, and a heavy 1990s blue on black Marshall aesthetic. Oh Lord.
Image: PressWarm Audio Throne Of Tone – what is it?
As the name and visuals might suggest, the Throne of Tone is an amalgam of the Marshall Bluesbreaker pedal and the Analog Man King Of Tone (itself a modified Bluesbreaker at heart) – not only that but you can double up on either option or run one circuit into the other. I’ll explain.
Each half of the Throne of Tone is identical and offers volume, gain, tone and presence controls with your choice of either the Bluesbreaker or KOT voicing. This can be further tweaked with a choice of Boost, OD and Distortion textures and a High or Low gain stage. A top-mounted toggle switch allows you to swap the pedal order in your chain and there’s an internal effects loop too. Fun!
Image: PressWarm Audio Throne of Tone – usability and sounds
Here’s the thing. For Warm Audio to be doing anything other than trolling classic IPs, this USA designed, Chinese made pedal had better be pretty bloody good. Time to plug in a Les Paul!
The lower gain grumble of a Marshall JTM45 combo in the hands of Eric Clapton inspired the original Bluesbreaker pedal in the 1990s, and Marshall recently rereleased the Bluesbreaker pedal. We can thank a certain John Mayer for that. Having owned an original I can confirm that this is all but identical in voice but the additional tweaks offered here are very welcome.
The KOT side of things is also extremely convincing – a little creamier and more detailed than the original Marshall unit as you’d hope.
The most interesting addition here is the presence knob, which is not available on either of the original units. And it makes a big difference – adding a slice of 500Hz-2.3kHz top end sizzle.
The gain stage elements are also very immediate and intuitive in use. In particular the high gain option takes us off into Soldano territory with corresponding pick squeal and feedback hilarity. Joyful.
Image: PressWarm Audio Throne of Tone – should I buy one?
At its heart this pedal can be as simple or complex as you need it to be. If you want fuss-free low and high gain options from the same box then it has you covered. If your sonic desires lean more towards achingly precise timbral sculpture you will find that here too.
The fact that you can tweak both sides of the pedal and/or run them together makes this a very versatile and heavy hitting option. No doubt some players will still lust after an original Bluesbreaker pedal or sit on the KOT waiting list for years, and that’s fine too. But now, there’s this. And it’s very good indeed.
Warm Audio Throne of Tone – alternatives
Whether you’re talking about the Bluesbreaker or the King Of Tone, there are various options out there that don’t require a Reverb deep dive or a years-long waiting list. Marshall reissued the Bluesbreaker ($199), complete with original enclosure, a few years back and it was very good indeed. For the KOT, you’ve got options at both ends of the price spectrum – the MXR Duke Of Tone ($159) offers one half of the original and sounds impressively close. If you want another ‘enhanced’ take on the format – albeit one that’s made in partnership with the Analog Man himself – the Chase Bliss Brothers AM adds presets, an extra boost circuit and various other under-the-hood shaping options.
Michael is a guitarist, writer, educator, host and film-maker based in East Sussex, UK. In addition to being Guitar.com’s resident expert in high-end acoustic guitars, Michael regularly showcases priceless vintage instruments and the work of the world’s finest guitar makers at festivals around the world, and on his YouTube Channel. He’s also the host of the Fretboard Journal podcast, Life On The Fretboard.