I don’t remember if I reported latest changes to pedalboard. I had compressor on board but couldn’t find good use for it. It just made board noisier without actually giving much. Decided to try replacing it with low gain overdrive. I had One Control Persian Green Screamer. It is based on Tube Screamer which was problem. Without mid push it would have been useful but with mid push it was not. It was too much in modern mode too. I got a year ago because Wampler’s Belle wasn’t available then.
I was going to get Belle but I would had to wait for a week and MXR’s Duke of Tone was available same day. Duke of Tone wasn’t on my wish list. I knew it but it wasn’t something I wanted like Belle. I know King of Tone is one of the most wanted guitar pedals and Duke is smaller and more available version of it. Went to check videos on Youtube. Decided to give Duke a change.
I didn’t like it too much at first. It didn’t change sound that much. Saturation sounded noisy to my ear. Don’t mean hum. There was noisy high end in sound. When I turned internal trim pot almost completely off pedal started to work better. Tried it with different guitars. Worked with them too. Screamer worked better with single coils. Duke works with everything. I can understand reputation of King of Tone. It should be even slightly better. Not going to put my name on waiting list. It is about five years long now and pedal will probably be discontinued before waitlist get to anyone who has entered lately.
I didn’t know how much one pedal could make to your setup. Duke just makes me want to play low gain stuff with different guitars. Goal was to have pedal which is good for edge of breakdown sound. I didn’t realize how good it could be. At first I didn’t like it that much but after using internal trim pot and trying different settings I have learned to use it properly. It is also coming expensive. Just ordered set of noiseless pickups for Stratocaster. Planned that earlier but Duke made me get them.