Free The Tone

Beyond its standard catalog, Free The Tone builds a Custom series of effectors. The company describes these pedals as made with the same sound and quality as the developer's original hand-made models, a standard that runs through the whole series⁴⁵.

Yukihiro Hayashi and the company

Free The Tone was founded in 2011 by Yuki Hayashi, who develops its pedals. The company describes its Custom series pedals as built to the same sound and quality as the developer's original hand-made models. That hand-made standard is the through-line of the Custom series, which includes pedals such as the SOV-2, itself now discontinued¹⁰¹¹.

The catalog spans most effect types a player would put on a board:

• Drive pedals, from overdrives to the QUAD ARROW QA-2 distortion¹²
• Digital delay, including the FLIGHT TIME FT-1Y³
• Looping, with the MOTION LOOP ML-1L¹³
• Equalization, including the programmable analog 10-band PA-1QG, which Pedal of the Day covered in 2018¹⁴
• Noise gate, compressor, booster, chorus and volume pedals
• Power supplies, cables and switching systems such as the ARC-3¹⁵

The Integrated Series for the 15th anniversary

The Integrated Series began as a Free The Tone 15th anniversary project. The company describes the concept as selecting and integrating every element that makes up an effects pedal, drawing on the knowledge, experience and technical skill built up over the company's history, in order to shape the ideal sound¹⁶. The first release in the series is a drive pedal.

The first release in the series is a drive pedal, the STRING SLINGER SS-1V¹⁶. The second is the BLACK VEHICLE BV-1V, a bass drive pedal, developed under the same anniversary project and the same integrating concept⁹. For bass players comparing options, the BV-1V sits alongside the company's other bass pedals.

Discontinued models

A number of Free The Tone products have ended production. The company marks these on its product pages, and some carry their final Japanese list prices¹⁷¹⁸¹⁵.

One discontinued model has come back in limited form. The SILKY COMP SC-1, a compressor pedal, was revived as the SC-1-CS: RockBoard's PedalPedia entry describes a limited production released through the Free The Tone Custom Shop, answering players who asked for it, with a sound the maker matched to modern music¹⁹. The QUAD ARROW QA-2 distortion remains in the catalog as a current product¹².

Where the name and the pedals come from

Free The Tone's own pages present the company as a Japanese builder whose identity is tied to its developer rather than to a marketing story: the Custom series is built to the same sound and quality as the developer's original hand-made models. The KS-EP-1 accessory lists at 4,950 yen including tax²⁰.

The range (70)

News

Questions