Free The Tone MS SOV

The Free The Tone MS SOV (model number MS-2V) is an overdrive pedal from Japanese maker Free The Tone. It exists to bring back a discontinued signature pedal: the MS SOV Special (MS-1V), the Matt Schofield signature model that ended production in 2013, was revived in response to demand as this standard-series pedal¹. MusicRadar described it at launch as a smooth-sounding overdrive based on Free The Tone's SOV-2 pedal².

The pedal is now itself discontinued: Free The Tone's product page lists it as production ended, at a Japanese list price of 27,500 yen including tax¹. When MusicRadar revealed it in August 2014, the recommended retail price was $345 in the US and £205 in the UK².

What it does

The MS SOV is a three-knob overdrive in a strong red metal casing, with an LED and the same basic layout as the signature model it revives². MusicRadar's launch coverage described it as offering "rich and smooth overdrive tonal options that track all your playing articulations exceedingly well"².

The circuit is based on the Free The Tone SOV-2, which MusicRadar called the company's revered overdrive². Free The Tone says the MS SOV keeps the HTS circuit and the internal plus and minus 15V DC boost from the discontinued custom series, while every part and production step was reviewed and the sound adjusted to reproduce the custom series' sound quality in a standard pedal¹.

The controls: Gain, Tone, Level

The front panel carries three knobs¹:

MusicRadar's 2014 news piece listed the controls as LEVEL, TONE and DRIVE, matching the SOV-2's knob names (DRIVE, TONE, LEVEL)²³, while Free The Tone's own product pages for both the MS-2V and the earlier MS SOV Special page name them GAIN, TONE and LEVEL¹⁴. Either way, it is the same three-knob format: drive amount, tone, and output level.

Power: 9V with an internal ±15V boost

The pedal runs on DC 9V, from either a 9V (006P type) battery or an AC adapter connected through a DC9V input jack¹. Current draw is approximately 90mA¹, which is worth noting for anyone planning a power supply: it is higher than many analog overdrives, so a small daisy chain with limited current per output may be stretched.

Inside, the 9V supply is increased to plus and minus 15V DC². Free The Tone carried this internal boost over from the discontinued custom series along with the HTS circuit¹. The higher internal rail voltage gives the circuit more headroom than a plain 9V design.

The HTS circuit and bypass

HTS stands for Holistic Tonal Solution. Free The Tone says the circuit manages the signal comprehensively from input to output, so the effected sound and the bypassed sound always keep the same quality and texture¹. MusicRadar put it more simply: the HTS circuit is implemented to prevent signal degradation when bypassed².

The idea goes back to the signature model. In a MusicRadar demo video comparing the SOV-2 and the MS SOV Special, Free The Tone's Yukihiro Hayashi explained the design brief¹²⁴:

He added that Matt Schofield's pedal uses the HTS circuit for that input job, and that the output impedance is almost exactly the same with the pedal on and off⁵. That is a buffered approach rather than true bypass, chosen so the pedal behaves consistently in and out of the signal chain.

Where it came from

The family line runs like this:

1. Free The Tone builds the SOV-2 overdrive, with DRIVE, TONE and LEVEL controls³.
2. Guitarist Matt Schofield asks Yukihiro Hayashi for a warm, natural input buffer circuit, leading to the MS SOV Special (MS-1V), his signature overdrive¹. MusicRadar took delivery of one of the first production units in June 2013, priced at £345⁵.
3. The MS SOV Special ends production in 2013⁴.
4. In response to demand, Free The Tone revives it as the standard-series MS SOV (MS-2V), based on the SOV-2 circuit, announced by MusicRadar in August 2014¹².
5. The MS SOV in turn is now listed as production ended¹, as is the SOV-2³.

Videos

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