MXR / Analog Man Duke of Tone Overdrive

The MXR / Analog Man Duke of Tone Overdrive is an overdrive pedal built as a collaboration between MXR and indie pedal builder Analog Man. It is designed for players who want to add a touch of warmth and grit to their rig while letting the natural tone and feel of their high-end gear come through¹. It was released on 1 October 2022¹.

The pedal is based on the AnalogMan Prince Of Tone, the single-channel version of the Analogman King Of Tone². Where the King of Tone is a dual-channel pedal with a years-long waiting list, the Duke of Tone was positioned from the start as a more affordable and more available version of the acclaimed circuit, in a much smaller enclosure¹.

What it does: a Boost, OD and Distortion pedal

The Duke of Tone covers three jobs in one box. A Boost/OD/Distortion switch sets the overall attitude of the pedal's output², which MXR describes as a way to alter the broad sonics of the pedal¹.

The three knobs are the familiar set: Volume, Drive, and Tone cover all the basic tweaks². Reviewers describe the overall character as a warm-yet-clear-and-open sound that lets the nuances of your signal chain come through².

This three-mode approach comes straight from the King of Tone. Analog Man describes that pedal as able to replace two or three pedals: overdrive, distortion, and clean boost³. On the King of Tone, the Boost, Overdrive, and Distortion modes are switchable via internal DIP switches⁴; on the Duke of Tone the same choice sits on a switch on the outside of the pedal.

Running it at 18V

The Duke of Tone can run at 18V, and MXR says this 18V mode gives you even more headroom and clarity¹. Pedal of the Day's reviewer found the same thing: running the pedal on 18V gives an extra helping of headroom and clarity, especially in Boost mode². For a player who wants the Boost setting to push an amp harder without the signal compressing or breaking up, the higher voltage is the way to run it.

History: a variant of the King of Tone

The family tree runs from the King of Tone down to the Duke. The King of Tone is Analog Man's flagship dual-channel overdrive, with Volume, Drive, and Tone controls on each side⁴. The Prince of Tone is the single-channel version of that circuit², itself modeled after the flagship King of Tone dual-channel overdrive⁵. The Duke of Tone is the MXR-built take on the Prince, announced in September 2022 as a collaboration between MXR and Analog Man¹⁵.

Analog Man's own King of Tone page explains the stacking logic that made the original famous: a clean boost placed into a distortion pedal adds more distortion, while a clean boost placed after a dirt pedal increases volume without adding much more distortion³. That is the thinking behind giving each channel, and the Duke, its own mode switch.

On Rhett Shull's YouTube channel, Josh Scott discussed the relationship between the two pedals, noting that Analog Man made the MXR version to his own specs⁶. Scott's blunt framing of the original: "It is an overdrive pedal. It's wonderful, but it's an overdrive pedal."⁶

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What reviewers said

Pedal of the Day reviewed the pedal in May 2025 and came away positive: "It sounded great with different guitars and amps, and will surely be a welcome addition to your pedalboard."² The same review highlighted the 18V option and the three-mode switch as the pedal's practical strengths.

Guitar.com reported the launch as a more affordable and more available route to the King of Tone sound, and noted MXR's own claim that the Duke of Tone is great for gain stacking¹, which suits players who want to push an already dirty amp or stack it with another drive pedal.

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