The StewMac Two Kings is a dual boost overdrive pedal, a 2-in-1 design offered both as a pre-built pedal and as a DIY kit. It gives you two channels that run from clean boost to rich overdrive, which Pedal of the Day describes as "endless versatility: from clean boost to rich overdrive, always responsive to your touch."1
What it does
The Two Kings sits in the overdrive camp but covers boost territory as well: with the drive backed off it works as a clean boost, and pushed further it delivers a rich overdrive. Pedal of the Day's description of the sound is that it is "transparent but still warm and gritty, with a full range of frequencies available, all while keeping the core tone" of the guitar and amp.1 If you are weighing transparent overdrives against a mid-humped design, the Boss SD-1 vs Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer comparison covers the other side of that divide.
Where it came from
StewMac is known for its DIY pedal kits, and it also offers some of those kits as pre-built pedals. The first lineup included the Sun Fuzz, the Ghost Drive Transparent Overdrive, the Two Kings Dual Boost Overdrive and the Lightcycle Phasor II Optical Phaser.1 The Two Kings is a 2-in-1 dual boost overdrive, available both as a kit and as a pre-built pedal.2
On the circuit's origins, StewMac has described the Two Kings as a pedal that captures the tone of the Analogman King of Tone, itself inspired by a heavily modded Marshall Blues Breaker.1 That lineage places it in the family of transparent, low-to-medium gain overdrives, and the maker describes its sound as transparent but still warm and gritty, keeping the core tone of your guitar and amp.1
"Can't wait 5 YEARS for an Analogman King of Tone? Now you can build a pedal that captures the tone of the amazing origin..."
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Questions
Is the StewMac Two Kings available as a pre-built pedal?
Yes. StewMac began offering its DIY pedal kits as professionally built pedals in 2025, and Pedal of the Day reported in November 2025 that the Two Kings Dual Boost Overdrive was available as a pre-built pedal, so players can buy it ready to play or build it themselves from the kit.
What does the Two Kings sound like?
Pedal of the Day describes it as transparent but still warm and gritty, with a full range of frequencies available, all while keeping the core tone of your guitar and amp. Its two channels run from clean boost to rich overdrive and the pedal is described as responsive to your touch.
Sources (2)
- StewMac Sun Fuzz / Ghost Drive / Two Kings / Lightcycle Phasor II, Pedal of the Day (pedal-of-the-day.com), 2025-09-08
- StewMac Two Kings Pre-Built DIY Dual Boost Overdrive, Pedal of the Day, 2025-11-02
