Overdrive / Boost / Distortion

Royal heritage, contemporary form.

Taking inspiration from Analog Man’s Prince of Tone overdrive, the Harby Noble Tone is based on the same schematic to give you the same organic-sounding tube distortion. Built in the USA with high-quality components. And the best part? No waiting list.

$169

In stock (can be backordered)

Free shipping for orders within United States.
$10 shipping for international orders.

Other buying options

Demo by Sascha Rebbe

History

In 2005, Jim Weider produced what would become one of the era-defining overdrive/distortion pedals: the King of Tone. Built as a modified Marshall Blues Breaker (yet distinct in terms of diodes, chips, capacitors, and other components), the pedal is actually two overdrive pedals in a single box, giving guitarists a way to preserve their guitars’ tone clarity while adding substantial amounts of overdrive. To this day, the King of Tone remains Analogman’s most popular pedal.

To gain an audience with the King, though, musicians have to wait their turn. The demand for the King of Tone far surpassed the supply, not to mention the price. These days, a used King of Tone can sell for upwards of $1,700. Then, in 2012, Analogman released the Prince of Tone to help meet demand. Using the KoT’s higher gain circuit option as its base, the PoT maintained its predecessor’s transparency, and its natural-sounding, smooth, tube-style distortion made it an instant success. Today, though, the PoT itself is often out of stock, and Analogman is currently limiting customers to one unit each.

Enter the Harby Pedals Noble Tone. A faithful replication of the original circuit board and schematics, the Noble Tone shares the rich sound that makes both the King and Prince of Tone so desirable. Compatible with almost any amp, the Noble Tone pedal is responsive and lends itself to a wide variety of sounds and applications. Use the low drive settings to clean up the modes and maintain an even level when playing softly, or put it on a higher drive setting to get a brighter, crunchier effect, especially when using the distortion mode. It can easily be stacked with other pedals, but it can also be used by itself to create smooth harmonics.

Demo by Eric Merrow

Specifications

Just Like the Original
The Noble Tone, like the Prince of Tone, has two internal DIP switches, which add some subtlety to the knob settings and modes. Our pedal also employs the internal treble trimpot to add high-end, as well as the JRC4580D IC (integrated circuit) New Japan Radio, Co., Ltd. chip.

Modernized
The MA856 silicon through-hole clipping diodes found in the original Prince of Tone are no longer available or in production. So we use the closest diode currently available for the Noble Tone, the BAS33 silicon through-hole clipping diode. Like the MA856, the BAS33 clips at approximately 0.82v. After comparing the curves on a Peak DCA75—across the current test range—we can confirm that they are a close match to the MA856.

Capabilities
The default position of the internal treble trimpot is turned completely counter-clockwise, but as you turn it up, it will add high-end. The Internal Mids DIP switch will add low-mids to your signal by increasing the filter frequency of the first op-amp gain stage, while the Internal Gain DIP switch (the Turbo switch) will double the gain ratio of the second op-amp stage so that the diodes will clip more easily. The gain modes work just like they do on the Prince of Tone.

Technical

  • JRC4580D New Japan Radio, Co., Ltd. opamp IC chip.
  • Gold plated PCB (ENIG).
  • BAS33 silicon through-hole clipping diodes with the original voltage of 0.82v.
  • Solid anodized aluminum knobs.
  • Internal treble trimpot.
  • Internal mids and internal gain DIP switches.
  • Neutrik jacks.
  • High quality foot switch (rated at over 30,000 actuations).

Free 2 day shipping

We planned to have all orders on this website fulfilled directly by Amazon fulfillment services (FBA); however, orders have been crazy. We’re now shipping directly from Idaho for all orders placed on this website until Amazon processes our restocking shipments. Place your order before 3 pm PST Monday through Friday, and your pedal will ship out the same day. Pedals get shipped via USPS and, in most cases, arrive in 1 to 3 business days.

Shipping within the United States is free. Anywhere else in the world is $15.

Pre-order pedals are dispatched directly from Harby Pedals, LLC. in Moscow, Idaho, USA. via USPS and will ship once they become available.