[Product Review] Warm Audio Throne of Tone by Ryoji Saito

WARM AUDIO / Throne of Tone

Its design philosophy reflects the lineage of classic KOT-style pedals while also showing elements of the Bluesbreaker type.
I feel it is a highly versatile drive pedal that packs all of those characteristics into a single unit, offering an extremely wide range of possibilities.

This time, the recording was done at “Gumbo Studio,” a recording studio that I regularly work with in my day-to-day projects.

Settings

The Throne of Tone was connected from a Fender Stratocaster and played through a Roland JC-120.

Recording was done using two microphones: a SHURE KSM44 and a SHURE SM58.

I exported the audio without any mixing processing in the DAW.

I used a Stratocaster center pickup.

Blues Mode

The texture at low gain is simply outstanding.

Not only during crunch tones, but also when rolling back the guitar’s volume, the responsiveness and feeling are superb.

It has a deep versatility that can cover everything from Hendrix-like nuances to neo-soul.

King Mode

A modern distortion with a slightly coarse texture.

When paired with a lightly crunching amp, it gives the impression that a tight, gapless rock sound could be created.

Dual Mode

By using both circuits simultaneously, it can produce the ultimate distortion as well as zones ranging from crunch to exquisite overdrive.

The range of possible settings is extremely wide.

Overall Evaluation

When it comes to distortion, it easily delivers tones like those heard on classic rock masterpieces of the past.

Although there are many knobs and settings, the fact that it sounds good no matter how you set it speaks to the pedal’s fundamentally high build quality.

The ability to select voltage boosting—and even intentionally turn it off—adds to the breadth of available options.

Creating distortion by lowering the clipping ceiling is also a well-established approach in hard rock.

Despite the large number of controls and settings, the fact that any configuration remains musically valid is proof of the circuit’s high level of completion.

It’s rare to find a distortion pedal with such a wide range of options.

This is a pedal that I can recommend to guitarists of all genres, not just rock.

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