Analog Man's Best Pedals

In this article, I want to talk about how AnalogMan is an important part of effect pedals history. I’m a huge AnalogMan fan. Maybe his biggest fan, but not in a villainous way like Syndrome from The Incredibles. I’ll take any opportunity I can to gush about how awesome AnalogMan is, and how baller his products are. I’m here to spread good news only. I’m the opposite of J. Jonah Jameson, basically, which means that AnalogMan is the anti-Peter Parker.

...Okay, that metaphor got away from me a little, but you get the point.

I’ve often said that companies don't make things, people do. To understand why AnalogMan is great, you need to know that AnalogMan is a person. His name is Mike Piera, and he got started in the mid ’80s, around 1985, when he moved to Japan to be a software engineer. While working in Japan, he started seeing vintage guitars and effect pedals that he'd never seen in the States, just a universe of crazy interesting, collectible stuff. He started tinkering around, recreating some of these rare effects, and modifying things for friends. In fact, his modified BOSS DS-1 was the first AnalogMan product I ever had, so he had (and still has) a big portion of market share when it comes to mods.

One thing led to another, Mike started a pedal company, and the rest is history. He's one of the very few OG boutique builders that was pre-internet. As a matter of fact, I believe his website was the second or third pedal website ever made. That's astronomically crazy to think about, because there are millions of guitar related threads, websites, and posts on the internet today.

Let's look at my favorite AnalogMan pedals. As always, you’re going to enjoy this article in a deeper way (think of it like watching The Sixth Sense through the first time versus the second time) if you go back and watch the JHS show episode it’s based on. Fun fact: we included a bass line on a few different jams in this episode that may or may not be a homage to “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen.

But you won’t know for sure unless you go back and watch it. Just sayin’.

King of Tone Dual Overdrive

AnalogMan's most popular, famous, and prestigious pedal is the King of Tone Dual Overdrive, and for good reason, because it's a fantastic pedal.

I can’t overstate how popular these pedals are, and how bananas expensive they can get. The vintage units go for upwards of $750. To clarify, that is upwards of $750 for a previously used pedal. If you don’t feel like forking over two or three car payments, then you can jump on AnalogMan’s waiting list to get one of these new and much more reasonably priced. The only downside is that the wait is sometimes two or three years.

But don’t worry. There’s a light at the end of this tunnel, and it’s called the Prince of Tone.

Prince of Tone Overdrive

There is an easier way to get the same sound as the King of Tone without the insane price tag, and it came out in the form of an overdrive pedal called the Prince of Tone. I just so happen to have one of the original units sold -- like, the fifth one of these ever created. You have probably heard this, but the idea came from two guys on the gear page. Mike responded to them and was interested in their idea for a unit which only utilized the yellow side of the King of Tone. The resulting pedal -- the Prince of Tone -- is basically half of the original pedal. Same sound, just half the size. Mike sent pedal number five to the thread creator, which is the actual pedal I have in my collection.

Honestly, I prefer the Prince of Tone, just because it's simple, it’s easy-ish to find, and it's more affordable. But if you’ve got $750 burning a hole in your pocket, you can’t go wrong with the King of Tone.

Astro Tone Fuzz

In my opinion, the most underrated and underappreciated AnalogMan pedal ever made is the Astro Tone three-knob fuzz. It's based around the Sam Ash Fuzzz Boxx (no, that’s not a typo). It’s also a pedal that I don’t have in my collection, which breaks my heart a little.

The beauty of the Astro Tone is that it’s a ’60s fuzz circuit, which is an absolute classic; the original circuit used in this pedal actually came out in 1966. But I gotta be honest: when I play this pedal, it feels more like a distortion than a fuzz. If I wanted to be controversial, I might argue that this was actually based on the first distortion circuit ever invented, and that there’s been a huge conspiracy to cover it up, something to rival the moon landing or Area 51.

Basically, the Astro Tone could be based on the first distortion circuit ever made (I think it is), but it’s definitely the most underrated AnalogMan pedal ever made. Yeah, that’s a lot of hype for one pedal, but I stand by it.

The Juicer Compressor

Next up is the oldest AnalogMan pedal that I have date-wise. It's from 2001 and it's had some use, which means it's a great pedal. It’s the Juicer compressor, which is based around the Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer. I'm a huge fan of the Orange Squeezer, so much that I based my compressor (the Pulp N Peel) on it as well. As far as I know, AnalogMan was the first person to clone this in such a quality way and put it into an enclosure with true bypass.

Plus, it’s beautiful. AnalogMan actually managed to make orange on red work for this enclosure. He’s a genius.

Sun Face Fuzz Series (BC109, BC183, and NTK Red Dot)

AnalogMan is also a genius at faithfully and accurately recreating Fuzz Face circuits from the ’60s and ’70s, and if you need proof, look no further than the Sun Face series.

Basically, if you don't want to fork out a billion dollars for one of these huge vintage enclosures, check out the AnalogMan Sun Face series instead. There's several versions I'll go over here, but he covers different ranges and transistor types. Mike has extensive knowledge on transistors, leakages, and gains. Plus, he just knows a ton (probably more than anyone out there) about what was actually in certain pedals and how to replicate it. This is definitely the guy you want replicating these vintage Fuzz Face circuits. He knows what he’s doing.

There are a few different versions of fuzz in the series. First, you have the BC109, which refers to the type of transistor in it. There’s a clock stenciled onto the enclosure that hints at time, which is a Pink Floyd reference from Dark Side of the Moon. Coincidentally, this would have been the Fuzz Face tone/sound and circuit that David Gilmour used in that era. Second, you have the BC183 version, which again refers to the type of transistor inside it. It's a slightly different sound, but different enough that they are completely different pedals.

My favorite, though, is the Sun Face NTK Red Dot, which refers to the very, very, very rare transistor type found inside of it. I honestly don't know if it sounds better; I’ve pointed out in the past that there’s not really a “better” or “worse” where circuits are concerned, since it depends on how you want to use it. I will say that because it's so rare, I feel like it's better.

Beano Boost

Next up is the Beano Boost. Now, I have the miniature version, but there is a larger box version, same circuit, and both are very well-made faithful recreations of the ’60s Dallas Rangemaster. The original Dallas Rangemaster was a box with no foot switch, it used a battery, it had an annoying cable, but it sounded great.

Basically, the Beano Boost is the best kind of pedal replica -- it corrects the annoying problems of the original pedal but it preserves the same sound/tone. I love this for pedalboards, because it's not obnoxious. That’s why treble boost isn’t an effect that most of us leave running on our boards all the time. With the tweaks AnalogMan worked out in the Beano Boost, it acts as a kind of peripheral effect for a lot of players, so you can leave it running without any negative side effects. Plus, the Beano Boost Mini is so compact that you can definitely squeeze it onto your crowded pedalboard. Like I said, I like to keep things small and simple.

Sun Lion Fuzz Booster

If you love the Sun Face and the Beano Boost and you want them both on your board, then try the Sun Lion Fuzz Booster, which puts them together in the same enclosure. Yes, It's over-the-top and extravagant, but if you're an extravagant person then this might be the pedal you’ve been looking for.**

**I’m basically doing a reverse Luke Skywalker here. This is the pedal you’re looking for.

AnalogMan Chorus

Last but not least, let’s look at the AnalogMan Chorus. This is based around a classic Electro-Harmonix Small Clone. The vintage Small Clones are getting hard to find, and they have a very cool, unique sound. Good news: AnalogMan really did it justice with the Chorus.

This is one of the best bucket brigade choruses you can buy. It's simple, it has two knobs, not a lot of bells and whistles, because let's be honest: you don't really need them.

So, to sum up, why is AnalogMan so baller? Short answer: he’s one of the last OG boutique builders left, and he hasn’t sacrificed quality to keep up with the competition, and I respect that.

In 2020, the term boutique is often watered down, and it’s tossed around so much that it's difficult to even know what people mean. But the truest form boutique is small batch, small production runs, and usually by a small crew that gives incredible attention to detail. In the current pedal market, true boutique companies are pretty rare, but AnalogMan is one of them. If you've ever wanted to see a product line that visually represents boutique to really help you understand it, then check out AnalogMan.

Also, I want to emphasize how important AnalogMan is in guitar pedal history. Companies like JHS and dozens of others would not exist if it were not for people like AnalogMan. These pedal builders basically invented the boutique industry in the early 2000s. We all owe him a great debt, and he's done such a great job keeping guitar effects history and iconic circuits alive and available to players like me and you.

There’s also a book called AnalogMan’s Guide to Vintage Effects. You can get it on Reverb here. The book was written by Tom Hughes, but Mike Piera was a huge part of the process in putting it together. I dig through this often because there are interviews with people who are no longer with us, really great stories, information, and photography. It's super important, because no one's put this amount of effort into writing a book on guitar pedal history yet. You should definitely check this book out.