Unleash the Power of Warm Audio's Tube Squealer and Throne of Tone Overdrive Pedals
Unleash the Power of Warm Audio's Tube Squealer and Throne of Tone Overdrive Pedals
Warm Audio has just dropped two new overdrive pedals that are sure to captivate guitar enthusiasts and tone-seekers alike. The Tube Squealer and Throne of Tone are not just any ordinary pedals; they're designed to capture the essence of some of the most celebrated gain tones in guitar history. But here's where it gets controversial... Are these pedals truly authentic recreations, or do they veer into the realm of modern interpretation?
Tube Squealer: A Mid-Gain Odyssey
The Tube Squealer takes on the daunting task of recreating three legendary mid-gain overdrives in a single pedal. It offers selectable voicings for the 808, TS9, and TS10 circuits, each representing a different era of classic Japanese designs that shaped guitar tone from the late '70s to the late '80s. These pedals have become iconic, pushing already-overdriven tube amps into smooth, singing sustain.
The 808 delivers the earliest iteration of the iconic overdrive sound, prized by collectors for its warmer, slightly darker character. The TS9 captures the most widely produced and recognized version, heard on countless records from the '80s onwards. The TS10 represents a less common but increasingly respected circuit among tone enthusiasts, with a slightly different frequency response that some players prefer for modern applications.
Warm Audio hasn't cloned the originals, but has added modern features to make the pedal more versatile. A mix knob blends clean and driven signals for precise tone shaping, while a pickup-voicing selector optimizes response for single-coils or humbuckers. An external voltage booster increases headroom for more dynamic tones before saturation kicks in.
Inside, JRC4558 op-amps, discrete transistors and diodes, and premium JFETs preserve the character and response of the original circuits. The asymmetrical clipping topology, a revolutionary design choice when it was first introduced, gives these overdrives their characteristic smooth, musical compression. The result is three classic overdrives that cover everything from subtle tube amp breakup to full mid-gain saturation.
Throne of Tone: A Dual-Sided British Blues Circuit
The Throne of Tone takes a different approach, combining two of the greatest British amp-inspired blues circuits in a dual-sided pedal. Each side offers two classic voicings with low and high gain settings, plus three drive modes: boost, overdrive, and distortion.
The original pedal that inspired this design became iconic in its own right, attempting to capture the sound of vintage British tube amps—particularly those coveted models from the '60s that defined blues and rock tone. These amps, when pushed hard, produced a thick, harmonically rich overdrive that became the blueprint for generations of players. The challenge was always getting that sound at manageable volumes, which is where amp-in-a-box style pedals came in.
What made the original circuit special was its symmetrical clipping, which more closely mimicked the way tube amps naturally distort. Unlike asymmetrical designs that color the signal differently, symmetrical clipping preserves more of the even-order harmonics that give tube amps their warm, musical character. This approach spawned an entire wave of boutique recreations, each trying to nail that elusive 'amp breaking up' tone.
Like the vintage amps and boutique pedals that inspired it, the Throne of Tone excels at British-style breakup with symmetrical clipping that mimics classic tube amps pushed past their clean limits. Moving from subtle crunch to saturated lead tones requires no menu-diving—just external controls that can be adjusted on the fly.
Each side features an independent presence control (500Hz–2.3kHz) alongside the standard tone knob, giving players precise control over the upper-mid frequencies that define British amp character. A rear-mounted external voltage doubler (9V–18V) adds extra headroom when needed, while 100% true bypass switching—including the send/return jacks—allows you to insert another pedal between the two circuits.
Under the hood, 24 diodes and premium JRC4580 and TL072 op-amps power two fully analogue circuits. Every component is externally adjustable, so there's no need to crack open the enclosure for tweaks.
A Warm Audio Signature
"These are two of the most popular styles of overdrive in guitar history," said Bryce Young, founder and president of Warm Audio. "We maintained the Warm formula of vintage-accurate tone and premium components, but we went a step further to combine some of the greatest iterations of these tones along with feature-rich functionality."
Both pedals are hand-tested and inspected by trained technicians in Austin, Texas. The Tube Squealer is available exclusively at Guitar Center in the US and authorized retailers worldwide, while the Throne of Tone is available at all authorized Warm Audio retailers globally.
For more information, head to Warm Audio (https://warmaudio.com/).
What do you think? Do these pedals truly capture the essence of their iconic predecessors, or do they veer into the realm of modern interpretation? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
