KingTone Guitar - The Duellist V3 - Dual Overdrive Pedal

The KingTone Duellist V3 is the reborn version of the award-winning dual overdrive, rebuilt from the inside out with six fully analog tone circuits and a huge range of new player-focused features. It keeps every sound players loved from the V1 and V2, but expands the platform into something far more powerful, flexible and expressive. The V3 delivers massive, open, transparent lead and rhythm tones with a feel that is unmistakably Duellist.

Side A is the ultimate SRV-inspired drive, delivering dynamic, amp-like breakup with a wide, touch-sensitive response. Side B takes classic breaker-style tones and pushes them into new territory with more punch, more clarity and more gain on tap. Both sides feature Clean, Classic and Max modes, each switching in a completely different analog circuit. Clean removes the clipping path and re-voices the EQ for a genuine clean boost with deep lows, sparkling highs and a smooth, musical feel. Classic delivers the original Duellist tone with no compromise. Max adds an extra clipping stage, reshapes the EQ and introduces post-filtering for a heavier, more aggressive voice. On Side A, Max nods to Nobels-style grit. On Side B, Max brings DS-style punch and Dirty-Rat-inspired grind, but with a fresh, refined character and huge sustain.

The V3 features silent soft switching, dual and split modes, and an 8-position DIP switch that opens up powerful voicing options. These set-and-forget switches allow you to engage KingTone voicing, asymmetric or symmetric clipping, amp-like response, and Glass or Edge high-end shaping. Fat, Stock and Glass settings are available for each channel, giving you full control over low-end weight and top-end bite. The pedal also includes an amp-like setting for both sides, delivering cranked tube-amp-style tones with dynamic, touch-responsive feel.

A/B mode allows instant switching between the two sides like a two-channel amp, while standard mode lets each footswitch operate independently. TRS in/out lets you route A into B or B into A using TRS cables, effectively giving you two pedals in one enclosure. The pedal can also be set to power on in any state, ideal for pedalboard setups where you want a specific configuration every time.

The Duellist V3 features a high-output volume control capable of hitting the front end of even the most stubborn tube amp. The wide-range drive control moves from crystal clean to ripping overdrive, with clean mode offering edge-of-breakup tones when pushed and Max mode delivering progressively heavier distortion and fatness. The tone toggle actively boosts lows in Fat mode and boosts highs in Glass mode, while Edge and Glass can be fine-tuned using the DIP switch.

Asymmetric clipping produces warmer, sweeter, more amp-like drive with strong even-order harmonics and a vocal mid push, while symmetric clipping delivers a tighter, more focused distortion with a more uniform clamp and grind. The KingTone setting interacts with your pickups to create an LC filter, shifting the resonant peak into the upper mids for a thicker, smoother tone with reduced top-end fizz.

The pedal is hand-wired and assembled in the USA using carefully matched components, high-quality 4558 chips and a laser-engraved control panel. It runs on 9V to 18V DC or an internal battery, with a low 10ma current draw for long battery life. True bypass ensures your signal remains pure, and if power is lost the pedal automatically reverts to bypass to prevent signal loss.

The Duellist V3 is a huge leap forward in tone, flexibility and musicality. With six tone engines, deep voicing control and independent A/B circuits, it delivers everything from subtle clean enhancement to heavy, sustaining lead tones, all with the unmistakable feel of a boutique, amp-like overdrive built to last a lifetime.