King Tone
JESSE DAVEY formed KingTone in 1999 after the break-up of his now legendary band, The Hoax – the award-winning British Blues band he and his mates formed in 1991.
At 8 years old Jesse became fascinated with electronics and began learning how to build circuits in his Dad’s workshop. After getting the music bug and starting to learn guitar a few years later, he applied his electronics knowledge to creating and modifying pedals, amps, and guitars for his young band mates. If they couldn’t get the sound they wanted from what was commercially available, Jesse would modify their gear, or create entirely new gear to meet their needs. At 16 Jesse met legendary British amplifier builder Brian Jefferys who became a mentor, and would let Jesse hang out and watch him build amps all day, occasionally giving the soldering iron to Jesse, saying, “You fix that one.” During his tours with The Hoax, Jesse would often be making tweaks and upgrades to the band’s gear minutes before a show – pictures of the band on stage often show amps out of their boxes because there wasn’t enough time to put them back together again.
Being a very talented musician himself lent him a deep insight into what others were looking for in their gear, and he’s carried that forward with the work he now does with KingTone products.
It’s this unique duality of Jesse’s personality – both clever electronics designer and intensely passionate musician – that gives his gear a symbiotic connection with the players who choose it. And those players are some of the most respected in the world.
KingTone is a family business, run by Jesse and his wife Krystal. Everything is hand built with love and tone.
