IK Multimedia TONEX ONE Brown Sound Limited Edition White Pedal

The TONEX ONE Brown Sound Limited Edition in white is IK Multimedia’s ultra-compact amp modelling pedal, dressed in a white finish and loaded with presets built around the famous Brown Sound: the hot, saturated hard rock guitar tone that came out of Sunset Sound Studios in 1978. It is made for players who want that late-70s and early-80s rock tone on a pedalboard, at home through headphones or straight into a recording, and for collectors who want one of the three limited colours.

What is the Brown Sound?

The Brown Sound is the name guitarists gave to a warm, heavily driven yet articulate amp tone heard on a run of classic hard rock records from 1978 onwards. IK Multimedia worked with Jim Gaustad, a specialist who has spent his career recreating that tone, to build three Brown Sound Signature Collections for TONEX. Together they follow how the sound changed across six albums: 78/79, 80/81 and 82/84, with 50 Tone Models in each collection.

What you get with the limited edition

The pedal ships with 20 presets that use Tone Models from all three Brown Sound collections, several of them set up with the built-in TONEX FX. Registering the pedal unlocks the full Brown Sound 78/79 collection, plus one more collection of your choice: 80/81 or 82/84. That gives you 100 Brown Sound Tone Models to load, edit and swap on the pedal or use in the TONEX software on your computer.

The white edition is one of three limited colours, alongside red and yellow. The hardware is the same proven TONEX ONE, made in Italy.

Tone, effects and controls

TONEX uses AI Machine Modeling to capture the sound and feel of real amps, cabinets and pedals. Around the Tone Model you get a noise gate, compressor, 3-band EQ, reverb, modulation and delay, plus a built-in tuner. A cabinet section with IK’s VIR cabinets and a custom IR loader lets you shape the speaker sound, or switch the cab off when you play through a real guitar cabinet.

The top panel has a main VOL/GAIN knob, three micro knobs for bass, mid and treble (with gate, comp and reverb as their second functions), an ALT button and one footswitch. The micro knob LEDs can be set to different colours, which helps when you run two pedals side by side. Twenty presets are stored on the pedal, with three playable slots. In Stomp mode the footswitch turns one preset on and off, and in Dual mode it switches between two presets, such as a rhythm tone and a lead tone.

Connections and recording

There is a 1/4″ mono instrument input and a 1/4″ TRS output that runs in stereo or mono and doubles as a headphone output for quiet practice. The USB-C port powers the pedal from your computer, loads Tone Models and works as a 24-bit/44.1 kHz audio interface, so you can record guitar straight into your DAW. Browse our audio interfaces if you need more inputs for a full recording setup. On a pedalboard it runs from a standard 9 V DC centre-negative supply.

Setup tips

• Into a guitar amp: switch the cabinet off or pick drive pedal Tone Models, so the amp’s own speaker does the cab work.
• Into a PA, FRFR or headphones: keep the cab on for the full amp-and-speaker Brown Sound.
• Recording: connect USB-C to your computer and record the processed sound directly, with no extra interface or microphone.
• Two pedals: set different LED colours on each so you can tell them apart on a dark stage.

Who is it for?

The TONEX ONE Brown Sound suits guitarists who love classic late-70s and early-80s hard rock tone and want it ready to play without building presets from scratch. It also fits fly-in gigs, small pedalboards, silent practice and home recording, since it covers amp, cab, effects and interface in one tiny box.

It is not the right pick if you need Bluetooth editing from your phone or MIDI control. For those, the newer TONEX ONE+ adds both. Players who want several footswitches for hands-free preset changes may prefer a larger floor unit; see our guitar amplification range.

Brown Sound edition vs standard TONEX ONE vs TONEX ONE+

The Brown Sound edition uses the same hardware as the standard TONEX ONE. What sets it apart is the white limited finish, the 20 Brown Sound presets and the two Brown Sound collections it unlocks. The TONEX ONE+ keeps the same size and adds Bluetooth control through the TONEX Control app and TRS MIDI In and Out, but comes with its own Signature+ tone collection rather than the Brown Sound content. Compare more compact pedals in our guitar effects pedals category.

Key Features

• Limited edition white TONEX ONE, made in Italy
• 20 presets using Tone Models from all three Brown Sound collections
• Unlocks Brown Sound 78/79 plus 80/81 or 82/84, 50 Tone Models each
• AI Machine Modeling of amps, cabinets and pedals
• Noise gate, compressor, 3-band EQ, reverb, modulation, delay and tuner
• VIR cabinets and custom IR loader, with cab bypass
• Stomp and Dual footswitch modes, three playable slots
• Customisable LED colours on the micro knobs
• 1/4″ TRS stereo/mono output that doubles as a headphone out
• USB-C audio interface, 24-bit/44.1 kHz
• Includes TONEX SE and AmpliTube 5 SE software

TONEX ONE Brown Sound FAQ

Which Brown Sound collections come with this pedal?

The 20 onboard presets use Tone Models from all three collections. On registration you unlock the full 78/79 collection plus either 80/81 or 82/84, whichever you prefer.

Is it different from a normal TONEX ONE?

The hardware is the same. The difference is the limited white finish, the Brown Sound presets and the two Brown Sound collections included.

Can I load other tones onto it?

Yes. It is a full TONEX ONE, so you can replace any preset with other Tone Models from the TONEX software or from ToneNET.

Does it work with bass?

Yes. TONEX ONE pedals work with guitar or bass, and you can load bass amp Tone Models onto it.

Can I use it with headphones or to record?

Yes. The TRS output doubles as a headphone output, and over USB-C the pedal works as an audio interface for recording into a DAW.

Is a power supply included?

IK lists the 9 V DC supply as not included. On a pedalboard use a standard 9 V DC centre-negative supply, or power it over USB-C from a computer.