Benson Amps Portable Distortion 424 MKII vs Tone City Holy Aura
The Benson Amps Portable Distortion 424 MKII and the Tone City Holy Aura are both pedals sharing saturated, bright, harmonically rich. The Benson Amps Portable Distortion 424 MKII leans edge of breakup and fuzzy. The Tone City Holy Aura leans high gain and sustaining. Current prices: $199 vs $114.89.
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Blended from circuit-archetype lineage, dynamic feel, tone-signal overlap and tone-vector distance — the tone vector itself is derived from editorial description text, not a measured acoustic signal, so this reflects how similarly the catalog copy describes the two, not a lab measurement. Shown only within a gear class, and only where there's enough evidence to be meaningful.46% — somewhat different
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Derived from overlapping tonal signals across both listings.- saturated
- bright
- harmonically rich
- transparent
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Citation/mention fame — how often this gear is cited across artist rigs and gear discussion.$199via Reverb
$114.89via Reverb
The Benson Amps 424 MKII is a preamp and distortion pedal designed to recreate the saturation and harmonic character of the input stage of the Tascam Portastudio 424 MkII cassette four-track recorder. The circuit captures the non-linear behavior of cassette-era input electronics, spanning from subtle coloration and clean boost through compressed broadband distortion and unstable breakup. A switchable front-end buffer fundamentally alters the gain structure: engaged, it presents a high-impedance guitar input with tighter low end and increased headroom; bypassed, the circuit returns to a darker, fuzzier low-impedance cassette response. Four controls -- gain, trim, bass, treble -- cover a wide EQ range. Internal 18V operation provides increased headroom. Made by Benson Amps in Portland, Oregon.
The Tone City Holy Aura is a USA-amp-inspired high-gain distortion pedal with an independent 20dB clean boost circuit built in, aimed at classic American high-gain amp tone with rich harmonics and sustain. Gain, Presence, and Volume controls pair with a 3-band Bass/Mid/Treble EQ for precise tone shaping, while the onboard boost adds volume and additional gain without sacrificing note definition, letting players push a solo or add extra saturation without a separate boost pedal. It's built to balance tonal flexibility and control, delivering high-gain clarity rather than a single fixed distortion wall.
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Genres this gear is documented as being used in.- Electronic
- Experimental
- Indie
- Indie Rock
- Metal
- Rock
- edge of breakup
- fuzzy
- high gain
- sustaining