Tone King Amps

In the new issue of Premier Guitar they review
the new Tone King Galaxy. Does anyone here
play thru that amp or any other by Tone King:?:

i played an Imperial for many, many years.

one of the best amps i ever owned.

I've seen Mark Knopfler and his guitarist Richard Bennett using Tone King's live. I've heard great things about these amps

I meant to add that they both use the "Imperial"

They reissued the Galaxy?? The 4X6L6 Class A monster?

I'd emailed Mark Bartel about this years back and he said he wasn't going to build em anymore. Now I'm just too curious!

Played through an Imperial yesterday at Rudy's in NYC. Absolutely amazing amp.

I own a Tone King Meteor II that I purchased on Ebay about a year and a half ago. It's in a funky, custom, bright green color. The Meteor II was introduced after the Imperial and was considered an improvement on that design. It's certainly more versatile and definitely has better reverb than the Imperial (not saying the Imperial isn't awesome though). But the Meteor is incredible. In fact, every guitar player I know who has heard it or played through it either says "don't ever sell it" or offers to buy it.

I have a tone king imperial. Best amp I've ever owned or played. I will always have it.

Any of you guys ever swap out the speaker on your Tone King? I've heard they are lightly glued in. Any tips on getting them out without causing any damage?

My Imperial is a KILLER amp. Just want to try a different speaker to get the extra 5% that I'm looking for.

Any of you guys ever swap out the speaker on your Tone King? I've heard they are lightly glued in. Any tips on getting them out without causing any damage?

My Imperial is a KILLER amp. Just want to try a different speaker to get the extra 5% that I'm looking for.


I still have the stock Tone King "1891" speaker in mine.

Speaker swaps are such a standard procedure that I can't imagine you would have to worry about damage.

Speaker swaps are such a standard procedure that I can't imagine you would have to worry about damage.

Agreed...but Mark lightly glues his speakers into the Imperial. Some guys have said they've had trouble getting them out. I emailed Mark about it and he said that if you're careful, you can get them out. Just wondering how others have made out, and any tips they could share.

I have a tone king imperial. Best amp I've ever owned or played. I will always have it.

Not much I can add other than I would suggest trying a 12au7 in the V1 slot. Mark mentions trying it in the manual and I like the results.:mrgreen:

BTW, Many thanks to Mickey Dean for hooking me up with this amp!

I was watching the you tube clip on the new
Tone King Galaxy. For me putting a new Fender
American Deluxe Telecaster would be a perfect
for me. That amp has some great sounds and I
like the Reverb and Trem. There is only two other
amps that I would look at the reissue Fender Twin
Reverb and the reissue Fender 59 Bassman LTD. I
think the Tone King is a better amp and there is
nothing bad about the Fender Amps. The Tone King
just nails the sound that I'm after:cool:

I've been looking at Tone King, Swart, Carr, and Two Rock, and the TK seems to really nail the tone's I'm chasing.....curious, has anyone here considered any of these other amps?

I played a Carr side by side to the tone king in my search. It was a Rambler.. a GREAT amp and I imagine I would have been very happy with it... but, I chose the Imperial over it...

Have not played a Swart or Two Rock (yet) I do have two rock speakers in my randall commander III though!

I played a Carr side by side to the tone king in my search. It was a Rambler.. a GREAT amp and I imagine I would have been very happy with it... but, I chose the Imperial over it...

Have not played a Swart or Two Rock (yet) I do have two rock speakers in my randall commander III though!

Curious, what was the main reason you went with the Imperial? Was there something in particular about it? I haven't had the opportunity to AB any of these as most shoppes tend to only sell one boutique brand

an imperial was my main amp for better than 10 years. played more than a thousand shows in the pit with it and who knows how many gigs. i completely wore it out and then sold it for what i paid for it! i would still own it but it was just too loud for most small rooms, which seem to be where the gigs are these days.

Curious, what was the main reason you went with the Imperial? Was there something in particular about it? I haven't had the opportunity to AB any of these as most shoppes tend to only sell one boutique brand

The rambler was a darker sounding amp and I wanted a brighter amp.

The versatility to get just a huge array of tones out of it also appealed to me.

I like the vibrato/tremelo much more on the TK...

Both great amps, totally personal preference.

The guitar that I am buying is Fender 60th Anniversary
Telecaster. Would the Imperial with a 1X12 be better
for 60's music:?: I haven't played thru one yet with
a Tele but I checked you tube and the Amp sounded
good. I would really like the Galaxy and the way it sounds
but at $3600.00 I would have to sell my house.
Has anyone here A/B any Tone King & reissue Fender
Amps side by side:?:

Thanks for the feedback. I definitely don't want a dark sounding amp, and yes I've heard samples of its trem....very nice.

Cheers...thanks again

The guitar that I am buying is Fender 60th Anniversary
Telecaster. Would the Imperial with a 1X12 be better
for 60's music:?: I haven't played thru one yet with
a Tele but I checked you tube and the Amp sounded
good. I would really like the Galaxy and the way it sounds
but at $3600.00 I would have to sell my house.
Has anyone here A/B any Tone King & reissue Fender
Amps side by side:?:

there is no comparison. tone king blows away vintage fender amps let alone reissues, and unlike vintage fender amps, they are not 50 years old with high mileage.

an imperial sounds like the best blackface deluxe reverb you ever heard in one channel and the best tweed in the other. when i bought mine, i sold my blackface deluxe and my blackface vibrolux.

Tone King service is the best i ever encountered. every time i needed to retube mark sent me matched sets, most of the time without charge.

during the years i used a Tone King nobody beat an amp more than i did. i was doing two to three shows a day in a Branson type theater 7 days a week for 3 years. on top of that i was doing probably 100 additional road gigs a year. i had ZERO problems with that amp other than replacing the tubes every two years or so.

Mickydean thanks for the info what do you like best about your
Imperial. A few years back I did play thru one at Lark Street Music.
Now Buzzy is in NJ and its a long drive which is nice I'll have to back
to his store and try one again when I get the guitar. Do you mike
the amp when you play out:?: Also does it cut thru the mix when
playing with other people. I played thru different Amps with a 1X12
and some did not sound that good. All the Amps that I have had in
the past were either 2X12 or 4X10 never had a 1X12. Here what I
like about the Galaxy first its looks and I like a piggy back setup.
If you remember the 60's and the Vox Thomas Organ Amps they
were on a Trolly and if I could get the Galaxy I would like to put
it on a Trolly I don't know if Mark would do that or I would have
to do that. From what I have heard on You Tube there Reverb
and Trem are Fantastic:cool:

there is no comparison. tone king blows away vintage fender amps let alone reissues..

I brought my Tone King Meteor II to a get together with a bunch of other guys who also brought amps. A couple of the guys also brought vintage Fender amps (60's Princeton, 60's Deluxe, Bassman, 50's tweeds). Another dude brought a new handwired Vox AC15. It wasn't a jam. The sole purpose was to get a bunch of cool amps in one place so everyone could try them out. The Meteor sounded best. I know that's subjective so I kept that opinion to myself, but several days later the guy who hosted the get together (who also provided some of the vintage Fenders) said the Tone King was the best sounding amp there. He ended up buying one not too long after that.

I brought my Tone King Meteor II to a get together with a bunch of other guys who also brought amps. A couple of the guys also brought vintage Fender amps (60's Princeton, 60's Deluxe, Bassman, 50's tweeds). Another dude brought a new handwired Vox AC15. It wasn't a jam. The sole purpose was to get a bunch of cool amps in one place so everyone could try them out. The Meteor sounded best. I know that's subjective so I kept that opinion to myself, but several days later the guy who hosted the get together (who also provided some of the vintage Fenders) said the Tone King was the best sounding amp there. He ended up buying one not too long after that.

Curious...which model Meteor II was that? 15, 20, 30, or 40 W???
6V6 or EL 84's???

Curious...which model Meteor II was that? 15, 20, 30, or 40 W???
6V6 or EL 84's???

It's a Meteor II (40 watt with 6v6 tubes).

By the way, it's switchable down to 20 watts also.

Two pics attached: Mark Knopfler's 'Imperial' stage settings and Lou Reed with a Galaxy Rig live on BBC TV...

http://dc171.4shared.com/img/Q_ScATEi/s3/knopfler_live_Tone_King_settin.jpg

http://dc432.4shared.com/img/URpi-fqr/s3/toneking_galaxy_set.jpg

Two pics attached: Mark Knopfler's 'Imperial' stage settings and Lou Reed with a Galaxy Rig live on BBC TV...



Oh my, Reed was a sad old man in that clip. People hate on autotune, but I wish he would use it.

I have been looking for a new Amp and this weekend if I have
the money I'll take a road trip and try a Tone King Imperial.
Now I've played Fender, Vox Line 6, Marshall, DR Z, at the
music stores and nothing has jumped out at me. I do like the
sounds that I hear on You Tube with the Imperial so I'm sure
that will be my next amp. A Tone King Imperial:cool:

Vox Phantom - I went through the same exercise and settled on an Imperial, although I was considering a Bad Cat Cub (an entirely different amp), as well.

I've had my TK Imperial for about 8 months now and absolutely love it. As it has been said before, it is like having 2 amps in the same box. Rhythm channel nails the mid-scooped tone of a blackface Deluxe Reverb. The lead channel is something else to behold entirely. The Midbite knob really gives a lot of flexibility to this channel. I can dial-in anything from Fender Tweed Deluxe to cranked Supro/Marshall tones. The reverb is great, but the trem is amazingly smooth. When you try this amp out, be sure that you can crank on both channels to get the full effect.

I quite often see Mark Knopfler lined up with one of these right beside his "Reinhardt". I'm curious if he leans more on the Imperial when playing single coils, and the LP through the Reinhardt.

I didn't buy the Tone King and I ended up with a
reissue Fender Bassman LTD. Sounded bad in my den
then put in the back bedroom and it sounded much
better. Yet there something about that Amp that just
doesn't move me. Told my wife I should have never
bought the Amp. I still my sell it and start to save again
for either the Tone King Imperial or Galaxy:cool: I love
the Reverb and Tremolo that the Tone King has and that
would cover the style of music that I play from the 50's
and 60's. To my ears they just sound better then the
reissue Fender Amps.

I am not sure how the Bassman LTD works, but I know that a lot of Fender RI amps are biased cold, and that can give them a sterile sound to some people's ears. May want to look into if it needs to be rebiased, but I don't blame you for wanting an Imperial or Galaxy. B-b-b-b-bad-azz amps!

I didn't buy the Tone King and I ended up with a
reissue Fender Bassman LTD. Sounded bad in my den
then put in the back bedroom and it sounded much
better. Yet there something about that Amp that just
doesn't move me. Told my wife I should have never
bought the Amp. I still my sell it and start to save again
for either the Tone King Imperial or Galaxy:cool: I love
the Reverb and Tremolo that the Tone King has and that
would cover the style of music that I play from the 50's
and 60's. To my ears they just sound better then the
reissue Fender Amps.



Try to find a used Meteor II. May be the best amp ToneKing made.

Try to find a used Meteor II. May be the best amp ToneKing made.

From what I understand, it depends what you are looking for. The Meteor and Comet from what I understand are great for cleans. I have heard that the Metropolitan puts all previous TK models to shame. At the end of the day, they are all fantastic amps.

I put my reissue Fender 59 Bassman LTD
today on our local Craig List:cool: I hope
to sell it so that I can get a Tone King
Imperial. Should the Amp not sell then
I was thinking of gutting the Amp and
have wired point to point. Then packing
all the old parts and send them back to
Fender. In a letter asking why they use
(Sub Standard) parts on there Amps:!:

From what I understand, it depends what you are looking for. The Meteor and Comet from what I understand are great for cleans. I have heard that the Metropolitan puts all previous TK models to shame. At the end of the day, they are all fantastic amps.

Only because it has built in attenuation. I don't think the lead channel is very different from other Tone King amps. The Meteor is great overdriven as well as clean. I've heard some people say that they preferred the Meteor to the Metropolitan. For one, the reverb is better on the Meteor.

Last night I did sell my reissue Fender 59
Bassman LTD:cool: So I start today looking
for a new amp. There are a couple of amps
that I really like (1) Tone King Imperial & Galaxy
(2) DR Z Jaz 20/40. i don't think that I could go
wrong with those amps. With the Tone King amps
can I get the 60's sounds and 50's Rockabilly sounds:?:
Thanks for your help:smile:

Yes you can. There are some good YouTube clips of guys using Gretsch's with an Imperial. Premier Guitar also did a video review on the Galaxy sometime last year, if you want to see for yourself.

Last night I did sell my reissue Fender 59
Bassman LTD:cool: So I start today looking
for a new amp. There are a couple of amps
that I really like (1) Tone King Imperial & Galaxy
(2) DR Z Jaz 20/40. i don't think that I could go
wrong with those amps. With the Tone King amps
can I get the 60's sounds and 50's Rockabilly sounds:?:
Thanks for your help:smile:

Yes, they're designed for both. the "Rhythm" channel is voiced like a blackface amp and the "Lead" channel is voiced like a tweed. That'll cover your 50's and 60's sounds. This applies to all Tone King amps, because they all share this design.