Tone King Ironman II Mini

[burntfrijoles]

My new Ironman Mini attenuator arrived on Sunday. I've had a good chance to use it, coupled with my PRRI (SE with a 12" Jensen). Usually I run the PRRI between 3 and 4 and use my pedal to get OD, etc. It's hard to run it over that volume in my house. Even at 15 watts the Princeton can get loud even though it sounds great at 6 or higher.
The Ironman really has 17 levels of attenuation. Tone King claims that it has 2 or 3 proprietary compensation features to combat the ills of most attenuators. (I have no idea really). Regardless, it's working fine for my needs. I have been playing with the amp set between 6 and 8. I am finding that I can preserve my tone with the attenuation set up to about -15 db. I can certainly go lower for nighttime use but the tone is altered. The other thing that's nice is the 3 levels of presence control that it includes.
I have to say it's great (and somewhat liberating) to get a more natural breakup and driven tone from just the amp. Also, my Surface Fuzz sounds much better going into the amp at higher volume levels.
As you can see by the photo below, it had a big footprint.
I am pleased with it.

 

[BrettFuzz]

I didn't realize they were that big. If that's a "mini" I don't want to know how big the normal sized ones are.

 

[burntfrijoles]

I didn't realize they were that big. If that's a "mini" I don't want to know how big the normal sized ones are.

Yeah, I was surprised too. I think the Ironman is about 2 inches deeper and wider and about an inch taller. It also costs twice as much. The Ironman Mini is for amps up to 30 watts while the Ironman can handle 100 watt amps.

 

[BrettFuzz]

Yeah, I was surprised too. I think the Ironman is about 2 inches deeper and wider and about an inch taller. It also costs twice as much. The Ironman Mini is for amps up to 30 watts while the Ironman can handle 100 watt amps.

Does it have a full bypass? I have the cheap Bugera PS1 and it works great for me; I just wish it had a on/off/bypass mode... once you plug it in it's always on.

 

[Tim S]

Congrats! The only major downside to a Tone King attenuator is the more you crank up the amp and attenuate, the faster you use up the power tubes.

 

[Swirling Snow]

I'm very happy for you. Properly used, attenuators open up a lot of possibilities. I wouldn't use a tube amp without one, but it needs to be a good one.

 

[burntfrijoles]

Congrats! The only major downside to a Tone King attenuator is the more you crank up the amp and attenuate, the faster you use up the power tubes.

Have you experienced this? I’ve read that attenuators place no more stress on tubes than would occur if you cranked your amp without an attenuator. Although many recommend that you not run your amp at max volume. Plus Tone King claims their design mirrors the impedance curve of an actual speaker.

I have no idea because a technical dunce.

Regardless I have two sets of matched 6V6 tubes in reserve. I think that will last me a while. Like I said, I’m happy with it.

 

[Frodebro]

Have you experienced this? I’ve read that attenuators place no more stress on tubes than would occur if you cranked your amp without an attenuator. Although many recommend that you not run your amp at max volume. Plus Tone King claims their design mirrors the impedance curve of an actual speaker.

I have no idea because a technical dunce.

Regardless I have two sets of matched 6V6 tubes in reserve. I think that will last me a while. Like I said, I’m happy with it.

An amp will obviously wear tubes faster if you run it hard, but not because of the attenuator.

 

[snottyboy]

TK Ironman mini is a nice attenuator for lower-powered amps. It does not have a true bypass, however true bypass can be achieved by engaging the boost mode in the lowest attenuation setting on the dial. Congratulations on your setup.

 

[burntfrijoles]

true bypass can be achieved by engaging the boost mode in the lowest attenuation setting on the dial.

Yeah, the “Solo” footswitch can be used to bypass. It’s kind of a clunky method however that’s not an issue for me. I don’t the Bugera or Dr Z Brake-lite have a bypass per se.

I’m going to “set it and forget” in most cases.

Also, its other features are worth far more.

 

[mysticblueser]

I have this lovely device. I'll do the OP one better and say I think it does an amazing job up to -20, -22 DB. It also contains the magic trick of filtering out RF and EMF noise; I have 2 crazy noisy wall sockets in my studio, and an old tube amp that gets it's power from these sockets will have all kinds of noise and chatter and hiss; if I put the Ironman II mini in the signal chain, every single bit of that disappears. Totally cleans up that crappy circuit, somehow. Very much worth the 400 or so USD.

 

[snottyboy]

One little note (and this is applies to amps with presence controls as well), the presence cut can change the character of the overdrive in useful and appealing ways. It's not just to tame high end.

 

[burntfrijoles]

I'll do the OP one better and say I think it does an amazing job up to -20, -22 DB.

Actually, I think you’re right. I‘ve been playing around at the -22 and still think it sounds great. I’m very pleased. It is definitely a good investment in my setup.

 

[ruger9]

I'm glad it's working for you. I didn't like it at all, I much preferred my Weber Mini-Mass.

I think I will try one more attenuator before I decide they really aren't worth it (lol): the Fryette Power Station 2. $$$

 

[klasher]

I'm glad it's working for you. I didn't like it at all, I much preferred my Weber Mini-Mass.

I think I will try one more attenuator before I decide they really aren't worth it (lol): the Fryette Power Station 2. $$$

I've had tremendous success with the mini mass. I have to add a bit of treble at the amp but I don't mind. Awesome product. Tele into a silver face champ cranked with a mini mass is instant joe walsh, at low volume.

 

[burntfrijoles]

I'm glad it's working for you. I didn't like it at all, I much preferred my Weber Mini-Mass.

Weber obviously makes good stuff. I considered it but chose the Tone King because I had experience with it from owning ToneKing. Gremlin amp that had the attenuator built in.
I think I’m using it appropriately. I‘ve got the amp’s volume between 6 and 7 and using the midpoint on the attenuator. The presence control is a great feature as well.

 

[tonfarbe]

This is exactly my setup, only that my Princeton Reverb has green tolex.
I've tried several attenuators and the Tone King was the only one that didn't change the sound of the amp.

 

[skidfx2672]

I didn't realize they were that big. If that's a "mini" I don't want to know how big the normal sized ones are.

That's actually not a bad size for the enclosure. The Pot and Resistor you need is larger than the average guitar Pot, the resistor was 10w Ceramic as well. I built an 8ohm 100w myself one for a 20w tube amp I had, same problem, on volume 1 extremely loud for bedroom/home. You just need to match the Resistor wattage to your amp wattage. The small amps are getting better designs these days with better Master volume control. I hardly use the one I built since I sold that 20w tube amp.

It was a way too easy build to not do it, and all in I think I was at $50 with the enclosure costing me like $25. Pot was about $20 and the Ceramic Resistor $2.... Schecmatics available online. I opted for adding a bright switch as well.