Ryan's Gig Guide - September 2019

REVIEW: Tone King Imperial Mk II By Adam Roberts Local Stockist... So much happens to a guitar’s signal before it is converted into a sound. Ever since the first amps spawned out of the early 20th century, we have been obsessed with their ability to transform the character of an instrument. Their ability to take a stale dry signal and soak it in lush harmonic information is what has preserved their relevance.Through perfectly manipulated imperfections we can achieve emotive guitar tones that can then be harnessed by the player. It is no surprise that amp manufacturing has become an art form, with boutique companies taking circuit design and component taste testing to the limits. Tone King have become a staple in boutique amp manufacturing, famed for many amp designs; by far their most successful has been the Imperial. Now through popular demand they have decided to pull the amp away from its respective speaker and launch a head and cab version of this legendary box. Amp manufacturers, like artists, look back at past amp designs and use them as inspiration for their own work. Mark Bartel, who founded the company and originally designed the Imperial, is no exception. His circuits are unique but their sounds will be familiar. With 6v6’s in the power section and 12ax7’s in the preamp, it should come as no surprise that this amp speaks with an American accent. The rhythm channel responds like Blackface Fender amps such as the 65 Princeton and Deluxe reverb. Starting at a polite clean you can push the amp into saucy breakup territory. The controls given to you on this channel should be familiar to anyone who has used one of the aforementioned amplifiers: volume, treble, and bass. An important thing to note about this style of amp is that it is based on the sounds of vintage gear where age plays an integral part on the sound.These are new amps designed to sound old.That is why the circuits and builds will differ so much from the original amps they are based upon. They are not created to be replicas, they are designed to give you vintage sounds of familiar voices. The lead channel allows for more pushed tones. The preamp does not give you the distortion on this channel, the saturation comes from the preamp pushing the output tubes. The mid-bite control sculpts the signal of the preamp that you are shunting into the power section which can result in very different styles of saturation and timbre. With the mid-bit fully turned to the left (off) you can expect more boxy sounds that you may associate with Tweed style Fenders. With mid-bite all the way up, the bass becomes tightened and the mids are pushed a little harder. The rhythm and lead channel are foot switchable, allowing you to dive between two worlds of saturation. There are rare occasions when amps with so many features have a fascinating ability to sound good in every setting. It is very clear that Bartel has dedicated some serious time to searching and excavating through all the tonal possibilities that these controls can take you to. It does not really matter to what extreme the knobs fall upon, every position has a usable and good sound.You just have to find which sound you prefer. There are some evocative pockets of tonal bliss within this amp and navigating through its colossal spectrum of sounds is like rummaging through a bag of revels without finding a coffee flavoured sweet. However, the www.ryansgigguide.com 30 rgg Sep 2019