Tone King is one of those little known vintage amp companies that doesn’t go for big name recognition. Instead, they focus on building the best quality amps they can. Each and every piece has to be the best or it’s not going into a Tone King. Every Tone King amp is hand built by Mark Bartel, the designer for the company. He puts his all into each and every amp, so you know you’re getting a true masterpiece that’s going to sound amazing. This means, however, that getting a Tone King amp can take quite some time since the products are not mass produced.
Tone King currently offers two different amps for sale The first is the Imperial. This amp delivers all the great sounds of the 1950s and 1960s, and it looks the part, too. It brings players that slightly spongy feel and raw tone that an amp this old should provide, but it is made with only the finest modern parts. The Imperial is a 20 watt amp that is pretty lightweight. It has two preamp channels, tremolo, and reverb, and it’s a very nice amp for small gigs or practicing at home.
The other Tone King amp is new for 2009, and it’s called the Metropolitan. Tone King describes it as their finest amp ever, and it’s a completely new sound and design for the company. It features a three-dimensional sound, a warm resonance, and a nice midrange chime. The new cabinet design gives it an interesting new look, and the state of the art Phase-4 output power control, a Tone King exclusive, allows you to change the power level from 0.1 watts to the maximum of 40 watts for both the power tube overdrive and the distortion.
Mark Bartel put himself and his company on the map in 1993 with his Tone King Imperial. Mark wanted to build and design an amplifier that could capture the all-out raw tone of a well broken-in vintage amp and yet still have room to expand on the sounds you get from those old classics, his desires brought forth the Imperial. Mark is the soul builder/designer of the Tone King amplifiers and he makes every Imperial one-by-one in his shop in Baltimore. ItÕs obvious when you play through this amp that Mark Bartel is a genius sound engineer and a master amp builder.
Mark Bartel put himself and his company on the map in 1993 with his Tone King Imperial. Mark wanted to build and design an amplifier that could capture the all-out raw tone of a well broken-in vintage amp and yet still have room to expand on the sounds you get from those old classics, his desires brought forth the Imperial. Mark is the soul builder/designer of the Tone King amplifiers and he makes every Imperial one-by-one in his shop in Baltimore. ItÕs obvious when you play through this amp that Mark Bartel is a genius sound engineer and a master amp builder.The Tone King Imperial features a Rhythm channel designed to represent that classic ÒblackfaceÓ combo tone, making this a great channel for smooth clean tones and a creamy, light overdrive. The Lead Channel was designed to really ÒdriveÓ the output stage of the amp with a clean preamp that canÕt be overdriven. The idea was to utilize the rich tone of the power tubes to provide killer tones that are tight on the bottom, pleasingly aggressive in the mids and pristine in the highs. To top it off the Tone King Imperial has a unique Mid-Bite Control that provides a wide range of tones; anywhere from classic ÒTweedÓ to fat ÒEnglishÓ tones. WhatÕs left to add? Nothing, for the Tone King Imperial comes equipped with Tube Drive Spring Reverb and a Tremolo that is reminiscent of older ÒBlackfaceÓ amps.
The Metropolitan is a truly magical guitar amplifier with a sound all its own. The lightweight, resonant speaker cabinet is tuned and voiced as if it were a musical instrument unto itself, producing the perfect balance of warm, woody resonance and elastic feel, as well as power and punch. The ultra-pure signal path and automatically balanced and calibrated phase inverter give you an unusually effortless sustain, even on perfectly clean notes, and a bell-like clarity.
The Metropolitan is a truly magical guitar amplifier with a sound all its own. The lightweight, resonant speaker cabinet is tuned and voiced as if it were a musical instrument unto itself, producing the perfect balance of warm, woody resonance and elastic feel, as well as power and punch. The ultra-pure signal path and automatically balanced and calibrated phase inverter give you an unusually effortless sustain, even on perfectly clean notes, and a bell-like clarity.
The Metropolitan is built to the highest standards of quality with only the finest materials. From the cabinetry, to the upholstering, to the electronic assembly and testing, each amp is entirely hand-built by designer Mark Bartel in his Baltimore, MD craft shop. Not satisfied with using off-the-shelf parts, Mr. Bartel works with skilled fabricators to develop custom components such as transformers and speakers in order to craft his totally unique and musical creations to his exacting standards.
The venerable Vibro-King® amp has appeared on countless stages worldwide! This all-tube, completely hand-wired combo amp with birch ply cabinet is covered in black with the appealing "1964 Transitional" Blackface™/White knob look. We've added a pair of powerful 6L6 Groove Tubes® for rich, full tone. The 60 watt Vibro-King® Custom has unparalleled sensitivity to pick dynamics and guitar knob settings, and its crystal-clean tones, sparkling reverb and commanding overdriven tones are downright inspiring. Other premium features include: '63 Fender Reverb® with dwell, mix and tone controls; three 10" Jensen® P10R speakers with alnico magnets; 6V6 reverb driver tube; five 12AX7 preamp tubes; heavy-duty textured black vinyl covering with silver grille cloth and nickel hardware; FX loop; and a two-button FAT boost/vibrato footswitch.
The GT-10 multi-effect pedal is driven by BOSS latest custom-made DSP and proprietary Composite Object Sound Modeling (COSM). This floorboard powerhouse offers massive effects capability, natural musical response as well as a marked improvement in sound quality from previous generations. It s also loaded with an innovative user interface including EZ TONE which allows guitarists to create a new sound with the most intuitive and easy-to-use interface ever.Advanced sound Powered by the custom-made new-generation processor and BOSS proprietary sound modeling method COSM, the GT-10 guitar pedal ushers in a new era of audio quality for guitarists. BOSS huge accumulated know-how of effects and sound modeling are fully integrated into this flagship multi-effects floorboard. As a result, tone quality is supreme, and response to playing dynamics is much more natural and musical. And not just for the stage—the GT-10 is also great in the studio thanks to its USB capability and digital output.EZ TONE wizard The GT-10 is a pro players dream, but it s also friendly and easy-to-use. The innovative EZ Tone wizard helps you create top-quality sounds quickly. It offers a truly intuitive approach based on graphical icons to get the sounds that guitarists are imagining. No more struggling with parameters on the LCD or multiple cursor commands. As well as the EZ TONE, managing the GT-10 multi-effect pedal is truly intuitive. For example, the Positional Tone Control allows tone and effects creation via a revolutionary Tone Grid where you place the pointer in a spatial area depending on what kind of tone or effects you want. Value of the essential parameters shown can be increased/decreased immediately by tweaking four rotary encoder knobs below the LCD. Operation is similar to having compact pedals on a pedal-board quickly jumping from any effect to any effect.More flexibility and possibility Boss GT-10 s PARALLEL CHAIN offers two separate effects paths including COSM amp models fo
The Boss ME-25 multi-effects pedal provides a collection of additional sounds and features over the previous ME unit at the same price. This Boss guitar pedal includes a completely redesigned operating system which allows the entire product to operate in "EZ-Tone" mode, making the Boss ME-25 simple to use. There are added effects, COSM amp models, and a USB port for direct connection to computers. The ME-25 effects pedal is bundled with Cakewalk Sonar 8 LE and a DVD providing over one hundred audio loops that can be imported into Sonar for jamming or practice. The Boss ME-25's 60 onboard programs are organized into a Sound Library, which enables all the onboard tones to be selected simply by type. This built-in sound library gives you instant access to dozens of classic and modern effects. Simply choose a category, select a variation and play. You can customize your sound with simple twists of the Drive, Tone, and Volume knobs. COSM (Composite Object Sound Modeling)Composite Object Sound Modeling—or "COSM" for short—is Boss/Roland's innovative and powerful technology that's used to digitally recreate the sound of classic musical instruments and effects. COSM analyzes the many factors that make up the original sound—including its electrical and physical characteristics—and creates a digital model that accurately reproduces the original.
The RP50 delivers award-winning amp, cabinet and pick-up modeling, as well as an arsenal of studio-quality effects in compact pedal. It uses DigiTech's AudioDNA DSP chip to ensure that both modeling and effects are world-class, plus 24-bit A/D/A conversion so that no frequency response is lost between inputs and outputs. The RP50 includes a drum machine with 30 patterns and an easy-to-use 13-LED array tuner. Includes power supply. Highlights 20 effects - Use up to 8 effects at a time Effects include: Programmable EQ; Delay (mono and ping pong); Auto Wah; Chorus; Compressor; Flanger; Phaser; Tremolo; Vibrato; Rotary Speaker; Pitch Shift; Whammy; Auto Ya? 11 Classic Amp Models Cabinet, acoustic guitar and pickup models 40 factory and 40 user presets Expression pedal input Stereo output doubles as a headphone jack Chromatic tuner with user friendly LED array
Every Tone King amp is hand built by Mark Bartel, the designer for the company. He puts his all into each and every amp, so you know you’re getting a true masterpiece that’s going to sound amazing. This means, however, that getting a Tone King amp can take quite some time since the products are not mass produced.
