Tone King Imperial Tube Preamp Pedal

pt22

So @Bowks and I put on our trendiest clothes and ventured deep into the bowels of Hackney Wick to the Synth and Pedal Expo this weekend. It was a really great show all around, well attended by a ton of great manufacturers directly as well as via distributor. I had lovely chat with John from Origin Effects on the differences in their compressors, as well as the background of the Magma57 pedal. UA ran me through the depth of their Enigmatic Dumble modelled pedal. I played the new Kernom Elipse modulation pedal. All cool stuff and like a little east-London NAMM. The discounts were decent as well. Most vendors offered 10-20% off on the day, and a few even offer discounts for a few weeks after. It was also a mandatory head-phone use event, so it was quite polite all around. Definitely a trip for next year. 

Turns out Boutique Amp Distribution was there courtesy of GuitarGuitar, and they brought the same NAMM '25 pedalboard you may have seen in the YouTube vids. I've been watching intently for the drop of the ToneKing Imperial Preamp as all the NAMM vids show it being an absolutely incredible tool. The full front end of the Imperial MKII, a third tube driving the reverb and bias trem circuits, "0 watt" power section, stereo FX loops, headphone out, IR loader, etc...

So we both plugged in and...holy smokes this this is amazing. I couldn't get a bad tone out of it, and the stereo reverb and trem are just intoxicating with headphones. The rhythm channel clean was lovely, and you can crunch it nicely driving it while introducing a bit of attenuation. I spent most of my time on that channel, but Lead also sounded great although I did need to drive the attenuation up quite a bit more. It seems to remember if reverb/tremolo were set "on" as you switch channels. I actually forgot to try pedals into it myself which is a bit laughable considering the size board it was on! 

I'm imagining a small board with an EP booster or Spark in front, and my El Cap in the stereo loop. Perfection. I haven't been this psyched about a piece of gear in years, and during my limited time it exceeded my expectations. 

Apparently they are already arriving in UK shop warehouses, so release is imminent. Anyone else looking at one?

allen

I am also looking at one. Like you, I thought all of the NAMM demos sounded fantastic.

Although I've already got a handwired p2p Imperial - so it's not like I need it.

Dominic

Lovely clean but never been wowed by the dirty channel on an Imperial 1 or 2

pt22

It’s dropped. The vids are flowing. 

https://youtu.be/ApriZz5lXZs?feature=shared

Mine arrives tomorrow. Pumped!!

Winny_Pooh

So this goes into an amp or IR loader? 

pt22

Winny_Pooh said:

So this goes into an amp or IR loader? 

Both, or neither. It can be wired 4CM to provide an additional two channels to an amp with a serial FX loop, used standalone with headphones, into a DAW, into the front of an amp, into an IR loader, etc... It's very flexible. 

BigRedOne

https://imgur.com/a/T6cFUyB

First test run for the Imperial Preamp - delay, flanger & chorus in the FX loop.  The unit takes a lot of power - I needed to daisy-chain two 12v outputs from my strymon zuma. 

Kent747

BigRedOne said:

https://imgur.com/a/T6cFUyB

First test run for the Imperial Preamp - delay, flanger & chorus in the FX loop.  The unit takes a lot of power - I needed to daisy-chain two 12v outputs from my strymon zuma. 

Thoughts? I’m on the fence. I have a Kemper but this looks to do all the things I want the Kemper for. 

BigRedOne

Very early impressions are that its quite a different experience to a kemper (which I've just recently sold) and to the UAFX amp pedals (the reason I sold the kemper) - without sounding like I work for Tone King marketing, its much more like playing an amp.

pt22

BigRedOne said:

Very early impressions are that its quite a different experience to a kemper (which I've just recently sold) and to the UAFX amp pedals (the reason I sold the kemper) - without sounding like I work for Tone King marketing, its much more like playing an amp.

Nice! I received mine today but only had about 20 mins via headphone. Every noise out of it has been great so far. Looking forward to adding it to my amp via 4cm. I’ll be able to use the trem and reverb on the amp preamp as well. Wicked! 

Kent747

BigRedOne said:

Very early impressions are that its quite a different experience to a kemper (which I've just recently sold) and to the UAFX amp pedals (the reason I sold the kemper) - without sounding like I work for Tone King marketing, its much more like playing an amp.

Ok. That’s what I assumed would be the case. Wonder how it’ll take drive pedals. 

BigRedOne

running the rhythm channel clean it took a Duelist and Mudhoney just fine - the lead channel got a bit oversaturated at times, which is to be expected. 

Kent747

I think I like it so far - it’s staying on the board for now. The stereo fx loop is really good. 

Whitecat

Welp, got one arriving Thursday. Actually can’t wait. I think this is a proper bargain for what you’re getting. Any comments or tips thus far a few days on?

digitalkettle

Whitecat said:

Welp, got one arriving Thursday. Actually can’t wait. I think this is a proper bargain for what you’re getting. Any comments or tips thus far a few days on?

I just sat down to get a few things done...switched on my largish, stereo pedalboard...plugged into the clean channel with only a compressor in front: I've been noodling for an hour...addictive

Kent747

Whitecat said:

Welp, got one arriving Thursday. Actually can’t wait. I think this is a proper bargain for what you’re getting. Any comments or tips thus far a few days on?

Download the app on a computer and play with the other IRs. Be prepared to spend some time but overall - it’s an amp. Works like an amp. Been really happy. 

koss59

Whitecat said:

Welp, got one arriving Thursday. Actually can’t wait. I think this is a proper bargain for what you’re getting. Any comments or tips thus far a few days on?

Where did you manage to find one? They seem out of stock everywhere and could really do with one for gigs

Kent747

koss59 said:

Whitecat said:

Welp, got one arriving Thursday. Actually can’t wait. I think this is a proper bargain for what you’re getting. Any comments or tips thus far a few days on?

Where did you manage to find one? They seem out of stock everywhere and could really do with one for gigs

I’d be curious too. I debated for 48 hours and then only Coda was left. No issues with Coda just more that nowhere had any. 

Whitecat

I put a deposit down with Coda when they had them and they put one aside, been away for the Easter break so taking delivery as early as I can!

DougCoda

We’ve more coming in the next week or so and I’d imagine it’s the same with other dealers …I’m really impressed with them, they sound great 

pt22

I’ve just had the chance to really sit and dig in after two weeks of my father visiting, and this thing sounds great. 

Simple headphone only board. Thorpy Dane MKI, TK Imperial, then El Cap & stereo looper in the loop. The pedal sounds great on it own, but the combination of humbuckers and the boost side of the Dane punished the “front end” of the pedal and gave some great saturation and compression on the lead channel. 

It’s can get pretty dark though, which I guess is similar to the actual amp. I’ll have to try it with a few other guitars but the neck pickup of my SA got pretty wooly at times. I ran the bass down around 9pm on the rhythm channel quite a bit.  The eq definitely does the job though. The 1x12 IR is a bit more “immediate” and helps with additional definition.  

I want to keep this board small but I may try the Condor Hi-Fi and a small compressor in place of the Dane to see if the extra eq is useful. 

This thing is great fun.