Tone King Imperial MK II, User Manual

Page 1: ...Tone King Imperial MK II User s Manual Tone King Amplifiers www toneking com mail toneking com Note from the Builder ...

Page 2: ...r cabinet to disappointing results After years of building test cabinets experimenting with wood types construction methods and many other factors I began to develop a sense for how to control the voicing of a cabinet to achieve the sound and feel I was after The Imperial was the first of my designs to benefit from these efforts in cabinet design and I like to think that this is why it is such a s...

Page 3: ...e exclamation point triangular symbol is intended to alert the user to the presence of important operating and maintenance servicing instructions in the user manual accompanying this amplifier 1 Read Instructions All the safety and operating instructions should be read beforethis product is operated 2 Retain Instructions The safety and operating instructions should be retained forfuture reference ...

Page 4: ...id getting water inside the amplifier 14 Non use Periods The power cord of the amplifier should be unplugged from theoutlet when left unused for a long period of time 15 Object and Liquid Entry Care should be taken so that objects do not fall and liquids are not spilled into the enclosure through openings 16 Damage Requiring Service The amplifier should be serviced by qualified service personnel w...

Page 5: ...ve the same characteristics as the original part Unauthorized substitutions may result in fire electric shock or other hazards 23 Safety Check Upon completion of any service or repairs to this product ask theservice technician to perform safety checks to determine that the product is in proper operating condition 24 FUSES Always use the correct rating and type of fuse as indicated on the rearpanel...

Page 6: ...tenuator 9 Purpose of the Attenuator 9 Attenuator Controls 10 How to Use the Attenuator 10 HF Comp Switch 11 Rhythm Channel Bypass Switch 11 4 Getting a Great Sound at Home 12 The Effect of Your Acoustical Environment 12 Floor Reflections 12 Where to Place the Amp 12 Carpeting 12 Backwards Amp Trick 13 The Attenuator Can Help 13 5 Tube Installation and Replacement 14 Choice of Tube Types and Brand...

Page 7: ...6 Tube Quality 16 6 Warranty 17 7 CE Declaration 18 ...

Page 8: ...Bass and Treble controls act much like they would on a genuine vintage amp of this type Here are two sample settings that demonstrate the sound that the Rhythm channel was designed to deliver Clean Rhythm Tone Volume Treble Bass Reverb 3 4 6 5 This is the clean sound the Imperial was designed for Sweet punchy and balanced Plug in a strat with the bridge middle position and you ll get a nice Sultan...

Page 9: ...d inspired by the sound of a tweed deluxe on 10 It s great for blues playing and really shines with single notes and double stops Rock Roll Tweed Overdrive Volume Tone Mid Bite Reverb 6 5 8 2 This setting is more rock roll but still retains a lot of the tweed deluxe character It gives you a tighter bottom end and creamier mids than the previous setting so it s great for playing rock chord rhythms ...

Page 10: ...y rounded effect but it is quite subtle when compared to an opto coupler tremolo as would be found in for example a Fender Twin Reverb The Depth control varies the intensity of the modulation effect and the Rate knob controls the speed of the effect If the footswitch is not being used then the tremolo circuit is active all the time so you will need to turn the Depth knob all the way down if you do...

Page 11: ... sure to set the front panel Channel switch to the Rhythm position Speaker Jack The Imperial has a single speaker jack with an impedance of 8 Ohms If you wish to use an extension cabinet it s best to use an 8 ohm cabinet You can connect it with a standard mono speaker cable by pulling out the plug from the internal speaker and plugging the cable into the speaker jack If desired or necessary you ma...

Page 12: ...ind a way to lower the volume level while still maintaining the great sound of overdriven power tubes The best solution to controlling volume level while still allowing the output tubes to generate maximum output power is to use an attenuator An attenuator is a circuit which allows you to divide the power generated by the amplifier between the speaker and a specially designed load circuit In doing...

Page 13: ...n HF Comp 6 5 8 2 24db Max Now while playing through the amp try turning the Volume control up and down a bit You will see how slight changes in the Volume control will make the tone more or less distorted but won t have much effect on the volume level in the room The reason for this is that the output stage of the amplifier is already generating maximum output power even if the amp is only just o...

Page 14: ...hythm channel to match the overdriven volume on the Lead channel This switch solves the problem Here s how it works Bypass When set to Bypass the attenuator is bypassed whenever the rhythm channel is selected This means that the full power developed by the output tubes will be delivered to the speaker when the Rhythm channel is selected regardless of the Attenuation knob setting However when you s...

Page 15: ...you I generally suggest a slightly off axis listening position You may want to experiment to find the best orientation for your listening room Carpeting Carpeting can cause problems as well and it s not quite as simple as rolling off the high frequencies and making the amp sound dark Often the problem is that it causes a dip in a certain region in the midrange leaving a hole in the lower midrange ...

Page 16: ...he attenuator down a few steps e g try it at 15db with the HF Comp switch set to Max and turn the Volume control up a bit to compensate You should find that this smoothes out the upper mids and fattens up the tone without losing presence 5 Tube Installation and Replacement I currently recommend the following tube types No Type Function V1 12AX7 Stage 1 Rhythm Lead Stage 2 Lead V2 12AX7 Stage 2 Rhy...

Page 17: ...e musicians choose to use to vacuum tubes because of their tone but we need to accept that the tubes available to us these days can be imperfect devices and are most certainly the least reliable component in the entire amplifier It would seem that the obvious solution would be to use new old stock tubes that were made back in the glory days when tubes were properly made However I ve lately been fi...

Page 18: ...ice your amplifier by yourself Please read the instruction manual for all safety notifications warnings and instructions Tone King like all tube amplifiers have extremely high voltages that can cause serious injury or death Do not remove the chassis from the amplifier All repair and service work must be performed by Tone King or an authorized service center of Tone King ANY UNAUTHORIZED REPAIRS WI...

Page 19: ... the product to the customer All warranty repairs outside the United States and Canada must be directed to the dealer or distributor from which you purchased the product INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGE In no event will Tone King be liable for any incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use of any Tone King product even if a Tone King dealer has been advised of...

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