Tone King Imperial Preamp pedal at NAMM 2025
- Thread starter Richard_G
- Start date
gonzoknife
Roadie
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- 143
I had the IR-X and liked it but this looks way better. I'm sure it will be more expensive with the extra features but I definitely want one.
Sascha Franck
Rock Star
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- 7,235
There's no power amp in there (ok, they say it's a 0 Watt power amp, some trickery thing...).
Anyhow, I said so in the predictions thread, this for me is the most interesting thing from NAMM so far. I could absolutely not integrate this into my current setup, I'm pretty damn well sorted, too - but unfortunately, for my ears and taste this sounds sooo good (at least in these two videos, especially in the Anderton one) that I could even imagine to build a rig around it rather than integrating it somewhere.
rocknrollshakeup
Groupie
- Messages
- 39
I still have an IRX and it’s great; the TK would complement it very nicely.
jellodog
Rock Star
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- 4,818
One of the frustrating things about the Friedman pedals is the lack of stereo. This solves that!
I like this. Seems to be a way more appealing option for those that may have chosen the UAFX Dream 65 in the past, and presumably this will not suffer from the lack of input headroom that the Dream has.
I like this. Seems to be a way more appealing option for those that may have chosen the UAFX Dream 65 in the past, and presumably this will not suffer from the lack of input headroom that the Dream has.
Sascha Franck
Rock Star
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- 7,235
599 is less than what I expected.
laxu
Rock Star
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- 6,334
I knew that was the poweramp thing they probably pioneered in the Synergy modules, I don't know what made me think it had a poweramp built in.
newholland
Roadie
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- 346
what is it about tone king that makes guys start playing motown? 
its like music hasnt evolved in 60 years.
i'd love to try that, but thered be frighfful few john mayer licks played. that dirt channel, which got very little time, sounds way fun.
its like music hasnt evolved in 60 years.
i'd love to try that, but thered be frighfful few john mayer licks played. that dirt channel, which got very little time, sounds way fun.
ragingplatypi
Shredder
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- 1,057
Culture hasn’t evolved in the past 20 years. People have to look further back for any strong flavor.
Sascha Franck
Rock Star
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- 7,235
You know, guitar is more than chuggachugga. And more than motown as well.
I'm sure you've heard of things such as Neo Soul, too, have you?
newholland
Roadie
- Messages
- 346
im pretty sure that human culture has definitely changed markedly since 2005
im not necessarily stating that its changed for the better, but theres more to life than steve cropper and jimi hendrix and the like in my musical world and always has been. its all good music, but dayum.i get it, folks like what they like, but cmon now. vintage amps are one thing, but people are allowed and encouraged to grow musically and make some cool new sounds with even old sounding amps.
mercifulfuzziness
Shredder
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- 1,476
Is this the Yamaha Thr10ii or thr30ii with a warmer and roomier feel to it I was looking for?
newholland
Roadie
- Messages
- 346
sure. i dont think its wildly different than pre-o-soul, nor any more or less valid- but tha certainly doesnt indicate any wish to play chugga chugga either. im equally bored by seeing mesas trialed exclusively with that.
my point is more that id love to see these cool amps/amp type things not made into living stereotypes before they even hit market, regardless of how desirable they are for THAT THING, yknow?
laxu
Rock Star
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- 6,334
Depends what you are using to amplify it.
mercifulfuzziness
Shredder
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- 1,476
A guitar
Sascha Franck
Rock Star
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- 7,235
Perfectly fine with that, but in case of this very thing, for me it's much more about providing a decent base to build things around. And I think that it's very likely doing that extremely well, regardless of style (it may obviously not be the greatest choice for metal, though). I for one am looking for some core sounds allowing me to do pretty much anything I want with, and for such endeavours it's quite essential that it's dynamic, sitting well in whatever context and what not. Which seems to be what the Tone King is doing extremely well.
Fwiw, for the same reasons some amp topologies have become icons, such as a clean(-ish) Fender kinda amp, certain Marshalls, Vox amps and such. All of those serve as excellent platforms for pretty much any kinds of music without trying to deliver any tone on earth (which is what most modelers try to be doing) or limiting themselves by being made to suit a certain kind of style (such as quite some metal amps).
That Tone King thing seems to be along those lines, as in "you can go anywhere". Which is pretty much up my alley.
