Tone King Imperial Preamp pedal

[gearJunkie]

 

[Sascha Franck]

Hm, and again, no funky cleans.
Quite weird, btw. Nobody seems interested in those kinda tones anymore, but they're actually still used very often on all sorts of popular music.

 

[metropolis_4]

Hm, and again, no funky cleans.
Quite weird, btw. Nobody seems interested in those kinda tones anymore, but they're actually still used very often on all sorts of popular music.

Cory Wong has an entire career built on it. I’d say it’s more popular right now than it’s been in a very long time.

I don’t think those kind of tones are a strong point for Tone King though. Their amps are voiced dark and kind of wooly for that style. You could pull those tones off with one, but it’s not their forte

 

[Sascha Franck]

Cory Wong has an entire career built on it. I’d say it’s more popular right now than it’s been in a very long time.

I was about to mention Wong, but I think he's really more of a player's player. Yet, these kinda sounds have never stopped being used all throughout popular music (popular as in top 10 chart stuff included). It's just in the guitar-verse that these sounds aren't often checked for in reviews and what not (note: a sort of obvious reason possibly being that homedwellers, quite unarguably the largest group of potential buyers, rather noodle or riff around with whatever kinds of overdriven sounds instead of refining their funky "pocket" skills - and no, this is not meant as a stab at them).

I don’t think those kind of tones are a strong point for Tone King though. Their amps are voiced dark and kind of wooly for that style. You could pull those tones off with one, but it’s not their forte

You might be right, but I personally don't mind these sounds to be somewhat darker too much, as long as they're tight and clean.

The HX system's new-ish Super Reverb can be dialed in every bit how I like it, as long as you keep the gain low enough, and it fortunately doesn't lose any of it's character without any breakup (which many amps do, they only start to sound great once you approach hairy territory).
So, as long as the TK preamp would do that as good, I'd be absolutely fine.

 

[Stratzrus]

...I personally don't mind these sounds to be somewhat darker too much, as long as they're tight and clean.

I find for traditional Funk rolling off the high end can really help the guitar from being overbearing but still cut.

 

[metropolis_4]

I was about to mention Wong, but I think he's really more of a player's player. Yet, these kinda sounds have never stopped being used all throughout popular music (popular as in top 10 chart stuff included). It's just in the guitar-verse that these sounds aren't often checked for in reviews and what not (note: a sort of obvious reason possibly being that homedwellers, quite unarguably the largest group of potential buyers, rather noodle or riff around with whatever kinds of overdriven sounds instead of refining their funky "pocket" skills - and no, this is not meant as a stab at them).



You might be right, but I personally don't mind these sounds to be somewhat darker too much, as long as they're tight and clean.

The HX system's new-ish Super Reverb can be dialed in every bit how I like it, as long as you keep the gain low enough, and it fortunately doesn't lose any of it's character without any breakup (which many amps do, they only start to sound great once you approach hairy territory).
So, as long as the TK preamp would do that as good, I'd be absolutely fine.

No argument from me there. YouTube reviews seem to always go straight to distortion and skip over anything clean.

I’m on an ‘80s kick right now, I’ve been going bright and tight on these type of tones. My personal taste tends to lean that way, but I can appreciate darker funk tones as well!

 

[metropolis_4]

I find for traditional Funk rolling off the high end can really help the guitar from being overbearing but still cut.

I dig that kind of thing where you’ve got a brighter guitar on top and a darker one playing lower voicings underneath

 

[newpedals]

It's arrived!

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This sounds sweet in a demo I saw and looks cool.

Users may have benefitted more from a reverb/ tremolo toggle which could be assigned to the first footswitch.

 

[gearJunkie]

This sounds sweet in a demo I saw and looks cool.

Users may have benefitted more from a reverb/ tremolo toggle which could be assigned to the first footswitch.

I am going to use the Hotone MIDI footdwitch to control the effects and "hidden" controls.

 

[Sascha Franck]

It's arrived!

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We want clips!

 

[Whizzinby]

Going to wire up my spare Cioks DC7 with a couple of current doublers to power this and the VP4.

Curious how you get on with it. That sounds like a glorious pairing.

 

[rocknrollshakeup]

Just ordered one to complement my IRX. With those two, my EQ, and a fuzz, I figure I can conquer the DI recording tonal universe .

 

[Stratzrus]

I am going to use the Hotone MIDI footdwitch to control the effects and "hidden" controls.
View attachment 41960

Is it possible to use that with two different devises without having to re-program when you switch?

I have a Catalyst CX 100 and now the Tone King Preamp. Can it be set up so that I can switch between the two?

I'm pretty much a MIDIot but I'd like to learn how to use MIDI with both.

 

[newpedals]

I was expecting a spring reverb, but I don't know why it sounds, for the lack of a better word, different.

Unless one is recording surfer stuff, plate/ room/ hall reverbs are more forgiving and versatile.

This reverb algo has a niche of its own. Remembered the first time I heard neunaber wet or the reverb on Dispatch master. It has its own characteristics.

 

[Stratzrus]

Hm, and again, no funky cleans.
Quite weird, btw. Nobody seems interested in those kinda tones anymore, but they're actually still used very often on all sorts of popular music.

While not as extended as I'd like this clip does have some funky stuff and finally some Jazz tones from a 335, exactly where I'll be spending most of my time.

Funk - 7:20
Jazz - 9:50

My main concern was could I get a great Jazz tone out of it and the tone in the clip would be fine for practicing or for sitting in.

I could actually gig with this tone if as I got ready to leave I thought "I went to travel light tonight." which has happened more than once in the past.

I need to try it out but I'm thinking that the TK Preamp and the V3 FR-10 could make a great lightweight grab and go rig.

 

[gearJunkie]

Is it possible to use that with two different devises without having to re-program when you switch?

Yes. You would need to set the TK preamp and Catalyst to receive on different MIDI channels.

With Ampero Control you can assign up to 16 different MIDI messages (or 32 messages divided into two groups) per footswitch with different press/hold actions.

When configuring the messages for each footswitch, set the message send channel to match the MIDI receive channel for the target device.

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

Cory Wong has an entire career built on it. I’d say it’s more popular right now than it’s been in a very long time.

I don’t think those kind of tones are a strong point for Tone King though. Their amps are voiced dark and kind of wooly for that style. You could pull those tones off with one, but it’s not their forte

I was about to mention Wong, but I think he's really more of a player's player. Yet, these kinda sounds have never stopped being used all throughout popular music (popular as in top 10 chart stuff included). It's just in the guitar-verse that these sounds aren't often checked for in reviews and what not (note: a sort of obvious reason possibly being that homedwellers, quite unarguably the largest group of potential buyers, rather noodle or riff around with whatever kinds of overdriven sounds instead of refining their funky "pocket" skills - and no, this is not meant as a stab at them).



You might be right, but I personally don't mind these sounds to be somewhat darker too much, as long as they're tight and clean.

The HX system's new-ish Super Reverb can be dialed in every bit how I like it, as long as you keep the gain low enough, and it fortunately doesn't lose any of it's character without any breakup (which many amps do, they only start to sound great once you approach hairy territory).
So, as long as the TK preamp would do that as good, I'd be absolutely fine.

I’ve always gotten to those funky sounds with an eq pedal thinning things a bit on a thicker “base clean”. I’d be confident that would work with this pedal also. Easy enough if you plan to use it together with a digital.

Btw, worth a try: since a lot of these funky sounds are recorded straight to the board, I tried: guitar—> comp —> EQ block —> Cab(sim)
So…no amp model at all. Works surprisingly well!

 

[Sascha Franck]

While not as extended as I'd like this clip does have some funky stuff and finally some Jazz tones from a 335, exactly where I'll be spending most of my time.

Funk - 7:20
Jazz - 9:50

Thanks for the link. For myself, while certainly acceptable/serviceable, both tones aren't what I'd pay money for, simply because I'm getting "better" (well, make that "tighter", which is what I want) tones out of what I already have.
Might of course be totally different in case I had the thing in my hands, but all the current videos suggest that this thing is indeed located somewhat more on the spongy/woofy side of things. Certainly great for some tones, but as said before, a really tight clean sound is a key element of the things I need for most gigs.

 

[Sascha Franck]

I’ve always gotten to those funky sounds with an eq pedal thinning things a bit on a thicker “base clean”. I’d be confident that would work with this pedal also. Easy enough if you plan to use it together with a digital.

Yeah, might work, but I'd rather have something working out of the box. Fwiw, over the last handful of gigs, I found out that the NUX Amp Academy really isn't too bad for all these things (and I almost sold it already). Defenitely not a spectacular sound but tight and working extremely well in a band context. Might post a short example later on.

Btw, worth a try: since a lot of these funky sounds are recorded straight to the board, I tried: guitar—> comp —> EQ block —> Cab(sim)
So…no amp model at all. Works surprisingly well!

I'm actually doing this pretty often when recording (even without the cab sim), but for live I always feel as if an actual amp sim would, hm, "gel" things together nicely.

 

[gearJunkie]

I love the Badlander, and adding the TK Imperial preamp in 4CM moves me into lustful devotion territory.

The reverb and tremolo sound incredible. Both channels pair extremely well with the BL power section and 12" Creamback.

I think I'm going to skip adding the VP4 to this rig and keep it simple. I'll probably stick the Argo Boost octave fuzz and a polytune 3 mini to the front of the chain and consider the board completed.

Badlandoverb™