Tone King Imperial Preamp pedal

[Richard_G]

Absolutely! I'm not sure if you saw my post/thread a while ago about how I use the Tone King's versatility — it might be of interest to you.

Thread 'A small but powerful and flexible hybrid board (VP4, TK Imperial pedal, +++)'

Aug 25, 2025

Lately, I’ve been thinking about how to put together a board combining my Tone King Imperial Tritube preamp pedal, my recently acquired Fractal Audio VP4 and a few other of my pedals. And in my own humble opinion, I’ve now put together a nice, flexible hybrid board in a rather small footprint (compared to many other boards).

I thought this board and setup perhaps could be of interest to others here as well. So here it is:

I guess the setup and signal chain may be considered somewhat complex for a small board, where I’m connecting the VP4 and TK Imperial pedal (TKI pedal) in...

• Richard_G
• Replies: 4
• Forum: Pedals & Effects

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[Frodebro]

Absolutely! I'm not sure if you saw my post/thread a while ago about how I use the Tone King's versatility — it might be of interest to you.

Thread 'A small but powerful and flexible hybrid board (VP4, TK Imperial pedal, +++)'

Aug 25, 2025

Lately, I’ve been thinking about how to put together a board combining my Tone King Imperial Tritube preamp pedal, my recently acquired Fractal Audio VP4 and a few other of my pedals. And in my own humble opinion, I’ve now put together a nice, flexible hybrid board in a rather small footprint (compared to many other boards).

I thought this board and setup perhaps could be of interest to others here as well. So here it is:

I guess the setup and signal chain may be considered somewhat complex for a small board, where I’m connecting the VP4 and TK Imperial pedal (TKI pedal) in...

• Richard_G
• Replies: 4
• Forum: Pedals & Effects

• 
• 

I did see that thread. What I have in mind is a very basic small board with the TKIP, a boost/dirt pedal, an analog delay (I have a BOSS DM-101), and a volume pedal after the preamp but before the delay (I have been running a volume pedal in this configuration since my bar band days 30 years ago, and I would be lost without it). This could be run direct into the PA, or in 4CM with one of my amps (I'm thinking the Studio JTM would be a perfect fit).

 

[Richard_G]

That sounds like a nice setup!

 

[Richard_G]

Fwiw, I've made a few Tonex v2 extended captures of my Tone King Imperial preamp pedal, if anyone is interested:
https://thegearforum.com/threads/richard_gs-tonex-captures.10019/

 

[Richard_G]

 

[Richard_G]

PSA:

The Tone King Imperial preamp pedal is currently on sale @ Anderton's for £499.00.

https://www.andertons.co.uk/tone-king-imperial-tube-preamp-pedal

 

[JasonE]

I have been looking for a deal on one of these here in the US. I had one where a shop sent me an offer on Reverb but I wasn't ready to buy yet. It was a 12% off offer. I reached out to him yesterday and they were out of stock or he would have sent me the same offer again. I just got another offer for 8% off. That isn't good enough for me. I bought a pedal from a place that gave me a coupon for 10% off. I think I can use it for this pedal and they have them in stock. I have been waiting for Sweetwater to reply to my email to them to find out if they will cut me a deal but haven't heard anything back.

 

[mavrick102000]

Absolutely! I'm not sure if you saw my post/thread a while ago about how I use the Tone King's versatility — it might be of interest to you.

Thread 'A small but powerful and flexible hybrid board (VP4, TK Imperial pedal, +++)'

Aug 25, 2025

Lately, I’ve been thinking about how to put together a board combining my Tone King Imperial Tritube preamp pedal, my recently acquired Fractal Audio VP4 and a few other of my pedals. And in my own humble opinion, I’ve now put together a nice, flexible hybrid board in a rather small footprint (compared to many other boards).

I thought this board and setup perhaps could be of interest to others here as well. So here it is:

I guess the setup and signal chain may be considered somewhat complex for a small board, where I’m connecting the VP4 and TK Imperial pedal (TKI pedal) in...

• Richard_G
• Replies: 4
• Forum: Pedals & Effects

• 
• 

This board needs more drives!

 

[Richard_G]

I have been looking for a deal on one of these here in the US. I had one where a shop sent me an offer on Reverb but I wasn't ready to buy yet. It was a 12% off offer. I reached out to him yesterday and they were out of stock or he would have sent me the same offer again. I just got another offer for 8% off. That isn't good enough for me. I bought a pedal from a place that gave me a coupon for 10% off. I think I can use it for this pedal and they have them in stock. I have been waiting for Sweetwater to reply to my email to them to find out if they will cut me a deal but haven't heard anything back.

I can absolutely recommend it!

 

[Richard_G]

@mavrick102000 Every board needs more drives!

 

[mavrick102000]

When I had pedals and amps I had the same issue - drives everywhere.

 

[JasonE]

I can absolutely recommend it!

I ordered one today. I got it for 10% off with 2 day shipping. It will go into shipping tomorrow. I have wanted this one ever since I saw the first demo video for it. I have the Friedman IR-D. One video I saw showed using the IR-D and the TKI together. I will probably set it up that way. For the most part I probably wouldn't need much if anything else. I am thinking maybe a tuner, compressor and delay and that would be a complete rig for use with an amp or for going direct, or both.