I purchased a Gremlin combo for 3 month and that' s the best 5 watt amp I ever could play on by far. I mostly gigging in small venues and do some studio work from time to time. This is the perfect amp for business like that. Another reason for me, this is a subway amp. That means you could grab the amp shoulder your guitar and go to a gig by subway. Cheers from Germany.
just a quick question if you don't mind. what do you use to power the amp at the sub way? are you using a external power supply or are using an outlet at the subway?
I'm sure it was different in the room, but when you had the mics on them, the Imperial sounded great at every gain setting. They Sky King seemed too scooped (highs got a little too crispy overall and the lows a bit flubby when driven). Sort of Brown face vs Silver face. Fan of Brown face so am biased.
For what it's worth I used to have a Sky King and have played an Imperial. I sold the Sky King. It sounded ok and felt nice (especially up at volume), but a real Fender just flat out sounds better (to me). I'd give the Imperial another shot though...
Great video, very informative! Quick Q- Although I'm into 50's clean style, I also play in a gritty punk band. Will Imperial MKII make enough noise, or do I just pony up fir the Sky King, and also get the advantages of the pentode/linear modes? Thanks in advance!
Before deciding you need to play the Imperial with the separate speaker cabinet. Different speaker (the same one that's in the Sky King), ans thus better sound
Just take the amp that looks like an old TV home with you... that same amp and the telecaster too. Take the chair and cable too... take his whole rig. Lol
Just upgraded from an Imperial MKII to the Sky King. Holy crap was it worth it. Sky king has so much more tones available. With the Pentode and ultra linear mode, I easily dialed in my old Imperial sound but can also dial in way beyond that. Blackface, brownface, tweed, Marshall. If you are on the fence and can swing the extra cash, go sky king first and save the upgrade later.
@@paulcowart3174 i can see this was a while back but just the other week everyone was talking about the slow death of tube amplifiers..some of it due to events in Eat Europe and some the quality of SS. wonder if anything has changed re ToneKing?
Still feel that way… I just made the upgrade and Sky King is on order. I did enjoy the Imperial, but I really like 6L6 tubes and Celestion speaker personally. More depth, easier on pedals to take to it and can do Imperial MK2 but also everything else. It just worked out that way so went with it. The Imperial MK2 has beautiful cleans as I’m sure the Sky King Does. But the bottom end sometimes on the MK2 with pedals was just too coward Vs even and rounded.
@@mattg082 you won't regret it. Still my favorite amp of the 7 that I own. Its going to be great when you get it, but its going to be incredible after some hours of use.
You missed the Falcon.......and may be it is the best fit. If the clean "channel" is good enough for your taste you get also tweed and suproish options. I would like to get my hands on a Falcon, too expensive for me. I wish they made the old Falcon ( less Watts and no reverb) without attenuator and lower the price.
Dude it's a no-brainer man. Tone king imperial all day and twice on Sundays! The sky king's 35 watts is loud regardless of the attenuation circuitry. Plus it doesn't have the sparkle or that drippy Reverb that the imperial has. And if you're used to playing through Princeton to go from 12 w to 30 or 35 is a huge Gulf to cross! I've got the tone king imperial mk1 without the attenuator and that is a loud amp!! and when I pair that with my Dr Z Maz 18 Junior in Stereo it doesn't get any better! Good luck in your hunt man!!
I just bought a Tone King. I thought it would sound like my ancient Princeton, but I was wrong. The TK is so much better. The sound quality and tone are on a much higher level than Fender amps, and they are quite gainy. The only unfortunate thing is that mine doesn’t like gain pedals. A treble booster-style pedal is the way to go with a Tone King.
Damn it Ry, I'm making that same video too!!!! That's two this month. I feel like this is a "Looper" thing: were you sent from the future to kill my TH-cam page?
Those amps are really nice. I like them a lot. I've never played any vintage fenders but they sound like custom shop amps to my ears. Surprised that the sax maker Keilwerth never laid a claim to the moniker Tone King.
I didn't realize Tone King outsourced their amp building. I assumed all these boutique amp builders build from their own business space like Two-Rock or Amplified Nation.
That's why I went with Magnatone. All hand built in house in st Louis Missouri. Plus they sound killer and they are classy as hell looking. I definitely can't afford a Two Rock but killer amps
@@billnelson9413 Yeah, I've always had trem pedals, many many of them over the years (right not I'm using a Strymon Flint), but whenever I get to play an amp with actual bias tremolo built in, like the amazing Carr Rambler, or a Princeton, or even a humble Vox AC15, it just makes me so happy ...
I bought a Sky King 6 months ago , It broke down after an hours playing , really pissed me off because it sounded so good and it was super expensive , turned out to be a tube different brand to the rest of the tubes which didn't sound right to me , i replaced all the tubes with TADs played it for a while and was going to sell it , it sat in my room not being played as I have 10 amps , started playing it again last week and so far so good , it's probably the best sounding amp ive ever played , I did contact Tone King they said they would send me a replacement tube , they were talkative and good , I bought a new set myself , i suppose i can't blame the amp coming from USA to Australia , anyway you won't ever be dissapointed with the sound of the Sky King
I have a PBG-era Sky King, and the original handle broke on me. I contacted BAD (current Tone King owners) to see if I could buy a replacement from them, and they sent me one at no cost! My experiences with BAD's customer services has also been good so far.
I prefer the look of the Imperial, but I really liked the sound of the Sky King better. I am a form follows function guy, so there's that, then again you could get both.... ;-)
@@60CycleHumcast Yes The turquoise. The sound is a given. Henning has every gourmet amp on the planet but I noticed he uses his in a ratio of about 10 to one. You like the surf thing and it is perfect for that. Henning proves every other day that any pedal Dirt or otherwise sounds stellar thru it.In fact it can make a mediocre pedal sound better then it is. It also has a look that says "Play Me!"
Not that my opinion matters all that much knowing nothing about surf. The Imperial suits your playing style very well, trough the mic the sky was a bit to hollow
Sky King wider range of sounds to me. For the price of the Imperial and narrow range I’d get a hand-wired Custom reverb or buy the Sky King to do something worthwhile for that cost difference between Custom and Imperial.
Pretty sure they are PCB, but hopefully up to the standard of the high quality PCBs Mark Bartel used in the original Imperials, etc. Also looks like they no longer have pine cabinets (from the heavier weight of the current models, baltic birch ply I assume) and have a different speaker (Tone King signature speakers by Celestion instead of Creamback) than the "20th Anniversary" originals.
The Tone King brand and the original designs were bought by some company that went belly up and then picked up by these guys. Mark is making his own new original designs under the brand Bartel Amps.
Sorry I couldn't sit through this even for 5 mins and I really wanted to. The microphone going back and forward was annoying. I couldn't hear half the time and couldn't see the amps.
I have a tone king falcon...the 1x10 made by mark bartell before he gave up the name ...sold it...love the amp...good for small clubs...bedroom with attenuation....guitar out of tune slightly....mmmm
Haha that sucks that the sky king didn’t work upfront haha def set them up to fail! But I will say I got an imperial & boy am I one happy camper! Guitar center failed me w the cable for foot switch & possible tube retainers but hey into guitar center and they’re not known for customer service lol
@@talkychris first - reverb does not sound right in front of a cranked amp, and second - the whole idea of a small home amp for me is plug and play, no pedals on the floor, no additional cabling, just one nice amp next to sofa with guitar plugged in.
@@albertoanaut Supros are built like crap. They sound good however.. so it's really too bad they don't play up their game and build in the US again. The 2 Amulets I tried, the 2 sent back because of major problems
Sky King.... The Imperial sounds great, but the Sky King sounds fuller. That Gremlin sounds great, but it is a tad limiting with just a volume/tone control... Unless you are strictly looking for a pedal test amp...
you could still get a 70's deluxe reverb/ vibrolux for less money (1000.00) less...I just bought an Ampeg J12 Super Jet (50w) for 350.00....lots of options out there.
@@sunlounger29 I don't think so, i tune pianos and have played guitar for 40+ yrs...people should stop using tuners and relearn how to tune by ear ! Can you hear the diference between 440 and 445 ?...peace
Yeah ok, but that guy seems to find problems on 99% of the amps he shows.. obviously the ones he gets come in because of.. problems. At the end if you listen to him, only vintage Fender amps are worth it... Which is 3K.. Thousands and thousands of people play any level guitar amps and are happy with. A few hundreds or maybe a bit more spend hundreds of hours on forums trying to debate over these details and scaring everybody. Just buy the amp in your budget range and play it. I really don't think a Tone King is going to shit on you.. it MAY happen, but very much less than a Fender.
The Imperial is like the perfect amp. It has some kind of magic, always sounds amazing in any demo I've heard.
I purchased a Gremlin combo for 3 month and that' s the best 5 watt amp I ever could play on by far.
I mostly gigging in small venues and do some studio work from time to time.
This is the perfect amp for business like that.
Another reason for me, this is a subway amp.
That means you could grab the amp shoulder your guitar and go to a gig by subway.
Cheers from Germany.
just a quick question if you don't mind. what do you use to power the amp at the sub way? are you using a external power supply or are using an outlet at the subway?
I liked the Imperial the best. Beautiful looking and sounding amps.
The amps are sounding great , but it would've sounded much better with a tuned guitar .
IKR, that guitar was so out of tune.
@@breadzeppelin2705 you guys must have great pitch, sounds fine to me
I'm sure it was different in the room, but when you had the mics on them, the Imperial sounded great at every gain setting. They Sky King seemed too scooped (highs got a little too crispy overall and the lows a bit flubby when driven). Sort of Brown face vs Silver face. Fan of Brown face so am biased.
For what it's worth I used to have a Sky King and have played an Imperial. I sold the Sky King. It sounded ok and felt nice (especially up at volume), but a real Fender just flat out sounds better (to me).
I'd give the Imperial another shot though...
I have the Imperial MK II, love it, totally worth the price!
God I love that splashiness of the Imperial!
Our guitar player has an original Imperial ( along with 30 other amps)..I love when he brings it out.
Id recommend the falcon grande for you it has a reverb that can drip built in
ill have to try that one next time im there
“I need gear to help me sell other gear.” Is about the best way to sum up the world of guitar today. Music is secondary.
Great video, very informative! Quick Q- Although I'm into 50's clean style, I also play in a gritty punk band. Will Imperial MKII make enough noise, or do I just pony up fir the Sky King, and also get the advantages of the pentode/linear modes? Thanks in advance!
Before deciding you need to play the Imperial with the separate speaker cabinet. Different speaker (the same one that's in the Sky King), ans thus better sound
Drool on that Sky King!
Just take the amp that looks like an old TV home with you... that same amp and the telecaster too. Take the chair and cable too... take his whole rig. Lol
I'm waiting for the big liquidation sale.
are they going out of business?
pretty cool, you got Sting to do this!!
Sorta preferred the Imperial.
Last thing I expected to see was Glenn sliding around like the Bud Light Penguin!
Just upgraded from an Imperial MKII to the Sky King. Holy crap was it worth it. Sky king has so much more tones available. With the Pentode and ultra linear mode, I easily dialed in my old Imperial sound but can also dial in way beyond that. Blackface, brownface, tweed, Marshall. If you are on the fence and can swing the extra cash, go sky king first and save the upgrade later.
Good to know Yes have my eyes on the King 500 more but if you're going 2500 might as well go 3K 6L6 is my fave tube anyways Thanks for the input
@@paulcowart3174 i can see this was a while back but just the other week everyone was talking about the slow death of tube amplifiers..some of it due to events in Eat Europe and some the quality of SS. wonder if anything has changed re ToneKing?
Still feel that way… I just made the upgrade and Sky King is on order. I did enjoy the Imperial, but I really like 6L6 tubes and Celestion speaker personally. More depth, easier on pedals to take to it and can do Imperial MK2 but also everything else. It just worked out that way so went with it. The Imperial MK2 has beautiful cleans as I’m sure the Sky King Does. But the bottom end sometimes on the MK2 with pedals was just too coward Vs even and rounded.
@@mattg082 you won't regret it. Still my favorite amp of the 7 that I own. Its going to be great when you get it, but its going to be incredible after some hours of use.
Imperial ...thats your sound
the Grem is super cool
You missed the Falcon.......and may be it is the best fit. If the clean "channel" is good enough for your taste you get also tweed and suproish options. I would like to get my hands on a Falcon, too expensive for me. I wish they made the old Falcon ( less Watts and no reverb) without attenuator and lower the price.
I love my Imperial MK2. What it does, it does gloriously! And super light!
thats what im getting! i'm super excited
60 Cycle Hum well it definitely warrants excitement! Congrats and enjoy!
Haha coming from a Tyler Amp Works 2020, it’s not light at all but for the size & looks, lighter than one would expect
Dude it's a no-brainer man. Tone king imperial all day and twice on Sundays! The sky king's 35 watts is loud regardless of the attenuation circuitry. Plus it doesn't have the sparkle or that drippy Reverb that the imperial has. And if you're used to playing through Princeton to go from 12 w to 30 or 35 is a huge Gulf to cross! I've got the tone king imperial mk1 without the attenuator and that is a loud amp!! and when I pair that with my Dr Z Maz 18 Junior in Stereo it doesn't get any better! Good luck in your hunt man!!
Imperial!!!! 🧐
I just bought a Tone King. I thought it would sound like my ancient Princeton, but I was wrong. The TK is so much better. The sound quality and tone are on a much higher level than Fender amps, and they are quite gainy. The only unfortunate thing is that mine doesn’t like gain pedals. A treble booster-style pedal is the way to go with a Tone King.
Yes yes yes!!! Nice one! Great content and the first I’ve really seen on tone king amps, my ideal amp is the imperial....one day.... cheers
Damn it Ry, I'm making that same video too!!!! That's two this month. I feel like this is a "Looper" thing: were you sent from the future to kill my TH-cam page?
Keep your Princeton...lol
The Imperial sounded best for your playing.
I can only imagine that little gremlin with delay/ reverb pedal though!
Those amps are really nice. I like them a lot. I've never played any vintage fenders but they sound like custom shop amps to my ears. Surprised that the sax maker Keilwerth never laid a claim to the moniker Tone King.
Which one did you prefer in the end...the Imperial MKII or the SkyKing?
I didn't realize Tone King outsourced their amp building. I assumed all these boutique amp builders build from their own business space like Two-Rock or Amplified Nation.
That's why I went with Magnatone. All hand built in house in st Louis Missouri. Plus they sound killer and they are classy as hell looking. I definitely can't afford a Two Rock but killer amps
It's an ad for Tone King but a discredit (fact) for Fender Custom Shop.
You just need the Falcon Grande. Blackface, Tweed, and Lead in one amp with a cool front layout and two knob reverb plus attenuation. TCB⚡️
but no tremolo ...
Johannes Labusch I’m addicted to tremolo pedals, but it is nice to have in the amp.
@@billnelson9413 Yeah, I've always had trem pedals, many many of them over the years (right not I'm using a Strymon Flint), but whenever I get to play an amp with actual bias tremolo built in, like the amazing Carr Rambler, or a Princeton, or even a humble Vox AC15, it just makes me so happy ...
They all sound fantastic, but damn they're expensive...
I hope you bought a Sky King and a Gremlin. Thanks for this video, helped me decide.
In theory...just buy the chassis he brought you to play and put it with any cab of your choice
Great sounding amps. Also, does anyone else feel that guy could pass for Sting’s brother?
My first thought
I bought a Sky King 6 months ago , It broke down after an hours playing , really pissed me off because it sounded so good and it was super expensive , turned out to be a tube different brand to the rest of the tubes which didn't sound right to me , i replaced all the tubes with TADs played it for a while and was going to sell it , it sat in my room not being played as I have 10 amps , started playing it again last week and so far so good , it's probably the best sounding amp ive ever played , I did contact Tone King they said they would send me a replacement tube , they were talkative and good , I bought a new set myself , i suppose i can't blame the amp coming from USA to Australia , anyway you won't ever be dissapointed with the sound of the Sky King
I have a PBG-era Sky King, and the original handle broke on me. I contacted BAD (current Tone King owners) to see if I could buy a replacement from them, and they sent me one at no cost! My experiences with BAD's customer services has also been good so far.
The Gremlin sound like a Micro Terror which is great but way less expensive, though it looks cool.
I prefer the look of the Imperial, but I really liked the sound of the Sky King better. I am a form follows function guy, so there's that, then again you could get both.... ;-)
I'd have to be in the room to decide; however, my gut says "Sky King" 👑
The Tone King Sky King but get it in green!!! the green is 100% you!
you mean the turquoise?
@@60CycleHumcast Yes The turquoise. The sound is a given. Henning has every gourmet amp on the planet but I noticed he uses his in a ratio of about 10 to one. You like the surf thing and it is perfect for that. Henning proves every other day that any pedal Dirt or otherwise sounds stellar thru it.In fact it can make a mediocre pedal sound better then it is. It also has a look that says "Play Me!"
@@Paul_Lenard_Ewing Just buy a cheap Deluxe Reverb and get it re-tolexed to whatever color you like.
Plus after you retolex it you can smell that adhesive you like so much for at least a couple of months till the scent of the adhesive goes away.
"Waiting for Iggy Pop to come through the door."
Nope. Just Glen.
Not that my opinion matters all that much knowing nothing about surf.
The Imperial suits your playing style very well, trough the mic the sky was a bit to hollow
What a nice guy. CEO and Ryan’s Roadie.
Imperial
I once played an imperial in coda music (Stevenage). I dream of that amp, it was absolutely glorious. Can't wait till I have an income.
Go on Zzsounds you can get a payment plan for them with no credit check
Go with the imperial. I’m biased since I own one. 😜
Sky King wider range of sounds to me. For the price of the Imperial and narrow range I’d get a hand-wired Custom reverb or buy the Sky King to do something worthwhile for that cost difference between Custom and Imperial.
Great sounding amps ☺
Is this new Sky King handwired or does it use a PCB?
Pretty sure they are PCB, but hopefully up to the standard of the high quality PCBs Mark Bartel used in the original Imperials, etc. Also looks like they no longer have pine cabinets (from the heavier weight of the current models, baltic birch ply I assume) and have a different speaker (Tone King signature speakers by Celestion instead of Creamback) than the "20th Anniversary" originals.
Did they ever offer the gremlin head?
Is that a Morgan in the background at 0:20?
Tone King I associate with Mark Bartel in Baltimore. What happened? Best, Pete.
The Tone King brand and the original designs were bought by some company that went belly up and then picked up by these guys. Mark is making his own new original designs under the brand Bartel Amps.
I’d buy a gremlin today if it had built in spring reverb
Sorry I couldn't sit through this even for 5 mins and I really wanted to. The microphone going back and forward was annoying. I couldn't hear half the time and couldn't see the amps.
Why no Falcon/Falcon Grande ? The Tone King complete lineup.
Ooops, nothing like the Sky King build being dead to the world in a demo. But darned if it's not a glorious sound when it works.
OMG, I like the Gremlin
Sky King on my radar
I have a tone king falcon...the 1x10 made by mark bartell before he gave up the name ...sold it...love the amp...good for small clubs...bedroom with attenuation....guitar out of tune slightly....mmmm
You obviously need a Sky King _and_ a Gremlin.
Well which one did you get? I hope you got one that is completed, lol.
Still waiting for them to catch up after covid, lol. Hopefully ill be getting the imperial soonish
Hey,hat First i thought that our "toneking"has his own ampfactory/brand,but isnt!👍rockn rolly tonekings+60cycle of hum beardy 🍻👍
Super Reverb, Carr Rambler, Vibro-King, Milkman 20....surf amp tones to die for
The Imperial had gobs of character.
Imperial, period.
Are these tube amplifiers ?
Yes they are - steve
@@60CycleHumcast cool!
Haha that sucks that the sky king didn’t work upfront haha def set them up to fail! But I will say I got an imperial & boy am I one happy camper! Guitar center failed me w the cable for foot switch & possible tube retainers but hey into guitar center and they’re not known for customer service lol
I hate it when my guitar goes out of tune!😁
Why even bother to hit record, if you're this disorganized?
Go easy on the reverb dude 😄
that was an extraordinary car crash
Too much talking.
4:09 Knew I shouldn't have eaten that second leg of Pork before Lunch.🤪🤮🤒
if Gremlin had reverb, it would be just perfect home amp!
Just use a reverb pedal
@@talkychris first - reverb does not sound right in front of a cranked amp, and second - the whole idea of a small home amp for me is plug and play, no pedals on the floor, no additional cabling, just one nice amp next to sofa with guitar plugged in.
Really sad it doesn’t have reverb. But all the boutique low wattage amps lack it.
check out the supro comet (aka Amulet nowadays) Best of lucks!@@slann303
@@albertoanaut Supros are built like crap. They sound good however.. so it's really too bad they don't play up their game and build in the US again.
The 2 Amulets I tried, the 2 sent back because of major problems
Sky King.... The Imperial sounds great, but the Sky King sounds fuller. That Gremlin sounds great, but it is a tad limiting with just a volume/tone control... Unless you are strictly looking for a pedal test amp...
Steve's playing is superb and a great for demo'ing these sweet amps. Way better than the examples played by "the guy on the left"...
60 cycle u rock, baby! yeah
you could still get a 70's deluxe reverb/ vibrolux for less money (1000.00) less...I just bought an Ampeg J12 Super Jet (50w) for 350.00....lots of options out there.
Get a 3rd Power amp.
These amps are really great... this demo was not.
Sky King all day
Sky King.
First, get a tuner! 😉
Dick Dale.😎😎😎
You know how you can tell someone has never tried an Imperial MKII?
They tell you to just get a Deluxe Reverb "for cheap".
bro ditch the new balance
I am a dad, I cannot.
@@60CycleHumcast great vid I dig the imperial ;)
Save your money and get some lessons 😣🙉
Is it me or is every guitar player on youtube out of tune ??? Sad !
Maxon Lamb It’s just you.
@@sunlounger29 I don't think so, i tune pianos and have played guitar for 40+ yrs...people should stop using tuners and relearn how to tune by ear ! Can you hear the diference between 440 and 445 ?...peace
Maxon Lamb def just u
Maxon Lamb do you have perfect pitch? Cause if you did it would def mess with you
If you think they're all out of tune it's probably you!
Seems like a nice amp but apparently has some design and build quality issues... m.th-cam.com/video/XISFkEWGBPk/w-d-xo.html
Yeah ok, but that guy seems to find problems on 99% of the amps he shows.. obviously the ones he gets come in because of.. problems.
At the end if you listen to him, only vintage Fender amps are worth it... Which is 3K..
Thousands and thousands of people play any level guitar amps and are happy with.
A few hundreds or maybe a bit more spend hundreds of hours on forums trying to debate over these details and scaring everybody.
Just buy the amp in your budget range and play it.
I really don't think a Tone King is going to shit on you.. it MAY happen, but very much less than a Fender.
Imperial