
After months of lurking around TGP for one of these, I finally pulled the trigger on a Tone King Imperial MKII. I've only spent a few hours with it, but I have to say that it is every bit as amazing as I hoped it would be. The cleans are otherworldly, and the reverb and trem are among the best I've heard. I've owned or played through almost every amp in the Tone King line including earlier versions of the Imperial, and I have to say the Imperial MKII might be my favorite Tone King to date. It sounds bigger and fuller than all of the vintage blackface DR's I've played and even though it's only 20 watts, it actually sounds as big as my old 1966 Vibrolux Reverb (which I foolishly let go about 6 years ago). It is amazing that Mark has created an amp that delivers so much in such a lightweight package. This amp might be lighter than my old Swart AST Pro, which I also loved but sold because I needed a little bit more headroom. Furthermore, I think all the gripes about the lead channel in previous models have been addressed in this version with the built in attenuator that can be bypassed on the rhythm channel to match volumes. With the mid-bite all the way down, I can set the lead channel to just add a little hair and act as a thickener to my rhythm tone (which is how I used to use the Klon). Haven't taken the Imperial out to a gig yet, but I'm pretty sure volume will not be an issue. Even at 2, this amp is loud and the cleans are still full and juicy.
As much as I love me some vintage Fender blackface tone, there have been times when the highs on my vintage bf amps got a little too brittle for my taste and the mids a little too scooped. I now understand what Mark means when he talks about the MKII as having more high-end chime rather than glassiness and fuller, chunkier mids while maintaining the tonal DNA that creates that beautiful, sparkly Fender clean we all love. Haven't tried it out with my board yet (it just sounded so good straight in), but will report back as soon as I do.
Mark has definitely hit a home run with this one! Can't get over how great this sounds!