PERFECT TONE! Tone King Royalist Review

[@djt6546]

Just putting this out to fellow enthusiasts who might be considering the Royalist mkiii…. It’s awesome. Today I’ve played/compared a Marshall ST20H, Friedman TwinSister Head and ToneKing Royalist mkiii through a 2x12 cab loaded with Celestion V30 and G12H30. The guitar was a Gibson ‘68 LP custom reissue. The Royalist could be dialled back giving snap & quack with rich tone and dialled up with a lot of texture and grunt without going dark. It remains bright (but not too spiky brash) with the HF switch even at the high attenuation levels and yet remains rich throughout a range of volume. I didn’t really find compromise of note. It’s bright and rich all at once, has amazing woman tone and fantastic harmonic feedback loop/interplay and you can get there below 90db. That’s why I say it’s awesome. I was blown away by how much it put these other two amps in the shade. The ST20H is great fun for the UK price but IMO you’d have to be a die hard nuts Marshall fan to pay the US price when the Royalist mkiii is so far ahead in fidelity and feel. Plus the Royalist has the versatility of attenuation included which you’d have to buy separately to get the ST20H where you want it to be without going over 100db volume level. The Friedman TwinSister was also flat and dark compared to the Royalist. Its master volume works superbly as expected from Friedman but it didn’t have the same flexibility in tone or feel compared to the Royalist. It certainly didn’t allow for the same dynamic range. There was no snap or quack like the Royalist for lower gain settings and the harmonic interplay just wasn’t exciting like the Royalist. The woman tone and sustain was lack lustre by comparison. It’s amazing how much more alive the same guitar felt and sounded through the Royalist compared to the other two amps. Hope this helps some. Have a great weekend everyone. Cheers

[@steveymoon]

My only concern with the Royalist is the lack of effects loop. I love reverb and delay and I can't have these in front of an amp that gets crunchy. Thoughts?

[@djt6546]

@@steveymoon Copied from another video thread on this topic... The amp is designed in such a (traditional/old school) way that an FX loop wouldn’t work for the serious musician wanting to push the amp into natural saturation/distortion. The effects would be marred too much by the approach to gain staging in this amp as it is pushed. But lots of experienced/professional players prefer to plug all pedals/effects straight into the front of an amp even when their amp has an FX loop. So as per usual it’s horses for courses and personal preference. Providing the amp you want to use has a good dynamic range/head room to take your effects without overly compressing or getting too muddy when you kick them on, you’re fine without an FX loop. The Royalist is plenty good enough for headroom and takes pedals well enough for most general use cases. If you check out other YT reviews of this amp you’ll find they talk about this and clarify such detail in the comments section when people keep saying I would buy it… “if only it has an FX loop”. I've also had a reverb and delay plugged into the font end of the Royalist and I do not find the tone turning into a mess, but as always you have to try these things for yourself in your own rig. I'm just saying this amp is well worth your time trying out for the quality of tone, attenuation and price point relative to the competition. Cheers 👍

[@jamesmarcin4787]

Just bought a ToneKing Falcon Grande. Love it. I think this new ToneKing will be my next purchase for that British flavor. Sounds great. Love ToneKing amps.😀

[@findJLF]

Loved the noodling - very nice playing!!!! Very fun review - how it sounds matters.

[@mofateam1]

I still have my Toneking Continental from 1996... they still make some of the nicest and amazing sounding amps.

[@needle3434]

I love when you’re noodling around and then all of a sudden rip out a crazy lic or some crazy run. Nice work!!

[@mylogify]

So beautiful guitar. I don't usually like that shape, but this guitar is so beautiful, plus nitro finish. Nice playing too.

[@vasotoe]

Cool amp (I can tell Henning was genuinely excited when amp showed up, I was there 🤣), outstanding studio, that pedal placement tho...😶 I'm gonna have to go back to supervise you! 🤪 In all seriousness, C-Grid FTW! 🤘🔥 B-Roll looks crispy AF!

[@PooNinja]

Dual independent load boxes one for each channel 🤘🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽

[@SpaceJockey805]

Cool, another thing I can’t afford

[@jerryhorton5708]

I get it. I can’t afford my GAS either…

[@MusicTherapyLaz]

I have to say... that guitar is NOICE! It was so cool to get a play on it at NAMM... missing you crazy guys... SO MUCH... but I just could not manage it this year... say hi to everyone for me... especially your mom... missing her smiling face and her wonderful coffee bar! ☕️ ❤

[@fabieneldridge3414]

Tone King amps are a notch above most if not all ? They sound Great !

[@lilgassy]

best tone i’ve heard for this amp! what pickups and speakers do you use?

[@withinthrall1445]

Imagine Henning running at you at full speed in a dark alley at 3am

[@Metalfreak-vv2yc]

But does it chug?...lol. Good sounding amp. I think a send/return loop would be a nice addition, but not a deal breaker.

[@steveymoon]

I love this amplifier but why the hell doesnt it have an effects loop? There's plenty of gain available and so reverb and delay in the front isn't possible. What do you think?

[@EytschPi42]

Fully agree

[@TheShrike616]

That lead lick with the delay...

[@Nightjar726]

Sounds good but a bit soft. A lot of what makes different era Marshall’s sound different are the voltages of each and filtering. You can’t make those switches and buttons change all that.

[@djt6546]

The Royalist definitely sounds more open and alive (brighter) than many other boutique amp manufacturers Marshall style offerings. Friedman is definitely darker. In the room I find my Royalist sits in a sweet spot between original Marshall overly bright and modern competition that darkens the tone too much. In other words it’s pretty great at retaining enough brightness without being too shrill and maintains a rich soundstage. Definitely worth comparing the Royalist to the competition.

[@WoweeZoweee]

Could you explain why you are using an Ox box when the amp already has an attenuator? Really considering pulling the trigger on this one. Its irresistible 😂 great demo/review

[@EytschPi42]

I use the OX for the speaker simulation, not for the attenuator.

[@DrMattWalton]

I personally would like to know if it sounds like a JTM45…sorry

[@kicsisziszi]

The looks is supergroupishesque but with an asymetric aesthetic. Some rocket surgery in the appearence, I guess. Beautiful!

[@RichBischoff]

Can you tell Tone King to send me one...

[@EytschPi42]

ahm.... aaaahh.... hmmm....

[@RichBischoff]

@@EytschPi42 🤣

[@EJH-jn6mo]

I’d buy one but this designer refuses, for some ungodly reason, to include an FX loop.

[@EytschPi42]

an FX loop wouldn't work here because the power amp does some of the drive and you'd have the same problem as you would have without an FX Loop. There are ways aroudn this.. Fryette Power Station... Grace Design Roxi.... watch my videos on that.

[@EJH-jn6mo]

@@EytschPi42 yes, I own a PS-100 but it’s already dedicated for my KHE switcher and all of my amps with FX loops. So I’d need to buy a separate expensive PS to accommodate. Game over.

[@OfficialPerfectoDeCastro]

PERFECTOne?

[@EytschPi42]

Nicely done! Editing the PUMA video right now... talking about you....

[@PooNinja]

Puma, bears , what are you filling an arc?

[@vaughnwebbermusic]

The OX Box is a game changer

[@mchamberlain7408]

Love my vox way too much ❤

[@EytschPi42]

you can have TWO amps!

[@mchamberlain7408]

@@EytschPi42 you clearly have not seen my bank account haha. Love your channel by the way.

[@PooNinja]

Just when you think tone king is winning, they come up with something else that blows the competition away. With fouty watts of all tube power!

[@EytschPi42]

I told you it HAS watts!

[@PooNinja]

@@EytschPi42 watts,ohms capacitance and more awesome sauce than most things legally available!

[@mylogify]

What a nice gutiar too, and their sparkle metallic blue strat Henning has from Shabat also so nice :P. @@PooNinja

[@PooNinja]

@@mylogify that Shabat is gorgeous!

[@JDStone20]

"You want specs? Go look them up on the website! I am going to show you how you really should evaluate and amp, you play the damn thing, turn knobs, flick switches! Use your ears! Play the music you like and the music you plan on playing on the amp!", Henning's thoughts on amp showcasing, LOL!

[@EytschPi42]

Well… yeah

[@RaxFx]

such a yummy amp... sadly I can't justify the purchase

[@EytschPi42]

there's no way to justify ANY amp... we don't need them... but you want it., so treat yourself!

[@RaxFx]

@@EytschPi42 first I have to sell my Gremlin :)

[@mylogify]

Also yummy guitar :D@@RaxFx

[@FunkyELF]

Congrats on a new amp. Kinda crazy new amps not coming w/ effects loops. If it was a $100 or $200 head I'd understand. To me this is like locking tuners. Should be standard at this point.

[@EytschPi42]

yes and no... this amp generates a lot of drive in the power amp and in that case the FX Loop is pointless because your FX would still be BEFORE the drive. So I understand why it wasn't done.

[@DimKAt21]

Boomer sounds indeed

[@dcaudio1]

how do you run a looper without a effects loop after the power stage

[@EytschPi42]

before the amp

[@dcaudio1]

you can't run a clean sound and then solo on top of it dirty going both before the amp can you. @@EytschPi42