Has Anyone Built a Tone King Imperial?

[CraigGa]

I finished my first build last year based on the Benson Monarch and was very happy with it until I bought myself a Tone King Imperial MKII.
Now I'm finding my build to sound very sterile in comparison to the Imperial.

That got me thinking about trying to build my own, I have some schematics for the 20th anniversary edition and I was thinking about using the same type of chassis so I could slot it into the combo case we built.

Has anyone got any wisdom to impart?

Thanks
Craig

[maxkracht]

You can make something similar, but tone king uses proprietary output transformers that are, well, proprietary... So that kind of power scaling stuff is not really possible to DIY. No reason why you couldn't recreate the rest of it. Also no reason why you couldn't use those TK schematics for ideas in modifying your existing amp until it sounds exactly the way you want it to.

[CraigGa]

Thanks maxkracht, they're good points and you're right that the OT on the anniversary model is complicated with multi tap outputs but I believe that the MKII moved to an Ironman based attenuator which I already implemented in my previous build so hopefully it's a single tap transformer.

With regards to modifying, the output stage is cathode biased 6V6 and pretty much the same as mine but everything before that is different.

Craig

[pullshocks]

Not a complete build but I have the rhythm channel component values in a single ended 6V6 amp and it sounds great. I plan to add the lead channel soon.

Over on the Hoffman forum, there was someone who built an amp from the schematic that is available on the internet. He ended up making a lot of changes.

[CraigGa]

Thanks pullshocks,

Did you use the values from the 20th anniversary schematics for your build?

I'll have a look over on Hoffmans to see if I can find that thread.

Craig

[pullshocks]

Yes the 20th Anniversary schematic. So V1A is warm biased and no cathode bypass capacitor, and the tone stack components are a little different from the standard Fender values.

Have you measured voltages in the real amp you have?

[CraigGa]

No, I"ve only opened it up to clip the bright cap.
I will have a good poke around in there at some point though.

[pullshocks]

... to clip the bright cap.....

I did not include the bright cap. Plenty bright without it.

[Mark]

The circuits so everyone is on the same page.

20th_Imperial_SC200HB_pg2.pdf

20th_Imperial_SC200HB_pg1-1.pdf

[CraigGa]

Thanks Mark
Those are the ones I've been referring to.

Craig

[jazzbass]

Thanks maxkracht, they're good points and you're right that the OT on the anniversary model is complicated with multi tap outputs but I believe that the MKII moved to an Ironman based attenuator which I already implemented in my previous build so hopefully it's a single tap transformer.

With regards to modifying, the output stage is cathode biased 6V6 and pretty much the same as mine but everything before that is different.

Craig

Hi Craig,

I have build a amplifier from the shematic of the Imperial 20th without reverb and without tremolo and I really liked it so much that I tried to build it point-to-point but then I stopped because in the meantime I fell in love with Dumble and his models.

Now I'd like to finish that build and need some help.

The Mid-Bite circuit did not give the results I expected, I thought it brought the mid frequencies of the amplifier into OD as in the clips found on YouTube but this was not the case. Were you able to get better results than me? Do you have a demo?

I'm extremely interested in making the Ironman attenuator, can you post the schematics on TAG?
Thanks for the shares you want to include on these pages.

A hug.

Franco

[pullshocks]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpF88ondW4YHere is one you tube that demonstrates the mid bite control than any others I have seen.
Bing Videos

I am a sucker for good amp demos. This is the one that fostered my interest in the imperial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPVeJvWGG3Y

I have not built the full TK Imperial circuit but have the preamp and relay switching in a 6V6 single ended amp (no trem or reverb). I have a master volume, and play only at levels too low to get any power amp overdrive. Obviously this is not going to give the same lead sound as a real Imperial, with its paraphase inverter , push/pull PA and attenuator. But it works pretty well for my low volume use.

[CraigGa]

I am a sucker for good amp demos. This is the one that fostered my interest in the imperial
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPVeJvWGG3Y

Yeah, mine sounds just like that

Craig

[CraigGa]

I'm extremely interested in making the Ironman attenuator, can you post the schematics on TAG?
Thanks for the shares you want to include on these pages.

A hug.

Franco

I only have the schematics for the attenuator I put in my Benson Monarch build but it's derived from the Ironman.
I'll have a look for them and I'll post them up.

Craig

[cdemike]

I'm extremely interested in making the Ironman attenuator, can you post the schematics on TAG?
Thanks for the shares you want to include on these pages.

A hug.

Franco

I only have the schematics for the attenuator I put in my Benson Monarch build but it's derived from the Ironman.
I'll have a look for them and I'll post them up.

Craig

I'll spare ya the trouble -- I have it bookmarked for an upcoming attenuator build

https://ampgarage.com/forum/viewtopic.p ... 4c5ee1ea5f