First notes out of that amp I heard, I knew this amp is something special. My favorite amp tones are from the 60s and 70s Marshalls.There are many great amp builders today that have their take on these tones. But the Royalist MK||| really stands out. Beautiful!
This is a new direction for Tone King. They were always a Blackface clone company before. I have been Jonesing for an Imperial since the first time I played one in the 90’s.
I have been using Marshalls for 45 yrs and still have some very nice examples, but I must say, thats reeaally good. And for the price, that amp would be hard to beat!
Spectacular sounds ! I hope that more and more amp manufacturers decide to include the attenuators on their amps. A good attenuator is a game changer, especially as stages are getting quiter these days.
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 🍻
@@RiffLair I am not really familiar or fussed about the nuances of Marshall amp development over the years; and I don’t make any effort to fit into a particular artist style of play or tone sorry. I just know what I like. Coming from a love of high end HiFi for years, I just react favourably when a product can present detail and texture while sounding rich, but without being dark or too rich and open sounding with some brightness, but not overly bright. The Royalist mkiii just has a great balanced tone going for it and IMO a great feel is there too. I don’t even think about adding Reverb because it just doesn’t sound dry, not with the 2x12 combination I am using anyway. All the reviews/demo’s I have seen reflect my own personal experience. So I reckon anyone considering a Marshall style amp that does not like some of the more extreme traits of an original, should definitely give the Royalist an audition. Of course it’s always worth reminding ourselves every amp can sound a world of difference depending on which cabinet and speaker(s) it’s paired with. 🙂
@djt6546 are you affiliated with Tone King/B.A.D? I’ve seen this same comment from you on a few other YT demos of this amp. Puts me off a bit if I’m honest. Doesn’t seem genuine
@@jonnytremaine2561I can assure you the comments are genuine and my own personal opinion/experience. Nothing to do with BAD. I copied the post across channels because I was very enthusiastic about my experience of the amp and thought the detail in my review might help people relate with their own experience of speakers. I was quite surprised at the time how I felt given IMO the Royalist blew away both my Twin Sister and Be50dlx to my taste. I only wish other people would post more objectively and give some detail with their opinions like I did in this instance. For what it’s worth I also compared with the new Friedman PLEX. I thought the PLEX was a notch up again and brought that home with me. After living with both the Royalist and PLEX for a few weeks now, I don’t see one replacing the other. I love playing both. The Royalist is a more flexible complete package for different environments. The PLEX used with a Fryette Power Station is also awesome in its own right. In ABing the Royalist & PLEX I found the PLEX a more organic tone with sweeter treble without being any darker. Just more analogue somehow. Kinda like preferring certain HiFi gear. For now I will keep both amps. I also added in a Matchless HC30 through a 12” Alnico Gold speaker the other day. It was awesome playing through the 3 amps simultaneously. Very lucky to be able to do this I know. Hope you get to try the amps you are interested in and have fun making your own choices. 👍
@@djt6546 cool good to hear. You have access to some great amps! Keep putting up your objective reviews it’s always helpful. Just seemed strange to me that it was on various different channels
You can always run into the front of the amp, but if you ran into something like the Fryette Power Station you’ll have complete control over the volume, and and Fx loop in the Power Station
Both are great. I prefer IR's because I can make them sound nearly identical to my setup. I had the OX, and it's great, but I found that it needed both mics, and EQ and processing to sound amazing. Which is fine, but I like the 1 shot approach... IR. Done.
@@BigHairyGuitars I totally get that. I am finding that it needs some serious tweaking to sound amazing. I am kind of a rookie at it. I am working with the Greenbacks with my Plexi to that killer late 70s Van Halen type of thing. The SM57s are not the greatest. Any advice on how to make the greenbacks and sm57 sound great in the OX?
As always, I love your demos. Yours are some of, if not thee best amps demos out there. The double edged sword of your demos is, you make EVERYTHING sound fantastic!! I love this amps tone and versatility, and the dual Iron Man attenuators make it a truly practical amp for any venue. My question here is; how inherently loose / woolly / flubby is the bottom end with this amp using humbuckers in a Les Paul? Can this amp be dialed in for a tight, snappy bottom end when using a buckers and fairly high gain? Thanks for any insight you can offer, and thanks for your continued amazing content here! I'm a big Michael Nielsen fan.
OK, my friend I took your advice. You may be familiar with a recent conversation we had about the Friedman JEL 20 and I am super happy with that amplifier however as I am a tone junkie and also would love to get this amp in my collection as well it was the final of the three and this being the third one I want to ask you truth about build quality here Service ability and basically again I know it is tone king they have a great history with exception of a few problems with some of the sky king models. Otherwise, I have played several of the amplifiers and they are fantastic, but as I have explained to you before I am visually impaired. I would really like to know what it looks like inside of that head or combo and how much hand wiring are we talking about, diode silicone, etc., and fixed tube sockets just basically bill details if you can share any further details, I would appreciate it. You really helped me on that last buying decision. I put your name in the comments as well when ordered the amplifier. Thanks again for all of your help. I ended up going with two 1 x 12 Friedman extension speaker cabinets and I did change the speakers to the T 75 as we discussed just got those put in last night actually on the high gain definitely huge improvements. I also should be getting the new EL 84 premium tubes I ordered today as well as some L 86 tubes wanted to give them a try in this Friedman head but I definitely can’t wait to hear your feedback on this amplifier, I truly love it and think it would be a solution for my larger gigs and certainly killer tones certainly more refined than the Friedman at this point however I’m not sure the same bill quality is presented here 2:332:35
In my experience a GZ34 is efficient enough there's not a whole of difference between it and SS. At least in the amps I've had in the past where you could switch between the two. It may be in this amp when you switch to the 70 setting it does go SS, but it doesn't specify so in the manual. I would assume it doesn't.
Trying to decide between this (due to the attenuators) and either a Friedman Twin Sister or Little Sister... Played a TS and it was absolutely killer...but I wouldn't be able to put the master past like 1 at home lol...
I decided to swap out a TS for the Royalist mkiii within minutes of ABing the two amps. To me there was no contest. In my rig the TS was dark and flat by comparison, regardless of bright switches. In truth I always preferred my BE50Dlx because it’s got a more open sound. But now enjoy the Royalist mkiii so much, I am also moving on my custom BE50Dlx (with Plexi channel 1) because I just feel and hear a richer soundstage from the Royalist while remaining open and yet not too brash. Hope you get to play multiple amps to help your own ears and feelings decide. …I haven’t quite finish comparisons though. Later this week I will compare with the new Friedman Plex. Interesting to see if this new model holds even more magic to my ears and feelings…
Great demo! This is the latest amp that I have the hots for. Between the Royalist MKIII and Magnatone's Super Fifty-Nine M-80, I'd be hard-pressed to choose. The Royalist is definitely more versatile, but I'm pretty sure the Magnatone has point-to-point wiring where the Tone KIng uses military grade PCB's. Does that matter??? I like Dr. Z's EMS too, but they've been discontinued for some reason.
I'm not a believer in 'what the ingredients are'. I'm firmly believe that a some canned chili, poured into a bag of Fritos topped with some shredded cheese can be just as amazing as a $250 steak... IF DONE RIGHT!
Yeah, the amp was loud and I had only the far speaker on. It's a pain to hear things like that anyways, so I probably won't do that method anymore. Headphones look silly on RUclips videos.
Definitely over the Twin Sister. The Twin Sister is far more compressed and lifeless by comparison in an AB test. That was one of my tests and the Twin Sister went out the door straight away. Now I don’t have a Small Box but I custom ordered a BE50 deluxe with Plexi channel 1. I’ve just removed that and decided my Royalist mkiii just has a richer sound stage while remaining open. So I’m moving on my custom BE50Dlx too. Next comparison on my list is with the new Friedman Plex later this week.
The natural comparison for this amp would be the Friedman Twin Sister - same basic platform but Twin Sister has EQ and bright switch as well as gain structure on each channel, plus an effects loop. Any thoughts on differences in practice?
Yes, in a sense they are opposite sides of the same coin. The Twin Sister seems to come at it more from the preamp shaping, and the Royalist comes from more from the power amp shaping. The TS is capable of a wider array of tones and can get killer tones at the lowest volumes. It can be clean allll the way to hard rock, and sounds awesome doing it. When the Royalist is at its best, it's happening from decent volume to insane loud. The quietest volumes aren't the awesomest. It's not quite as versatile as the TS, but there's something extra authentically vintage and mojo-y about the Royalist... both in tone and feel.
Be sure to try these amps. There was no contest in feel and tone in my setup. For me the TS was darker and lifeless by comparison to any settings on the TS. But we can all hear and feel differently. 🙂
My #1 impulse is of the 412 cab that the Royalist is sitting on top of in this video. It's a blend of v30 and Greenback 20w. bighairyprofiles.com/products/big-hairy-guitars-impulse-response
"better" is an interesting word there. You'd be hard pressed to find a better amp. But certainly there are lots of Brit amps with FX loops and master volumes. But, adding an FX changes the feel of the amp. I'm assuming that they really designed this for the guy that wants the most straight wire possible. It's hard to describe the feeling, I'm sure it doesn't come through in the YT video, but there's a great immediacy to the touch when you play through the Royalist.
Interesting. What you might be tuning into is the resonance of the open back 1x12 pushed VERY loudly, but the large diaphragm condenser mic being blasted to its limit. Honestly, running it into the 412 with an SM57 is frikkin fantastic! But they asked me to demo the combo, so I was trying to stay true to that. Personally, I would opt for a head into a closed back cab. BUT, there was a sweetness to the 1x12 that puts it more into a Robben Ford vibe that's fantastic, when you're in the room with it. Thanks for the feedback.
It's a mic made by Audio Technics. Similar to a Neuman U78, but much cheaper. The open back combo has such a wide range of frequencies that an SM57 only captures 'some' of it.
I know that’s an Audio Technica. Looks like the 4047, which some folks say sounds a bit like a FET47. Being quite familiar with Neumann mics, not. sure I hear that, but those do sound nice on an amp. The 57 does produce a recording our ears are infinitely familiar with, though it’s not the only mic that sounds great on an amp!
Dude, anyone playing an amp in an apartment at night should be kicked out of their apartment, especially older apartments that don't have anything in the walls but air. Use headphones at night. And get to know your neighbors and their schedules. Some people have to sleep in the day. Classy looking amp, with the sound to go with it. So many good amps nowadays.
Great demo Mike. On the surface would be an amp I’d be interested in but Psionic has less than kind things to say about the quality and design of Tone King amps. Add in its high price tag and it’s a no for me.
Hi EJH, thanks man! I've never met an amp tech that didn't think that they knew everything about how every amp should be made, and if it's not done their way, then it's crap (insert Mike Meyers Scottish accent here) 🤣.
@@BigHairyGuitars while that is true and he can tend to be quite critical, a lot of folks have issues with TK amps in the past that you shouldn’t have in an amp thats 3K+, not to mention they lack modern functionality, you’d expect from a pricetag that high. Have a good one Mike!
The problem with this channel is - you're able to make every amp you demo sound good and I want it.
Yup. Michaels channel gets me gassing every time he demos a new amp.
100%
His Kemper profiles are next level stuff. I have to buy every pack he releases.
agreed, i want to buy every amp he plays. luckily i've self control kinda.
🙏🏽 thank you for recording this with a mic!!!!
First notes out of that amp I heard, I knew this amp is something special. My favorite amp tones are from the 60s and 70s Marshalls.There are many great amp builders today that have their take on these tones. But the Royalist MK||| really stands out. Beautiful!
This is the best sounding amp i have ever heard.......this will be mine...
Fat bottom amps, you make the rockin' world go round!
Got one, it's awesome!
Just bought one and its fantastic. The attenuators are a game changer.
Incredible playing and tone - wow!
Great tones, playing, and demo, you should have way more subs!
Wow , this one is leaps and bounds beyond the Slo30. What an Amp
Let's see the inside 😊
This is a new direction for Tone King. They were always a Blackface clone company before. I have been Jonesing for an Imperial since the first time I played one in the 90’s.
I have been using Marshalls for 45 yrs and still have some very nice examples, but I must say, thats reeaally good. And for the price, that amp would be hard to beat!
Classic "Diamond Dave" quote there...God bless you😂
Great jam, always love your playing. Looks like a great amp, love that t-shirt. Have a great day. 🤘🔥🤓
That Shabat is such a sick guitar. I love that amp too. It’s so juicy
Straight out of the gate, that sounds awesome! That guitar is great and your playing is fantastic!
Not only one of my favorite guys on youtube, but one of my favorite players in general. Wow. So tasty Mike!
Thanks Kevin!
Love your t-shirt.
BEHOLD...THE MAGNIFICENCE, AND THE GLORY!
Great review Michael
Thanks Jayboy
Spectacular sounds ! I hope that more and more amp manufacturers decide to include the attenuators on their amps. A good attenuator is a game changer, especially as stages are getting quiter these days.
That sounds so good
man, i recon a wah on that amp would sound amazing. what a big thick beefy tone.
Always the Best Demos. Thank you, Mr. Hairy 🎸 !!!!
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 🍻
Awesome! Thank you for sharing. Do you think it can go in EVH, moded Plexi or even Jcm800 territory?
@@RiffLair I am not really familiar or fussed about the nuances of Marshall amp development over the years; and I don’t make any effort to fit into a particular artist style of play or tone sorry. I just know what I like. Coming from a love of high end HiFi for years, I just react favourably when a product can present detail and texture while sounding rich, but without being dark or too rich and open sounding with some brightness, but not overly bright. The Royalist mkiii just has a great balanced tone going for it and IMO a great feel is there too. I don’t even think about adding Reverb because it just doesn’t sound dry, not with the 2x12 combination I am using anyway. All the reviews/demo’s I have seen reflect my own personal experience. So I reckon anyone considering a Marshall style amp that does not like some of the more extreme traits of an original, should definitely give the Royalist an audition. Of course it’s always worth reminding ourselves every amp can sound a world of difference depending on which cabinet and speaker(s) it’s paired with. 🙂
@djt6546 are you affiliated with Tone King/B.A.D? I’ve seen this same comment from you on a few other YT demos of this amp. Puts me off a bit if I’m honest. Doesn’t seem genuine
@@jonnytremaine2561I can assure you the comments are genuine and my own personal opinion/experience. Nothing to do with BAD. I copied the post across channels because I was very enthusiastic about my experience of the amp and thought the detail in my review might help people relate with their own experience of speakers. I was quite surprised at the time how I felt given IMO the Royalist blew away both my Twin Sister and Be50dlx to my taste. I only wish other people would post more objectively and give some detail with their opinions like I did in this instance. For what it’s worth I also compared with the new Friedman PLEX. I thought the PLEX was a notch up again and brought that home with me. After living with both the Royalist and PLEX for a few weeks now, I don’t see one replacing the other. I love playing both. The Royalist is a more flexible complete package for different environments. The PLEX used with a Fryette Power Station is also awesome in its own right. In ABing the Royalist & PLEX I found the PLEX a more organic tone with sweeter treble without being any darker. Just more analogue somehow. Kinda like preferring certain HiFi gear. For now I will keep both amps. I also added in a Matchless HC30 through a 12” Alnico Gold speaker the other day. It was awesome playing through the 3 amps simultaneously. Very lucky to be able to do this I know. Hope you get to try the amps you are interested in and have fun making your own choices. 👍
@@djt6546 cool good to hear. You have access to some great amps! Keep putting up your objective reviews it’s always helpful. Just seemed strange to me that it was on various different channels
Really enjoy your playing Michael. I always look forward to your intro pieces.
Dang it Michael! I already have an Imperial II, but now I'm trying to figure out if I can squeeze a Royalist into my room too.
Attitude for days :). Loved it.
If there are two Iron Man attenuators, does that make them two Iron Mans or Iron Men... ? Heh...
Amps badass but that shirt stole the show!
Awesome!! Sounds very much like one of my fav amps the WEM Dominator MK2! Your channel is great, thanks!!
Thxsomuch Michael🎶🙏😆
But I like melting my face off…
With ear plugs!
Love the tone and feel of that amp.
Thank you for the demo!
Very nicely done!
I absolutely love this amp combo! What’s the best way to run time based effects through this amp and still get it’s amazing gain??
You can always run into the front of the amp, but if you ran into something like the Fryette Power Station you’ll have complete control over the volume, and and Fx loop in the Power Station
The only way is to run the amp clean and use pedals for the dirt. Which imo is a crime with a Marshall circuit. No fx loop is a real bummer.
Direct out > time based effects > power amp > second cab
Sounded so great I almost crashed my car 😂
😂
Killer intro. One of the best demos of this amp. Nice job.
Love your T-shirt!! Where can I get one?? Great sounding amp by the way!!!
regularguytees.com
Man this sounds killer! Excellent quality recording. Quick question... do you prefer IRs or the UA OX? Which is more realistic to your ears?
Both are great. I prefer IR's because I can make them sound nearly identical to my setup. I had the OX, and it's great, but I found that it needed both mics, and EQ and processing to sound amazing. Which is fine, but I like the 1 shot approach... IR. Done.
@@BigHairyGuitars I totally get that. I am finding that it needs some serious tweaking to sound amazing. I am kind of a rookie at it. I am working with the Greenbacks with my Plexi to that killer late 70s Van Halen type of thing. The SM57s are not the greatest. Any advice on how to make the greenbacks and sm57 sound great in the OX?
Very nice Mike! I love to buy the Tonex captures from this amp;)
As always, I love your demos. Yours are some of, if not thee best amps demos out there. The double edged sword of your demos is, you make EVERYTHING sound fantastic!! I love this amps tone and versatility, and the dual Iron Man attenuators make it a truly practical amp for any venue. My question here is; how inherently loose / woolly / flubby is the bottom end with this amp using humbuckers in a Les Paul? Can this amp be dialed in for a tight, snappy bottom end when using a buckers and fairly high gain? Thanks for any insight you can offer, and thanks for your continued amazing content here! I'm a big Michael Nielsen fan.
Wonder how this compares to the 1987x. Decisions decisions.
How can you only 38k subs ? There's no way
Imagine this Amp with a VHT power Amp section. It'd be the only Amp you'd need
guessing this amp would rip into a 4x12 with greenies
OK, my friend I took your advice. You may be familiar with a recent conversation we had about the Friedman JEL 20 and I am super happy with that amplifier however as I am a tone junkie and also would love to get this amp in my collection as well it was the final of the three and this being the third one I want to ask you truth about build quality here Service ability and basically again I know it is tone king they have a great history with exception of a few problems with some of the sky king models. Otherwise, I have played several of the amplifiers and they are fantastic, but as I have explained to you before I am visually impaired. I would really like to know what it looks like inside of that head or combo and how much hand wiring are we talking about, diode silicone, etc., and fixed tube sockets just basically bill details if you can share any further details, I would appreciate it. You really helped me on that last buying decision. I put your name in the comments as well when ordered the amplifier. Thanks again for all of your help. I ended up going with two 1 x 12 Friedman extension speaker cabinets and I did change the speakers to the T 75 as we discussed just got those put in last night actually on the high gain definitely huge improvements. I also should be getting the new EL 84 premium tubes I ordered today as well as some L 86 tubes wanted to give them a try in this Friedman head but I definitely can’t wait to hear your feedback on this amplifier, I truly love it and think it would be a solution for my larger gigs and certainly killer tones certainly more refined than the Friedman at this point however I’m not sure the same bill quality is presented here 2:33 2:35
The low end is nice with headphones I can feel the volume! If only they included a rectifier switch to add a solid state rectification when desired.
In my experience a GZ34 is efficient enough there's not a whole of difference between it and SS. At least in the amps I've had in the past where you could switch between the two. It may be in this amp when you switch to the 70 setting it does go SS, but it doesn't specify so in the manual. I would assume it doesn't.
@Skoora I have an amp with 1 Gz34 and SS switch being built. I will report back when I get it.
@@Skoora I've heard that before about dual GZ34 in an amp before
Sounds great Mike. I was looking for something else I saw was posted re you. I can’t buy anything else. #brokefromgas
Michael , could you do a singing microphones video ?
Trying to decide between this (due to the attenuators) and either a Friedman Twin Sister or Little Sister... Played a TS and it was absolutely killer...but I wouldn't be able to put the master past like 1 at home lol...
I decided to swap out a TS for the Royalist mkiii within minutes of ABing the two amps. To me there was no contest. In my rig the TS was dark and flat by comparison, regardless of bright switches. In truth I always preferred my BE50Dlx because it’s got a more open sound. But now enjoy the Royalist mkiii so much, I am also moving on my custom BE50Dlx (with Plexi channel 1) because I just feel and hear a richer soundstage from the Royalist while remaining open and yet not too brash. Hope you get to play multiple amps to help your own ears and feelings decide.
…I haven’t quite finish comparisons though. Later this week I will compare with the new Friedman Plex. Interesting to see if this new model holds even more magic to my ears and feelings…
@@djt6546 Awesome, thanks for the feedback! Gonna see if I can test out a royalist soon!
Great demo! This is the latest amp that I have the hots for. Between the Royalist MKIII and Magnatone's Super Fifty-Nine M-80, I'd be hard-pressed to choose. The Royalist is definitely more versatile, but I'm pretty sure the Magnatone has point-to-point wiring where the Tone KIng uses military grade PCB's. Does that matter??? I like Dr. Z's EMS too, but they've been discontinued for some reason.
I'm not a believer in 'what the ingredients are'. I'm firmly believe that a some canned chili, poured into a bag of Fritos topped with some shredded cheese can be just as amazing as a $250 steak... IF DONE RIGHT!
Marshall started using PCB's in 1972.
@@clovergrass9439 If it was 1972...it would have to be late 1972. I have a '72 Super Lead that's point-to-point.
For sure a great amp, but having all guitars on drop c# adds a lot of ooomph too, and maybe that’s not how most people would use it.
cool sounds!! Were you listening the backintrack trough the monitors while the amp was miced even with a condenser mic?
Yeah, the amp was loud and I had only the far speaker on. It's a pain to hear things like that anyways, so I probably won't do that method anymore. Headphones look silly on RUclips videos.
Big questions would choose this over a friedman smallbox 50 and or Twin Sister?
Definitely over the Twin Sister. The Twin Sister is far more compressed and lifeless by comparison in an AB test. That was one of my tests and the Twin Sister went out the door straight away.
Now I don’t have a Small Box but I custom ordered a BE50 deluxe with Plexi channel 1. I’ve just removed that and decided my Royalist mkiii just has a richer sound stage while remaining open. So I’m moving on my custom BE50Dlx too.
Next comparison on my list is with the new Friedman Plex later this week.
The natural comparison for this amp would be the Friedman Twin Sister - same basic platform but Twin Sister has EQ and bright switch as well as gain structure on each channel, plus an effects loop. Any thoughts on differences in practice?
Yes, in a sense they are opposite sides of the same coin. The Twin Sister seems to come at it more from the preamp shaping, and the Royalist comes from more from the power amp shaping. The TS is capable of a wider array of tones and can get killer tones at the lowest volumes. It can be clean allll the way to hard rock, and sounds awesome doing it. When the Royalist is at its best, it's happening from decent volume to insane loud. The quietest volumes aren't the awesomest. It's not quite as versatile as the TS, but there's something extra authentically vintage and mojo-y about the Royalist... both in tone and feel.
@@BigHairyGuitars Great feedback Michael, thanks!
Be sure to try these amps. There was no contest in feel and tone in my setup. For me the TS was darker and lifeless by comparison to any settings on the TS. But we can all hear and feel differently. 🙂
no effects loop in 2023 is a really missed mark for me. What is the use of overdriven tones if I can't add clean sounding reverb or delays...
Can you get into early Van Halen stuff with a proper boost ? It sounds heavenly !
Yeah, even without a boost it gives are very nice early VH tones
Awesome demo! Can this get to early EVH levels of dirt?
Yes, in BUT, you have to have the volume cranked. Then attenuate it back, but it still needs to push a bit of volume.
Hi Michael, do you use it with the Fryette power load, ? if yes what impulse in the fryette ? thanks
My #1 impulse is of the 412 cab that the Royalist is sitting on top of in this video. It's a blend of v30 and Greenback 20w. bighairyprofiles.com/products/big-hairy-guitars-impulse-response
Beautiful amp but a hard pass without an FX loop 😢
@@B__Mer for a 1,000 bucks more I’ll just buy a better amp. I have a captorx. Really happy with it 🤘
"better" is an interesting word there. You'd be hard pressed to find a better amp. But certainly there are lots of Brit amps with FX loops and master volumes. But, adding an FX changes the feel of the amp. I'm assuming that they really designed this for the guy that wants the most straight wire possible. It's hard to describe the feeling, I'm sure it doesn't come through in the YT video, but there's a great immediacy to the touch when you play through the Royalist.
are you using any outboard pedals in this demo?
Nope. Direct from guitar to amp.
nice demo, what is your string gauge ?
I use 10's on the guitars in this vid.
Im trying to like this amp but theres something weird about the sound , like a metallic vibe. Like the speaker is made of tin or foil or something....
Interesting. What you might be tuning into is the resonance of the open back 1x12 pushed VERY loudly, but the large diaphragm condenser mic being blasted to its limit. Honestly, running it into the 412 with an SM57 is frikkin fantastic! But they asked me to demo the combo, so I was trying to stay true to that. Personally, I would opt for a head into a closed back cab. BUT, there was a sweetness to the 1x12 that puts it more into a Robben Ford vibe that's fantastic, when you're in the room with it. Thanks for the feedback.
IS IT HAND WIRED?
I believe it’s high end PC Board then hand wired in at LA factory where Friedman is done
AT-4047?
It's a mic made by Audio Technics. Similar to a Neuman U78, but much cheaper. The open back combo has such a wide range of frequencies that an SM57 only captures 'some' of it.
I know that’s an Audio Technica.
Looks like the 4047, which some folks say sounds a bit like a FET47.
Being quite familiar with Neumann mics, not. sure I hear that, but those do sound nice on an amp.
The 57 does produce a recording our ears are infinitely familiar with, though it’s not the only mic that sounds great on an amp!
👌🇦🇹👍🧐😯🤠😁
Dude, anyone playing an amp in an apartment at night should be kicked out of their apartment, especially older apartments that don't have anything in the walls but air. Use headphones at night. And get to know your neighbors and their schedules. Some people have to sleep in the day.
Classy looking amp, with the sound to go with it. So many good amps nowadays.
tones are fat and juicy.....I'm digging this amp a lot from the videos I've seen.
Great demo Mike. On the surface would be an amp I’d be interested in but Psionic has less than kind things to say about the quality and design of Tone King amps. Add in its high price tag and it’s a no for me.
Hi EJH, thanks man! I've never met an amp tech that didn't think that they knew everything about how every amp should be made, and if it's not done their way, then it's crap (insert Mike Meyers Scottish accent here) 🤣.
@@BigHairyGuitars while that is true and he can tend to be quite critical, a lot of folks have issues with TK amps in the past that you shouldn’t have in an amp thats 3K+, not to mention they lack modern functionality, you’d expect from a pricetag that high. Have a good one Mike!