Tone King Imperial Tri-Tube Preamp

The guys at Andertons TV were right. This is phenomenal. It sounds so good and it sounds like you are playing an actual amp (never played the real combo though). I am on the lead channel for slightly overdriven and extremely touch responsive sound – man it is so good, I've never sounded better. There has to be something about those tubes, it really has... Forget quad cortex and don't let be fool (like I were) with the digital IR's – it is actually the main reason why it is so good. I went strictly analog before (Tech 21, Quilter) and the digital IR's are simply better sounding. Can you feel it? Absolutely not. It feels immediate and the .ms latency is like your amp being on the ground next to you. The feeling, organic-ness and warmth this is giving is unbelievable – the proof is that every time I pick guitar for "just a few minutes", suddenly two hours are gone. This is it!!! The only downsides are "Made in China" and the stereo tremolo – the panning effect is so hard you got seasick in your headphones with deeper settings. I would appreciate a mono (harmonic optioned ideally) trem instead. But I can live without trem, I have it as always-on at a very subtle and slow setting to spice it up a little bit during a long chords. I can't be more happy with my sound, this truly let my fingers speak – I sound like me!!!!

For years, I have been using digital amps - Helix Native and Neural Plini X. This time, I wanted to do a pedalboard with no screens, no laptop, and What You See Is What You Get - to help my creativity. The Toneking Imperial Preamp fits excellently into this concept - easy to dial in tone, stereo FX return, built-in stereo reverb and tremolo.

Playing it feels.. easy. The saturation feels full range and it just makes me happy. In the control app you can switch some things - for example turn the pedal to mono (that could be useful for some), load your own IRs (did not need to do it), MIDI mapping, FW update, and a few other things. You then save the settings to the pedal, and don't have to connect your laptop ever again. I am running the pedal on second cabs, lowcut to the "most cut" setting, and Bypass lock (what a great feature!!). You can also select if you want trails of the Reverb in the control app.

If you like the Fender Amp feel and play in a band with IEMs and silent stage - I think this is perfect for you. You could run it with another amp, but did not try that yet.

Bought this a bit on impulse for trying out in my home studio. Regretted it at first as I should really use my money on other stuff. I have a Tone King Gremlin, which sounds great on my recordings, but I usually need to record DI and reamp afterwards, which is a tedious process.
I’ve tried a lot of software amp modellers and found noone that has impressed me. I’m mostly after a clean guitar sound.
The imperial preamp pedal sounds like an amp and the cleans are really great. I can actually record through this and it sounds just as good or even better than when I record through my Gremlin with a Royer mic.
Updated impression:
I was a bit disappointed with the tremolo at first, but now it's hard to not have it on in a rather subtle setting. The reverb is also really nice and is always on.
My only complaint is that a couple of the jack connections seems a bit loose, depending on which cable I use. I keep it connected in the studio all the time, so not a big issue, but if I were to use it live it could have been a problem. That's why I give it 4 stars on quality and handling.

The Imperial pre-amp really is superb! The rhythm channel is simply gorgeous, offering shimmering clean tones through to quite driven sounds - and it's wonderfully responsive to playing dynamics when in the "edge of breakup" zone. Add in the top quality reverb and tremolo and it's perfect for the bulk of my playing without the need for external pedals. That said, it handles an overdrive on the input beautifully, and something like a Cloudburst sounds superb through the send/return, making this a great pedal platform.

The lead channel is excellent too - quite a lot hotter, but easy to tame and balance against the rhythm channel for some extra kick when you need it. Tone King's editing software worked seamlessly and did an automatic update as soon as I connected the pedal - and it's definitely worth trying some of the options such as the HF Comp to maintain brightness as you use the attenuator.

I've been very happy using a Tonex pedal (also purchased from Thomann), but I've got to say the Imperial will oust it from my main rig. It just "feels" better somehow - I guess it's down to playing directly through valves/tubes, as against a capture of them and then relying on how the Tonex itself overdrives. True, an audience might not notice the difference, but you're definitely aware of it when playing and it feels really good.

After the glowing reviews I'd seen of the Imperial, it really had a lot to live up to, but it absolutely delivers. I was lucky with the timing and spotted it in Thomann's spring sale, but it would be totally worth it at full price. If you're after classic "Fender-ish" amp tones in a versatile pedal format, you won't be disappointed with the Imperial.