The Tone King Sky King is possibly Mark's greatest creation yet, but in our opinion, at a price point that doesn't reflect it at all. It features independent Ironman attenuators on each channel. That's right: Authentic Ironman attenuation on each channel! The Sky King was inspired in part by Bartel's own Falcon amplifier. He set out to essentially create a larger format version mixed with some influence from the widely adored Imperial. He took the voicings from the Imperial (Fender Blackface cleans, with lead tones ranging from Fender Tweed to early Marshall) and gave it his "mojo and texture" from his Falcon design. The Sky King also features a nifty pentode/ultralinear switch. What the heck is a pentode/ultralinear switch you may ask? This gives you the choice between the 60's Fender like crisp, dynamic sound of Pentode mode, or the Fender Tweed oldschool sound of Ultralinear mode - thick, chunky mids, a smooth top end, and a fat saturated natural compression, such as on the Falcon. Clean Tone: In Ultralinear mode, the Sky King's clean channel is similar to the Imperial, but with a touch more smoothness. It's not quite as stark as the attack on the Imperial, but rather a more rounded quality like with the Falcon. When you switch to Pentode mode, the Imperial cleans are back in action with that nice, 60's Fender-style sharp attack. Lead Tones: The Sky King's lead channel is like the Imperial, ranging from 50's Fender Tweed tones to early Marshall tones (remember, early Marshall amps were just hot-rodded '59 Fender Bassman circuits). As with with Imperial, it also includes the "Mid-Bite" control. With this, if you turn it all the way down it gets more of a tweedy tone, but with the 6L6 (rather than the 6V6's used in older tweed amps) you get a little more beef to it. When you turn up the mid-bite control, it brings up the upper-mid frequencies and starts to compress nicely as it tightens up the bass. Here's where it starts to sound more like a Marshall JMP. Attenuation: And then there's the built-in DUAL Ironman attenuators. Bear in mind, these things sell for $850 each, and Mark has included TWO of them in the SkyKing. With independent attenuators, you can cater each channels volume to your needs. No more changing channels and having to deal with immediate volume fluctuations. Honestly, we feel this is one of the nicest features on this amp. If it doesn't seem like a big deal to you now, just wait till your next gig. You'll see the value in it! Specifications Output Power 35 Watts Power Tubes 2 x 6L6GC Preamp Tubes 4 x 12AX7, 1 x 12AT7 Rectifier Tube 1 x 5U4G Lead Controls Volume, Tone, Mid-Bite Rhythm Knobs Volume, Treble, Bass, Reverb, Tremolo Rate, Tremolo Depth Features Tube Driven Reverb, Tube Driven Tremolo Iron Man Attenuators on each channel - Reactive Load Pure Transformer Load Matching - 6 Levels of Attenuation Footswitch (included) Channel Select and Tremolo On/Off All USA made! Speaker 12" Celestion G12M Creamback Weight 48lbs Dimensions 24" x 12" x 18"
