Tone King Metropolitan User Manual

Tone King “Metropolitan”

Tone King “Metropolitan”

Tone King “Metropolitan”Tone King “Metropolitan”

User’s Manual

User’s Manual

User’s ManualUser’s Manual

R1.1 4/26/2010

Tone King Amplifier Company, Inc.
4401 Eastern Avenue, Bldg 45-2A, Box 38
Baltimore, Maryland 2122
www.toneking.com
[e-mail]

Note from the Builder

Note from the Builder

Note from the BuilderNote from the Builder

Thank you for choosing this Tone King Metropolitan guitar amplifier. The Metropolitan
is the latest in a long line of fine handbuilt guitar amplifiers which began in 1993 with
the Imperial model. The Metropolitan is my finest creation yet, as it is the culmination
of decades of hard work in circuit design, chassis design, cabinet design, upholstering
techniques, and woodworking techniques. It’s also the first Tone King model to include
the new breakthrough Phase-4 Power Control circuitry.

I build each Metropolitan amp myself, one at a time, in my craft shop in Baltimore, MD.
I perform all critical chassis assembly and wiring tasks myself, as well as all cabinet
work and upholstery. I work to the highest standards of quality, and personally ensure
that every construction detail of each amp is performed expertly and perfectly.

I’ve composed this User’s Manual as a means of describing the features and operation
of the Metropolitan. If you have any questions which are not covered here, please feel
free to contact me personally at [e-mail].

Best Regards,

Mark Bartel
President, Tone King Amplifier Company, Inc.

Contents

Contents

ContentsContents

1. Front Panel Controls 2

Gain Switch 2

Rhythm Channel 2

Lead Channel 3

Channel Switching 4

Reverb 5

Output Power Controls 5

2. Back Panel Controls 7

AC Power 7

Fuse 7

Power Switch, Standby Switch 7

Footswitch 7

Speaker Jacks, Impedance Switch 8

3. Tube Installation and Replacement 9

Installing Tubes 9

Choice of Tube Types and Brands 9

Tube Quality 11

4. Warranty 12

1

1. Front Panel Controls

1. Front Panel Controls

1. Front Panel Controls1. Front Panel Controls

Gain Switch

Gain Switch

Gain SwitchGain Switch

The Gain switch controls the gain of the first stage of the preamp, which is shared
between the Rhythm and Lead channels. Thus, it acts as a global gain control which
helps match the overall gain level to the output level of your guitar’s pickups.

I almost always suggest using the high gain setting, unless you have particularly high
output pickups, or you want a lot of headroom. The higher gain setting seems to give
the amp more punch, a faster attack, and more clarity.

Note that you will hear an audible “thump” when you switch between the two gain
settings. This thump is a result of the switch acting on a very sensitive part of the
circuit. Any means of reducing the thump would degrade the purity of the signal path,
so it was decided that it was best to allow the thump, and maintain the pure signal
path. This is generally not a problem, as you will typically find that you’ll use one
setting or the other with a given guitar, no matter how the two channels are dialed in.
You may want to turn the volume control down all the way (on the selected channel)
when switching between gain settings, to eliminate the “thump”.

Rhythm Channel

Rhythm Channel

Rhythm ChannelRhythm Channel

The Rhythm channel includes controls for Volume, Treble, and Bass, as well as a
“Bright” switch. This channel is voiced somewhere between a typical “blackface”
preamp and a typical “tweed” preamp, and has a wider range of tones than either of
those preamp types.

A typical “blackface” preamp can be quite lean in the midrange, which can give you a
deep, lush sound when playing in isolation, but this type of voicing can get drowned out
and sound thin when played in a band situation.

A typical “Tweed” preamp has a sweet and vocal midrange, but can tend to sound boxy
on clean tones.

The Metropolitan’s Rhythm channel preamp straddles the line between these two
preamp types. With the bass and treble controls set to their nominal values, you’ll get
a clean tone that combines a prominent and present midrange with a lush and
shimmering overall response.

2

Rhythm Channel (Cont’d)

Rhythm Channel (Cont’d)

Rhythm Channel (Cont’d)Rhythm Channel (Cont’d)

Getting to Know the Bass and Treble Controls

You’ll notice that the Bass and Treble controls affect the tone quite differently than the
Bass and Treble controls of a conventional “blackface” style preamp. With a typical
“blackface” preamp, the Bass and Treble controls simply give you a different flavor of
the same basic tone.

The Metropolitan’s Bass and Treble controls have a more prominent effect - they alter
the actual voicing and character of the tone. Because of this, you should experiment
with them fully to understand their effect on the Rhythm’s channel’s overall voicing.

Although the Rhythm channel has no midrange control, it offers more flexibility than
most similar preamps, even those which include a midrange control, because of the way
the Bass and Treble controls transform the overall character and voicing.

Here are a few sample settings. You may want to start with these settings and tweak
the bass and treble controls to taste.

Blackface Clean with Tweed Mids

Blackface Clean with Tweed Mids

Blackface Clean with Tweed MidsBlackface Clean with Tweed Mids

Gain Volume Bright Treble Bass

High 1.5 Off 5

Traditiona

Traditional Blackface Clean with Scooped Mids

TraditionaTraditiona

Gain Volume Bright Treble Bass

High 1.5 On 4

Lead Channel

Lead Channel

Lead ChannelLead Channel

The Lead channel starts out with a Tweed style preamp, which drives a proprietary
tone-shaping circuit built around the Mid-Bite control, a unique Tone King feature.
This proprietary circuit transforms the basic tweed tone to more of a crunchy rock tone
as you turn up the mid-bite control. This is accomplished by simultaneously tightening
up the bass, rolling off the very high frequencies, increasing the gain, and developing a
pronounced upper midrange peak. The Mid-Bite control is the key to dialing in your
own particular sound on the lead channel, so you may want to experiment and observe
its effect as you rotate it from 0 to 10.

l Blackface Clean with Scooped Mids

l Blackface Clean with Scooped Midsl Blackface Clean with Scooped Mids

6

8

3

Lead

Lead Channel (Cont’d)

Lead Lead

Here are a few sample settings which demonstrate just a few of the tones available on
the lead channel:

Channel (Cont’d)

Channel (Cont’d)Channel (Cont’d)

Tweed Edge of Breakup

Tweed Edge of Breakup

Tweed Edge of BreakupTweed Edge of Breakup

Gain Volume Tone Mid-Bite

Low 4 7 0.5

Cranked Tweed

Cranked Tweed

Cranked TweedCranked Tweed

Gain Volume Tone Mid-Bite

High 4 5 3

Rock Grind

Rock Grind

Rock GrindRock Grind

Gain Volume Tone Mid-Bite

High 2 6 9

Hard Rock Gainy Grind

Hard Rock Gainy Grind

Hard Rock Gainy GrindHard Rock Gainy Grind

Gain Volume Tone Mid-Bite

High 4 7 10

Channel Switching

Channel Switching

Channel SwitchingChannel Switching

You can switch between the two preamp channels with either the front panel Channel
switch, or by using the footswitch.

When using the footswitch, make sure that the front panel Channel switch is in the
Rhythm position.

When using the footswitch, you’ll notice that the LED on the footswitch indicates the
channel selected. When the LED is lit, the Lead channel is selected. When the LED is
not lit, the Rhythm channel is selected.

4