Kingsley Deluxe 30 112 Combo

It's got a lot of bells and whistles but nothing too complex. Four EL84's and a single 12" Celestion Greenback. One-knob reverb. Two inputs, one of which bypasses the master volume. A master tone knob which effects both inputs. Tone, Middle and Bass knobs. A bright switch. A half power switch on the back (15/30). A boost pedal (included) which connects to the back of the amp and gives you a clean boost. Um, a line out with a line level knob on the back (haven't tried that yet). Am I forgetting anything? "Kingsley" is stitched in thread to the front grill cloth as well as on the dark blue cover and even on the bag that holds the reverb springs! (sewn by his wife I guess). Exudes quality. That's a lot of features but like I said they are all useful. I mean, this isn't a Mesa with 8 zillion knobs -- thank God!

This amp sounds essentially like a Vox AC30. There are lots of amps out there on the market these days that use four EL84s for power and run in Class A (or claim to, but let's not even open that can of worms) but most of them don't really sound like a Vox. They maybe sound like a Vox on steroids which, I suppose, is what most people want. God bless 'em, y'know, but I don't usually want over-the-top singing sustain, grind, overdrive, meaty, midrangey Robben Ford kinda tone. A lot of cats do and that's cool. Go buy a Matchless or maybe a Dr. Z but if you want classic Voxey clean with that midrangey, squishy, fat, chimey kinda tone this is your amp. Either that or cough up the same money (or more) for a factory made, PCB Vox AC30 that lacks many of the Kingsley's features. That was my dilemma and I got lucky and found this on Ebay.

Everything about this amp is quite subtle and never over-the-top. The reverb is nice and pleasant but never super surfy. The pre-amp volume just adds a slight touch of pre-amp overdrive that blends very nicely with the amp's natural tone. Even when cranked the pre-amp overdrive never produces gobs of distortion. The clean boost pedal never gives you a HUGE boost like many of the clean boost pedals on the market. It just juices things up a little. Certainly it gives you enough boost for solos, which is the whole idea I suppose.

The half power switch is terrific. There isn't a huge volume difference between 15 and 30 watts. Indeed, the 15 watt setting is loud! Gig-worthy no doubt. I've gigged with a 15 watt 2xEL84 amp for the last few years and it was always loud enough. For some reason I find the 30 watt setting breaks up in a slightly more pleasant way than the 15 watt. But the 30 watt setting is loud!!! Ouch! So I've been playing it on the 15 watt setting with volume at 12 o'clock and man what a tone! The tubes are cooking just enough to get some overdrive, saturation, compression, sustain and all that good stuff but it's still fairly clean and chimey and plenty loud for gigs and band practice. The 30 watt setting gives you more headroom but like I said, not THAT much more volume, believe it or not. But you know what they say: a 100 watt amp is twice as loud as a 25 watt amp.

If I had to change anything I guess I'd swap the speaker. It's a little, I dunno, dry sounding? Kind of flat. Punchy but lacks character I guess. I've heard AC30's with Celestion Blues and that is a superior speaker for this type of amp so a Weber Blue may be in this amp's future.

I guess my other complaint is that it's a big amp for a 1X12. It's 55 pounds too. Not insanely heavy but a Deluxe Reverb is much easier on the back and arms.

It certainly seems to be a well-constructed amp. If I do have problems with it I don't look forward to shipping it all the way back to Vancouver where these are made.

This amp has turned out to be everything I wanted it to be. I was using a 15 watt EL84-powered before getting this and wanted the same tone but with the ability to get more volume and headroom when needed and the other features this amp has are like icing on the cake. Plus I have a lot more confidence in this amp than I did in my 40-year-old amp.

The amp was made in Sept 2001. It's a pine cabinet covered in a striking blue, smooth tolex. Very nice! One channel, two inputs. One input overdrives the pre amp section, I believe. Both sound great. I have to say there's so much tone in this amp, I haven't heard anything I don't like come out of it. Go to www.kingsleyamplifiers.com for much more info. If you like EL84 VOx sounds then you owe to yourself to check this amp out. I've owned many a Vox but I have to say this amp has more to offer amd sounds as good as any. Besides the luscious reverb and master tone control, there's a 3 knob eq circuit. Bass Middle and Treble. There's a volume and master knob. A bright switch.
A footswitchable boost. etc. There's a pullout mod that bypasses the EQ section. The result is incredible. My strat sounds as thick as can be. It's the best amp for a strat that I've played. I've owned just about everything but a Dumble and the Kingsley still amazes me and satisfies any tonal cravings.

I primarily use teles and strats. I play all kinds of music rock, blues, country etc. This amp handles all. The amp makes a strat thick and creamy. It punches a tele. Great for slide. Amazing overtones that chime. I use a Klon or Germ from time to time with graet results. If I had to choose one amp this would be it. It came with a Celestion 25W which I changed to a Weber Blue Alnico 30 watt. More headroom for the 1 X 12. I plan to get an extension cab at some point but the presence on the amp is full with a 1X12.

I've had it for a few months and it works fine. There's no reason to believe it wouldn't be dependable.

Talking to Simon about his amps is a pleasure. Knowledgeable and easy to talk with. A pleasure to deal with.

I've been playing for nearly 40 years, have owned just about every tube amp, and this one is as good as any. If it was stolen I would buy another one pronto. I hope to have his 15 watt overdrive model soon.
I bought this after reading the review in Guitar Player and talking to Simon. Any fantasies/expectations I had about the amp were eclipsed. For the $ it's one of the best deals out there. You'll pay less for A Kingsley than a vintage Vox or Matchless and get more tone than you can imagine.