Kingsley Deluxe 30 212 Combo

Made in June 2005
Typical Deluxe 30, as per other postings on site, with a few extra features; Eq bypass, Triode/Pentode selection to reduce power down to 7 watts. Opted for 1 Greenback & 1 Vintage 30 speaker mix.
Has all you'd ever need, in 2 channels and a boost pedal (with attenuator).

Using a standard Strat (delta tone pickups) standard Tele with seymour Duncan single HumBucker, and a PRS custom22.
each guitar gives me something different, but all get incredible awesome tone with this amp.
I love what Robben Ford, Larry Carlton, Eric Johnson can do as players, and the tone they get. I can replecate their tone with this amp, I just can't play like them. (but man it's fun trying with this amp).
I play regularly on a church worship team, so the full potential of Simon's amp is not realized, but I am able to get todays modern clean oversaturated sound as made common by Passion/United/Chris Tomlin.
Using few pedals by the way!
Turning on My Kingsley is inspiring. Like when you first purchased a good guitar, you couldn't put it down, it just becons to be played.
This amp, has for a year, called me frequently, and once you start, it's difficult to walk away from.
You can obtain anything (aside from Marshall/Mesa crunch) any sound of taste. from loud clean knopler on a tele/strat to driven ford to that classic johnson "brown" milkhshake sound with PRS Humbuckers. this thing drips in tone!
I have a 63 fender princeton all original, that has a beautiful strat clean tone vibe to it. This Kinsley replecates this, Only the kingsley starts with this vibe, and just keeps finding more & more in itself.

In one year, I've had 2 minor things go wrong.
the Rectifer tube/Fuse blew each other up.
and one of the inputs shorted out.
Both times Simon responded immediately and repaired them while I waited.
He is true gentleman.

Simon is a fantastic individual to deal with.
I purchase another amp, no question, if needed.

playing 40 years, 15 for the Lord.
everyone who has had a chance to play my amp, has recognized the value of it.
Simon's amp should be twice the Price, it would still be worth it.

A short addition to my previous review. After having now used my Deluxe 30 for more than a year I am more convinced then ever that this amp will actually out perform a Dumble especially on the lows. Went to see Robben Ford in Seattle who was using a Dumble OD Special and even though I am a huge Robben fan I have to say that he should get a Kingsley. In a word it's just a little sweeter sounding.

Should mention that if you really are hooked on the sound of a Dumble Overdrive Special you can order the Kingsley 50 with 6L6's which is what is used in a Dumble.

Having now listened to both I have to say that the lows on Dumble sound rather squishy with humbuckers in comparison to the Kingsley especially if you boost mids and roll off the bass by setting the Bass at 2-3 and bumping the mid up to a little over half it brings out the best in this amp. Thickens up the highs but reduces boominess on the lows especially on the neck pick up of either my Fender Master Series Esprit (Which became the RF model)with Duncans ('59 neck JB Bridge)which is what RF has used most of his solo career. Also now have a Bill Nash Timewarp Strat (with Duncans) which is absolutely killer and the easiest Strat I have ever played.

Check out the other reviews. If your a serious player you can't go wrong with a Kingsley Amplifier.

Spring 2004
This amp nails all the styles that I play. I play Mark Knopfler, Robben Ford, Bloomfield- blues, rock, pop.
The best feature of this amp is TONE and tons of it. I believe that Robben Ford and Eric Johnson have the best tone I have ever heard and this amp can nail both as it seems to breath like a Dumble.

The previous reviewers already listed very succinctly the main features so I won't repeat them. Pentode -Triode switch, bypass, boost pedal, etc.

It's just great to have a variety of volume settings but still have a power section tube o/d so would highly recommend getting the upgrades. I mostly use the 15 watt settings. The 30 watt setting is a generous 30 watts and can be quite loud so if your playing a larger facility there is lots of power. It is all tube(EL84's, 12ax7's, rectifier, all handwired and very well built. It shows. The mismatched speakers sound great (Vintage 30 and Greenback)It does get a little heavy with 2 speakers but well worth it.

The boost pedal that comes with it is a clean boost but seems to ad a little top boost taking you into more AC30 territory- VERY NICE

There is also a bright switch for lower volume settings and as you increase the volume the brightness automatically flattens out. Very cool for songs where you want a low volume crisp rhythym in the verse and a thicker, less bright sound for the solo.

Strat w Fender Custom shop '69's. Super for any style with the ecxeption of metal. I intend on getting a Les paul style guitar with PAF's they sound awesome through this amp.

If you want a great example of how this amp sounds with a Strat neck pickup -listen to Robben Fords version of Homework on the Keep on Runnin CD. I have never heard a better strat sound and the Kingsley just nails it plugged straight in (BIG open sound that breathes with tons of bloom.) This should tell you that this amp has a very similar tone to a Dumble. I own a 71 Fender Vibrolux(Blackfaced) and a 66 supro Thunderbolt and I am considering selling tham because this amp does everything I need and more.
One of the outstanding tones is for rhythym. A beautiful natural, organic compression occurs when you hit a chord along with a nice chimey top end. It has actually encouraged me to work on my rhythym work more because it's such a pleasure to play. For solo's the sustain and o/d are excellent. I like it set where I can get a solid clean sound when I roll back the volume and a nice boost. I would suggest a good overdrive pedal such as the Radial Tonebone Classic. (not the Hot British)if you want a highly overdriven tone but still keep some headroom for clean playing.

Most players would agree that you can't make a Fender sound like a Vox or Marshall. Can't make a Marshall sound like a Fender and AC30 is all on it's own. The Kingsley solves all of these problems by allowing me to get all those sounds but better. The Kingsley does have it's own voice. It doesn't sound exactly like any amps mentioned I'm just using those a reference. It sounds like a Kingsley but it's just that when you play a song that needs a Marshall, Vox or Fender sound it's there- but slightly different in a very good way. The best way I can describe is it just breathes more and has more sustain.

Extremely well made. No problems at all. Expensive Solen caps used. Will outlast me. Expect to only replace tubes once in a while.

I met Simon through buying the amp and you can not get better service anywhere. He builds them himself one at a time. I live 15 minutes away so it's a little easier for me to get service but any good amp tech should be able look after any minor concerns. If there's something you want ask him.

I have played for 35 years (and still can't play as well as Simon)I have tried all kinds of amps but I have to say that this is the most versatile I have ever had. I can get Fender, Vox, Marshall all from one amp. If you really want versatile get the Deluxe 50 which can use 6L6's or El84's.

Final Remarks

I think any player in the know today would probably say if they could own any amp on the planet it would be a Dumble Overdrive Special. Problem- Hard to get and cost is $10,000
This is the next best thing to a Dumble. I have not played through a Dumble but I have listened to a lot of players who use a Dumble and I can tell you that if you like a Robben Ford (Smooth tone) with that lovely Pffsst attack followed by huge sustain when you hit a note then you cannot do better than a Kingsley (any Model)
Would replace`immediately if lost.

This amp is designed and built by a guitar player. (A very good one at that)
This is serious guitar amplification that has not been recognized yet by Tonequest or a major player but when it is you better be prepared to pay big bucks for one. Get one now before they get out of sight. Simon wants to stay a boutique builder so that means like Dumble they could cost $5,000 or more once word gets out as he only has so many hours in a day.

I know I have given 10's across the board but when you've played as long as I have and been through as much frustration as I've been through, you know what I mean.

You buy a new piece of gear and at first you like it but then you get that(Yeh! It sounds OK but it's just not quite right kind of feeling)you hit a note expecting one thing to happen and something else happens(barks instead of chimes, ice pick top rips your head off, sustain dies on the vine, mushy bottom end, too dark, too bright, etc)
Not one of these have I experienced with the Kingsley. When I first brought it to band practice the guys actually screwed up some passages in the first couple of somgs because they were so blown away by my new sound. They were actually distracted by the sound. That has never happened before.

HC wants me to be critical in my review but there is nothing here to criticize except that it's heavy. That's it. It's about 65 pounds. If you want a lighter one get 1 speaker instead of 2.

My Tonequest is over as far as amps is concerned.

Best amp I have ever used. -PERIOD!!!!

Log on to www.kingsleyamplifiers.com and listen to the samples by Simon.


Got to go now and plug in!

I bought my Deluxe 30 new in July 2004. It's a 30 watt, cathode biased, non-negative feedback, single channel amp with 4 EL84 power tubes. It has two inputs. The gain control is disabled on Input 2. Spring reverb. 1/2 Power switch that shuts down two of the output tubes. Slave Out. Standard three-band EQ in the preamp, a bright switch and a Global Tone knob that controls high frequencies in the output section (very cool!). It comes with a variable boost pedal that plugs into the back of the amp. It has a level knob right on the pedal and you can use it to boost volume if playing clean, or increasing overdrive if playing loud or with gain. You can pretty much select the speakers you want; I went with a Celestion Greenaback and a G12H30.

I went with two additional options, which are well worth the extra $50 each: 1) an EQ Bypass switch that bypasses the three-band EQ and sends the signal straight through to the output section. The global Tone knob still works. 2) a pentode/triode that allows you to operate the amp in triode mode for an additional 50% power reduction. This allows 30 pentode, 15 watt pentode, 15 watt triode and 7 watt triode.

I play blues and classic rock. This is an amp that is designed to be turned up to achieve output tube overdrive in addition to preamp tube overdrive. There is thankfully not a ton of preamp overdrive available. For this type of amp I cannot honestly think of any missing features. Inherently, it cannot be feature-rich, or the tone will be adversely effected. Still, I am not technical and am hesitant to give it a 10 on features, because maybe there are some other cool things that can be done, so a 9

I use this with three guitars right now: PRS McCarty, Fender American Strat with Lindy Fralin Blues Specials and a Carvin DC127 koa neck-through with Seymour Duncans (JB and '59). This amp is really perfect for blues and classic rock. I am able to coax some nice Allmans type tones out of my McCarty's neck pickup or middle position (both). I am extremely please with the sounds. It really shines with strat, in every pickup position. The amp can crunch really nicely too, but of course won't have the thump of a sealed enclosure. I modified all three guitars by adding a capacitor and resistor to the volume pot so that when I roll back the volume, the highs aren't lost. I run the amp with the volume way up and modest amounts of preamp gain, and to get really nice jangly cleans, just roll off the guitar volume pot! It cleans up fabuously. And even though the cleans are wonderfuly chimey, they're warm too. You can play lead lines when it's clean and it has that wonderful resilient feel with sustain, not that in-your-face almost solid state clean produced by so many modern tube amps.

The EQ Bypass is a really cool additional feature. Another reviewer described it as a convenience because you just use the Tone knob and don't have to fiddle with the bass/middle/treble. True, but it's much more. For one thing the tone is different, because the signal passes right through to the output section. For another thing, you get quite a volume boost when the EQ is bypassed, so it's another tool to help you set you volume levels.

The Triode switch is also really cool and worth the money. Not only can I now take the amp down to 7 watts for home playing, but both triode modes (15 and 7 watts) sound different; decidedly darker than pentode. Additional tonal options.

The amp loves overdrive pedals. It doesn't need them, but they provide additional tone options. I find myself soloing with the amp's overdrive as is, with the Boost switch engaged, with external overdrive pedals, Boost + pedals, etc. They all sound different, but they all sound great.

Finally, flexibility and power. This amp is replacing a rig that is pretty decent in its own right, but has grown to become rather bulk and elaborate. It's a Mesa Heartbreaker head into a 2x12 Recto cab and outboard rack gear, including EQ pre and post preamp to shape the tone. Sounds great, but the Kingsley sounds much better. And it's a lot less to carry and easier to use. The Heartbreaker rig, with its channel switching and 100 watts, provides pristine cleans and instant switches to prodigeous dirt. I thought I might miss that, but not at all. With the Kingsley, it's so much easier to access those in-between sounds with the volume knob, and the cleans are even nicer. As mentioned above, warmer. I've always had big amps, 100 watters and worried about a 30 watt amp. So far, I've only played the amp at 15 watts pentode with the band, and it has been easily loud enough.

This amp won Guitar Player's Editor's Pick Award in 2001 and for good reason.

Normally I would give no rating, because it's too new. But Simon gives a 5 year warranty, and the Guitar Player review and other things I have read about it indicate that is very well made. I expect it to be highly reliable.

Simon Jarrett is a great guy and very helpful. He doesn't make a lot of these, so he knows each amp.

I've been playing for over 30 years and have owned and played a lot of amps. I've pretty much struggled with amps since I sold my Marshall Plexi halfstack in the late 80s. I've been realizing lately that it's time to go back to an amp that doesn't just rely on buzzy preamp overdrive, but an old Marshall is too impractical. The Deluxe 30 fits the bill nicely.

I've raved about products I just purchased in the past, and I know I'm still in the "honeymoon period." There is a big difference this time. In the past, I was mostly happy but was still searching for some of the sounds and assumed that I'd get there with a little more tweaking (the Heartbreaker is a great example). With the Kingsley, I just plug in and the sounds I want are there. With more tweaking I'll probably find some bonus sounds, maybe some will be better, but who knows? What I know about now covers the ground I want to cover, with no lingering doubts. So I'm raving about the amp!!

This hand wired Class A combo amplifier was custom built in 2003. I play in a couple of different rock bands and this suits my playing style perfectly; I tend towards the more classic vintage tones and would compare the music I play to Pavement, Soul Asylum, Replacements, Tom Petty, Stones, etc.

It's a 30 watt amp with two channels. The first channel uses a volume control only and the second channel uses a master/gain combination. There is no channel switching, no effects loop, no headphone jack; it's not that kind of an amp. For speakers, the cabinet is loaded with a 12" Greenback and a 12" Vintage 30. It comes with a nice long power cord, but it's the type that needs to be plugged into the back of the amp. I'd prefer if it was permanently wired to the amp; I worry about misplacing it or leaving it at home accidentally. It's finished in a lovely blue tolex and came with a hand-made leather (or faux leather, not sure) dust cover. That was a nice (and unexpected / unadvertised) touch, but it does not offer enough protection for gigging at rock clubs; I plan on purchasing a Tuki padded cover.

I guess the one thing missing from this amp would be a built-in tremolo, but it's something that I rarely use on my other amp (the 15W Top Hat Vibratrem), so it's not a big deal. I never use the line out feature, but you never know; perhaps I'll need that in the future. The features I do use include:

SWITCHABLE FROM 30W to 15W - This is great when I've got a nice tone going but I need to turn down in a smaller club.
TONE STACK DEFEAT - If I don't want to fiddle with bass/mid/treb controls, I just pull out the mid knob and use the global tone knob only. $50 option and totally worth it.
REVERB - Very nice sounding, but I rarely use it.
BOOST FOOTSWITCH - My favorite feature! Makes it easy to get a little boost for solos without coloring the tone. Not as big of a boost as my MXR boost pedal, but good enough and that's one less pedal in my signal chain.

I use the amp to play with my two bands at clubs gigs around Chicago. It has PLENTY of power. I haven't really turned it up beyond 33% at a gig.

I'm rating the features as a "9", but understand it's very versatile for what it is. What I mean is the amp is obviously not intended to be versatile like a digital modeling amp that emulates dozens of other amplifiers. I find it to be versatile in terms of tones, levels of distortion, and power for a Class A hand-wired combo amp.

I use the following Hamer guitars with this amp: Special w/ P-90s, Solidbody Archtop w/ humbuckers, Semi-Hollow Newport w/ Fat Cat single coils, and a T-51 w/ single coils. They all sound fantastic through the amp. My musical style is described above and this kind of amp is just what you want for playing basically any non-metal rock.

I can get some nice clean tones and an incredible range of dirty tones from the amp. It really excels at giving a nice range in between where I can clean up the sound by adjusting my attack and then really dig in to dirty things up. The distortion is not brutal in a metallic sense, but when the saturation really gets going, it makes me just want to play Zeppelin riffs all day. The distortion really sings when it's saturated and some wonderfully complex feedback can be had with the right guitar.

The whole reason to get this amp is for the incredible tones. It's based on a Vox AC30 circuit, so if you're into that, I think you'll be quite pleased.

I've had the amp for a couple of months now and used it at a few gigs and it has not let me down. Of course, it's a little early to say for sure, but I totally depend on it and I do not bring a backup to gigs with me.

The "company" is Simon Jarrett. He's incredibly helpful and responsive regardless of whether I call him directly or send him an email. He's friendly and willing to spend a few minutes to answer my questions without getting bogged down in technical BS I don't understand. One thing to keep in mind is that the entire operation is run out of his place in British Columbia, so I was not able to try the amp out before I purchased it and it wouldn't be practical to send back if it needed service.

I've been playing guitar for about 20 years and this is the finest amp I've ever had the pleasure of owning. I also have a Top Hat Vibratrem 15 which is a fantastic amp, but the Kingsley takes the cake. If it was stolen or lost, I would absolutely buy the exact same model again. I love the tones, the volume, the styling, the blue jewel light, the 15w/30w switch, the tone stack defeat, and the boost footswitch. I don't hate anything about it, but I wish the power cord was permanently attached.

I also considered a stock Vox AC30, a handwired AC30, and a Top Hat AC30 type (I don't remember what model that is). The handwired AC30 and the Top Hat were way more expensive and didn't have the 15w/30w switch, the tone stack defeat, or the boost footswitch. The stock AC30 didn't have these items either, and although it was a couple of hundred dollars less, I couldn't justify going with a mass produced amp just to save 10%. If you're going to spend $1600, you may as well spend the $1800 and get the perfect amp! Highly recommended.

Note: I did not get to try this amp before I bought it, but Simon assured me that if I didn't like it I could send it back within 48 hours and he'd give me a full refund. I was nervous about risking the purchase without ever having heard the amp, but I'm so very glad I took the plunge. I've never been happier with a piece of gear.

Custom amp built in 2002 by Simon Jarret. Here are the relevant specs directly from www.kingsleyamplifiers.com peppered with my specific configuration:

The Kingsley Deluxe 30 is a single channel, all tube, class A, handwired 30W amplifier with

- four EL84 tubes, a 12AX7 phase inverter, and a 5AR4 rectifier tube
- a 15W/30W switch
- an impedance switch and parallel speaker outputs
- 2 inputs (pre- and post- pre-amp stages)
- pre-amp controls for gain (input 1 only), volume, treble, middle, bass and reverb, as well as a bright switch
- power amp tone control
- a variable footswitch boost pedal with a level control on the pedal
- 2 mismatched speakers: Celestion G12H & Greenback

This is a straightforward amp with a straightforward purpose: awesome tone.

I like the 15/30W selector, because I can get some power stage grit at lower volumes, but I think many of the class A's have that. I'm not sure you can get a decent handwired class A at this price though.

At first, I loved the reverb, because it is very natural and not overpowering. But now, I wish it could get wetter. I still like the reverb, though. If I had asked for a wetter reverb, I'm sure Simon would have put it in for me, though.

At first, I really loved the variable boost switch too, and it is quite handy, but I don't think I ever play loud enough to where it is useful. I can easily use my volume knob for the same purpose, and it gives me one less pedal to worry about (although as far as pedals are concerned, this is about as brainless as it gets).

The EQ and tone controls are very responsive. Love them.

I got the mismatched speakers, because Guitar Player reviewed this amp (got and editor's choice, or whatever) with mismatched speakers as well. I'm not really sure I would be able to tell the difference if I had matched the speakers. No matter. They sound great.

I give this a 9, because I suffer from the need to desire things that I don't have, and I imagine that I would need 2 footswitchable channels. But in reality, probably not.

I play a 1985 (? who knows with Fender) American Std Telecaster (maple 1-piece neck) with stock single-coil pickups (bridge/neck). Setup is guitar->a series of pedals->amp. I plug into input 2 to bypass the pre-amp stage.

I play contemporary praise and worship in my church. The music is along the lines of blues rock, alternative rock, and modern roots rock--whatever any of that means.

The music is pretty diverse stylistically, and I will invest in good pedals to give me the range of effects that I need. What I want from the amp is just great tone, and this amp gives me that. Also, our worship is not what you would call loud, but this amp gives me great tone even at lower volumes. The clean tones sparkle and the dirty tones are OK with the help of a Fulltone Overdrive.

But let me tell you, I have turned this amp all the way up (if only I could do that on Sunday!), and the Deluxe 30 just sings. The amp is also very responsive to guitar volume and attack. At the right setting, you can get chimey cleans to throaty roars with just your attack.

Once I figured out that the bass amp that plugs into the same outlet as this amp was blowing the fuse occassionally, it hasn't let me down. The on-off light did burn out on me though.

In this day and age of mass production and mass service, automated tellers and self service, I have to say that dealing with Simon Jarret was a pure joy. Also, I've found that music gear retail tends to be like the music scene in general--ie, full of flakes. But just for the sake of educating myself on amplification, I asked Simon some admittedly stupid questions before I even committed to purcashing his amp. He always responded promptly, courteously, knowledgeably, and legibly. He even called me to clarify some questions I had that were totally unrelated to the act of my purchasing his amp.

I just recently sent him another note with more stupid questions regarding the replacement of tubes. Again, prompt, courteous, etc, etc.

A boutique, handwired class A for under $3000. Good luck finding one.

When the day comes when God leads me to serve in other areas of the church, I am going to ask the church to sell me this amp.

This is the first gear review I've written, and it's taken me about an hour to collect my thoughts and write it. I probably won't ever write another review unless I encounter a product and supplier like Simon Jarret and Kingsley Amplification.

This is a made-to-order amp, and you can ask the builder to configure it according to your needs within reasonable limitations. For my application, it has 2 inputs - one with a gain control and one without. You can also bypass the bass-mid-treble controls and use only a single tone control for different sounds. The footswitchable variable boost is a very nice touch. This is a 30w Vox-esque amp which has a power cut switch for 15w power if you have a small room to play in. It is plenty of power for any and all applications from small stages to large. Pure tone is assured at any volume. In terms of speakers, the builder will put whatever you want. I chose a pair of Celestian "Blue Alnico" speakers. Ridiculously expensive, but definitely the best for what I was seeking.

I play a Gibson Les Paul Smartwood, Fender Strat, and Gibson Explorer. I also use a Vox wah, Boss GT-5, and a Mesa Boogie V-Twin. This amp was the answer to my amp dreams. The clean tone is full, glassy, and shimmering which suits the music I play. (Ambient groove to some noise now and then). There are many options for very sweet overdrive - just turn it up, or use the gain control, or bypass the EQ knobs - either way, very full, and luxurious drive. Especially with the low wattage Blue Alnico speakers (15 W each) - you can have everything from the preamp tubes and the power amp tubes overdriving, to some nice speaker coning. Virtually no noise or hum. If your sound calls for a full-bodied warm and chimey tone this is for you. If you want some British-Vox/Matchless overdrive, its all there. The drive is very warm and natural - not harsh like a Marshall. If you want Metal, than this amp probably won't work. But for everything else its like butter.

I have seen the amp in its constituent pieces, since I happen to live near the builder. Its built like a tank. ALl hand-wired with top quality parts.

For me, being nearby, I can take the amp to the builder anytime for service or any adjustments I want to have done. So, no problem.

I have been playing guitar for about 17 years. I am obsessed with tone. I love the vintageness of the tone, but I love the features that it has which many of the old ones don't. I noticed this because Guitar Player gave it an Editors Pick award. I always wanted a sort-of Vox tone. I also looked around at some Matchless. The Kingsley is by far the superior amp in its category and by far the most bang for the buck spent. I also have a Marshall JTM45 Bluesbreaker which is nice, but definitely is now second in my line up. I think I would like to supplement my set-up with a 70's HiWatt 50W for the higher-gain sounds. The only thing I don't like about this, or any other amp of its class is the weight!!! Otherwise, the tone is the Holy Grail I have been hearing in my head for many years and searching for. Playing through this amp will make you want to improve evry aspect of your set-up just to get the most out of it. Definitely the strongest link in my chain. Hear some of sounds using a Kingsley in recording at www.echophonemusic.com