Tone King Continental 1x12 Combo

Two channels based on a Blackface Deluxe. It uses 4-6V6's to generate watts into 1x12 eminence "greenback" clone. The lead channel is based loosely on the tweed amps but sounds a little different. The lead side allows the user to switch out 2 od the power tubes dropping the power to 20 watts. There is a reverb shared by both channels and a tremelo as well.

As said earlier this sounds like a blackface deluxe but with a tighter low end, more clean headroom and highs without the ice pick.
I owned one of these a few years ago and didn't keep it, mistake. At the time they didn't have good 6V6's available and I thought a lot of the upper midrange that was wearing was the Sovtek tubes (before EH). I ended up buying this one ebay and figured maybe if I pu either JJ's or EH's I cansolve the things that bugged me earlier. I bought the amp and liked it immediately but it still had some of the same basic qualities which bothered me. I decided it had to be the speaker and while looking through all the speaker information a guy named Jon Silberman said "Remove the bright cap instead". I tried his suggestion and it made a huge difference, it basically made the treble control useful. For all you tweakers out there this cap is on board next to the wires coming from the volume control. The cap say's 68pf I believe. I bought a switch from Radio Shack and ran two wires in line with this cap in a series circuit. This switch allowed me to turn on and off the cap just like most of the blackface amps. Mark included this switch with his new amps but I think he should have done it on his earler models as well. While this got me almost there it was still missing something for me.

I then bought a Hellatone 30 speaker from Dave at Avatar speaker, (nice guy). This speaker is exactly what this amp needs, it takes out a lot of the honkiness and doesn't really accentuate any particular frequencies. I find that I now can dial the treble controls(bright switch off) all the way up on the amp and it still sounds good, just different. This speaker is so nicely balanced all the settings of the tone controls sound nice. Before it seemed like I always had the treble contol lower than the bass, there is something in the stock speaker that really misses it for me. I know Mark didn't have the Celestion g12H 30 as an option back then so I can't fault him, you work with what's available. The lead channel sounds like a treble booster through a blackface amp, it doesn't sound as tweedy to me, it's just not dark enough. I have 2 Victoria's and I compared them side by side with this amps lead channel and I'm sorry but it's closer to treble booster. That's not a problem because before I got this amp I was using a Victoira Deluxe with treble booster. This amp with changes listed above just plain sounds great, all the minor things which bugged me earlier have been eliminated. Before speaker change and bright switch an 8, after a 10.

I can't tell but it appears to be very well built.

Mark is just a great guy he answered all my questions and even sent me some links in order to do some speaker searches. I used to own a Comet and the footswitch on it. I sent it back and he sent me brand new one, I didn't even buy it new.

With a change I did I am very happy, it is a great compliment to my Victoria Bassman and is probably much more versatile as well. If your reading this and am pondering the things I tried above, I cannot recommend it more highly as it really takes an already great amp to another level.

I believe this was made around 1997. I understand only 70 of these were made. Features include a clean rhythm channel, a lead channel that can be cut to 20 watts in order to break up at a lower volume, tremolo, and reverb. I wish it had an effects loop, but Mark (Mr. Tone King himself) says I can send it in and he'll put one in for a reasonable cost when he's got time. His stuff is so good, I don't understand why he has any time, though. More on that later. I use the amp at home and for gigs. It's rather a large cabinet for a 1x12, but I guess that's why it sounds so huge. It'd be nice if it were a little smaller. But I wouldn't want to sacrifice the sound. Plenty of power for small to medium clubs, and still sounds great in the living room. I don't really miss having a master power to turn it down - it breaks up at a reasonably low volume on the 20 watt setting. I had thought I'd have to get a hot plate or something to attenuate, but I don't find it neccessary. It's got that great 6V6 sound.

I'm a single-coil / Fender clean sound kind of guy. I have a Pensa strat with Fralins, two Fender Tele's, one with Fralin blues (hotter than normal) pickups, one with noiseless. I'm a singer-songwriter, and play Dylan/Springsteen/Waits type stuff. This is the right type of setup for my kind of music, IMHO. The amp's sounds range from the Fender clean to the Fender Deluxe grit. Tremolo is beautiful and smooth, reverb is great, too.

I bought this in pretty ugly physical condition - nothing wrong with it, just USED. I bought it from the owner of the studio where I rehearse. It's got a cigarette burn on the vinyl on top, plenty scratched up, the cabinet is a bit wobbly. I haven't thrown it around enough to know how reliable it will be, but I'm pretty careful with my equipment. I know that it's been technically cared for over the years, and it's been reliable in serving the needs of the studio for a while. I'm not going to rate this, because I don't have enough experience with it out on the road to rate it. It had brand new tubes in it when I got it, so I don't expect any problems for a while.

I've been bothering Mark, asking questions before buying one of his amps. He's been nothing but friendly and helpful. He's going to put an effects loop in my amp for me when he has some free time. VERY HELPFUL, and VERY COURTEOUS. Can't rate this guy high enough. I didn't bother asking about warranty, since I bought it used, but his reputation is that he actually cares about his stuff that's out there.

I've had a few different amps, sticking mainly to that clean Fender 6v6/6L6 sound. My second favorite type of sound is that Vox/Matchless EL34/84 sound. That clean sound with the nice bloom. Anyway... I've had a chance to play some of those other great brands - Matchless, Bogner, Fender custom. This Continental is the best sounding amp I've ever played. It's the only Tone King I've ever played, and I figure that since the reviews of his later stuff have said he's made improvements over the years, they must be great, too. But I have no intention of ever needing another amp. As I said to Mark in a note when I first got the amp - I've never been so inspired by an amp. Wow.