Tone King Continental 2x12 Cabinet

After more then 10 years of using and playing this fantastic amp/cabinet, I feel constrained to do my first Userview. Bought 1995, no problems since that time. Versatileness: for Country-, Rock- and Bluesmusic, not really for High-Gainers oder Jazzmusic, Reverb and Tremolo - very good; no effect loops, no headphone jack; unfortunately footswitch without channel lightsignal; both channels louder than bedroomlevel

Quite adamantly against grubby playing; gets on with all kinds of guitars; separates the wheat from the chuff - makes a good guitar sound like heaven...; not so much the "sweet" Bassman sound but more bright and clear, with a lot of bottom and amount of bass, use the 2.Channel to get a sweeter tone - also for clean and crunchy sounds and reach Marshall territory by opening the Midcontrol; perfect additional amp: Vox AC-30 for Dirty-Sound, that's what the ToneKing Continental Amp is not able to produce.

no breakdown since 14 years, no repairs, no replacements, no servicing - just plug and play...

not needed yet

Making music since more than 30 years; had many guitars and amps on my way - this is the best I ever had.

Well I finally had to go out and buy the matching Tone King Continental 2x12 cabinet to go with the Continental head I had previously purchased (see review.) First let me say that this cabinet is simply a work of art. It is visually stunning! The construction quality is exceptional.
The cabinet has two special Eminence 12" speakers and they are mounted on separate solid pine baffles. The cabinet construction is immaculate both in terms of the woodwork and the Naugahyde covering. My cabinet has red and white Naugahyde and it is stitched together. The cabinet is trapezoidal in shape and the white Naugahyde detail follows the trapezoidal shape of the cabinet. When mated with the head it makes an intriguing piece of art that looks like a cross between furniture on the Jetsons and a late 50's TV set. In fact the cabinet is supported by removable tapered legs just like the old TV sets or pieces of furniture. These legs can screw into the back of the open-back cabinet for transport or storage. They are really very sturdy for supporting the cabinet.
The cabinetry is finger jointed birch-plywood. All of the interior is spray painted to match the red Naugahyde and I think this is a nice touch. A chrome strip on the front gives a pleasing visual break between the two sides of the cabinet. There is a single input jack which is 4 ohms located on the bottom rear of the cabinet. The grill cloth of the cabinet is an unusual and beautiful weave which picks up the red and white colors of the Naugahyde.

Before buying this cabinet I've been playing the head through a high quality Ampeq 2x12 cabinet with Vintage 30 speakers, with very good results. As I've been using the new Tone King Continental cabinet though I've been struck by the improvement I've had in my sound.
This cabinet gives me a much more balanced and pretty sound than the Vintage 30 cab. The lower mid range isn't as predominant and the balance from low to high frequencies is much better. I am able to get much more of a Fender shimmer with this cabinet. The low notes have beautiful detail even with the humbuckers of my PRS guitar. The Vintage 30 cabinet is less distinct when overdriven with low notes.
This cabinet does both the clean and distorted sounds equally well. With the "pitch shifting" tremelo engaged on the amp, and bridge pickups on my PRS, I can get a really swirly Leslie type of sound. This combination of amp and cabinet let's me get a wonderful variety of beautiful tones without any effects. It just goes to show that a great guitar into a great amp is all it takes.
By the way this cabinet can get plenty loud but I've been enjoying playing it in a small room at very low volume. I think this really speaks well of the speaker cabinet. It can make your guitar sound pretty at conversation levels.

This cabinet is built to last. It is solidly constructed and should last a lifetime. The only problem I see with it is that people are going to be coming up to it at gigs and touching it. It just is going to attract attention and makes you want to stroke it.

The Tone King Company has been wonderful to deal with. They have answered all of my questions and have given me absolutely first class support. Being a real tube amp aficianado I've probably asked more questions than your average bear, just to learn more about how the amp is made, why certain tubes were used, etc. They could not be any more helpful.
By the way, I bought this cabinet from Carson Music in York, PA. They have the Tone King dealership in the central Pennsylvania area. There is a one year warranty on the equipment.

As you can tell from my review I have essentially fallen head over heels for this amp and cabinet. For under $2,000 I bought a piece of art that also sound great. Since I love 6V6 tubes this amp just has the sound I've been looking for at the volumes I need for the type of gigs I play. The intrinsic beauty of the cabinet with the amp is really something special to see.
In this price category I could have purchased almost any amp on the market and I looked at all of them. I would have spent more if the amp I wanted cost more. After having read every amp review a dozen times, and going out and trying all of the boutique amps, I decided to purchase the Tone King Continental. Enough said.