Tone King Imperial MkII vs Mesa Cali Tweed?

Mr_Claw · September 2023

Hi all,

I've sold my amp to move to NZ. Hopefully (if they're available in NZ!) I plan to get 1 of either the Tone King Imperial or Mesa Cali Tweed.

Which would people recommend (in an ideal world in which they're available)?

They both cover a lot of what I'd want. The TK has reverb & trem but no FX loop; the CT has reverb and an FX loop but no trem.

I have a couple of good trems (SA Vertigo and Supro Tremolo - although the Supro doesn't actually do very well in the FX loop).

An FX loop would be useful (as I have the UAFX Ruby and Dream so I could effectively turn 1 amp into 3 differently voiced amps using features in both that allow them to work in FX loops), but it's not essential by any means.

The amp I wanted more than any other a year or two ago was the Cali Tweed, but I'm leaning toward the Tone King now.

Any advice apprieciated.

Ta,

C

Wazmeister · September 2023

C,

Id personally head towards the TK… it has more clean headroom, and is versatile.

I haven’t played the MB but tweeds naturally are more restricted sound wise.

Id head for the core sound of the amp rather than focusing on the fx loop…

Just my own thoughts

chris78 · September 2023

@Wazmeister the tone king has way less clean headroom than the cali tweed.

The cali tweed is an amp I want back and I’m hoping they come back this year. They’re not really a “tweed” amp as such. On the 40 watt setting, they’re incredibly loud and I can’t remember getting mine into breakup at all with singlecoils. Down at the 2 watt setting, you need the gain high to get it driving.

The TK on the other hand has a simple 2 channels which are footswitchable so easy to move between tweed and sort of blackface (which I’ve always maintained doesn’t have the sparkle I associate with a blackface.

Both are wonderful. I’ve owned 4 imperials, but it’s the cali I want back.

Wazmeister · September 2023

chris78 said:

@Wazmeister the tone king has way less clean headroom than the cali tweed.
The cali tweed is an amp I want back and I’m hoping they come back this year. They’re not really a “tweed” amp as such. On the 40 watt setting, they’re incredibly loud and I can’t remember getting mine into breakup at all with singlecoils. Down at the 2 watt setting, you need the gain high to get it driving.
The TK on the other hand has a simple 2 channels which are footswitchable so easy to move between tweed and sort of blackface (which I’ve always maintained doesn’t have the sparkle I associate with a blackface.

Both are wonderful. I’ve owned 4 imperials, but it’s the cali I want back.

Good to know Chris and thanks for the correction

Are they currently not available then ?

chris78 · September 2023

Something to do with mesa not being able to get EU transformers.
Rumour was autumn.
I keep checking the @DougCoda homepage in the hope they get one in

Dominic · September 2023

I know they are acclaimed and I've had 2 of them but I just don't quite get it with the Imperial 2
The clean is nice and very immediate but a touch hard,the drive channel is nothing special at all
I had a Majesty/Royalist which was a far better amp

Mr_Claw · September 2023

Thanks all.

I imagine I'd be happy with either. The drive on the Cali sounds flippin magic though! Tremolo I'd miss, but I've got a stop-gap (the Vertigo) and may ultimately plum for an Effectrode trem in time (and money permitting).

Let's see if I can actually get *either* in NZ though!!!

If not I might have to see if I can find a vintage Jansen: the NZ Fender...

keir · September 2023

Since reading this thread I’ve watched a lot of videos for the Cali tweed, looks and sounds really cool - like the idea of having the multi-watt switch too seems more than just an attenuator but actually 5 (tweed style) amps in one

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Tone King Imperial MkII vs Mesa Cali Tweed?

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