Tone King FALCON User manual

Tone King “Falcon”
Tone King “Falcon” Tone King “Falcon”
Tone King “Falcon”
User’s Manual
User’s ManualUser’s Manual
User’s Manual
1.0 7/23/2013
Tone King Amplifiers
A division of Premier Builders Guild LLC
4401 Eastern Avenue, Bldg 45 2A, Box 38
Baltimore, Maryland 21224
www.toneking.com
[e-mail]

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Note from the Builder
Note from the BuilderNote from the Builder
Note from the Builder
Thank you for choosing Tone King’s “Falcon” guitar amplifier. The Falcon is a fresh new
design, quite a bit different than its predecessors in the Tone King line.
The Falcon is inspired by the sound of smaller si e, funky
old vintage amps – tweed champs, Supros, old field coil
Gibson amps, etc. The goal with this design was to get
the loose, raw sound of that sort of amp – the clank and
the grind - but without the raspiness. Instead, I wanted
each note to have a sweet candy coating, floating in a
river of rich maple syrup.
There were two key factors to achieving this. First, I
developed a cabinet design that is surprisingly warm, full,
and resonant for its si e. This required a certain type of
construction, and resulted in the chassis being mounted
to the side of the cabinet, which also lends the Falcon its
own unique look.
Next, I employed an
unusual output stage configuration in which a pair of
6V6 tubes is operated in Ultralinear mode, and
cathode biased. In Ultralinear mode, the output
tubes act more like triodes than pentodes, which tends
to favor production of lower order harmonics, resulting
in less raspiness, more depth, and a sweetly rounded
quality.
At 12W, the Falcon was too loud to be used in a home
environment, so I added a limited version of our
Ironman attenuator with 6 levels of attenuation, to bring the volume down by 35db, all
the way to a genuine bedroom volume.
In the end, the Falcon turned out to have a wonderful variety of genuine old-school
tones, and be an absolute blast to play. I thank you for your purchase of the Falcon,
and I hope you enjoy playing it as much as I do.
Best Regards,
Mark Bartel
Tone King Amplifiers, a division of Premier Builders Guild LLC

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Safety Instructions (Important !)
Safety Instructions (Important !)Safety Instructions (Important !)
Safety Instructions (Important !)
1. Please read these instructions, and keep them for reference.
2. Please follow all instructions described here.
3. Do not use this apparatus near water.
4. Clean only with a dry cloth.
5. Do not block any ventilation openings.
6. Do not operate near any heat sources such as radiators or heat registers.
7. Protect the power cord from being walked on or pinched, particularly at the plugs
and at the point where they exit from the apparatus.
8. Only use attachments/accessories specified by the manufacturer.
9. Unplug this apparatus during lightning storms or when unused for long periods of
time.
10. Refer all servicing to qualified service personnel. Servicing is required when the
apparatus has been damaged in any way. For example, if the power supply cord or
plug is damaged, liquid has been spilled or objects have fallen into the apparatus, the
apparatus has been exposed to rain or moisture, does not operate normally, or has
been dropped.
11. CAUTION: To disconnect the unit completely from the MAINS, unplug the unit.
Turning the power switch off does not disconnect the unit completely from the MAINS.

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Contents
ContentsContents
Contents
1. Front Panel Controls 4
HI and LO Inputs 4
Volume and Tone Controls 4
Voicing Switch 4
2. Dialing In Your Sound 5
Rhythm Voicing 5
Tweed Voicing 5
Lead Voicing 6
3. Back Panel Controls 7
AC Power 7
Fuse 7
Power Switch, Standby Switch 7
Speaker Jack 7
Attenuation Controls 8
Notes on Using the Attenuator 8
4. Tube Installation and Replacement 9
Choice of Tube Types and Brands 9
Important Note Regarding V2 9
12AX7 Tubes 10
6V6 Tubes 10
Alternate Tube Choices 10
Installing Tubes 11
Replacing Output Tubes 11
Tube Quality 11
5. Warranty 12

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1. ront Panel Controls
1. ront Panel Controls1. ront Panel Controls
1. ront Panel Controls
HI and LO Inputs
HI and LO InputsHI and LO Inputs
HI and LO Inputs
Two input jacks are provided, each with a different level of
gain. The HI input has a higher level of gain than the LO
input. You may find it useful to use the HI input with
guitars that have single coil or otherwise lower output
pickups, and the LO input for guitars with humbuckers or
high output single coil pickups. Regardless, these guidelines
are not intended as set rules. There are many cases where
they would be used otherwise.
Volume & Tone Controls
Volume & Tone ControlsVolume & Tone Controls
Volume & Tone Controls
The first stage of the Falcon’s preamplifier is very similar to a
vintage tweed deluxe amplifier. Because of this, the volume
and tone controls are highly interactive. This means that
changing the volume control will have some effect on the tone
(balance of treble-to-midrange-to-bass), and changing the
tone control will have some effect on the volume of the amp.
Although this seems like an inconvenient setup, it actually
provides a much wider range of available tones. If you are not
familiar with using interactive Volume and Tone controls, it
may take some experimenting to become familiar with how
best to use it.
Voicing Control
Voicing ControlVoicing Control
Voicing Control
The Voicing control allows you to select between three distinct
“voicings”, each with its own unique level of gain and tonal
characteristics. Note that the ability to switch between
voicings does not mean that the Falcon is a three channel
amplifier – it is a single channel design, with a variety of tonal
options provided by the Voicing control.