Hi, I’m Danial and I’m addicted to guitar gear. Or maybe a sound in my head. You know what I’m talking about.
Problem: I’m very picky on what I hear from my amp and how it makes me feel when I play it. I’m not the guy that can play through anything and sound good. If I don’t think it sounds good I play like absolute crap and I don’t need any help with that. I run through guitars and amps like chewing gum.
I tried orange (rockerverb MKIII, TH30, OR15)and Friedman (smallbox x2 and JJ jr), again more than once. Wanted to like the Friedman’s just didn’t have the eq I liked. The Orange I was pretty happy with (OR15), but volume was tapped out more than one time. Great amp though, might buy again for higher gain applications (OR30).
I went down the line 6 helix and the bluguitar amp1 rabbit hole. They sound good but they just sound dry and one dimensional. I have purchased both of these unit more than once. Different cabs and ways of powering them. Just not my thing for this particular sound. With the helix I don’t want to mess with menus or add eq here and there. I want simple.
Now, my favorite amp so far is the SV20. I love this amp. It has the right sound for sure, but it just didn’t give “thump” or “mass” in a dense band situation with horns, harmonica, multiple guitar players. Not to mention I like this amp set to a very particular sound so I needed to bring a attenuator (tone king Ironman mini) along with me. It was turning if into a hassle hooking up all that stuff in a short amount of time. I know first world problems.
My first thought was the 1987x would be the best option for the sound I want. However do I want to carry the head, cab, a bigger attenuator, and my guitar? 1987x combo? Still need to bring external attenuator.
Some of the jammers already think I’m pretentious with the gear I roll in with but I give a shit about how I sound lol. What’s that old saying? Dress for the job you want not the one you have. Or something like that. So that brings me back to not wanting to carry all that stuff.
Then along came tone king royalist demos. It’s got all of the Marshalls I want and built in attenuator?! Checked out the usual YouTube demos and two of them sold me. Peach guitars and our favorite Marshall guy Johan. Both are great demonstrations of how the amp sounds.
Sweetwater to the rescue! Well, after three weeks of waiting for it to get back in stock lol.
First, the amp is beautiful in person. I didn’t know if I would be down with how it would look but I really dig it. It has very classy modern 60’s furniture vibe that even my wife likes.
Sound: I have only had it for the weekend, but it sounds exactly how I wanted it so sound. I have played it at the house for a couple of hours and live at a blues jam. I have made the mistake more than once thinking an amp is the bees knees at home only find out it doesn’t cut the mustard live. Mainly meaning I can’t hear it (volume) or it isn’t cutting through the mix. It’s got the Marshall mid range and brightness that I have yet to find in Marshall copies. It has a very smooth transition in gain stage via the volume control. It doesn’t all come at once. For instance, with my sv20 once you hit 5 on the volume it’s like “bam! Here I am!” With the royalist it’s very gradual. I like that. It’s the perfect amount of gain, for this application. For my application that is. 3/4 up on 1967 and it’s blues rock heaven. ZZ Top and Allman brothers all day.
I still have a lot playing to do with this amp but will be keeping it for sure. I will make follow up comments and observations as I become more familiar with the amp. I’ll soon start making some shorts on YouTube and maybe a comparison to the sv20.
Thanks,
Danial
Problem: I’m very picky on what I hear from my amp and how it makes me feel when I play it. I’m not the guy that can play through anything and sound good. If I don’t think it sounds good I play like absolute crap and I don’t need any help with that. I run through guitars and amps like chewing gum.
I tried orange (rockerverb MKIII, TH30, OR15)and Friedman (smallbox x2 and JJ jr), again more than once. Wanted to like the Friedman’s just didn’t have the eq I liked. The Orange I was pretty happy with (OR15), but volume was tapped out more than one time. Great amp though, might buy again for higher gain applications (OR30).
I went down the line 6 helix and the bluguitar amp1 rabbit hole. They sound good but they just sound dry and one dimensional. I have purchased both of these unit more than once. Different cabs and ways of powering them. Just not my thing for this particular sound. With the helix I don’t want to mess with menus or add eq here and there. I want simple.
Now, my favorite amp so far is the SV20. I love this amp. It has the right sound for sure, but it just didn’t give “thump” or “mass” in a dense band situation with horns, harmonica, multiple guitar players. Not to mention I like this amp set to a very particular sound so I needed to bring a attenuator (tone king Ironman mini) along with me. It was turning if into a hassle hooking up all that stuff in a short amount of time. I know first world problems.
My first thought was the 1987x would be the best option for the sound I want. However do I want to carry the head, cab, a bigger attenuator, and my guitar? 1987x combo? Still need to bring external attenuator.
Some of the jammers already think I’m pretentious with the gear I roll in with but I give a shit about how I sound lol. What’s that old saying? Dress for the job you want not the one you have. Or something like that. So that brings me back to not wanting to carry all that stuff.
Then along came tone king royalist demos. It’s got all of the Marshalls I want and built in attenuator?! Checked out the usual YouTube demos and two of them sold me. Peach guitars and our favorite Marshall guy Johan. Both are great demonstrations of how the amp sounds.
Sweetwater to the rescue! Well, after three weeks of waiting for it to get back in stock lol.
First, the amp is beautiful in person. I didn’t know if I would be down with how it would look but I really dig it. It has very classy modern 60’s furniture vibe that even my wife likes.
Sound: I have only had it for the weekend, but it sounds exactly how I wanted it so sound. I have played it at the house for a couple of hours and live at a blues jam. I have made the mistake more than once thinking an amp is the bees knees at home only find out it doesn’t cut the mustard live. Mainly meaning I can’t hear it (volume) or it isn’t cutting through the mix. It’s got the Marshall mid range and brightness that I have yet to find in Marshall copies. It has a very smooth transition in gain stage via the volume control. It doesn’t all come at once. For instance, with my sv20 once you hit 5 on the volume it’s like “bam! Here I am!” With the royalist it’s very gradual. I like that. It’s the perfect amount of gain, for this application. For my application that is. 3/4 up on 1967 and it’s blues rock heaven. ZZ Top and Allman brothers all day.
I still have a lot playing to do with this amp but will be keeping it for sure. I will make follow up comments and observations as I become more familiar with the amp. I’ll soon start making some shorts on YouTube and maybe a comparison to the sv20.
Thanks,
Danial
