This did not go as expected... ( The good AND the bad )

Рет қаралды 1,009

Күн бұрын

In today's demo I check out the ‪@tonekingamps‬ Falcon Grande Combo as well as share the experience I've had since initially ordering it in early March. This one is kind of long, but I felt it was important to include both single coils, humbuckers, and also talk about the not so great parts.
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0:00 My love for the Gremlin
1:18 Telecaster Sound Examples
4:30 Les Paul Sound Examples
8:21 A few surprises of different varieties.
10:35 Reverb test with the Jazzmaster
11:50 Let's talk about the problems
14:20 It's hard not to be a little disappointed
15:20 Some good news for the future of the Falcon Grande
16:10 Final thoughts

Пікірлер: 46

@mattarnold8371 5 күн бұрын

I love dark amps and this one is perfect for me. I’ve had mine about 6 months, had no problems, and the three settings work great for me. I sold my Princeton and PRS amps, and most of my overdrive pedals, as this amp is perfect for me.

@seanzinger Ай бұрын

3:41 when you increased the gain a little with the Tele was glorious. I could use that tone all day.

@AudiomoMusic Ай бұрын

unfortunately i bought it to be a clean amp haha

@ericcoleman3412 17 күн бұрын

So sorry to hear man. I have this amp and couldn't be happier. Even got rid of both my Supro Saturn and Deluxe Reverbs

@AudiomoMusic 17 күн бұрын

It's all good, everything worked out I ended up with a Dr. Z and it's everything I wanted out of an amp. Happy yours works well for you!

@aminahmed2220 Ай бұрын

What a fantastic video have a wonderful weekend Jim ❤😊

@IanNorsworthy Ай бұрын

awesome video - fair, balanced and honest. Like you say some good tones in there (albeit not the ones expected/you were going for necessarily) and your decision based on that and the overall experience is understandable. The good news is hopefully the redesign will help the amp improve for those it does appeal to so thats a positive going forward :)

@AudiomoMusic Ай бұрын

Just a tough one all around. I did my best to just be as fair as I could but that amp had no business being sold in the first place with that massive obvious design flaw.

@IanNorsworthy Ай бұрын

@@AudiomoMusic yeah absolutely- a real shame as there’s an ‘amp in there’ but clearly needed more testing and development before being signed off and released. Hopefully it improves now and at least your feedback is awesome !

@sublyme2157 Ай бұрын

Dude, sorry to hear. Hope the move is going well!

@AudiomoMusic Ай бұрын

It happens the good news is one less amp to pack into the van right? 😅

@JBM_71 Ай бұрын

You've been very fair in discussing this amp Jim! 🎸🎸

@AudiomoMusic Ай бұрын

Don't think it made me many friends but it is what it is, if you aren't honest whats the point of any of this right

@petesie80 Ай бұрын

Yer an honest fella Jim, you have a much respected & valued viewpoint, Tone King is a sought after brand, hope their R&D guys are taking notes.

@AudiomoMusic Ай бұрын

I have no reason to believe they won't fix this going forward, I'm hoping it's on all current and future builds in progress

@LeviBulger Ай бұрын

Get a similarly spec'd Bad Cat and be blown away by how much better they are than just about every other boutique amp out there.

@SuperdangerStudios Ай бұрын

Been very interested in this amp since Shawn Tubbs demoed it years ago. Interested to see when they fix it. If it’s a prevalent defect it should be announced that it has been fixed. Thanks for the video!

@AudiomoMusic Ай бұрын

I'd really like to play some of those earlier ones. I know that these amps get revised a bit and it'd be interesting to compare and contrast and Shawn didn't seem to have any problems with his at all. Tone King are aware of the problem and I'm sure it's something that will be taken care of going forward for sure!

@theguitarprofessionals8584 Ай бұрын

The GOLD STANDARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@AudiomoMusic Ай бұрын

It was indeed - with single coils

@rhymeskill Ай бұрын

Super helpful, I almost bought this amp. Thank goodness I didn’t.

@AudiomoMusic Ай бұрын

It pains me to say it but I'm happy it did help and that you didn't go through the same thing I did.

@gantronyc Ай бұрын

Extremely fair review. Those amps can’t leave the factory that way. No excuse and it really damages the brand.

@AudiomoMusic Ай бұрын

The last issue I had is the only one I deem understandable, the first two examples of brand new amps with a genuinely unusable reverb right out of the box is completely unacceptable and you're right, it has really not done them any favors in my eyes and that's coming from someone who has praised one of their amps for a while on here without ever expecting or asking for a damn thing in return. Just sucks all around.

@mattarnold8371 5 күн бұрын

Is there any chance the issue is in the guitar or pedal signal path? Electricity in your home? A bad tube? That’s a weird issue.

@AudiomoMusic 5 күн бұрын

No, absolutely not. This version was just a poor design that was not tested properly before being sold and Sweetwater also confirmed the problems on their end as well.

@pippydog28 26 күн бұрын

I had this amp . It drove me nuts . I tried a zillion preamp tubes and speakers .and never warmed up to it

@AudiomoMusic 26 күн бұрын

The demos I heard were way different than what I experienced in the room. I prefer the gremlin to this amp that was perfect out of the box for a lil amp.

@jamesmarciniec4787 Ай бұрын

Wow, that sucks. I bought a brand new ToneKing Falcon Grande over a year ago and haven't experienced any of the problems you are having. I hope my reverb doesn't start doing that. Only time will tell.

@AudiomoMusic Ай бұрын

I know they do a lot of revisions and updating of the board, I doubt yours will randomly start doing it and am jealous I didn’t get one of those versions as I ended up giving up entirely and going with a different amp.

@waynedoherty7758 Ай бұрын

How are they just fixing this design now? They have been selling this model for years?

@AudiomoMusic Ай бұрын

originally they were made by Bartel and Tone king as it was, then B.A.D. took over making the amps for them using the designs, and since then there have been several revisions which is typical for boutique amp distribution to do. So there's have been a bunch of different version of this amp however it still doesn't excuse the blatant issue on two brand new non demo unit amps.... how does that not get checked??

@tomasodriziola Ай бұрын

after promoting this company with gremlin for over a year for free because you love it you spend two thousands dollar to be a tester for an amp that was never designed right. if you sold the gremlin after this I would understand. do this company not test product to see these obvious problems? do Sweetwater not test amp they sell to make sure they work? it should not take customer to find major problems with amplifier after spending their money on it

@AudiomoMusic Ай бұрын

i hadn't thought about selling the gremlin nor the fact that I have really done a lot of free advertising for the company ( which i was totally fine with because at the end of the day it worked perfect for what I wanted and never had a single issue, I'll always happily promote any piece of gear if i actually use and like it ), but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth after this. Maybe I ditch both and try to find an old 70's silverface princeton Reverb and call it a day, who knows.

@qazwsxedc964 20 күн бұрын

Cant believe I have to pay 2K plus for an amp made by an OEM, thanks for the video Jim. I am not going to buy any of those tone kings.

@AudiomoMusic 20 күн бұрын

I had no idea how so much of the "boutique" amp industry was actually producing their amps until this experience. I also have decided to go elsewhere to a company that still runs out of a small shop and does everything themselves in house by hand which I'll get into hopefully sooner than later on the channel

@Markleford Ай бұрын

So... you acted as an unpaid beta tester to help them work out their circuit? 🤔 I suppose I would've handled it in pretty much the same way, though. And fortunately the people you talked to were helpful, so you can just chalk it up to putting in a little time so that others have a better customer experience.

@AudiomoMusic Ай бұрын

Close, I actually was not an unpaid beta tester - apparently I paid to be a beta tester haha. In the future for anyone who wants to get one at least it'll be an improved circuit for them.

@pCeLobster Ай бұрын

This is how a lot of companies operate. Especially software companies but you see it everywhere. The customer is the beta tester. And QC. Just get it out there. It's why everything looks nice but actually kinda sucks. All they care about is getting you to buy it.

@mtmusicgear Ай бұрын

Seems like the issue you encountered underscores one of the many drawbacks of the B.A.D. business model. Quality control and overall design suffer as production numbers and profits become the priority. Tone King used to be hand built, handwired in Baltimore and now come off a massive assemble line next to many other brands (as you mentioned). No different than those massive factories in Indonesia that build guitars for different brands. “Boutique” in name and price only. Hard pass.

@tomasodriziola Ай бұрын

I never knew this, can you tell me what other amp brands are made by these people? i did not even buy this amp and im angry for him I don't want to support this crap and you are right maybe its the same idea of assemble line to maximize profit or all of these "boutique" builders would still build them themselves with quality in mind.

@AudiomoMusic Ай бұрын

I knew B.A.D. were building a few brands but when I saw just how many brands it was and who those brands were it was indeed a major surprise. You make some really valid points.

@edwardgrassel872 6 күн бұрын

This is why BAD is a nightmare. They absolutely stole ToneKing from Mark Bartel the original creator and owner of the brand, who designed the falcon grande, and what they did to his design is downright disturbing. Boutique Amp Distribution is disturbing.

@AudiomoMusic 5 күн бұрын

I got a DR. Z and now i'm happy so alls well that ends well I suppose

@ibanezlaney Ай бұрын

What a terrible design - Having the control knobs vertically on the front that way. Even if it sounded amazing its not something a working musician would want due to such poor design.

@AudiomoMusic Ай бұрын

I mean it was designed as a studio amp so there is that