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- Deluxe
1 - Deluxe
30 - Deluxe 32
- Deluxe
50 - Deluxe
80
The Kingsley Deluxe 30 is a single
channel, all tube, handwired 30W amplifier. It was designed to produce
those classic 30W British sounds with ease, as well as a range of
other sounds and also to provide many useful features for the performing
guitar player.
At the heart of the amplifier is a cathode-biased, non-negative
feedback output section that uses four EL84 tubes, a 12AX7 phase
inverter and a 5AR4 rectifier tube. The power amplifier section
has its own tone control for tailoring the high end content fed
to the power tubes. The output power can be set to 7, 15 or 30W by using the triode/pentode switch and 15/30W switch. With all four EL84s running in pentode mode the output is 30W. Switch down to 15W using the 15/30W switch and you get 15W (two EL84s running in pentode mode). With all four EL84s running in triode mode the output is 15W also, but the sound is smoother and rounder - great for bright guitars or rich, creamy overdrive. With only two EL84s in triode mode the output is reduced to 7W, enabling output section overdrive and compression at very reasonable volumes. An impedance switch and parallel speaker outputs
allow the use of different speaker cabinets and a variable level
line out allows the user to send the sound of the whole amplifier
(minus the speaker) to another amplifier for additional amplification.
This can be used to provide additional volume and sound spread or
to allow the amplification of effects placed after power tube generated
overdrive.
The pre-amplifier section has controls
for gain (input 1 only), volume, treble, middle, bass and reverb,
as well as a bright switch. These controls are very versatile and
have useful ranges, never sounding harsh or unpleasant, even at
extreme settings. There is an EQ-lift switch that dis-ables the treble, middle and bass controls, which results in a very full and organic sound. In this mode the sound can still be tailored by using the bright switch and tone control. The reverb is very smooth sounding with just the
right amount of decay and greatly compliments the sound of the amplifier.
Plugging into input 2 provides full, classic clean sounds with great
definition, from warm jazzy tones to bright, percussive and articulate
country twang. As the volume control is raised the amplifier becomes
very responsive to picking and touch: pick softly and the tone remains
clean and articulate, dig in and the amplifier breaks up in a very
musical way that sounds great for on the edge blues and classic
rock rhythm. Wind the volume right up and you get a rich, thick
and full rock grind.
Plugging into input 1 adds a gain
stage and gain control to the pre-amplifier. This is the input for singing rock tones
or on the edge blues at lower volumes. A three-way gain switch changes the range of gain available from low to medium to high. This greatly increases the versatility of the amplifier's overdrive by optimising the circuit for low gain or higher gain sounds. In the lower gain position the overdrive is full and rich. In the middle position more gain is added and the bottom end is fatter. In the high gain position the bottom end is tightened up for good note defintion and no mushiness.
A huge array of sounds can
be achieved by turning the amp up and using a combination of the
guitars volume control, different pickups and a dynamic right hand
touch. Listen to the following clip to see how both sweet clean
tones and singing lead tones can be achieved by changing the guitars
volume control and pickup settings in real time, while the amplifier
settings remain the same (a simple guitar volume pot modification
is recommended for best results - contact us for details):
Clean/dirty
mix. with one amp setting.mp3
The Deluxe 30 also comes with a
variable footswitch boost pedal, which has a level control right
on the pedal. With the level at zero there is no boost. Turn the
level up and step on the switch and the amount of pre-amp drive
is increased. This can be useful for boosting clean tones or switching
between on the edge tones and fuller overdriven sounds when the
amplifier is already loud. An LED indicator light shows the status
of the boost pedal.
The Deluxe 30 is available as a
head, a 1x 12, 2 x 12 or 4 x 10 combo and can be ordered with a
variety of speakers for different tastes. The standard speaker for
the 1 x 12 is the Celestion G12H and for the 2 x 12 a combination
of the G12H and Celestion Greenback is used.
In July 2001 Guitar Player magazine
conducted a bench test on the Deluxe 30 and gave it a great write
up as well as their prestigious Editors Pick Award. Click on the
editors pick logo at the top of the page to read what Guitar Player
magazine has to say about the Kingsley Deluxe 30.
For sound clips of the Deluxe 30,
go to the sounds page.
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