The Tone King Royalist Tube Preamp Pedal is an all-tube preamp pedal, part of the wider family of preamp pedals that put an amplifier's front end on a board. In an Andertons demo, Lee Anderton and Pete described it as "an all tube preamp uh pedal as well," with ECC83s, or 12AX7, tubes inside depending on what you call them1.
Its circuit leans into "sort of a 60s through the 70s kind of era. Marshalls," according to the demo, and it carries a zero watt power amplifier with attenuation, a feature taken from the Tone King Imperial MK21.
Two channels, three voicings each
The pedal has two channels, and "just like the amplifier, the two channels are identical," the Andertons demo notes1. Each channel can be set to one of three voicings, which get gainier as you go up:
That structure lets a player set the two channels to different eras and switch between them, covering the range of tones the Royalist's Marshall-inspired circuit is aiming at1.
Outputs
The Royalist offers a built-in stereo IR out, though the Andertons demo used the mono out1. For players running a cab or an amp, the mono output covers the conventional route, while the stereo IR out suits setups that use impulse responses instead of a microphone on a speaker.
Tone King also makes the Tone King Royalist Preamp and the Tone King Imperial Tri Tube Preamp, which are related preamp pedals in the maker's range.
What reviewers said
The demo from Andertons Music Co, presented by Lee Anderton and Pete, covers the pedal. On the pedal's design, they said:
"the Royalist is leaning into sort of a 60s through the 70s kind of era. Marshalls"1
Andertons Music Co, Lee Anderton and Pete1
Videos
Andertons Music Co
The Studio Rats
Brett Kingman
Questions
Is the Tone King Royalist Tube Preamp Pedal analog or digital?
It is an all-tube design. According to Andertons' demo, the pedal uses ECC83s, also known as 12AX7, tubes inside, so the tone-shifting work is done by real tubes rather than digital modeling. It also includes a zero watt power amplifier with attenuation, a feature carried over from the Imperial MK2.
What voicings does each channel offer?
Each of the two identical channels can be set to a 1964 Marshall, a 1967 Marshall, or a 1970 Marshall voicing, which get gainier as you go up. That lets one pedal cover the range of 60s through 70s era Marshall tones the Royalist is based on.
Sources (1)
- Tone King Royalist Tube Preamp & New Synergy Amps!, Andertons Music Co, 2026-01-24
