Kingsley Jester
I remember when i heard my first Overdrive pedal with a 12AX7 valve inside. I thought to myself, 'this has to sound good, I mean, it's got a valve in it!', what a disappointment. Yes, valves do sound great in the preamp of an amplifier, it's boosting them that creates the issue.
Let me give you an example, if you take a transistor based overdrive pedal and stick it into a mixing desk to hear what it actually sounds like, you will hear how sharp and raspy the frequencies it produces are BUT put the same Overdrive into a valve amp and the little glowing bottles of love take these raspy signals and turn them into big fat tone. If we get a preamp valve to distort the output is going to be warm not to mention loud. Put this signal into the front of your amp and the results more often than not can sound like undefined mush.
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| Wait till they get a load of me!
So as much as I loved the idea of a great sounding valve based OverDrive pedal, I had almost given up hope. After trying at least 20 different examples none of them sounded as good as my trusty old transistors punching the crap out of the front end of my vintage lovelies. Then i heard a rumour, a faint whisper among those who know much but talk quietly, and before long, at my feet was this, the Kingsley Jester.
Seconds in I knew I had found something very very special.
The party piece of this incredible pedal is the way it interfaces with your amplifier; it's unbelievable, like having an extra 2 channels in your amp. And just like a good valve amp you can control so much of its sound with small adjustments to your guitars volume control. There are two 12AX7 preamp valves used to do the work utilized by two sections of the pedal. The first is the OverDrive side which has 3 different stages of valve gain from mild to wild and a very comprehensive EQ stage so you can fine tune perfectly. The second is a boost with three different voicings and a master boost level so you can kick it in for solos. At its heart it is still a preamp, but it has the output characteristics of a stomper which is why it works so incredibly well.
How much should I pay?
Simon Jarrett of Kingsley Amplifiers builds these pedals one at a time by hand using point to point wiring with specially chosen high grade components and does it all for $375 USD which is a stunning price considering the work that's involved. It's no surprise then that now the word is out you will have to get inline and wait you turn, and you could be waiting a while. It's big, heavy, takes AC power only, and is also the best sounding valve based OD pedal ever made. Try one and tell me I'm wrong.
click here to go the Kingsley website... |
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