Kingsley Jester into Axe III

DrProgNerd

DrProgNerd

Member
Hey all - I've been using a Kingsley Jester with my AIII - and used it with my AX8 prior to getting the AIII. I find that the beautiful tube boost and drive compliment the AIII nicely. I resist using these terms whenever possible - because they are grossly overused - but they are unavoidable here: the Kingsley brings an 'organic' and 'amp-like' feel to the potentially brittle sound of the modeled signal. It adds a full rich quality to my presets.

The Jester - for those who don't know - uses two 12ax7 preamp tubes. It has a boost side and a drive side. I leave the boost side on all of the time - and engage the drive side intermittently. The AIII is phenomenal ….but adding the Kingsley is like a fresh coat of wax on the Ferrari. If you haven't already - I recommend trying this. You may be surprised. Anyone have a favorite drive that they run into their AIII?
 
any way to demo this for us? the difference with and without? i don't have a brittle sound of a modeled signal ever *shrug*

i think sometimes pedals like this are simply adding volume and some eq, which is often perceived as "more analog feel" or "less digital sounding." maybe some highs are being cut, and more input is happening compressing the low end or something.

i'm not saying what you're experiencing is wrong or isn't happening - whatever works is the way to go! i just don't like when potential customers of any modeling device think that as-is the device won't sound good simply because someone else uses a pedal before it. :D

on the Axe-Fx III, there is an Input EQ in the Amp block now which can help to shape the tone of the guitar before it gets processed by the amp, and maybe some of this feel from the pedal can be created. *shrug*
 
I tried something similar with the Ultra and liked it, but then I figured out it was more what I amplified it through. When the Axe II came out I had tried about a dozen different configurations of amplification. Well actually more if you go back to the early 90's when I started getting into rack gear.
What I found out was that the Axe-Fx has the tone, although you have to work at it ...sometimes. Then I got a set of atomic clr's and I don't search for that little something any more :). The main thing I seem to look for nowadays is portability, or twin rigs one for home and one for the gig :).
 
I'm an old fart and new to computer based recording. In fact I bought an interface that came with Pro Tools First a couple of weeks before the Axe - and I'm struggling. I'll get there one of these days. Honestly - I don't think a demo would give the full picture because a lot of what's happening is in the feel. There is a perceivable 'fullness' - that seems to go beyond standard EQ'ing as well. But if some fine tuning on the AIII would get me the same results, I'm all for it. Fractal has proven to make the intangible …. well ….tangible - so I'm open to learning something new.

"i just don't like when potential customers of any modeling device think that as-is the device won't sound good simply because someone else uses a pedal before it."

When I said "potentially brittle" I could almost hear the knives sharpening and the pitchforks coming out. Lol !!! I thought I was pretty careful to pay the proper respect to the AIII - calling it "phenomenal" and comparing it to a "Ferrari" - because I knew that implying that it was less than perfect might be taboo on an Axe forum. It's all good - I'm not taking your response to be an attack.

I normally hate to qualify an opinion with disclaimers - and I started to do just that in my OP - but thought better of it. But I'm new here and realize that maybe the spirit with which I made my post was misunderstood. That said - I hope this clarifies my position on the AIII:

I loved the AX8. In fact - it sent my amps packing. In the past 36 years, I've owned all of the usual suspects: Ecstasy's , Shiva's, PT-100's, Mark V, Road King II, 5150 III's, Marshalls, Fenders, custom hand-builds and on and on.. ad nauseum....and I ended up with an AX8 through a pair of Yamaha DXR-10's as my main rig. That's a big statement - a little pedalboard chosen over all of those amps. Then the AIII comes in …..and ups the game considerably. It is - without a doubt - the best and most important piece of gear I have ever owned. AND in addition to that - I find that when I run my Kingsley Jester into it - it sounds even better. I'm excited about this 'discovery' and - in my enthusiasm - wanted to share it with people who may benefit from it. That's it. Not trying to step on toes.

"on the Axe-Fx III, there is an Input EQ in the Amp block now which can help to shape the tone of the guitar before it gets processed by the amp, and maybe some of this feel from the pedal can be created. *shrug* "

Thank you for this, Chris. I will look into this now and stop my long winded response. Lol !!! - Cheers
 
just want to clarify, that if the pedal makes it sound like you want, then definitely use it! i didn't mean to curb any excitement either.

guitar gear is a mixture of components that work for each of us individually. you've found something that works!
 
NeoSound said:
I tried something similar with the Ultra and liked it, but then I figured out it was more what I amplified it through. When the Axe II came out I had tried about a dozen different configurations of amplification. Well actually more if you go back to the early 90's when I started getting into rack gear.
What I found out was that the Axe-Fx has the tone, although you have to work at it ...sometimes. Then I got a set of atomic clr's and I don't search for that little something any more :). The main thing I seem to look for nowadays is portability, or twin rigs one for home and one for the gig :).
Click to expand...

I suspect you're right. I'm continually impressed with what I'm able to get out of the Fractal gear. And I'm sure anything I want is in there - if I look hard enough. I know what you mean about the CLR's. They are outstanding. When I had my Axe II XL, I was sending one signal to a pair of CLR's and another signal out to a Fryette 2:90:2 to a pair of 4x12 Rectos - it was reeeediculous. I'm a home player these days. I looked at CLR's again when I bought my AX8 (then ultimately the AIII) - but I just went with a pair of Yamaha DXR-10's. For my current needs CLR's would be superfluous. If I was gigging again - I'd definitely give them a second look.
 
chris said:
just want to clarify, that if the pedal makes it sound like you want, then definitely use it! i didn't mean to curb any excitement either.

guitar gear is a mixture of components that work for each of us individually. you've found something that works!
Click to expand...

It's all good. I appreciate any advice you have to offer.
 
As a huge Kingsley fan, I'm interested in running a Jester (or Jouster, Juggler) into the Neunaber Iconoclast Speaker Simulator. That would be a killer mini-rig.
 
pima1234 said:
As a huge Kingsley fan, I'm interested in running a Jester (or Jouster, Juggler) into the Neunaber Iconoclast Speaker Simulator. That would be a killer mini-rig.
Click to expand...

I think the only Kingsleys that I haven't owned are the Bard and the Jouster. They are ALL varying degrees of awesome. The only two I didn't click with were the Juggler and the Harlot. I bought the Jester V2 as an afterthought when ordering a Constable V2 and Maiden D - it turned out to be my favorite. I eventually sold them all but the Jester - I don't see that going anywhere. I swapped out the 12ax7's for 5751's and it is spectacular.

As stated in my OP, I run the boost always on and click in and out of the OD side as needed and it's brilliant. I took Chris' advice above and tweaked with the Input EQ on the Amp block - and it did make a difference. There was a definite improvement - Thanks Chris . But when I introduced the Jester again - it was even better. I don't know what kind of voodoo witchcraft Simon puts in his pedals but it is the icing on the cake of my rig. I bet it would sound good into the Neunaber as well.
 
DrProgNerd said:
I think the only Kingsleys that I haven't owned are the Bard and the Jouster. They are ALL varying degrees of awesome. The only two I didn't click with were the Juggler and the Harlot. I bought the Jester V2 as an afterthought when ordering a Constable V2 and Maiden D - it turned out to be my favorite. I eventually sold them all but the Jester - I don't see that going anywhere. I swapped out the 12ax7's for 5751's and it is spectacular.

As stated in my OP, I run the boost always on and click in and out of the OD side as needed and it's brilliant. I took Chris' advice above and tweaked with the Input EQ on the Amp block - and it did make a difference. There was a definite improvement - Thanks Chris . But when I introduced the Jester again - it was even better. I don't know what kind of voodoo witchcraft Simon puts in his pedals but it is the icing on the cake of my rig. I bet it would sound good into the Neunaber as well.
Click to expand...

Wonder if you could try tone matching the pedal to see if the Axe can get you a similar result?
 
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