Kingsley Jester Analogman KOT

[tmholland]

Anyone who has owned both care to comment on the similarities, differences, weak or strong points of the two pedals?
Thanks.

[overture2005]

I own the Jester v1 and the KOT4 /w higain, they are the keeper.

The Jester's 3 position of the clean boost side:
upper- transparent, adds a little sparkle
mid- adds treble
down- adds mids

The KOT4's clean boost side
sounds sweet, sorta beef up the tone

The Jester's OD side:
articulate, smooth, warmer, modern od-dist, lots of mids.

The KOT4's higain side:
not very higain, warm, smooth, sorta vintage vibe, sounds like a cranked amp.

[Astronome]

i have a jester. i will never get rid of it...it integrates amazingly well into my el84 amps..whenever someone mentions the jester i feel compelled to tell them to buy one already!!

[macteacher]

ditto on that.

The Jester stacks so well too, although I am tempted to just pair down, sell off my other pedals that color tone or model other amps and just have the Jester.

Especially if you have a very clean amp...

[tmholland]

I appreciate the responses. Would anyone who has owned both care to make a comparison? I currently own the KOT and am very familiar with it. I'm running a cjod clone and jetter red behind the KOT currently and might be interested in consolidating. What say you?

[Seegs]

I've had both...both are fine pedals but after the Jester came the Kot became expendible...why because the Jester is just more versatle...touch sensitive...dynamic and dimensional...it's hard to compare a tube pedal to a SS pedal...the feel alone is worth it...

having said that the Juggler has rendered my Jester to the bench and FS...havn't used it since...don't get me wrong...the Jester sounds and feels great but the Juggler suits my low gain application better...it's boost is always on and an integral part of my tone chain...

Chow,
Seegs

[ES330]

I had a KOT... that pedal just didn't do it for me !!
And I wanted to like it too, but accepted defeat.

All the demos of the Jester just ROCK !!!!

[nacho_grande]

i have a jester. i will never get rid of it...it integrates amazingly well into my el84 amps..whenever someone mentions the jester i feel compelled to tell them to buy one already!!

My Jester is on its way to home. I have Matchless and Roccaforte and they both use EL84's. I am so happy to hear those words above about Jester's performence with these tubes. :D

[reverendfrankie]

I too own a KOT v.4 and enjoy it - but gas is happening and Simon Jarrett's place is not far from where I live. So... I would love to hear more from those who've had both. I appreciate what Seegs had to say but I thought in a more recent post that I read that he had parted with his Jester.

Anyways - more comments are appreciated,
Thanks,
Rev.

[Seegs]

I too own a KOT v.4 and enjoy it - but gas is happening and Simon Jarrett's place is not far from where I live. So... I would love to hear more from those who've had both. I appreciate what Seegs had to say but I thought in a more recent post that I read that he had parted with his Jester.

Anyways - more comments are appreciated,
Thanks,
Rev.

Hi Rev...that is true...after I got my Juggler I stopped using the Jester....not that it's not a great sounding pedal because it it...but rather because the Juggler just suited what I do better...having said that...after awhile I found that I wasn't using the OD side of the Juggler just the amazing clean boost side which was always on and in my mind it took up too much real estate for that purpose and I sold it as well...

Now I have 3 Himmelstrutz Boosts/OD and an Okko Compressor on my board which gives me all the different dirt textures that I need...


Chow,
Seegs

[reverendfrankie]

Hi Rev...that is true...after I got my Juggler I stopped using the Jester....not that it's not a great sounding pedal because it it...but rather because the Juggler just suited what I do better...having said that...after awhile I found that I wasn't using the OD side of the Juggler just the amazing clean boost side which was always on and in my mind it took up too much real estate for that purpose and I sold it as well...

Now I have 3 Himmelstrutz Boosts/OD and an Okko Compressor on my board which gives me all the different dirt textures that I need...


Chow,
Seegs

Thanks Seegs,
This happens to me too - and I always wonder, if I just wait long enough will I find that I'm actually happy with what I have? Ooops this is TGP, persish the thought, the quest must go on...

I'm reminded often of my fly fishing friends who are always buying some new fly or rod or belly boat, all of which are at least as expensive as guitar goodies.

I guess as long as we remember to go fishing, or playing - that our hobbies are positive ways to enjoy our time here. And like fishing, making music is better with friends.

I digress - I'm going to see if it's possible to get out to Kingsley Amps and try some of his pedals with my amp. Seegs, I have a 2 el84 Traynor YGM3 Handwired reissue - what amps of yours sounded best with the Jester/Juggler?

Thanks again,
Rev.

[harryjmic]

I have a Minstrel and have owned Kot's before, once I got the Minstrel the Kot was sent packing immediately. The Kot is awesome with a BF Fender, hard to top really but with my Matchless stuff the Minstrel is just much better.

Another thing to consider is that this pedal (Kingsley stuff) in many ways is like putting another gain stage into your amp. Think about it, all you really are doing is adding another couple preamp tubes to the front of your amp...how does this differ than any other channel switcher type amp?

All I know is I would rather have tubes functioning at normal voltages then a chip, but hey maybe I'm out of line here.

[Abandoned]

Man... I've been thinking about selling my KoT for a Jester or Minstrel, and this thread definitely isn't helping.
I'm just a little hesitant to get rid of my KoT cuz #1 I just got it a few months ago and had wanted one forever!!! And #2 it's definitely one of the best OD's I've ever tried and finally #3, I'm not entirely sure the resale value and easiness is selling a Kingsley pedal is as easy as selling a KoT.
Tough decision.

[nacho_grande]

Man... I've been thinking about selling my KoT for a Jester or Minstrel, and this thread definitely isn't helping.
I'm just a little hesitant to get rid of my KoT cuz #1 I just got it a few months ago and had wanted one forever!!! And #2 it's definitely one of the best OD's I've ever tried and finally #3, I'm not entirely sure the resale value and easiness is selling a Kingsley pedal is as easy as selling a KoT.
Tough decision.

Buy a Jester and keep them both :)

[dsw67]

I've had both...both are fine pedals but after the Jester came the Kot became expendible...why because the Jester is just more versatle...touch sensitive...dynamic and dimensional...it's hard to compare a tube pedal to a SS pedal...the feel alone is worth it...

having said that the Juggler has rendered my Jester to the bench and FS...havn't used it since...don't get me wrong...the Jester sounds and feels great but the Juggler suits my low gain application better...it's boost is always on and an integral part of my tone chain...

Chow,
Seegs

+1 and this is exactly why I now want a Juggler.