Bruno CT 35: Kingsley Jester or Juggler?

[335fuzzdelay]

Hi... I love the cleans on my Bruno CT 35, but still haven't found the drive tones I'm looking for. Right now, I have a Spaceman Aphelion and a TS808HW... both great, but I think there is something to be improved.

I'm looking for an amp-like crunch for rhythm and sustaining leads at reasonable volumes and without changing much the basic EQ of my amp's clean tone.

Which one should be better, Jester or Juggler?

Thanks

 

[MogwaiBoy]

Harlot not on the consideration list? It's Kingsley's newest and really sounds and feels like the culmination of Simon's experience in tube preamps. I haven't tried either of your 2 choices but between them I'd probably say Jester. Though you can't really go wrong with Kingsley in general. I have a Jouster too and can't say that messes with the amp EQ much either - Kinglsey pedals have a beautiful way of melding with your setup seamlessly.

 

[JamonGrande]

I would guess Jester for you, it's the medium gain box of the three large Kingsley stomps. I use one into a Carr Rambler for similar purposes: low-medium gain for crunch rhythms, add a compressor for the singing lead thing, or hit it with a treble-boost like pedal to push into 80s hard levels of gain. It's also possible to use the 3rd mode of the OD side, cranked into the boost side set to be a master volume control for high levels of gain, but then your moving away from the whole crunchy rhythm thing.

It's not a pseudo 4x12 bassy sound like a lot of dist. pedals, and has a little more focus in the upper mids to my ear than a TS style pedal (which seems to have a much wider Q to its midrange hump).

I believe the Juggler is a much lower gain sound, designed to push an amps front end more than create its own saturation, or to function as a pseudo-preamp.

The jouster will cover the jester medium gain range and go into higher gain, but lacks the individual EQ.

Joe

 

[335fuzzdelay]

Thanks for the replies. I forgot to mention that I mostly use a quite dark sounding ES 335 with BKP Stormy Mondays (low output PAFs).

The Harlot seems great (the same for the Jouster), but I don't need that much gain.

The Jester's boost comes after the drive? If so, maybe a Minstrel with a Page boost in front of it could do the trick (although it would be a lot more expensive).

What do you think?

 

[thewordking]

Thanks for the replies. I forgot to mention that I mostly use a quite dark sounding ES 335 with BKP Stormy Mondays (low output PAFs).

The Harlot seems great (the same for the Jouster), but I don't need that much gain.

The Jester's boost comes after the drive? If so, maybe a Minstrel with a Page boost in front of it could do the trick (although it would be a lot more expensive).

What do you think?

The Jester's boost comes after so it doesn't really add much gain. The Minstrel has more. I doubt you'd need to boost it. But of those two options, I'd say get the Jester. I have a Jester and a Jouster and I had a Minstrel. All fantastic, but the Jester is magic. Don't know how else to say it. Don't be surprised if it kicks the 808 off the board.

 

[bluesjuke]

I use the Jester with my Tweeds and it's great.
Sometimes I boost it from the front with a Bad Bob Booster.

Works well with other ODs run through it too including fuzz.

 

[slopeshoulder]

I have a CT35, and I use Minstrel and Harlot and Page, and would get a Jester given your choices.

 

[335fuzzdelay]

Thank you for your recommendations. It seems that the Jester is the one for me.

I have a CT35, and I use Minstrel and Harlot and Page, and would get a Jester given your choices.

How do you use them?

 

[Backwards Logic]

The Jester can kick the 808 off the board, especially with the number 3 boost giving bump to mids when engaged. From low-gain to mid gain the Jester covers it all, and with its three band EQ and tweakable boost (smooth, bright, mids) it covers a ton of ground tone-wise. I use an HRD Deluxe on the clean channel then use the Jester as my main OD. I'm quite happy with it, though I think I need to get new tubes installed. It's getting a tad noisy. All in all, very happy with it.

 

[slopeshoulder]

Thank you for your recommendations. It seems that the Jester is the one for me.



How do you use them?

The Harlot replaced the Minstrel, just for space reasons - I love the Minstrel. I use the Page to boost and/or add mids to the Harlot. Depending on the guitar or song I use all modes on both of them.