Van Weelden Royal Overdrive vs Kingsley Jester

[335fuzzdelay]

Hi all... I've got a Kingsley Jester for about a year and, while I think it sounds very good, I think it needs to be played really loud to give its best (which is a problem for many hi end boutique overdrives, IMHE).

I've been listening to samples of the Royal Overdrive and liked them a lot. Does it have the same issue? I usually play through a clean amp at low volumes (bedroom volumes most of the time) and would not buy it if that's the case.

Thanks

 

[Jazzandmore]

I could not get the VWRO to work at low volume, especially not bedroom volume in an apartment or something. But some others might have a different experience.

Honestly the RO is a Beast compared to the Jester. Not a bad thing at all if you can turn it up.

What other high end drives have you tried?

 

[335fuzzdelay]

What other high end drives have you tried?

Then probably it's not for me, thanks for your advice.

I've been more of a fuzz guy but leaning more and more towards heavy drive these days. I have had Klones, Spaceman Aphelion (the loudest), a couple of Effectrodes, KOT and TS808HW (manageable volume, but works better on a dirty amp) etc.

My favorite one these days is my Cornish SS3. Maybe I should get a CC1 or a G2 to complement it.

 

[wye]

Get Shins Dumbloid Ods, superior pick dynamics works also at low volume with my vibrolux, have not tried Van Welden but almost all other Dumble pedals, cannot compare to Shins...

 

[Jazzandmore]

Then probably it's not for me, thanks for your advice.

I've been more of a fuzz guy but leaning more and more towards heavy drive these days. I have had Klones, Spaceman Aphelion (the loudest), a couple of Effectrodes, KOT and TS808HW (manageable volume, but works better on a dirty amp) etc.

My favorite one these days is my Cornish SS3. Maybe I should get a CC1 or a G2 to complement it.

Ok we gotta rewind here for a second. Exactly what do you mean by "bedroom" levels? Are you talking an apartment and the neighbors can't hear you playing? Only reason I ask is because you are mentioning some really great pedals, but not sure I see things like KOT, or other heavy drives being great at very low levels. Plus you are a fuzz guy, and many fuzzes sound very thin at very low volumes.

@wye mentions the Dumbloid ODS. Also a monster pedal. I have a Dumbloid, but I am not sure with amp down low, and pedals volume down low it's going to give you heavy drive. And some of them, same as fuzzes, work much better into a dirty amp. So question really is how loud are we talking that you can operate at?

Had a CC-1 and really liked it, felt it was more of a sweetener like the Klon.

 

[guitarnet70]

Get a good headphone and a Cab sim, and turn it up LOUD. Better feel the a Tube amp running at 45Db

 

[PhuzzphayzZ]

Uninformed Interjection:

Is this like I've heard the TubeDrivers don't 'do their thing' unless you're 'at the gig'? Is this a 'thing' with all the hi-end Drives, that they 'need' the Volume? Is this a PowerTube issue (I have no idea what I just typed)?

Is it like, you have your MasterVolume low, turn the box on, it sounds like 'eh', you start turning the MasterVolume up, and the box starts to 'bloom' the louder and louder you get? Is that how it works? You can actually hear it go from 'eh' to 'glorious' simply by raising your MasterVolume on your amp?

sigbned
ConPhuyzzed

 

[Jazzandmore]

Uninformed Interjection:

Is this like I've heard the TubeDrivers don't 'do their thing' unless you're 'at the gig'? Is this a 'thing' with all the hi-end Drives, that they 'need' the Volume? Is this a PowerTube issue (I have no idea what I just typed)?

Is it like, you have your MasterVolume low, turn the box on, it sounds like 'eh', you start turning the MasterVolume up, and the box starts to 'bloom' the louder and louder you get? Is that how it works? You can actually hear it go from 'eh' to 'glorious' simply by raising your MasterVolume on your amp?

sigbned
ConPhuyzzed

Thing is in general, the standard amp needs volume too. I think that’s where the lunchbox type amps come in, for example the Yamaha. You can get the tone of loud without the volume of loud. But your typical amp doesn’t do that well.

 

[blackba]

Hi all... I've got a Kingsley Jester for about a year and, while I think it sounds very good, I think it needs to be played really loud to give its best (which is a problem for many hi end boutique overdrives, IMHE).

I've been listening to samples of the Royal Overdrive and liked them a lot. Does it have the same issue? I usually play through a clean amp at low volumes (bedroom volumes most of the time) and would not buy it if that's the case.

Thanks

I am a bit confused when you say the jester needs to be played really loud to sound good. Does that mean that the amp needs to be cooking when you use the jester or that you need to have the volume on the jester up so it’s really pushing the front end of the amp?

I do find that the jester does better with the volume just a touch above unity, but I honestly have never cranked the volume for normal od use, except when I tried to use it as a boost where I lowered the drive and ramped up the volume. Recently I have been using the jester boost in full range to lower the overall volume. Really liking it for this and it might be something to try. If you don’t mind posting your settings, I think it would be good to understand that.

 

[PhuzzphayzZ]

But your typical amp doesn’t do that well.

ah, I see... I think,lol

Is this kinda related to how, when my amp is low, a little bit of LeadChannel Gain goes a long way, but as I turn up MasterVolume, the crunch disappears? And so, with Volume raising, one must ALWAYS raise the Gain also... kinda sorta know what I mean?

I know, I'm clueless

 

[Jazzandmore]

ah, I see... I think,lol

Is this kinda related to how, when my amp is low, a little bit of LeadChannel Gain goes a long way, but as I turn up MasterVolume, the crunch disappears? And so, with Volume raising, one must ALWAYS raise the Gain also... kinda sorta know what I mean?

I know, I'm clueless

I may be wrong, but I think the problem is that at very low volumes a normal tube amp is not in its optimal performance band. Sure it makes noises, but you aren’t really getting your best performance from the tubes as the demand on them is so low. Sort of like a sports car at very low rpm. Sure you can still drive it, but if you really want to get it’s full performance, you need to crank it up. In this case I think solid state amps are considered to be more capable at low volumes.

But I might be totally off on describing things.

 

[Northerner]

The Kingsleys work really well at low volume.

 

[eclecticsynergy]

Two others that IME seem to have a nice sweet spot at high gain/low volume are the Ethos TWE-1 and the Lovepedal Hi Volt.

 

[335fuzzdelay]

Sorry for the delay, I'm on a trip.

Exactly what do you mean by "bedroom" levels? Are you talking an apartment and the neighbors can't hear you playing? Only reason I ask is because you are mentioning some really great pedals, but not sure I see things like KOT, or other heavy drives being great at very low levels. Plus you are a fuzz guy, and many fuzzes sound very thin at very low volumes.

Had a CC-1 and really liked it, felt it was more of a sweetener like the Klon.

Yes, I'm talking apartment levels. I know they won't sound their best, but some pedals are more volume dependent then others and sound very thin at low levels. Some sound good enough and shine at gig volume. These are the ones I usually look for.

 

[335fuzzdelay]

I may be wrong, but I think the problem is that at very low volumes a normal tube amp is not in its optimal performance band. Sure it makes noises, but you aren’t really getting your best performance from the tubes as the demand on them is so low. Sort of like a sports car at very low rpm. Sure you can still drive it, but if you really want to get it’s full performance, you need to crank it up. In this case I think solid state amps are considered to be more capable at low volumes.

But I might be totally off on describing things.

Yes, you nailed it. That's what I was talking about.

 

[335fuzzdelay]

I am a bit confused when you say the jester needs to be played really loud to sound good. Does that mean that the amp needs to be cooking when you use the jester or that you need to have the volume on the jester up so it’s really pushing the front end of the amp?

I do find that the jester does better with the volume just a touch above unity, but I honestly have never cranked the volume for normal od use, except when I tried to use it as a boost where I lowered the drive and ramped up the volume. Recently I have been using the jester boost in full range to lower the overall volume. Really liking it for this and it might be something to try. If you don’t mind posting your settings, I think it would be good to understand that.

I use my Jester in a similar way. I'm not with the pedal now, but I generally use it on mode 2, gain about 2:00, volume at 9:00, sometimes set the boost (mode 1) low to act as a master volume for practicing late at night.

 

[blackba]

I use my Jester in a similar way. I'm not with the pedal now, but I generally use it on mode 2, gain about 2:00, volume at 9:00, sometimes set the boost (mode 1) low to act as a master volume for practicing late at night.

Nice to see I am not the only one who has tried the jester boost as a pseudo master volume.
If you do end up getting a royal overdrive, would love to hear your thoughts on comparing to the jester even though they a pretty different pedals.

 

[Krausewitz]

Sorry for the delay, I'm on a trip.



Yes, I'm talking apartment levels. I know they won't sound their best, but some pedals are more volume dependent then others and sound very thin at low levels. Some sound good enough and shine at gig volume. These are the ones I usually look for.

I had my Jester built with reduced output. That sort of mod might save it for you..

 

[335fuzzdelay]

Uninformed Interjection:

Is this like I've heard the TubeDrivers don't 'do their thing' unless you're 'at the gig'? Is this a 'thing' with all the hi-end Drives, that they 'need' the Volume? Is this a PowerTube issue (I have no idea what I just typed)?

Is it like, you have your MasterVolume low, turn the box on, it sounds like 'eh', you start turning the MasterVolume up, and the box starts to 'bloom' the louder and louder you get? Is that how it works? You can actually hear it go from 'eh' to 'glorious' simply by raising your MasterVolume on your amp?

sigbned
ConPhuyzzed

Yes, exactly.