KSR Ceres - 3 Channel Preamp Pedal

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Try a Maxon OD-808x
Not as tight as the savage but, much more pleasant and still gets tight enough to do anything. Techdeath, death metal, djent, whatever etc...

It’s hard to explain but it “feels” better than the savage, brutal drive, or horizon nano imo.

Gogddammit I meant to post this to the next purchase thread, but thanks.

TBH, I'm done with TS-style boosts. I had the Savage drive and it was exactly what I wanted. A cleaner, tighter, SD-1 with more output. Tubescreamers are just too smooth for my taste. But the Savage Drive can get into TS flavortown if you fucked with the knobs, I found.

 

[Bearitone]

funny, i sold my 808x because the savage got tighter and was more aggressive sounding. even the mxr cbmod was more aggressive imo

The savage is tighter let AND more aggressive. I definitely agree. I was just saying the 808x is tight enough (imo) to cover all the genres (depending on your amp of course) while sounding a more pleasant.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

 

[bracky]

$1000 in preamp pedals and a $20 noise gate.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

$1000 in preamp pedals and a $20 noise gate.

It's a really fucking good noise gate TBH.

 

[protest]

Not a huge fan of any of the tones in that comparison video really but I thought there was a night and day difference between the Ceres and the other two.

 

[bracky]

It's a really fucking good noise gate TBH.

I didn’t mean any offense. I use the same pedal.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Not a huge fan of any of the tones in that comparison video really but I thought there was a night and day difference between the Ceres and the other two.

I keep saying this (and I'm likely wrong) but are the Revv pedals even preamp pedals? Like they claim they're meant for anything, but I kinda feel like they're voiced more to go in front of an amp given how dark and midrangey it sounds here. And I feel like to compensate for that, the Ceres was made too bright and harsh in this playthrough.

Like I said i could be wrong.

 

[johnnydeformed]

I keep saying this (and I'm likely wrong) but are the Revv pedals even preamp pedals? Like they claim they're meant for anything, but I kinda feel like they're voiced more to go in front of an amp given how dark and midrangey it sounds here. And I feel like to compensate for that, the Ceres was made too bright and harsh in this playthrough.

Like I said i could be wrong.

I’m still not sure about the Revv pedals myself. I’ve heard better demos of them into power amps but it’s still not totally convincing. I agree the Ceres was made too bright. To be frank, I don’t typically dig the tones in his videos. I’m at least glad he tried to showcase it with a Powerstage 170 since that’s what I’ll be using.

That said, anyone know where they are with shipments? I hope they’re getting closer to the middle.

 

[Spinedriver]

I found that the Ceres did sound a bit sharper/cleaner on the high end than the other pedals. That being said though, the Ceres is roughly double what the Revv and Fission Drive cost, so if it's just a matter of dropping in a $70 eq pedal, the Ceres could be a tough sell.

If money didn't matter, I'd get a KSR for sure but to get one here in Canada, between duty & shipping, it'd end up costing close to $550, which is pretty damn expensive for a distortion pedal.

 

[Spinedriver]

I keep saying this (and I'm likely wrong) but are the Revv pedals even preamp pedals? Like they claim they're meant for anything, but I kinda feel like they're voiced more to go in front of an amp given how dark and midrangey it sounds here. And I feel like to compensate for that, the Ceres was made too bright and harsh in this playthrough.

Like I said i could be wrong.

I think companies are just putting 'pre amp' in the description as a marketing buzz word to hype whatever pedal they are selling. The MXR 5150 isn't a 'pre amp' pedal but people who are trying to sell one say it is. Unless the pedal has some sort of 'cab sim' or 'to mixer' output, then it isn't a pre amp pedal...

The thing is, if you run ANY od/distortion pedal into something like a Mooer Radar or Torpedo CAB, it can be used as a 'pre amp' but that doesn't necessarily make it so. It would be nice if companies would stop misleading people into thinking they can take something like a Wampler Triple Wreck or Friedman BE-OD, plug it directly into a mixer or power amp and it'll sound just like a guitar amp.

 

[mnemonic]

From the demos I’ve heard of the Revv pedals into an fx return, they sound like distortion pedals. Though it looks like the eq may have enough range to act as a preamp. Like Ola’s demo, it kinda just sounded like a distortion pedal, he had to have the treble very high and mids low to get away from the ‘dark and boxy’ kind of sound.

The BE-OD clone I have, it’s a distortion pedal. But with the right settings it can act as a preamp. Into my recto’s FX loop (in modern mode) it sounds good, but in modern mode the bass and treble are boosted a lot. Into my 2/50/2, it can sound good if I boost the bass and treble/presence high, even better if I can use a graphic eq after it to fine-tune. But in both situations it doesn’t have anywhere as much volume on tap as something like my AMT preamp pedals, or actual preamps.

The line is kinda blurred with some pedals, but the builders aren’t helping with their marketing copy.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Yeah that's what I assumed. I imagine if the dude lowered the treble and boosted the lows it woulda sounded much better.

 

[protest]

@Spinedriver to be fair the Ceres has 3 times as many channels as the other 2 including a clean and a lot more tone tweaking options. It also runs at a higher internal voltage even though it uses a 9v power supply, and it is a full fledged preamp. I've owned the BE-OD and it doesn't have the power to be an actual preamp for live applications. Same thing for the Diezel pedals, which is why they have the separate output when using them into a power amp.

 

[MrWulf]

Honestly calling KSR Ceres a distortion pedal is a disservice. You dont see other pedals have specific bypass modes like Ceres that is clearly intended for different applications, going into power amp/interface is also one of those. Of course, you can also run it as a distortion pedal but thats like buying a Porsche to do grocery shopping at most, when Ceres is powerful and versatile enough to do everything and more.

 

[ATRguitar91]

Unless the pedal has some sort of 'cab sim' or 'to mixer' output, then it isn't a pre amp pedal...

I'd say that's an oversimplication. The Tight Metal or ISP Theta doesn't have a cab sim or mixer output but they're definitely preamps.

A pedal can be classified as a preamp by virtue of the level of the signal it outputs, and how its voiced. If they're a preamp they generally have more highs and bass on tap. Something like a Revv G3 sounds dark as a preamp because it's voiced to interact with the clean preamp of an amp, so I'd say it's closer a distortion pedal than the Ceres.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I wish I still had my P2 or R2. Never got a chance to test how the Drive Out and regular out compare.

But yeah, I always assumed preamp pedals were voiced differently, already EQ'd without needing a preamp section to color it and have a more powerful output section, while dirt pedals were voiced to be more boxy and bleugh to let the preamp do the rest of the work, while being instrument level so it doesn't overpower and clip the preamp.

 

[Spinedriver]

@Spinedriver to be fair the Ceres has 3 times as many channels as the other 2 including a clean and a lot more tone tweaking options. It also runs at a higher internal voltage even though it uses a 9v power supply, and it is a full fledged preamp. I've owned the BE-OD and it doesn't have the power to be an actual preamp for live applications. Same thing for the Diezel pedals, which is why they have the separate output when using them into a power amp.

When I was talking about not being a 'pre amp' pedal, I wasn't referencing the Ceres specifically because I don't really know that much about it. I was meaning more about people that say the Boss Metal Zone is a pre amp pedal or that the MXR Fullbore Metal pedal can be used as a pre amp.

I'd put the Ceres on par with something like the AMT SS-11/30. It has clean, od & lead channels as well as separate outputs for "to amp" & "to mixer". They were legitimately designed to be used as you would an amp. Something like the BE-OD or Metal Zone are designed to go into the clean channel of an amp (unless of course you run it into a cab emulator)

I just meant that for me (and possibly others) that would probably only use the lead channel, there really wouldn't be that much of a difference in tone between that and (for example) a Tight Metal ST when you consider the price difference.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I don't remember who said it, but someone here said the Metal Zone IS actually based on a preamp? The Boss GL100 IIRC.

 

[Spinedriver]

I'd say that's an oversimplication. The Tight Metal or ISP Theta doesn't have a cab sim or mixer output but they're definitely preamps.

A pedal can be classified as a preamp by virtue of the level of the signal it outputs, and how its voiced. If they're a preamp they generally have more highs and bass on tap. Something like a Revv G3 sounds dark as a preamp because it's voiced to interact with the clean preamp of an amp, so I'd say it's closer a distortion pedal than the Ceres.

Honestly, I think that's kinda what a 'cab sim' circuit actually is. It basically tweaks the eq so that if you run it directly into a mixer/interface/etc.. it won't sound fizzy or weird. It'll sound as if it's coming out of an amplifier.

I remember back in the day running a few different distortion pedals directly into a sound board and it sounded pretty wretched. The Tech21 Sansamp pedals don't specifically say they have a 'cab sim' output either but it's just kinda known that they're designed to run direct or into the front of an amp. That's kinda why I was saying that it's getting hard to tell which pedals are genuinely designed to be a pre amp and which ones are just being marketed as such because it's what people are wanting these days.