Incoming Kartakou Collosus

[jclogston]

After dealing with almost a week of Vestibular migraines and vertigo...time to fire this thing up...Was going to tube roll but MS said the JJ's sound fine and i agree...

Mike

Looking forward to your assessment on it...

 

[DiezelMonster]

Looking forward to your assessment on it...

I'm very stoked to hear what your impressions are!

 

[Mourguitars]

Again, I've been buying gear for decades and still have gear from those decades so ..i can tell you after been thru many honeymoon phases ...i was very impressed with this unit.

I play mainly a stereo rack rig, JMP-1, Piranha, Prophesy thru solid state power amps and stereo EL34, mesa 2:90 thru many cabs with speaker mixes or my fav mesa 4x12 v30s..30 rack spaces of all this and effects..i like rack gear ! Even have a AX8..

I use many over drives, all are different and play very different with different guitars, pickups, pre amps and cabs...gain at 9am, tone noon, level to taste but usually dime it..

On the Kartakou...very basic pre..the Character i like to the left, gain 11am, sweep the same...Bass /noon Mid/ 9am to 1pm Treble to taste , i like noon...it can cut but my power amps have presence so i had to adjust to taste..

The Kartakou is more responsive than all my preamps ive listed above, and has a better feel..omg..i mean its so touch sensitive and responsive ..like a tube amp should be

The Kartakou took every drive boost pedal i had, it added tightness but i don't think you need to boost it..just crank it !

The most surprising and I'm sure a lot of you many do, was to run it in the loop of a head or combo..I have a Ht-20 head that i run a AMT DT-2 usually ...The Katakou made that head with EL34s ...well...im basically speechless ...friggin amazing thru a 2x12 with a Greenback/V30 combo...AND it took my old ZW OD that i had written off...This is most likely the rig ill play it thru, its a mid heavy rig so that ZW OD is like a SD-1 so the mid hump wasn't very prominent ...Les paul TB-5...chug chug...feel everything in the guitar neck resonate ...

I tried a MXR EQ in the loop..worked great but don't need it. unless you like fine tuning things..BBE Sonic stomp pedal and used like Depth/ Res it added more well, what you would think it would..out of the two the BBE won..but that's mainly for home playing with iTunes...i Did try some settings from Andy Sneaps forum for BFMV 5150 w/a T.S...spot on !

It sounded great thru my Velocity 300 and a old Mosvalve 500 solid state power amp for those who have or wanting to use a solid state power amp..i think you will be happy

To sum it up, i love the Character switch to the left so i think thats the 5150..boosted with the settings ive mentioned...Character to the right added more bass..kinda flubby ish ?

The Clean channel its clean, but i didn't buy it for the clean...i needed a 5150 pre copy..so the Kartakou delivered it...

The unit is very well built , not as deep as some rack pre's kinda like those old BK butler Blue tube pre amp in size so kinda shallow, i opened mine up to inspect just in case a tube came unseated like " MS "unit did..mine was fine, very pretty work inside and a excellent build. ..3 JJ 12AX7....The power plug is a little snug plugging in..so be careful . The foot switch has a 10' cable, 2 buttons to change channels and turn on and off the effects loop..also comes with a small i guess DIM to a 1/4TRS cable for switching channels..havent tried that..

If you like Rafig's youtube review..its spot on sound wise...i bought it because of it so thanks for the demo Rafig !

This is my 1st buy from eastern Europe...tracking was slow updating until it hit the states so it took about 3 1/2 weeks...no duty, came well packed with a Russian chocolate bar !

I will be exploring a few other units from other builders over there, i was going to go the Synergy rabbit hole...glad i chose the Kartakou , its simple and well it rocks..any question i had the builder answered very quickly...awesome customer service on reverb.

Mike

 

[maggotspawn]

https://app.box.com/file/483913733959
Quick test clip. I used a 906 and I5 split left and right.
It recorded kind of dark sounding, it might like an SM57 better.

 

[maggotspawn]

https://soundcloud.com/maltese-fan/kartakou-test
The Box link apparently wasn't working.

 

[Mourguitars]

There you go sounds awesome !

I felt those low notes hit me thru my monitors before i heard them ...lol

Mike

 

[maggotspawn]

There you go sounds awesome !

I felt those low notes hit me thru my monitors before i heard them ...lol

Mike

Thanks dude. It definitely does not lack bass.
I ordered an Amptweaker DepthFinder, to further tweak the tone. Will update when it gets here.

 

[maggotspawn]

Swapped the JJ in V1 for a Chinese 12AX7B. Less dark more open sounding.
So it may benefit from some tube rolling.
I tried a Tung Sol in V1, but it just introduced a bunch of fizz.

 

[Mourguitars]

Thanks dude. It definitely does not lack bass.
I ordered an Amptweaker DepthFinder, to further tweak the tone. Will update when it gets here.

Looks like I’ll be doing the same...I tried the BBE sonic stop and I liked it but I think the Depthfinder might be the better choice..

I’ll order it Monday....thanks for turning me on to it, let me know what tubes you like , I have a shoebox full

Mike

 

[DiezelMonster]

https://soundcloud.com/maltese-fan/kartakou-test
The Box link apparently wasn't working.

That sounded fuckin killer dude! I can't wait to get this rig rolling!

 

[maggotspawn]

That sounded fuckin killer dude! I can't wait to get this rig rolling!

Thanks dude.

 

[Necky379]

Swapped the JJ in V1 for a Chinese 12AX7B. Less dark more open sounding.
So it may benefit from some tube rolling.
I tried a Tung Sol in V1, but it just introduced a bunch of fizz.

My 5150 loves Chinese 12ax7’s too

 

[Mourguitars]

Going to try the channel switching on the Kartakou with the Replifex with the cable he supplied with the unit later today....i will report back

Mike

 

[Mourguitars]

Couldn't get it to work, tried everything so i sent a message to Kartakou on reverb...waiting to hear back he gets back pretty fast .BUT since i was there..i did buy the Amptweaker Depthfinder...whats a 5150 pre with out a res/ pres control right? $89 free 2day shipping so ill have it this weekend....ill let y'all know what Kartakou says...rearranging my rack..then going to play...later

Mike

 

[jclogston]

I just need to unload a guitar and then I will definitely get this preamp after hearing what all you guys have been talking about

 

[maggotspawn]

The DepthFinder didn't work for me at high volume. With the Collosus volume up it was distorted sounding. At low volume it worked as expected.

 

[Mourguitars]

The DepthFinder didn't work for me at high volume. With the Collosus volume up it was distorted sounding. At low volume it worked as expected.

Oh man...i read this and requested a refund, so we will see..Thanks for the heads up M.S !

I did get a message back from Vasili, i had it wired right just had to hit store on the replifex..Duh ...my bad !

TRS into that pigtail changes channels fine now on the Replifex ...its a little lag, but that's fine, its sounds like it has a momentary switch as you hear it click...but it works !

Ive been playing it thru the loop of my HT-20 head...thing sounds fantastic, its mid heavy with EL34's and the mesa 4x12 V30s....the SD-1 boost takes some out..a little different rig because i usually play thru a stereo power amp, but im glad i got some use out of that Blackstar..i have a good set on NOS Mullards in there a friend gave me

Also playing my Ds-2 Charvel Les paul $150 beater that i swapped those Charvel actives out with a EMG 81-60 set i got off FB market place local for $60 for the set ...it was play and play...that was awesome..Any one reading this hook up the way it was original wired , do not have to flip the plug around like I've read on the net...

its a nice tight sound, very chug palm mute tightness..i like that cheap guitar !

Personally i don't think i need any more Low end its sounds killer, but i do like the Kartakou with a boost...tightens things up..

I have a Orange 2x12 that i might swap out speakers with the Celestion T-75 i have laying around..might do that tonight. , and try my set up with that, anyways..back to playing !


Mike

 

[c7spheres]

Oh man...i read this and requested a refund, so we will see..Thanks for the heads up M.S !

I did get a message back from Vasili, i had it wired right just had to hit store on the replifex..Duh ...my bad !

TRS into that pigtail changes channels fine now on the Replifex ...its a little lag, but that's fine, its sounds like it has a momentary switch as you hear it click...but it works !

Ive been playing it thru the loop of my HT-20 head...thing sounds fantastic, its mid heavy with EL34's and the mesa 4x12 V30s....the SD-1 boost takes some out..a little different rig because i usually play thru a stereo power amp, but im glad i got some use out of that Blackstar..i have a good set on NOS Mullards in there a friend gave me

Also playing my Ds-2 Charvel Les paul $150 beater that i swapped those Charvel actives out with a EMG 81-60 set i got off FB market place local for $60 for the set ...it was play and play...that was awesome..Any one reading this hook up the way it was original wired , do not have to flip the plug around like I've read on the net...

its a nice tight sound, very chug palm mute tightness..i like that cheap guitar !

Personally i don't think i need any more Low end its sounds killer, but i do like the Kartakou with a boost...tightens things up..

I have a Orange 2x12 that i might swap out speakers with the Celestion T-75 i have laying around..might do that tonight. , and try my set up with that, anyways..back to playing !


Mike

Hi, Was wondering how much lag it has on the switching. I have a Replifex and there is no lag on it when switching my V-twin or anything else I've tried. I also don't have to hit store to make the channels switches work. Sounds like somethign could be wrong with either unit, but I'm mainly wondering the lag time when switching channels.

 

[Tisca]

I ordered a Colossus today, the one that was in stock. Been looking for a tube power amp but the big brands hardly make them anymore. If I can't find a suitable 2nd hand pwr amp I'll have one of these small builders make me one. I have plenty of tube heads which I can run thru but I want the full rack experience sooner or later.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I ordered a Colossus today, the one that was in stock. Been looking for a tube power amp but the big brands hardly make them anymore. If I can't find a suitable 2nd hand pwr amp I'll have one of these small builders make me one. I have plenty of tube heads which I can run thru but I want the full rack experience sooner or later.

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