Kingsley Maiden D V2 incoming

[jellodog]

@paisleywookiee We really need a Cali Tweed thread, but seeing as we're already discussing it here:


I played the Cali Tweed 2:20 1x10 today in a store. I really wanted to compare it to the 1x12 but they didn't have one. They'd recently sold the 1x12 (telling?).


So you know I'm already a 10" speaker lover; that's what I have in my PRRI. I'm not one of those people that won't entertain the idea at all. I was open-minded about the 1x10, but holy shit! 16" cab? I dunno why they couldn't have at least made it 18". The Princeton is 19" wide.


Anyway, I plugged in and tried it with the mids up a little and some gain to get a Tweedy crunch going and also cleaner with the mids scooped a little to emulate a BF tone. I liked its sweet tones overall and it sounded bigger and less boxy than one might guess for a cab of that size, but I dunno ... it still seemed to lack the bigger sound of my 19" PRRI cab with the Ceramic FJ 10" in it.

16" cab width just seems too small. Cute AF, though!


I really wish I could have tried the 1x12. Is that where it's at? But perhaps it's also the Cali Tweed's alnico Jensen versus ceramic in my PRRI that's putting me off?


I prefer the more obvious low mids on the PRRI too. Mids are in a different place on the Cali, which isn't surprising. Maybe there was just a touch of honk to the tiny cab? But perhaps I didn't dial in the amp well enough.


Lots of positives concerning the Cali Tweed 20 circuit though: A balanced tone with lots of EQ options, great master volume and the Multi-Watt control - I enjoyed 20w, 10w and also the single-ended 1w mode, which I thought was way better sounding than I'd imagined and wasn't just a gimmick.

So thoughts, Wookie on Cali Tweed 2:20 10" vs 12" and also stock Jensen vs something better? I really wanted to like it more than my Princeton + Tumnus Deluxe.

 

[jellodog]

Incidentally, I was using a Fender Japan JV Modified 50's Strat (it was already sitting there in the demo room) and it had a ridiculously badly cut nut. The G string was just sitting on top of the "hint" of a slot and the string would pop out every time I tried to bend at the 2nd or 3rd fret.

FFS Fender

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

@paisleywookiee We really need a Cali Tweed thread, but seeing as we're already discussing it here:


I played the Cali Tweed 2:20 1x10 today in a store. I really wanted to compare it to the 1x12 but they didn't have one.


So you know I'm already a 10" speaker lover; that's what I have in my PRRI. I'm not one of those people that won't entertain the idea at all. I was open-minded about the 1x10, but holy s**t! 16" cab? I dunno why they couldn't have at least made it 18". The Princeton is 19" wide.


Anyway, I plugged in and tried it with the mids up a little and some gain to get a Tweedy crunch going and also cleaner with the mids scooped a little to emulate a BF tone. I liked its sweet tones overall and it sounded bigger and less boxy than one might guess for a cab of that size, but I dunno ... it still seemed lack the bigger sound of my 19" PRRI cab with the Ceramic FJ 10" in it.

16" just seems too small. Cute AF, though!


I really wish I could have tried the 1x12. Is that where it's at? But perhaps it's also the Cali Tweed's alnico Jensen versus ceramic in my PRRI that's putting me off?


I prefer the more obvious low mids on the PRRI too. Mids are in a different place on the Cali, which isn't surprising. Maybe there was just a touch of honk to the tiny cab? But perhaps I didn't dial in the amp well enough.


Lots of positives concerning the Cali Tweed 20 circuit though: A balanced tone with lots of EQ options, great master volume and the Multi-Watt control - I enjoyed 20w, 10w and also the single-ended 1w mode, which I thought was way better sounding than I'd imagined and wasn't just a gimmick.

So thoughts, Wookie on Cali Tweed 2:20 10" vs 12" and also stock Jensen vs something better?

The on I played was40 watt head w/ 1x12 cab. My experience is I don't live tweed stuff through 1x10...too boxy. I feel like the PRRI 1x10 helps bring some of the mids back into focus which I benefit, but tweed stuff just winds up being mid forward into mid focused...

 

[jellodog]

The on I played was40 watt head w/ 1x12 cab. My experience is I don't live tweed stuff through 1x10...too boxy. I feel like the PRRI 1x10 helps bring some of the mids back into focus which I benefit, but tweed stuff just winds up being mid forward into mid focused...

I honestly think you're right! I was really trying to give that tiny cab the benefit of the doubt, but it wasn't quite doing it for me.

Can't believe that I'm even having to refer to the Princeton cab as "big" in this context - that's gotta be an indicator that something isn't quite right!

Furthermore, the universe seems to keep telling me "The Princeton you already have + a couple of pedals is the right amp for you".

 

[jellodog]

s**t man, I should probably have mentioned we never got the 10”; we decided it wasn’t worth the size/price difference between that and the 12”.

All good! This confirms that I need to try the 1x12

 

[paisleywookiee]

All good! This confirms that I need to try the 1x12

I mean, I don’t even really like the 12 that’s in that. I’ve been futzing with it connected to the Badlander 25 1x12’s cabinet with Creamback, as well as the Fillmore 25’s C90 cabinet.

 

[Whizzinby]

The Cali Tweed is actually one of my favorite Mesa amps I’ve ever played. I used to look for excuses to go play it in my local shop. I wish I would have bought it before the prices went into the absurd.

 

[jellodog]

The Cali Tweed is actually one of my favorite Mesa amps I’ve ever played. I used to look for excuses to go play it in my local shop. I wish I would have bought it before the prices went into the absurd.

I'm guessing it wasn't the diminutive 1x10 then?

 

[Whizzinby]

I'm guessing it wasn't the diminutive 1x10 then?

I didn’t even know they made a 110 version. Yuck.

I played the 40w 112 combo.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Got 3 minutes on the pedal late today. MIGHT have more time tonight, but probably not again until Sunday night:

Through Duncan power amp into the same cab that makes up my FM3 combo (Weber silver bell loaded 1x12) results were GREAT! Bright switch adds a lot of versatility. Decent amount of crunch available just from base circuit with volume maxed and master dialed back. Really smooth, but still with loads of dynamics.

There is a CRAZY amount of output on tap from this thing. Drives the Duncan MUCH louder than any modeler, even with the master on the Kingsley well below half-way.

The eq-lift/midboost didn't seem to be working as expected. But it could also have just been a case of the @JiveTurkey given how rushed my time was with it. But if I can't get those sorted...it'll have to go back to seller and will patiently await a juggler v3 to get listed.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Got a few more minutes with it...will need to message the seller and see what's up because the equipment lift doesn't do anything, and the mid boost seems waaaaaaay more subtle that video clips I've seen of this pedal and compared to any other amp ro amp model I've played with the same kind of mid boost switch. Ugh.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Refund initiated. Seller was easy to deal with.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Issue solved.
V2 of Maiden required purchase of external EQ lift pedal that you connected to the output via TRS. Dude sent me the instructions last night, and the V3 still allows that functionality, of for whatever reason you want the EQ lift to be remote from the pedal. On further inspection this morning the patch cable I was connecting output to poweramp with was a tip-ring-sleeve.cable, which causes the on-pedal EQ lift functionality to be defeated. Once I swapped it out for a standard TS guitar cable all worked fine.

Of note, the seller reached out to Simon Jarret yesterday and got a response from him that day. He was clearly willing to do whatever it took to get the situation sorted on his end. So support appears very solid in the Kingsley world.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Revisiting Option 2 above and pondering....

One challenge to that set up is that swapping between running Maiden D into its return vs. using the Mesa preamp. Maybe I could use an A/B box to do that switching? Guitar to A/B; A out to guitar input of the Boogie amp; B out to Maiden input and Maiden output to return of the Boogie.

Other semi-similar options could be:

(1). A Synergy syn1 or syn2 running in 4cm w/ the Maiden. If I wanted to bump it up to tube power could sub a power station for the Duncan and still be in less money territory than a California tweed head. Have the Bassman module in the Synergy for the tweed vibe.

(2). Could snag a 5e3 clone chassis only from like lil dawg or similar and a used power station, custom build a cabinet to hold both together in a slightly tall, but narrow-ish head format. I think would still need an A/B box or something kinda similar to whatever I'd need for the Cali tweed to combine with the Maiden preamp.

Hmmmmmmm....

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Had a decent long stretch of playing through the Kingsley today. Rig was K-Line tele into Kingsley into Strymon Volante into solid state power amp (Samson servo 120a) into homemade 1x12 with Weber ceramic Silver Bell 50 watt speaker in it.

The pedal really sounds phenomenal for folks that love big, huge, smokey clean tones. The bright switch can give spankier stuff, too, which are also really great. a small dose of EQ lift, to my ear, really fills out the tone perfectly. EQ-lift + mid-boost is a bit too much for my taste, and I actually prefer the EQ-lift to mid-boost. Alternatively, Full-on EQ lift is a pretty big up-tick in gain/saturation/clipping, but probably not QUITE as much of a volume boost as I would want for a solo boost, unfortunately?

Compared to the Grammatico GSG in the Helix, the pedal is a huge step up -- despite it only being a preamp, it has more roundness to the tone. Less diversity because I don't have the Page DS behind it for the drive channel. However, I can dial in other Helix models to come pretty darn close to this level of big, round, smokiness (small tweed with hum/ripple turned allllll the way down, master on 10, volume up around 6 and not-drastic EQ settings gets right in the ballpark).

The challenge with this pedal is building a rig around it/integrating it into existing rig. Especially at ~$600-ish bills on its own. Dunno. The Juggler V3 is probably what I would want/need if I were going to go the Kingsley route, and my thought right now is to go ahead and cash out on this pedal and experiment with the Synergy stuff some -- much more convenient for integrating/building a rig around and definitely better value. Possibly putting my name on the wait list for a Juggler V3 (and maybe a Page TS).

 

[jellodog]

The challenge with this pedal is building a rig around it/integrating it into existing rig

I had the same conundrum with both the Kingsley Squire and later the TubeSteader LightKeeper. There comes a point where you want a decent power amp and you start thinking "I could just buy an amp", which is how I ended up with a Bella and then a used Princeton

The other concern is that in a real traditional amp, there is that internal impedence interaction between the preamp and the power amp itself as part of a contiguous whole. But when you deconstruct that to smaller amp parts joined together by quarter inch jack connections, it's not the same interaction.

Having said that, if the sound is good then it is good, regardless of how much it resembles an existing amp I suppose.

You've piqued my interest in Synergy again, and I look forward to learning something from your exploration of that.

 

[Life Eats Life]

Dudes.., I remember having a customized
Tone Baron 2X12 with
G12 heritage 30’s X G12 heritage Greenbacks
That thing was a real Cremepuff.
I actually talked to Kingsley on the telephone
(an actual circular dual type old school telephone)
(btw).

He has the RADDEST accent & a
clever sense of humor.
I had him add more fangs to the overall
bite of the amplifier.
I distinctly remember as we were getting off the telephone & saying our goodbye’s,
I told him “Have a whimsical filled day mate”,
He chuckled in a contagious succession
followed with “Cheers”.
Kingsley is a certified GROOVY dude

 

[jellodog]

I remember having a customized Tone Baron

Wow. Rare as a unicorn hotel license! Amazing.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

I had the same conundrum with both the Kingsley Squire and later the TubeSteader LightKeeper. There comes a point where you want a decent power amp and you start thinking "I could just buy an amp", which is how I ended up with a Bella and then a used Princeton

The other concern is that in a real traditional amp, there is that impedence interaction between the preamp and the power amp itself. But when you deconstruct that to smaller amp parts joined together by quarter inch jack connections, it's not the same interaction.

Having said that, if the sound is good then it is good, regardless of how much it resembles an existing amp I suppose.

You've peaked my interest in Synergy again, and I look forward to learning something from your exploration of that.

Yeah, I’m coming at it from a different angle. Couple of reasons I'm trying these things out:

(1). curious/bored
(2). like a lot of folks that love digital, I also still occasionally feel like I get lost in the weeds. By this I mean one of two things (which I will of course label "a" and "b" instead of "1" and "2"):
(a). Feeling like I don't quite have a grounded "home base" reference point. A firmware update pops up, changes the cab block and everything is all of a sudden a little different. A new amp model or two are added, you go off exploring, which then sends you exploring a few other amp models you forgot about, in Fractal land the Gravitational Force Vector Constant is updated to better reflect NASA's most recent measurements, the variable compression contraction expansion power transformer modeling is updated and, oh, yeah, we realized we accidentally had a 500k pot in that one spot that should have been a 10k pot so we updated that. With perfect preset management, and rolling back firmware, etc., but even with that there's just some inherent distrust that everything is "back to the way it was" or whatever. Would be nice to have one rig/setup/system that I can easily plug into and say "alright, this is tone central. It might not be the Ultimately Optimized tone or rig, but it it was one that is good, that I know, and that is immovable."

(b). Missing the "feel" of plugging into an amp-and-pedal rig. I'm not talking about some magical compression that you can sense under the fingers but not hear, but just the overall emotional and physical experience of plugging into a rig with one-to-one knob - to function and on/off button correspondence that requires no programming aside from rearranging patch cables. I love digital and for the most part have no problem plugging into what amounts to a computer with a terrible user interface, but like any self-respecting Gen X-er, I still miss the good ol' days of pedals and amps (even if they were all solid-state) and a Friday night trip to Blockbuster (okay, I don't miss that at all).

The power amp side for me -- as we've spoken before, I haven't had great experiences with attenuators. Tonally I didn't like it, and I also hated the anti-goldilocks "this click is too loud, but that click is too quiet" conundrum. Lower wattage amps sound great and impart plenty of compression even at home volume, but I hate the fact that you are almost always in a different part of the headroom curve so your pedals/reverb/etc., are always reacting/sounding different which drives me nuts. So...master volume amp, or some sort of load/reamp scenario where the load probably doesn't reflect that kind of cab that would be used in conjunction with the kind of amps I like? Once you're in that area, I feel like the quibbles over "but the preamp and power amp aren't united into a single orgasmic body with shared power supply that causes each to sag in concert with one another at a matched impedance level that God Intended!" are kinda moot.

I think we all get a little too wrapped up in the "does it sound like a REAL amp?!?" discussion...at the end of the day, I will never have something that sounds like "the real" amp I'm kinda sorta shooting for because that would be at ear damaging volumes in a home environment. As much as I love the idea of being Jimmy Herring or Derek Trucks and playing through a Super Reverb on 8...that would sound TERRIBLE in my jam room. And so I'm chasing stuff that isn't a Super Reverb at all. I'm less concerned about the technological "compromise" I'm making to try to get that at the volume I need it at and more interested in "what's the playing experience using this gear" like.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Dudes.., I remember having a customized
Tone Baron 2X12 with
G12 heritage 30’s X G12 heritage Greenbacks
That thing was a real Cremepuff.
I actually talked to Kingsley on the telephone
(an actual circular dual type old school telephone)
(btw).

He has the RADDEST accent & a
clever sense of humor.
I had him add more fangs to the overall
bite of the amplifier.
I distinctly remember as we were getting off the telephone & saying our goodbye’s,
I told him “Have a whimsical filled day mate”,
He chuckled in a contagious succession
followed with “Cheers”.
Kingsley is a certified GROOVY dude

I called him up a couple years ago to get on a waitlist for a Maiden/EQ-lift/Page combo (eventually pulled myself off the list) and spoke with him. Super easy going guy for sure!