KSR Amps Vesta 3-Channel High Gain Preamp is a Vintage-leaning Full Fat counterpart to the much lauded Ceres

Oct 13, 202208:00 by

Stefan Karlsson

Brown Sound DistortionDistortionDriveDual-DriveKSR AmplificationMarshall Style DistortionMetal DistortionMulti-Drive+-

I’ve covered KSR Amps’ Ceres Vesta Preamp predecessor a few times on this site including in a 2-Channel High Gain Distortion head-to-head feature back in April of 2019. The Ceres very much leans into the Modern Tight, Punchy and Mid-Forward type mould which has become the norm in contemporary Metal music. While the Vesta is its Vintage-inspired counterpart - leaning more towards 80’s and 90’s Metal sounds - with a more Scooped, Chunky and Low-end defined character. The Ceres’ is lean and tight - while the Vesta is thick and fully textured for a slightly richer sound.

The topology of the two pedals is identical - where you have a 3rd Clean Channel which you can set as default via the Bypass Mode switch - where you then activate the high gain Rhythm and Lead Channels when you engage the pedal proper. We have exactly the same number and designation of controls across the two pedals - 12 knobs, 7 toggle-switches, and dual Footswitches in rows per Channel. The Enclosure type here is approximately 1590XX - 5.77" wide x 4.77" tall, and 1.5" deep.

Controls - Bypass Mode : Clean / True Bypass / Buffer, CLEAN Channel } Tone, Level, RHYTHM Channel } Gain, Bright On/Off, Bass, Feel : Fat / Tight / Thick, Middle, Mode : Classic Crunch / Saturated / Vintage, Treble, Level, LEAD Channel } Gain, Bright On/Off, Bass, Feel : Fat / Tight / Thick, Middle, Mode : Classic Crunch / Saturated / Vintage, Treble, Level, Bypass Footswitch, Rhythm / Lead Channel Footswitch.

I actually came quite close to acquiring the Ceres a few times - even though it’s size means that it’s not the most easy fit for my pedal-chain - but it’s a decent shape for a larger format. I’m glad I held off actually as the Vesta is much more to my preference. It’s somewhat akin to the REVV G3 vs the REVV G4 Pedal - where the former is more Modern and Mids Punchy, and the latter is Fatter and Chunkier. As an entirely home-play kind of player - it means I have a preference for more Beefier and Full-Fat styles of distortion. I still like the tight modern variants - but I mostly prefer chunky low end - which really fills out that sound.

I believe my good friends at the Audio Distribution Group have just recently taken on the European distribution for this brand - making these preamp pedals properly accessible for us on this side of the pond for the first time. I feel that one of these is definitely on the cards for sooner rather than later as I’ve always wanted to get my hands on one and these KRS Amp Preamp types are held to be some of the very best High Gain Pedals available anywhere.

Pricing is a sizeable $400 - which is high but fairly reasonable in the circumstances for what you are getting. You can order one of these now in various colourways per the KSR Amps Webstore - while it’s unlikely all those colour combination will cross the Atlantic to European dealers. Where the stock variety comes in a Slate Grey colourway as pictured - which is perfectly fine for me. If you want one of those sparkly red or black ones though - you have to go direct!

Another near equivalent to this is the 2-Channel Friedman BE-OD Deluxe which has a significant price advantage at $270. While there’s something about the Vesta that holds slightly higher appeal for me - we’ll see how that works itself out eventually!

KSR Amps Vesta 3-Channel High Gain Preamp is a Vintage-leaning Full Fat counterpart to the much lauded Ceres

Demos

Supported by