I
InFlames235
New member
Well, what do ya know? I happened to have a delivery tonight for the KSR Gemini and, god damn, I have great things to say about it. Before I start getting into words, though, here are the pictures:
Hype begins with a couple boxes branded with the KSR logo. Feeling like a kid on christmas about to open the best present yet...
I open the amp box so I can begin worshiping the KSR and, well, inside the big box is another smaller box (Hidden under the peanuts)
After finally getting through the peanuts and opening the smaller box, I go through all the bubble wrap and things start to take shape...
Behold the beast!
Back of the amp:
First picture of the amp fired up and connected to my Mesa cab!
Amp and guitar together in tone heaven
A picture showing some of the different colors that you can get from the different channel changes:
Pre-Review Notes:
OK, so I probably need to come back to this thread in a week or two for an updated review after the honeymoon phase. Also, on top of things, I hadn't played my electric for awhile since I sold off my last amp to get this and had switched to acoustic for the last few months. Since I had done that, my guitars action had gotten all kinds of messed up so everything on the guitar was buzzing like mad. I'll need to properly set up my guitar to really get the best results obviously, but as you'll read ahead this thing just blew me away even with my guitar having issues.
REVIEW:
1. Kyle and ordering:
I will say that Kyle is one heck of a dude. Over the time period from when I first ordered the Gemini until today we've exchanged over 50 emails about the amp, what to expect from the sound, when to expect the amp to arrive, technical questions, etc.
Kyle was responsive on all my emails, responded with great detail to any question that I asked and was all around really enjoyable to work with. Even if I hated this amp, I would be glad that I purchased one just to give this guy some business for how he operates everything. Even though the amp had been delayed from the initial estimate, Kyle was very responsive that entire time and really kept me in the loop on what was happening. A+ on this for sure.
2. Packaging
Absolutely impeccable. I don't think this would have sustained any damage even if it had been dropped off a roof 20 times. Took me forever to get the amp out of the box but that's how it's supposed to be if you want things safe!
3. SOUND
Obviously the most important section of the review and one where I'll definitely need more time with the amp to fully get all my thoughts together but, for now, suffice to say this thing is the best amp I have EVER plugged into. I mean, this is considering it was plugged into a guitar that had massive action issues with plenty of buzz happening and it still managed to just open my mouth in aw.
The Clean channel is JUST as good as my previous Mark V, if not better, and I fell in love the instant I played my first note. It's ridiculously clean, has a ton of character to it and is very adjustable using all the toggles and dials. The only other high gain amp I've had that could compete with this clean is the Mark V and, for now, I have to give a slight lead to the Gemini in this area.
The Lead channel is just un-friggin-believable. I mean, I haven't even scratched the surface on this channel. I literally plugged my guitar in, flipped to this channel, and started jamming right away and it sounded INCREDIBLE. This was with essentially everything set to the middle with absolutely no adjustment on my side. When an amp can sound THAT good and you haven't even dialed in anything you know you have something special.
I got to toy around with all the different gain settings, including the "hidden" crunch channel and thoroughly enjoyed them all. The biggest issue that I had with my Mark V is that I could dial in either a great rhythm sound OR a great lead sound, but couldn't dial in both that I could easily switch to on the fly. This amp keeps things THICK on both lead and rhythm and it's ridiculously tight as well (although more forgiving I'd say than other tight high gain amps). Anyways, this thread will be updated further once I get my guitar adjusted correctly and have more time to fuss with all the options
4. Conclusion
This thing is a beast. That's really all there is to say. It may be just the honeymoon phase right now, but I've never heard anything sound this amazing out the box without any fussing whatsoever. I am ridiculously excited to tweak with the settings more and see what else I can find.
Hype begins with a couple boxes branded with the KSR logo. Feeling like a kid on christmas about to open the best present yet...
I open the amp box so I can begin worshiping the KSR and, well, inside the big box is another smaller box (Hidden under the peanuts)
After finally getting through the peanuts and opening the smaller box, I go through all the bubble wrap and things start to take shape...
Behold the beast!
Back of the amp:
First picture of the amp fired up and connected to my Mesa cab!
Amp and guitar together in tone heaven
A picture showing some of the different colors that you can get from the different channel changes:
Pre-Review Notes:
OK, so I probably need to come back to this thread in a week or two for an updated review after the honeymoon phase. Also, on top of things, I hadn't played my electric for awhile since I sold off my last amp to get this and had switched to acoustic for the last few months. Since I had done that, my guitars action had gotten all kinds of messed up so everything on the guitar was buzzing like mad. I'll need to properly set up my guitar to really get the best results obviously, but as you'll read ahead this thing just blew me away even with my guitar having issues.
REVIEW:
1. Kyle and ordering:
I will say that Kyle is one heck of a dude. Over the time period from when I first ordered the Gemini until today we've exchanged over 50 emails about the amp, what to expect from the sound, when to expect the amp to arrive, technical questions, etc.
Kyle was responsive on all my emails, responded with great detail to any question that I asked and was all around really enjoyable to work with. Even if I hated this amp, I would be glad that I purchased one just to give this guy some business for how he operates everything. Even though the amp had been delayed from the initial estimate, Kyle was very responsive that entire time and really kept me in the loop on what was happening. A+ on this for sure.
2. Packaging
Absolutely impeccable. I don't think this would have sustained any damage even if it had been dropped off a roof 20 times. Took me forever to get the amp out of the box but that's how it's supposed to be if you want things safe!
3. SOUND
Obviously the most important section of the review and one where I'll definitely need more time with the amp to fully get all my thoughts together but, for now, suffice to say this thing is the best amp I have EVER plugged into. I mean, this is considering it was plugged into a guitar that had massive action issues with plenty of buzz happening and it still managed to just open my mouth in aw.
The Clean channel is JUST as good as my previous Mark V, if not better, and I fell in love the instant I played my first note. It's ridiculously clean, has a ton of character to it and is very adjustable using all the toggles and dials. The only other high gain amp I've had that could compete with this clean is the Mark V and, for now, I have to give a slight lead to the Gemini in this area.
The Lead channel is just un-friggin-believable. I mean, I haven't even scratched the surface on this channel. I literally plugged my guitar in, flipped to this channel, and started jamming right away and it sounded INCREDIBLE. This was with essentially everything set to the middle with absolutely no adjustment on my side. When an amp can sound THAT good and you haven't even dialed in anything you know you have something special.
I got to toy around with all the different gain settings, including the "hidden" crunch channel and thoroughly enjoyed them all. The biggest issue that I had with my Mark V is that I could dial in either a great rhythm sound OR a great lead sound, but couldn't dial in both that I could easily switch to on the fly. This amp keeps things THICK on both lead and rhythm and it's ridiculously tight as well (although more forgiving I'd say than other tight high gain amps). Anyways, this thread will be updated further once I get my guitar adjusted correctly and have more time to fuss with all the options
4. Conclusion
This thing is a beast. That's really all there is to say. It may be just the honeymoon phase right now, but I've never heard anything sound this amazing out the box without any fussing whatsoever. I am ridiculously excited to tweak with the settings more and see what else I can find.
