KSR Ceres 3 Channel High-Gain Preamp Pedal

Three Signature Tones In One PedalThe KSR Ceres preamp features signature tones from three of KSR's amplifiers – the Ares, the Artemis/Gemini, and the Colossus, offering incredible KSR sounds in a single small package. Compact and portable Ceres includes many of the same functions found on all their amps — such as the Mode, Feel, and Bright switches. This pedal also provides the ultimate mobile tone versatility from weekend gigs to fly rigs, delivering the KSR signature sound to any board or interface for live and studio applications.

at a glance • 3 Channel High-Gain Preamp Pedal
• Signature KSR tones taken from 3 of their amplifiers
• Versatile controls and switching options
• Perfect for live or studio applications

HookupThe top mounted jacks allow for easy integration into your existing pedal board. Unique to their pedal operation, KSR added 3 bypass modes — True Bypass, Buffered Bypass, and Clean Bypass. In True and Buffered bypass the pedal works with no tonal coloration.

The Clean Bypass mode enables the top row of Tone and Volume knobs accessing the Clean channel. These various Bypass Modes allow for integration into any type of rig — from driving a power amp directly (Clean mode), hitting a clean amp down the chain on your pedal board (True Bypass mode), or at the start of your pedal board, driving your other pedals into a clean amp (Buffered mode).

Bypass SwitchingThe Ceres™ features two integrated footswitch buttons to activate the 3 channels. The left button toggles between Bypass and Rhythm/Lead. The right button toggles between Rhythm and Lead. With the Bypass Mode switch set to Clean, bypassing the pedal actually activates the Clean channel.

The gain controls in all channels have the same range from clean to saturated signals and operate as close as possible to the full size KSR amps. They function without any unwanted top-end artifacts typically associated with solid-state circuits. The Ceres™ EQ options then make for a highly versatile Pre-Amp pedal giving you as much control.

Plug-In!At the front of the pedal you'll find the top-right is the external control input, then Guitar Input, 9V DC input, and finally Output to amp. The 9V DC input requires at most 200 mA to function, you can access this using the high-current output of a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power, or similar. If you exceed 9V, the pedal will shutdown to protect the internal electronics. Optimal voltages are generated internally, so providing more than 9V is simply not necessary, or possible.

The Control port is a 3.5mm (1/8″ headphone) TRS jack that allows control of the pedal channels and future expansion. Simply use an 1/8″ to 1/4″ TRS cable / adapter to connect this to momentary contact closure relays, and you can completely control the pedal, just as you can with the two foot switches.