Kemper Profiler-Yikes!

[galaxiex]

Friend of mine has a Kemper.

He claims you have to run it through a full range high power handling type of monitor.
Regular guitar speakers/cabs won't do. So he says.

IDK... sorry... useless post....

 

[OldGuy6873]

Friend of mine has a Kemper.

He claims you have to run it through a full range high power handling type of monitor.
Regular guitar speakers/cabs won't do. So he says.

IDK... sorry... useless post....

You can run modelers through regular guitar amps, but you need a power amp to boost the signal. You also generally need to turn off the cab sims within the modeler, as a guitar cab will color the sound.

I do generally recommend running modelers through an FRFR system. Which also requires a power amp.

 

[jhundt]

my nephew uses one in a high-quality Queen-tribute theater show. It gets all the sounds he needs, and is run through the PA.

He borrowed my home-built scrap-60's-parts 5f2a-inspired amp for a recording session. He copied my amp sound on to his Kemper. That's pretty cool all the way 'round.

 

[Geoff738]

The thing about the Kemper is that you’re dialing up the sound of an amp with certain settings and through a microphone. So it’s not really the sound of the amp in a room, more a snapshot of a particular setting through a particular microphone set at a particular spot on the speaker.

Could be a great sound, but it’s not going to be like the sound of the amp in the room, more like the amp, hopefully well, recorded.

Cheers,
Geoff

 

[Alamo]

If it sounds good at home, but not on the stage he’s obviously doing it wrong.

 

[Jules78]

I have one at home. Its perfect for recording. It captures the sound of an amp in a recording studio. Bass or guitar. Ive recorded some great tones with it. I havent used my tube amp or a single pedal since I got it. I use maybe 3 of the buttons just to change profiles and an effect or two. I no longer waste time dialing in different amp settings, tweaking knobs, someone already did that, recorded it and saved it as a profile.
It sounds awesome with headphones and I can practice all night and not disturb anyone.
It lets me try out different amp sounds to see how I like them.
Ive now played dumbles, slo 100, gilmours actual hiwatt, plexis, matchless, engls and I would have never been able to do that before.
Ive never tried one live, Id get a fuchs trainwreck for that, I know cause its my favorite kemper sound.

This is a track Im working on. Ive got mistakes to fix and redo the solos. All the guitars and bass are kemper.
Its a fender twin with some delay and trem.

 

[mjcyates]

"but for huge stages with complex setups apparently the Kemper can
yield better consistency"

This, late night at home playing, and in the studio is where I think these amps shine. My church bought a couple of these. I played through one a couple of weeks ago and my impression was, it sounds good but doesn't feel the same. I will be playing through it again this weekend after having it home for a few days to mess with. I have 3 rigs set up now that sound pretty good. Will see how it goes this weekend.

 

[3-Chord-Genius]

A band played at our church a while ago and the guitarist had a Kemper and a 2X12. It sounded amazing. I don't know what amp profile he was running, but it was some of the best tone I'd ever heard.

 

[tfarny]

I find that the ability to adjust treble and mids, tweak reverb or delay, etc. with a turn of a single well lighted knob, same thing every time, is worth more than having a million amps to choose from. Lets me focus on playing and singing which need all the attention I can give em. That thing does not appeal to my needs AT ALL, though I can see how it could be real useful for somebody else. At a blues jam seems to be exactly the wrong kind of place for one.

 

[brucerbc]

I've only seen one in the wild. I worked stage crew for Michael Franti / Spearhead at a festival and Jay Bowman was running one into a powered cab. There were Egnater guitar cabs stacked with it, but none plugged in that I could see. He used a floor remote to manage the head and sounded great, on stage and through the PA.

 

[bgmacaw]

He should have plugged it into a Peavey Bandit...

 

[NothingGoatboat]

He should have plugged it into a Peavey Bandit...

I don't get why so many people like to post this. Peavey Bandits are great amps, for what they are. Made in USA, roadworthy amps. People tend to drag them into every single conversation regarding amps for some reason. I know a lot of people on this forum love them.
Anyways, I think Kempers sound great for recording, as mentioned above. They tend to have the perfect EQ balance for that kind of thing, whereas playing one live can be difficult if you don't want to fiddle around. If you move one knob out of place accidentally, it can be hard to find out what you did. They tend to be rather complicated. I think they sound, if not exactly like the amp, then 95% of the way there. Jim Lill, Youtube country player, uses them with Dr. Z profiles, and they sound pretty great. Here's a link:

 

[bgmacaw]

I don't get why so many people like to post this. Peavey Bandits are great amps, for what they are. Made in USA, roadworthy amps. People tend to drag them into every single conversation regarding amps for some reason.

It's because the plain and nondescript Bandit clean channel is perfect for amplifying modelers. The only thing I've seen better in this area is a Tech21 Power Engine.

 

[NothingGoatboat]

It's because the plain and nondescript Bandit clean channel is perfect for amplifying modelers. The only thing I've seen better in this area is a Tech21 Power Engine.

OK, sorry about that, I read your post as sarcasm... That's a valid point, haha. I've tried that, actually, with a modeler. It sounded very "real". I wonder how the Kemper would react going through another amp like that?

 

[Deeve]

OK, sorry about that, I read your post as sarcasm... That's a valid point, haha. I've tried that, actually, with a modeler. It sounded very "real". I wonder how the Kemper would react going through another amp like that?

I read it both as sarcasm and as a sincere recognition that the USA made PVs are road-worthy/hard-to-kill at the same time that folks treat them as starter amps.
Soooo - I've got a Brand F black deelux, which is good for what it does (a lot) and also have PV2x12 Classic (when 50 loud watts are "needed") and Basic 15" Bass combo (for my bass - duh) and can't imagine selling them either. Folks who see the PV and make a "judgy face" tell me a lot about them w/o saying a word. As well as the folks who see mid-70s gear that keeps on working and tell me about their own stash from Meridian MS. . .

As for as the guy who used the Kemper and had settings that sounded great at home (but like woof @ gig) I'd agree w/ earlier comment: the player found good living room settings, but they weren't good club settings. Same thing happens to rookie metal heads who pile on too much distortion and wonder why it sounds so small.
Peace - Deeve

 

[Norris Vulcan]

I find that the ability to adjust treble and mids, tweak reverb or delay, etc. with a turn of a single well lighted knob, same thing every time, is worth more than having a million amps to choose from.

(image removed)

It's all there on the front panel...

 

[beyer160]

(image removed)

It's all there on the front panel...

Yeah, but no.

The EQ on a Kemper doesn't replicate the tonestack of the amp it's profiling, it's more like a studio console EQ. Which is fine, but not exactly the same- you're EQing the sound after the power section and speaker (sim), not before. Subtle but important difference.

 

[tfarny]

(image removed)

It's all there on the front panel...

You are joking...right? I'm gonna turn around in the middle of a song to quickly tweak something on that thing, and get it right, and not lose a beat? Cmon, I'm more likely to accidentally warp the whole band into a nebula...

 

[Norris Vulcan]

^^ That's true. The profile needs to be EQ'd correctly in the first place.

 

[bgmacaw]

. I wonder how the Kemper would react going through another amp like that?

I'd guess it would work best with the headphone out or monitor out going into the Bandit. That's how I use mine with the much less expensive modelers I have now. I've even had a keyboard player use it like that in a pinch at a fiasco of a corporate gig.

I'd like to get a Kemper some day but I keep having to put Kemper sized money into my house on a regular basis.