Does the "wow factor" ever go away?

    I've had my Kemper for a little while now, and I know that I'm well passed the "newness factor". The "newness factor" is that period of time where you think everything is great with some new gear, then you start to become aware of some things about the gear. Think of it in terms of a new girlfriend, with some kind of an accent. At first, you love her accent, and you think it's cute. You love when she talks to you. A few weeks down the road, that same accent drives you absolutely insane. That's the newness factor.


    Anyway, I digress. I have only recorded one thing, a quick demo, since I got the Kemper. It's not because of any limitation of the Kemper, it's because I'm still blown away by it. I find myself checking out profiles posted here and elsewhere. I spend more time playing around with new sounds than I do playing. It got to the point where I consciously stopped checking out new rigs, etc., and just played the damn guitar.


    The Kemper is, by far, the best piece of gear I have EVER purchased. I was just wondering if the "wow factor" ever goes away, and you start thinking of it as a great tool, and get things done with it, instead of reading something about it in the manual, and going "Wow, it does that?"

    When I think of a new girlfriend, her accent doesn't come first. You know what I mean.


    Talking now about the Kemper, after 5 years, routine has now settled in a little but when we are rocking' and just let go, it's like when we've just met.

    I bought my Kemper in April or May of this year. I went out and bought a ton of commercial profiles. For me the honeymoon phase is over and now I just see the Kemper as my main tool. I haven't thought about getting another tube amp, really. (Although I may get a 3 Monkeys one day).


    It's kind of like when you buy the ultimate power tool. You have have it and use it daily. It checks all your boxes. As a recording artist, I just needed something like the Kemper since I started.


    Now that I have the guitars I want and the amps I want my GAS has moved over to effects and plugins, argghhh! I'd love to find a cheep H3000 SE or get ever Waves plugin there is. :wacko:

    3,5 years with the kpa.
    First two years with the fcb, than the remote.
    First mission pedal, than two more pedals because of exploring.
    First stompbox( Paul Gilbert airplane flanger) in front of last year.
    A/B stomp added.
    Freqout digitech in front of it last month. I am a little scarred that it goes on and on......


    You are right. If you can check out so many cool rigs , you spend a lot of tweaking time and the playing gets not so many time as it needs. My experience was, in the beginning i spent days on tweaking because i was not so familar with all parameters and so on. At this time it is takes only a little time to choose a rig, some seconds to hear if it has a good basis, otherwise i delete it and dont waste my time with it.


    I often reach a point where i say, i dont need new profiles and i wont buy new stuff, i have enough of very cool sounding rigs and thats it. Than i have a look here to the forum and f.e. a guy posted a new soundsample of a boogie or a frieman or what else, which blows me away and so the story goes......


    The search for the holy grail.


    I think i found it. It's not a special sound. Its the kemper.


    I knew guys who have only 5 sounds on the kpa, they are happy with it and it works.


    For me, the wow effect is still there. But its not only the unit. Its pure fun for me that there is also a great community here, where i found some new personally friends and some special guys whom i phone and post. All depends on the kpa.


    For me also one of the best piece of gear on the market.


    I stop my post because i will go to my cellar and play :D

    I've had a Mesa Triple Recto for about 10 years, no other amps in between. On Kemper since 1,5 years and sold my Mesa this January. So the Mesa is the benchmark, by means of time. Since the Kemper no urges for other amps, still going strong.
    I have to admit I've still got two Mesa Thiele cabs (EVM12L) "in the closet", these will never (never say never) be sold. If I ever going back to "normal" amps, I don't have to bother to find the best guitarcabs ever made, i.m.h.o.

    besides being a guy working for a company I'm a guitarist first and foremost and what get's me everytime is:

    • you simply play more instead of tweaking and tone chasing, and that is a beautiful thing
    • playing more makes you a better guitarist, but since the Profiler reacts to all these minute details of phrasing - with the right Profile - it let's you know exactly in which areas you need to practise a bit more. Just like a great tube amp would.

    so here's a piece of gear that actually makes you a better musician if you let it - and that is quite rare IMHO.
    of course I'm biased, but probably not as much as you'd think ;)

    Quote from DonPetersen

    besides being a guy working for a company I'm a guitarist first and foremost and what get's me everytime is:

    • you simply play more instead of tweaking and tone chasing, and that is a beautiful thing
    • playing more makes you a better guitarist, but since the Profiler reacts to all these minute details of phrasing - with the right Profile - it let's you know exactly in which areas you need to practise a bit more. Just like a great tube amp would.

    so here's a piece of gear that actually makes you a better musician if you let it - and that is quite rare IMHO.
    of course I'm biased, but probably not as much as you'd think ;)


    It already has!!! Coming from the modeler world, they are pretty forgiving when you play something slightly wrong. It covers for you. The Kemper acts like a real amp, and all your misses are in plain view. At first it was a kick to the ego, but after a couple of days of actually paying attention to what I was playing, all is good in the Kemper world :)

    Nine months with the Toaster and various speaker combinations and Instruments. All of my guitars and basses have rigs perfectly suited for them. Now I know why I've always liked so many sounds. Try a Blues Harp through a Princeton, sounds like a Texas Beer Joint. There are few days I recall when I haven't played. :thumbup: