Advice on Buying a Kemper

    Quote from Finally

    The Kemper is fundamentally the same concept. You choose an amp, then add whatever effects and tone shaping you want.


    With the Kemper the amp tones are fully formed snapshots of an amp with certain settings. While you can tweak these drastically, the tweaking isn't exactly like the copied amp. If you want a clean and a heavy amp distortion sound you'd use 2 profiles normally, rather than using the gain knob (which doesn't mimic the gain control on the amp). It's easy.

    That's why it's interesting to profile an amp with neutral settings too. 8)

    MistaGuitah, if the Kemper is sounding overall lacking in bass to another device and you can get them side by side again, go into the amp section of the Kemper and mess with the definition control. This is the quickest way to get your guitar sounding just like it does through an amp, especially if all patches are sounding too bassy or too trebly.

    Quote from MistaGuitah

    Have you tried a tube power amp with the Kemper? If so, how do you think it compares with built-in power supply? I'm not sure there is any advantage of using a tube power amp with the Kemper, but some people seem to think a tube power amp is more organic.

    I haven't but many have. For me its a bit like outboard effects, I don't see the point of adding say a gain pedal - the amp does this very well....but then I see people buying £2000 valve amps known for their organic distortion and stick a £100 distortion pedal in front of it...just not for me.


    The Kemper is there to emulate a valve amp ( both stages) so using a valve power amp probably will add warmth but I don't see the need - it doesn't lack warmth for me.


    Add that to the issues of:


    1) transportation - why replace a valve amp with a valve amp "emulater"...and a valve amp!
    2) Complexity ( balancing any valve power amp distortion with the in built valve amp emulated/profiled distortion
    3) More connections and cables
    4) time - to set up as well as set up/break down time at gigs
    5) reliability - one big advantage in going digital is that its generally more robust, only to add that variable back in..