"The Kemper does get fantastic tones, but... there’s just a tiny thing missing"

  • Interview with Machine Head's Jared McEachern, a Kemper user



    https://www.musicradar.com/new…-happens-at-least-i-tried



    KEMPER HIGHLIGHTS


    How do you amplify your basses on tour?
    “I use a blend of a Kemper [amp simulator] and the DI live. In our jam room, though, I have a small head and cab, just so I have something pushing air. I picked up the Mesa Subway 800 head and the little 1x10 cab that comes with it. It’s great for the jam room, I just run the Kemper through it.”



    Does the Kemper deliver a completely accurate tone?


    “The Kemper does get fantastic tones, but everyone I talk to says it’s 95 per cent there - there’s just a tiny thing missing - but they’re extremely portable, and great for travelling if you have a lot of fly dates. My tone has a little bit of compression and distortion, but I’m looking to add a bit of chorus and fuzz and maybe a wah. One of the new songs has a cool background wah going on, which I’d like to do live - so I’m working on introducing those into my chain. I already have a Boss chorus and I’m looking to get the Dunlop bass wah, which I really like.”

  • I can live without the 5%,,whatever it is,,he never says,,, does not bother me,, with a tube amp,, one day its 100% the next day its 50,,% depending on SO many things,,
    With Kemper,, its 95% day in day out everyday,, ,,,
    Im happy,,,

  • I guess we always need room to improve.
    I hope my tone never gets to 100%
    And even if it gets there a few months or years later I will fancy something else. It's like dating. But I think switching back and forth sounds is easier and won't get you into that much trouble.
    Also im sure my playing will never get to 100% :D
    Beeing human is all about improving IMO.
    Love my Kemper though. I still consider it to be the best gear purchase of my life.

  • I wonder if the 5% is just the need for [learning] profiling/tweaking skills (learning the machine, definition, cab curves blah)
    I think i have a 5% chance that i could be right :D


    Ash

    Have a beer and don't sneer. -CJ. Two non powered Kempers -Two mission stereo FRFR Cabs - Ditto X4 -TC electronic Mimiq.

  • Ok, so ignoring the lack of distant mic'd sounds and the problems with amp-in-the-room I do think that the Kemper will never please some people or reach "100%" amp-ness until it's capable of caricaturing amp characteristics.


    What I mean by that is having more dials that go beyond where a real amp goes. For "more chewy" or "more glassy", more/less hyperdynamic sounds, more blattery'farty etc sounds. Sounds that basically are the domain of digital gear in being more what guitarists imagine tube amps to sound like rather than what tube amps actually sound like.


    Because the Kemper is always trying to be very true to the real amp sound, it's a bit flat because real amps are just not as cartoony as people actually imagine them to be. When you think of a fender amp you think of something that's got crazy rich plummy/twangy tone and makes a les paul sound like a telecaster. You really think of the sound of spring verb before the ditortion circuit of course, but that's beside the point. In your head the sound is way over the top. Same for heavy amp's, in your minds eye an Uberschall virtually has an octaver built in and crackles like a madman. In reality these amps are actually no-where near as exciting as you imagine, there's something to be said for their power-amps but that's all. You record them and to get a guitar to sound that big you have to double track etc.


    That to me is the missing 5%, just over the topness that probably comes from some careful EQ curves before the amp block.

  • The 5% is the bit you think is missing...the grass being greener...and gives you GAS.


    I think the sounds are there is just getting to them and knowing what "the sound" is..I've never had 100% the sound I want.


    I've also never had an amp that gives me 95% clean, 95% rhythm, 95% solo, 95% effects until now.


    I have never had more people compliment me on my sound since having the Kemper and I trust them more than I do me!

  • Most of the time my kemper can reproduce a perfect 100% tube amp sound, but there is a correct level to play, the amount of gain had much influence on this and the guitar too as well as the cab and speakers...


    using some Dimarzio super distortion or Blaze pickups you can get a good screaming sound


    anyway what is missing should be the multiple stages of distortion or the transient that cannot be profiled yet but maybe kemper will be able to profile it in further OS versions


    i think that this "missing" is more for tube amp sound than high gain or clean sounds (for me kemper hi-gain profiles and clean profiles sounds really 100%)


    i told that before, after 30 minutes playing with a Tube Drive profile you cannot distinguish the difference, your ears start to hear everything equally.

  • exactly how I feel,,,

  • I've felt that the Kemper occasionally leaves 5% of the tone behind. It could be a slight difference in tone or fatness (more or less) or maybe a lack of room ambience or air that you get with the "real" amp. Maybe it doesn't react exactly the same to outboard effects; it could be a number of things that account for the difference.


    Ultimately, in the real world of live performance or studio recording, 5% means nothing to me. The Kemper is much more consistent and predictable.

  • I've felt that the Kemper occasionally leaves 5% of the tone behind. It could be a slight difference in tone or fatness (more or less) or maybe a lack of room ambience or air that you get with the "real" amp. Maybe it doesn't react exactly the same to outboard effects; it could be a number of things that account for the difference.


    Ultimately, in the real world of live performance or studio recording, 5% means nothing to me. The Kemper is much more consistent and predictable.

    This is perfectly said. It's an easy trade-off for me. I've had some really nice tube amps, I've been very lucky. But to my ear, the KPA is at least 95% of the way there.


    And that 5% is nothing compared to compromises made by things like not perfectly matching the EQ to the room, being too loud and ruining a good mix, knocking a knob accidentally, playing like shite, or any number of other things that can happen with a tube amp or a KPA (well, usually not the too loud on stage part) to ruin your tone day.


    If that 5% is there...it's just not that important to me. I'm not sure that I can hear it anyway. And if I close my eyes, I can have any amp in the world. :D

    Disclaimer: When I post demo clips for profiles, there will be some minimal post-processing, unless stated otherwise. I normally double-track hard L/R, and add to the main buss a small amount of EQ and a limiter/comp set pretty light as well. Sometimes I get test profiles in advance of release, though 90% of my clips will be from packs I have purchased.

    Edited once, last by Locrain ().