It is worth Selling my Peavey JSX (tube amp) and Buy the Kemper?

  • Hi, for those who own the unit, is it worth selling my Peavey JSX to get the more versatile Kemper Amp?


    Also wanted to know, if i plug the Kemper to my PA System (not FRFR or whatever is called) will still sounds as good like a Tube Amp?


    How good are the Cabinet Emulations from the Kemper Amp?


    Thanks for Reply,


    It seems the only way to get my Kemper is selling my JSX (still can profile it tough :P )

  • get kemper and then profile your amp, THEN sell :)


    Can;t say what its like to play live with kemper, a few others can perhaps, but the cab and sound out of the kemper into my studio monitors is stellar to my liking...


    I have always liked a good amp and cab pushing air live though, but have done the moddeler thing before to varying degrees of satisfaction..

  • The cabinet emulations are perfect... well as perfect as the user that does the setup of the profiling.


    In any case: buy the Kemper... do profiles at various settings that you feel are the sweet-spot of the amp for you. Then sell the amp. Also, a share of these profiles would be much appreciated here :)

  • if i plug the Kemper to my PA System (not FRFR or whatever is called) will still sounds as good like a Tube Amp?

    It wil sound as good as a mic'd tube amp going through the PA system, If you need the amp-on-stage-blowing-your-ankles experience, then you'll probably need 2 PA boxes, at least 12", on the floor aiming at you ankles... :D

    "Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" Serghei Rachmaninoff



  • Hi!
    I sold my JSX head for the Kemper, and never looked back. Sadly, I didn't have the chance to keep the JSX for profiling, but honestly, I don't really miss it. The variety of quality tones in the KPA is just amazing. Also, there are no cabinet emulations, the cabinets are profiled with the amp, you can exchange them between the profiles, though, which really makes some profiles come alive.
    And as guitarnet said, through PA it will sound like a mic'd tube amp.

    Use your ears, not your mathematical sense.

  • No, I would not sell a tube amp to get a KPA. I have a KPA and It is an excellent unit, but I certainly would not sacrifice any of my tube amps for it.

  • Hey, i have an jsx combo amp and the kemper ^^, i use the speaker from the combo with the art sla power amp + adam a7 (low volume just add more defenition) with great results!


    If you also play in bedroom kemper is a must... recording also...

  • I have the same question as OP, but with a different amp. I hope you won't mind if I semi-jack this thread.


    I've got an Engl Powerball II with an Orange PPC412 cab, and I'm pretty happy with the sound. (No gigs yet, just band rehearsal).
    Is it likely that I'll be just/nearly as happy, or even happier with a Kemper, a profile of my current rig (which I'd have to sell afterwards to get some cash back) and a good FRFR cab? (Mackie HD 1221 or FBT Verve 12ma maybe, these got mentioned a few times in other forums).
    The pros are obvious, no need for stompboxes (less clutter, less weight, control all in one midiboard), lesser weight in my overall rig, no need to care for any tubes, ability to take the kemper home and record in my bedroom directly into the pc...
    I really want to hear that I should do this right now, because then I'll pillage my super off-limits savings account and get one before I can afford one, yeah!

  • Personally I would take the jump. Ask yourself 2 questions:


    - Do you like your mic'ed sound? (actually necessary if you are going to gig with it)
    - Do you mind not having that cool huge Orange cab and Engl or Peavey head behind you? ;)


    If you can answer yes to both questions, you will love the Kemper! My plans were to profile my JCM800 2205 and Fender Blues Deluxe, but frankly the profiles that are available cover my ENTIRE sound. This is the first digital gear that actually sounds like tubeamps, even through stage monitors. The Bogner Ecstasy profile sounds even better than my real cranked JCM (even on bedroom volume!!), and the Fender models sound better than my BD. Need I say more? :thumbup:

  • I would take the chance and get the Kemper, specially if you can keep your amp and cab for a little while. The big change will be not having the 4x12 on stage blasting at you, and this is the difficult part when you change to FRFR, with any system. You may find out that you love the kemper even more through your cab... in that case sell the amp and get the upcoming Kemper power amp or another power amp of your choice..

    "Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" Serghei Rachmaninoff


  • You're asking on the Kemper forum, you're not really likely to get many people telling you "Nooo don't buy a Kemper".


    In my opinion the Kemper wont replace a tube amp, it'll augment it. It's the closest by quite a huge margin that any amp sim has got to sounding like a real tube amp and it really is very good at that, specifically sounding and playing like a particular tube amp played through a certain signal chain.


    But with the Kemper you have to think of the KPA as the patch controller and your amp as the editor. Yes you can do some edits to the sounds in the Kemper, but without the amp itself you're limited. Profiling is the big deal with the Kemper and if you don't do it then you're missing out completely, in fact most people feel that the Kemper doesn't sound or feel right until they profile their own gear and find out that it's actually very accurate and close and that the real trouble is playing other peoples rigs. i.e. having Gilmour's amp wont make you sound like Gilmour. And of course the other toruble is that theyr'e so used to production and hyped amp sim sounds that the sound of a mic'd up real amp can throw you for a curve.


    So, no don't sell your amp, but yes of course get the Kemper if you can afford it. It's an amazing thing and opens up all sorts of possibilities. Oh and when you profile, ignore the videos they showed, you need to refine for a *lot* longer than they show, literally just sit down and play away to your hearts content for twenty minutes or so and you'll find yourself considerably closer.

  • You're asking on the Kemper forum, you're not really likely to get many people telling you "Nooo don't buy a Kemper".
    [...]
    So, no don't sell your amp, but yes of course get the Kemper if you can afford it. [...]

    Ok, your suggestion is pretty much what I see as the sensible solution the the "Kemper problem": Don't touch my savings and use the time I need to save up for it to reconsider if I really need it. Will be hard to keep GAS under control.

  • Yeah, I would sell my amps, but you may want to wait and see if it meets your needs. Enough of the profiles sound real enough to make it pointless to have a "real" amp. Sometimes I have to change the cabinets around and tweak, but I can usually get in the realm of realism. I actually sometimes like the kemper feel better than my real amps. For example I had a afd100 and the kemper feels better and is more tweakable than the actual amp. This amp is a one trick pony, but the profile is not!

  • Yeah, I would sell my amps, but you may want to wait and see if it meets your needs. Enough of the profiles sound real enough to make it pointless to have a "real" amp. Sometimes I have to change the cabinets around and tweak, but I can usually get in the realm of realism. I actually sometimes like the kemper feel better than my real amps. For example I had a afd100 and the kemper feels better and is more tweakable than the actual amp. This amp is a one trick pony, but the profile is not!

    That's what I was hoping for as well. I want to test it first, that's why I can't sell my amp+cab before I buy the Kemper (profiling my current rig would be nice as well). Do you use the Kemper with a FRFR monitor? I'm very interested in that as opposed to poweramp+cab.

  • get kemper and then profile your amp, THEN sell :)


    Can;t say what its like to play live with kemper, a few others can perhaps, but the cab and sound out of the kemper into my studio monitors is stellar to my liking...


    I have always liked a good amp and cab pushing air live though, but have done the moddeler thing before to varying degrees of satisfaction. i did this with my 5150 its spot on!!!.

  • sell it and buy Kemper , period .

    1988 Branko Radulovic Hand Made Strat in Macedonia (SFRJ)

    2006 Steve Vai vwh moded with SS frets and Sustainac 2006 (Japan)

    2008 Fender YJM , moded (USA)

    2010 Tom Andersons Drop Top 2010 (made in California)

    2017 Charvel GG sig Caramelised Ash (USA)

    2022 Gibson ES 335 2011 Custom Shop Cherry of course ( Memphis)

  • Exactly, and based on the fact that the OP never posted again in this forum, I would assume that he have decided to keep his amp.

    "Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" Serghei Rachmaninoff