Hello everyone!
I am looking at possibly selling my tube amp, a Marshal DSL40CR and some effects pedals to help finance a Kemper. I don't play out much these days, and if I do there is either an amp where I go or some kind of Pod into a PA that is non-negotiable.
I am mostly playing at home in a single family house with a dedicated music den. While I can't get too loud I can sometimes play at around 100db per the db app on my phone about 5 ft away from my amp. Not bedroom volume but not enough to get the amp to sound like it should. About 60% of the time I have to watch the volume a bit more. I have been trying some different speakers and cabs to get something I like, and while I love to experiment, buying speakers, tubes, etc can get costly even if I resell. Kind of getting frustrated with trying to get a great sound within the boundaries I have. I am no techno phobe but this is a possible new world and while I have done a lot of reading I really just need a quick summary of some of my concerns.
Does the Kemper hear the individual characteristics between my different guitars? Can I hear a difference when I adjust pickup heights like I can with my tube amp?
I have some guitars with excellent wiring that makes them useful even with guitar volume turned down to like 2-3. Can the Kemper react like a tube amp in this situation?
I have read the FRFR cabs don't give the "room feel " that running a Kemper thru a regular cab does. Am I compromising what the Kemper can do if I run it thru my existing 1x12 cabs? I get that somehow when a rig is profiled the Kemper software can decipher what the cab is bringing to the profile, but are there rigs out there that are made especially for those who use their own cabs ?
I have read that Bass/Treble/ mids/ gain controls are less effective than with a tube amp. Basically the profile is what it is for the most part.
I am not super picky about effects but do have a nice board with a Boss ES8 switcher. As long as I can have the basic range of options for adjusting reverb, delay, chorus, and dirt pedals I am okay with using what is on board the Kemper. I do have a CatalinBread Zero Point Flanger I love, as well as a wah. With the ES8 I can change the pedal order, can the Kemper do that as well? For instance one rig with a dirt box before a delay instead of the other way around? Does the Kemper play well with a pedal board?
I don't own an amp I'd want to profile, but I do understand there are many. many options to get rigs. I play mostly hard rock, instrumental rock and like variants of Marshall sounds. I also like a Matchless DC30 that I had the joy of playing a few times, and I also play a bit O jazz. I have been a tube player forever, but the realities are setting in that maybe it's time to brave something new.
Thanks for any input you all can give on any of these concerns !!