Beginner - Need Help!

  • Let me first start off by saying I do not own any Kemper equipment, but I am looking to convert from analog to digital soon and need some guidance. I played guitar when I was a kid (age 13-23) and gave it up when my children were born. I went on a ~10 year hiatus until just recently when I purchased an EBMM Cutlass and a Fender Blues Junior (along with a few pedals). When I was playing as a kid, multi-effects was kind of trash, but it appears to have gotten quite a bit better (and more in the main stream).

    So I think I jumped the gun a bit with my tube amp, and think I may either sell/return it in order to go in the digital direction. I have looked into the Helix and the Kemper, but I love the bleeding edge nature of the offerings from Fractal. I am on the waiting list for the FM3 and the FX3 (although I think the FX3 might be a bit much for my needs). I am a bedroom player with no aspirations of playing out.

    I understand that this is a Kemper forum, but how do people feel about Kemper vs Fractal for my situation?

  • Welcome!

    Nobody can give you a really valid answer to your question I guess.

    To me the Profiler has the clear edge over Fractal and Helix feel- wise (yes, I owned them all).

    But the internet can rationalize anything therefore I suggest to try a Profiler and say a Helix side by side.

  • Welcome to the forum! I've not owned a Fractal product, but I do have an HX Stomp as backup to my Kemper. To my ears, the Kemper has a more authentic sound and feel. However, I agree with Ingolf that it's best for you to do your own comparison. Depending on your budget, there are many choices out there. For me, Kemper is the choice.

    Go for it now. The future is promised to no one. - Wayne Dyer

  • welcome to the family ?

    As Ingolf said, ultimately it’s your choice. For me it was about the feel, not just the great tone.
    on “ToneWars “ my friend Jarrod had 5 players (mostly metal, hard rock) I was the old classic rock guy. All but the owner of the Axfexlll picked the Kemper for tone&feel

    If you aren’t into endless tinkering, I would go with the Kemper

    Good Luck

  • Yes I’d agree. I’m an old school amp guy. I have used the AxeFX and owned a Helix before buying the Kemper recently. I find the Kemper much easier to work with. It’s true that the Helix signal chain flexibility is better, and the effects are better but the amp sounds are a pain to get sounding good and it really isn’t intuitive for me. The Kemper amp and cab sounds And feel really nail it. I spent about an afternoon as a noob profiling all my amps and it was easy to get them to sound pretty identical. With the Kab, up close and in the room the feel is spot on, very dynamic and just like the real thing. Hope that helps.

    WildBillMojo

  • The first thing I would say is that a Blues Jnr, although a fabulous amp, is WAY too loud for most bedroom applications. I still have several Mesa Boogies from 22w up to the 90w per side stereo 2:ninety power amp but they are all hard to get a good sound with at bedroom level. I even briefly had a Victory V30 with a 1/4w setting and that was too damn loud ? Therefore, regardless of which actual platform you choose, I really think digital is the way forward for your requirements.


    Once you have returned the Blues Jnr, you need to decide which digital platform suits your needs.


    The three main options are all excellent and all have their own strengths and weaknesses. None are necessarily better or worse than the others but they are different and excel at different things. Start by making a detailed list of the features you want/need. Include things like, ease of use, workflow, plug and play v infinite tweak ability. Do you need and audio interface to record with? If so do you want to buy a stand alone unit or have one built into the digital amp? Do you want to profile your own amps? etc

  • If you look online pretty much all new digital amp solutions will compare their products to the Kemper at some stage simply because Kemper is still the benchmark. Not bad after all these years, but you do need to find profiles that fit your set up / style.

    I do know some guys who dig their Axefx 3's

    But the benchmark is cheaper :)

  • I personally decided between the Kemper and Axe FX III by testing them both side by side and taking a few days with them both together to see which I preferred and how they compared to each other sonically. (I bought my Kemper and borrowed a friend's Axe-Fx III when my Kemper arrived)


    For me, the Kemper sounded more rich and dynamic, and I liked the responsiveness and feel I experience while playing through the Kemper. Both the Kemper and Axe FX III have really dynamic sounding amp emulations in them though. The Axe FX III has more variety when it comes to effects and ODs and the effects are honestly really really good. But in my opinion, the effects in the Kemper are really good as well and especially the Delay and Reverb options in the Kemper rival some of the best Delay/Reverb pedals around. With that being said, the Axe FX III has more flexibility when it comes to routing and crazy setups. But they're both great units and both can most likely cover your needs.


    It comes down to how you want to use the unit, features you want and need, and price range (if that's a factor to you. To some it isn't so that I'm not sure what your situation is). I'm sure you'll be happy with either but, the question is which one will you be happier with, and which will get you the results you want faster.


    I went with the Kemper Stage. The form factor was perfect for me and it seemed line the better deal (Kemper rack/Kemper head plus foot controller is more than just the Kemper Stage) but, the Kemper rack and head units definitely have their advantages!


    Good luck on your journey! I hope you enjoy whichever unit you get ? both are killer pieces of gear!

  • welcome to the family ?

    As Ingolf said, ultimately it’s your choice. For me it was about the feel, not just the great tone.
    on “ToneWars “ my friend Jarrod had 5 players (mostly metal, hard rock) I was the old classic rock guy. All but the owner of the Axfexlll picked the Kemper for tone&feel

    If you aren’t into endless tinkering, I would go with the Kemper

    Good Luck

    I love Tone Wars and really enjoyed both Kemper vs Axe FX III Fight Nights! Lol

    If people in basically a blind test not knowing which is which, almost all picked the Kemper between the two units when asked to pick which felt more like a real tube amp, then that really says something!


    Its super cool you were on an episode and I had no idea you were so active on the Kemper forum. That's so awesome!