Last question(s) before purchase (this week)?

  • Does the Kemper have factory presets (rigs) for a bass?


    What type of beginner bass would I get for hard rock - heavy metal songs (not djent or death)?

    Type P, Jazz or PJ bass?

    Active pups? HB's or singles, split, etc?


    I want lay some bass tracks over my songs and figure a bass can't be too hard to learn, right? ;)

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

  • It sure does :thumbup: Press soft button to the left over display repeatedly

    until "Just Bass" shows up in top left corner of display.

    Step through rigs with left - right buttons near "INPUT" :)


    If "new" bassplayer, choose a short scale bass . Easy to play :thumbup:

    ( If you have short fingers ...... ) 8o


    Cheers !

    The adjective for metal is metallic. But not so for iron ... which is ironic.

  • I'm liking the tone of the Squire PJ basses with the Fender OEM alnico singles. Geddy Lee used similar Fender and that was good enough for hard rock. I can't afford much after I splurge on a Kemper system.

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

  • It's funny, I was laying down some tracks with my Kemper when I first got it and wanted to add some bass and I remembered there were bass amps available, The very first one I selected, was perfect and I've never even tried any other! I assure you, you will find a bass amp sound in the Kemper that will rival anything you've heard. but WAY easier! I've always had to mix a miced and direct signal to get what I want on bass but the Kemper gives me a sound right now that's there. The worst things about a Kemper: #1 too many choices of tones/sounds. #2 No challenge to getting great sounds anymore, it's easy. I was almost getting bored it was so easy so in reference I went back and played on my best sounding tube amps. They sounded great still and when I went back to my Kemper it refreshed how great it sounds and how somehow it is just a little better than my amps as in the dynamics and feel are just a little more "track ready".

  • My father is a bass player for over 60 years and I have access to real bass guitars and use them. But lately I often just plug into the EHX BASS9 Bass Machine pedal. Transforms my guitars into a believable bass.

    It's no gimmick - it really works (for me) 8)

    Edited once, last by Ibot39 ().

  • My father is a bass player for over 60 years and I have access to real bass guitars and use them. But lately I often just plug into the EHX BASS9 Bass Machine pedal. Transforms my guitars into a believable bass.

    It's no gimmick - it really works (for me) 8)

    Sounds like a great, fast option. I believe you could do the same thing within the Kemper using transpose. I usually just grab a bass that's always sitting beside me in my control room, but I'm such a crummy bass player, laying demos down with my guitar would be better. I'll have to try it! I'll just transpose the guitar down and run it through my favorite bass rig! Thanks for the idea!

  • Sounds like a great, fast option. I believe you could do the same thing within the Kemper using transpose. I usually just grab a bass that's always sitting beside me in my control room, but I'm such a crummy bass player, laying demos down with my guitar would be better. I'll have to try it! I'll just transpose the guitar down and run it through my favorite bass rig! Thanks for the idea!

    You can get quite good results with the Kemper for demos. Try pitch shifter pre Stack; it will still sound like a guitar - a guitar transposed one octave down ;) But for a demo it will work.


    The EHX pedal is a different beast, really. You have to try one and see if you like it of course. But for me settings like Precision and Virtual feel and sound like a real bass - not perfect, but more than I ever would have believed.

  • You can get quite good results with the Kemper for demos. Try pitch shifter pre Stack; it will still sound like a guitar - a guitar transposed one octave down ;) But for a demo it will work.


    The EHX pedal is a different beast, really. You have to try one and see if you like it of course. But for me settings like Precision and Virtual feel and sound like a real bass - not perfect, but more than I ever would have believed.

    I wonder what the differences are. Perhaps the EHX changes formants? That could done in the Kemper too. Other than that and certain eq, I wouldn't know what the pedal could do that the Kemper couldn't replicate.

  • IMOH there´s nothing that beats a real bass .....

    The sound, the feel, and there´s many ways to play it,

    finger style, pick, slap, tap ... all with different sound :thumbup:


    Transposing a guitar might work in a demo, but that´s it .....


    Expand your skills and grab a real bass and find a new approach to music,

    You play it differently, like acoustic vs electric , nylon vs steel , piano vs organ.

    electric piano vs synth ..... Different approach to all and you´ll might even come

    up with new music and ideas :thumbup:


    But that´s me ......... :wacko:


    Cheers !

    The adjective for metal is metallic. But not so for iron ... which is ironic.

  • I bought a used Squire P bass for $90 (left hand), I can't fault it

    I am only going to use it in my studio for when my bassist is not around. Some other bassists told me that the Squire line of basses is pretty good for a starter model and for how I would use it which would be very limited.

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

  • I bought a old Yamaha bass for $100.00 I think it's like a BB300 or something. Sounds great, super solid and heavy, stays in tune like a dream, neck straight as can be with good action. Excellent quality and construction for the money. I would just use the guitar turned bass for speed and ease, not ultimate sound quality. I realize it wouldn't likely be as good but I'm not expecting it to be and I hate playing bass.

  • I wonder what the differences are. Perhaps the EHX changes formants? That could done in the Kemper too. Other than that and certain eq, I wouldn't know what the pedal could do that the Kemper couldn't replicate.

    Do you know the EHX 9 series pedals? They offer emulations of instruments (like organ, e-piano or mellotron cello, flute...)! Nothing the Kemper can do! Same with the bass - totally different experience. It feels and sounds more like "controlling" a real bass with your guitar strings (instead of midi). With the pedal you are basically playing / controlling a Precision bass emulation for example. It doesn't sound much like your (detuned) guitar anymore.

    Edited once, last by Ibot39 ().

  • Not bad at all.

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    Think for yourself, or others will think for you wihout thinking of you

    Henry David Thoreau

  • the main challenge for a guitar player to play bass is not the different scale and string size, but the mindset.

    The are lots of people that play guitar on a bass and call themselves bass players ;)

    it's a different instruments that just happens to have a few similarities with guitar.


    the right hand is the weak part of many guitarists - developing a good right hand technique on bass takes time and effort, using a guitar pick gives you a very distinctive sound. I recommend the WEDGIE rubber bass picks for a convinient switch from guitar to bass, and a very believable tone and even dynamics.

  • Hi, Don!

    the main challenge for a guitar player to play bass is not the different scale and string size, but the mindset.

    The are lots of people that play guitar on a bass and call themselves bass players ;)

    it's a different instruments that just happens to have a few similarities with guitar.


    the right hand is the weak part of many guitarists - developing a good right hand technique on bass takes time and effort, using a guitar pick gives you a very distinctive sound. I recommend the WEDGIE rubber bass picks for a convinient switch from guitar to bass, and a very believable tone and even dynamics.

    I agree 100% about the mindset.


    Playing a bass was a huge part of recovering from a repetitive strain injury when I couldn't play guitar. It took a couple of years, but once I got my hands back, I retired the bass.


    I came to understand a bass is an entirely different instrument from a guitar, even though the user interface is similar.


    Some people can play both electric guitar and bass, and others can't. When I play bass, I sound like a guitarist holding a bass.


    I know people who play guitar, and they also play bass, but you can see them transform from a guitarist to a bassist depending on the instrument they are playing—their whole vibe changes. You can see a change in their attitude. They inhabit the instrument, the role of the instrument in the music, the role of the player in the band. Often their physical posture and movements on stage change. I just look like a guitarist holding a bass.