Is Kemper super sensitive to cabinet type?

  • Hi Everyone,


    I play a kemper powerhead through a trad cab. I play weekly in a studio through 4 x 12 cabs & at home though a good speaker set.


    I spent an hour a few weeks back before rest of band showed up dialing in a Mesa Mk2c profile into a Marshall 4 x 12. It sounded mental. I'd been on here moaning about tone before but all that was gone.


    Last week played in a different room though a different Marshall 4 x 12 and same profile sounded like dog shit.


    Other guitarist uses a Boss Katana head. He sounded OK past few weeks in room 1 & then OK again through a different 4 x 12 last week.


    So is kemper a bit fussy?

  • I think just as much as any amp. I tried a bunch of speakers before settling on the one that seemed to color the tone the least. And of course between that and a cabinet it still does. What the Kemper needs most is the ability to produce it's sound in the most unaltered way possible .

  • Any amp, SS or Tube, is going to sound different when using different cabinets and speakers. I have two 2x12 cabinets, one loaded with V30s and one with G12T-75s, same settings on the Kemper, huge tone difference.

  • More importantly you have just found out how much a guitar cab colours the sound - which is massively, arguably more than the amp itself believe it or not.


    There are a few vids on this somewhere...


    So is the KPA fussy? No more than any high end Amp - I find than high end amps show these things better than lower end amps ( presumably because they tend to be less "defined").


    TBH this is why I no longer use guitar cabs.

  • I have always spoke of how much I like the sound of Kemper/CL80 guitar cab. For some time now, I have been using my studio monitors recording with the Kemper. The other night I hooked it up to the cab and it had way too much bass,colored and undefined compared to what I've adapted to. Late for the party but right now I'm preferring full range speakers with studio profiles. I know the cab sounds great and really does the amp in a room, but I have to get it louder to bring out the highs and mids to balance it with the same settings as I used with the full range monitors. Listening to some of my favorite guitar sounds mixed by M.Wagner, A. Johns, M.Norman there isn't a lot of bass there, and with the guitar cab at low volume there is way too much.

  • I have always spoke of how much I like the sound of Kemper/CL80 guitar cab. For some time now, I have been using my studio monitors recording with the Kemper. The other night I hooked it up to the cab and it had way too much bass,colored and undefined compared to what I've adapted to. Late for the party but right now I'm preferring full range speakers with studio profiles. I know the cab sounds great and really does the amp in a room, but I have to get it louder to bring out the highs and mids to balance it with the same settings as I used with the full range monitors. Listening to some of my favorite guitar sounds mixed by M.Wagner, A. Johns, M.Norman there isn't a lot of bass there, and with the guitar cab at low volume there is way too much.

    And this is why I like the Kabinet, I feel it does hit the middle ground of Amp in the room and let profiles shine

  • As V8guitar says. A guitar cab is a HUGE part of the sound. Different speakers, cab dimensions, wood, glue, open/closed back, even placement will affect the sound.

    And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.

  • As V8guitar says. A guitar cab is a HUGE part of the sound. Different speakers, cab dimensions, wood, glue, open/closed back, even placement will affect the sound.

    The point here is that I never knew this in my Valve amp days :). Its somethign I've only discovered since getting the KPA.


    Using the KPa has made me aware of so many other factors that you do not think about with a conventional set up ...which I think is a big plus!

  • The point here is that I never knew this in my Valve amp days :). Its somethign I've only discovered since getting the KPA.


    Using the KPa has made me aware of so many other factors that you do not think about with a conventional set up ...which I think is a big plus!


    Really good point that & same for me. Learned more about those factors using a kemper than I had in years using tube or early SS amps.

  • In the old days (Grandpa Simpson voice) it used to be simple for guitarists:


    1) Set up your tube amp on stage

    2) Blast away all night with you bell bottoms flapping

    3) Don't spare a nanosecond thinking what the whole band sounds like

    4) The other musicians are just there to keep the groove between guitar solos


    8)

  • Excellent.

  • 4) The other musicians are just there to keep the groove between guitar solos

    "As God intended."


    To me guitar, is the only instrument that I hear one of the greats play and I immediately say "This is how it was meant to be played". We instinctively know what it should sound like when someone plays it. Segovia, Hendrix, Van Halen, SRV, Abasi, etc are like a firecracker going off, you just go "Hmmmm that feels right, finally someone is playing what we all innately know is how it should be played".


    Of course add your fav players here to the list.


    BACK ON TOPIC:

    Each amps tone stack pushes certain frequencies. Those freqs matched with the freqs of the cab are what create a "sound". That is the magic of the Kemper, it catches those two variables at once. The dream.


    That is also why I have 100's of IRs I cycle thru for each new amp sound. There is no magical "GOOD" IR. It has to matchup with the amps response to sound right.


    No two speakers sound the same. As stated above, the speakers and the cabinets have huge effects on the sound. In my mind a good pair of studio monitors would be the best bet for making tones since a live PA would use similar speakers. 3 way speakers would actually be best since you could get a clearer all-important mid range picture. But you have to do it pretty loud to match the compression/distortion curve of the speakers being used in both instances. Not to mention the Fletcher/Munson always mentioned.


    Cheap guitar cabs tend to resonate at certain freqs. This adds to the feeling of deep bass and that LIVE room sound. My home made 2x12 adds quit a punch around 220Hz. My cheap Behringer 4x12 is almost unusable without some bracing inside to keep the back panel from resonating. Maybe this is why so many combos are backless???


    And many guitar cabs lack any sound absorbing material inside the cab. This creates weird echo/reflections coming from inside the cab out. Creating a thin slap back echo sound with phase issues all over the frequency response.


    Since I am not too smart I just got the flattest Eminence 12's I could, with huge magnets, and filled my 2x12 box with fiberglass insulation. For a twist I sometimes wire each 12 out of phase with the other to reduce the pressure inside the cab and get a different response. And occasionally I have all different 12s in each position on both the 2x12 and 4x12 so I can move my head around and see what sounds best before miking it.


    My long winded point, speakers all sound different.