The Mrs/boss has aproved the Kemper purchase!

  • After 6 years of selling my gear, raising my young family and playing accoustic only, the gas for gear has returned.


    I've just about finished building from scratch a La cabronita clone with 2 x classic Tv Jones pickups, 1 piece swamp ash, tranparent blonde nitro finish and the sweetest hand carved flamed maple 1 peice neck , just got to wire her up :)


    Time to try for the best price for the Kemper, i haven't been this excited for a purchase for a long long time, I'm 43 but feel 10.


    If there is anyone out there from Australia who has picked one up i would love to know who from and how much, despite the strong Aussie dollar i still can't find it under $2160 AU.


    I also have to purchase some monitors any advice would be welcome, please keep in mind that i will be primarily in a small untreated acoustic room with severe limitations on noise levels, would small 5 inch low watt studio monitors be able to present the Kemper well?


    Any experience with headphones would also be appreciated.


    Thanks in advace!

    New talent management advice to Laura Cox -


    “Laura want to break the internet? let’s shoot another video of you covering the Nightrain solo in the blue singlet, but this time we’ll crank up the air conditioning”.

  • Welcome to the forum. :thumbup:


    I'm not an Aussie, so can't help there. As for the monitors, do some searches on the forum - there are many threads about this. I know that there are numerous members using studio monitors successfully for their home use.

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

  • I have no idea what money is worth in the land down under, but I was able to get mine during a 15% off sale so I was able to get it and a Line6 Pod HD500 for $2000 USD. The Pod's for MIDI control and extra "oddball" effects like the synth stuff. Anyway, it might be worth your while to wait for a sale event. Our summer here is about to end... doesn't that mean your summer begins? This "beginning or ending of season" event always triggers some sort of sale in the big music shops in the states. I got mine from a place called "Sweetwater" but I don't know if they ship internationally.


    For monitors I still use a pair of Mackie HR824s I got many moons ago. They still sound great to me, though mostly these days I'll use headphones because it gets fairly hot in my studio in the summer so I need to keep the door and windows open and I live in a condominium complex. Must be neighborly!


    I was using AKG K240s, but recently I switched to a pair of AKG K720s. They're great and I got them used for less than $200 USD. Very clear and open sounding. I don't know if they're "accurate" but they do remind me of the Mackie's and I don't notice any severe coloration. Note, they sound like crap on the output of a standard headphone jack like you'll find in an iPod/iPhone or computer output, but the cheap Rolls headphone amp I have seems to do the trick quite nicely for not too much money.

  • I keep telling people to try the iKey Audio monitors, for that price they are unbeatable.

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