AXE user looking to try this thing out...

    Quote from eyeguy

    Agree on the general attitude of Cliff. Very similiar to Jay Mitchell. Very smart guys, and a subtle arrogance underlies many of thier posts. Sometimes not so subtle. I think the blatant a$$ kissing has gone to his head, and he seems to look down on his customers. People run to his defense and say "who cares, look how great the Axe is!" But those little things do matter, and can leave a bad taste in ppls mouths.


    As I said I do love the Axe, and it really isnt lacking anything i need (although some frustrations in UI, FW update compatibility, AxeEdit)... and while Cliff's general attitude kinda sucks, I DO love the product. But Im also looking to give the Kemper a spin, as I am certainly not an axe-for-life club member.


    I don't really agree with these posts about Cliff being rude, arrogant etc,, perhaps I missed those posts by Cliff where he's being rude?? I read a lot of posts at the FA forum, and the only posts i've seen by Cliff are all very informative, sure he's human and might occasionally say what is really in his mind and not worry about being politically correct, but we all do, although when you're the head of a company like Fractal it might not seem appropriate, but i like that fact that he's human and says what needs to be said.. My experience with over 5 years of using Fractal gear is that Fractal has the THE BEST customer service I've ever seen in any gear I've bought in my entire life..
    I also own the KPA that's why I participate on this forum, but my AXE II has been my choice to this day, and will probably continue to be for a long time, like a lot of people i buy whatever new toy of the week is available, and if i should find one that does a better job for my needs I'll use it, it hasn't happened so far, so till then I'm very happy to continue using the AXE.


    Thanks, I really am looking forward to getting home later, popping a beer and reading what you think. Hopefully you'll give us the rundown on the guitar and pickups you're using regarding your first impressions - as well of the style your playing and the type of tone you seek. I've been looking for a specific tone lately so as a sideline here's a question for you and anyone else that happens to have an idea. I was out at a bar last weekend listening to a very good band. The guitarist sounded great, absolutely fantastic tone. He was playing a Les Paul and I was fairly shocked when I went up closer and saw he was playing in the neck position. His tone was tube heaven, slightly distorted - clean, silky - distorted and clean at the same time, does that make sense? I remember seeing an old Led Zeppelin video with Jimmy Page getting amazing tones with the neck pickup. Anyway after the show I went up and talked to him. He was using a Luker amp (never had heard of it). It was a 20 watt amp but he had it running at 5 watts. He had it mic'd up and amplified (too many amps to see what they had going on) but the bottom line is that it was very impressive.


    So, my first comment to Kemper owners is look and see if anyone has profiled a Luker amp. Secondly, I'd love to have that guy's tone and so the first thing I did was run to GC and bought a new pickup (SD Jazz) for my Epi Les Paul and of course with my 11R I can't get anywhere near it... So I ordered a Humbucker From Hell, maybe that'll get closer. But obviously all week I'm thinking "If I had a Kemper and that guitarists cooperation I could cop the tone with the Kemper." Anyway, that's the attraction to the Kemper...


    Alright, my apologies if these ramblings wasted anyone's time - looking forward to your first impressions.

    Quote from FenderTones


    Thanks, I really am looking forward to getting home later, popping a beer and reading what you think. Hopefully you'll give us the rundown on the guitar and pickups you're using regarding your first impressions - as well of the style your playing and the type of tone you seek. I've been looking for a specific tone lately so as a sideline here's a question for you and anyone else that happens to have an idea. I was out at a bar last weekend listening to a very good band. The guitarist sounded great, absolutely fantastic tone. He was playing a Les Paul and I was fairly shocked when I went up closer and saw he was playing in the neck position. His tone was tube heaven, slightly distorted - clean, silky - distorted and clean at the same time, does that make sense? I remember seeing an old Led Zeppelin video with Jimmy Page getting amazing tones with the neck pickup. Anyway after the show I went up and talked to him. He was using a Luker amp (never had heard of it). It was a 20 watt amp but he had it running at 5 watts. He had it mic'd up and amplified (too many amps to see what they had going on) but the bottom line is that it was very impressive.


    So, my first comment to Kemper owners is look and see if anyone has profiled a Luker amp. Secondly, I'd love to have that guy's tone and so the first thing I did was run to GC and bought a new pickup (SD Jazz) for my Epi Les Paul and of course with my 11R I can't get anywhere near it... So I ordered a Humbucker From Hell, maybe that'll get closer. But obviously all week I'm thinking "If I had a Kemper and that guitarists cooperation I could cop the tone with the Kemper." Anyway, that's the attraction to the Kemper...


    Alright, my apologies if these ramblings wasted anyone's time - looking forward to your first impressions.

    I figure that when I get a chance I will post up my first impressions and then I'll go into detail of what I think after I've had it for a while.
    What i say will always come from a place of my opinion and I'll never force my opinion on anyone 8)
    I am an admitted Gear hound, but I NEVER give a final review of something unless I've spent a lot of time with it. I see all to often people praising something only to sell it off a few weeks later and then praise the next toy they get lol.
    I bought the Kemper to use with my cover band and to use for home recordings and Ideas. I'm lucky enough that the band I'm in gets gigs all over the country, so having the ability to take my rig along with me anywhere was/is a HUGE selling point for me. Anyone who has ever used a backline rig will tell you how nerve racking it can be because you never know what you will sound like and it has been my experiance that 9 out of 10 time the cabinets that they provide for you are HORRIBLE sounding lol.


    Getting to what you were saying, I've seen a lot of guys using Les Pauls exactly how you described and they usually got their sound from using a Tubescreamer or boost in front of the clean channel.mild crunch on a tube amp. If you have the right setup you can get that to work really well.
    I'm not sure if the Kemper can cop that tone or not but I'm sure that someone here who is familiar with that type of sound can chime in.


    Just for the record, I'm an old 80's metal hack lol. I love high gain, hot rodded sounds and fully plan on creating some hot rodded tones using the Kemper :D
    I have a few tricks up my sleeve that I'm dying to try.
    I also love pristine cleans with chorus,verb and delay as well as all the classic tones and heavier modern tones.
    It's a great time to be a guitar player.. that's for sure!


    ~R~

    Quote from Guitartone

    No tricks needed, I can give you 218 high gain rigs right now that you can use instantly, and they'll blow your mind.


    https://dl.dropbox.com/u/55111…n%20Kemper%20Profiles.zip

    Thanks!
    I just downloaded them and tried to instal them and I'm getting an error. I just used the search feature and it said to reformatt my USB drive. Did that twice and I'm still getting errors.
    Im going to have to stop now and start reading because so far every profile Ive tried sounded blatently direct and not to inspiring.Dont freak people...... I'm sure as of now it's pilot error on my part but Im hearing nothing even remotely close to some of the clips Ive heard hahahhaha! I'll run by some of my issues with some people in the know just to make sure I have eveything loaded correctly :D :thumbup:

    There are 2 rigs on in the group that have no data, remove those two and it should import without any issues. All the Rig should have 4k. It will error out if you have a rig with anything less.
    (Cabs are 1k).
    Same thing happened to me on a few occasions with some bundles. Once the offending files are removed it will complete.

    Edited once, last by ampgear ().

    Quote from Gainfreak

    Thanks!
    I just downloaded them and tried to instal them and I'm getting an error. I just used the search feature and it said to reformatt my USB drive. Did that twice and I'm still getting errors.
    Im going to have to stop now and start reading because so far every profile Ive tried sounded blatently direct and not to inspiring.Dont freak people...... I'm sure as of now it's pilot error on my part but Im hearing nothing even remotely close to some of the clips Ive heard hahahhaha! I'll run by some of my issues with some people in the know just to make sure I have eveything loaded correctly :D :thumbup:

    Oh rats. "Oh rats" is all I could come up with. I'm sitting here trying to find the fitting words to express my emotions lol. Rats! Get that thing fired up lol. It has to sound like you're sitting in front of a tube amp cranked up like it's your last night on earth and to hell with your hearing.


    But also seriously, (although everything in this message is serious) what are you using regarding monitors?

    Quote from ampgear

    There are 2 rigs on in the group that have no data, remove those two and it should import without any issues. All the Rig should have 4k. It will error out if you have a rig with anything less.
    (Cabs are 1k).
    Same thing happened to me on a few occasions with some bundles. Once the offending files are removed it will complete.


    I see the culprits and nuked them lol :D
    I loaded Maurizio's backup and i was working off of that for a while.
    I'm going to pick up tomorrow and read more so that I can learn this thing. Im sure its pilot error at this point 8)
    Thanks!

    Quote from FenderTones

    Oh rats. "Oh rats" is all I could come up with. I'm sitting here trying to find the fitting words to express my emotions lol. Rats! Get that thing fired up lol. It has to sound like you're sitting in front of a tube amp cranked up like it's your last night on earth and to hell with your hearing.


    But also seriously, (although everything in this message is serious) what are you using regarding monitors?


    Right now I really don'treally know my way around the thing yet, so my results are really based off of that lol
    I'm using JBL monitor 4208's. They are pretty old but the sound decent with other modelors. Right now,as Ive said before Im positive its pilot error. I'm going to learn as much as I can about this thing and keep chugging away. 8) :D

    Quote from Gainfreak

    Thanks!
    I just downloaded them and tried to instal them and I'm getting an error. I just used the search feature and it said to reformatt my USB drive. Did that twice and I'm still getting errors.
    Im going to have to stop now and start reading because so far every profile Ive tried sounded blatently direct and not to inspiring.Dont freak people...... I'm sure as of now it's pilot error on my part but Im hearing nothing even remotely close to some of the clips Ive heard hahahhaha! I'll run by some of my issues with some people in the know just to make sure I have eveything loaded correctly :D :thumbup:

    After you formatted your USB stick did you see a Shared folder on the stick?
    Did you copy and paste the files into that "Shared" folder?

    Quote from FenderTones

    OK, it's not the lead off home run I was hoping for lol, but you'll work through it and we'll all benefit. Have fun and I - and everyone looks forward to your experience.

    it most definitely my fault because I did the guy thing and dove in thinking I knew more then I did and did not RTFM (read the f;;n manul :D ). Im up early this morning and I'm light years ahead of where I was yesterday :D I just programmed a sound that sustains for days and I'm starting to see the potential. I usually wait before I say anything but I figured that I show my findings from and idiots/newbs perspective ahahhaha I wont get much time with it today, I have a contractor putting in a fence and then the Girlfriend has some family comming over, but I'll burn the candle tonight. Cant wait to see what this thing can do :thumbup:

    Quote from Guitartone

    After you formatted your USB stick did you see a Shared folder on the stick?
    Did you copy and paste the files into that "Shared" folder?

    yup! formatted fine. The error was because I had to null Profiles.
    with that said, I'm having my first holy crap moment :D I've managed to dial in a tone that is KILLING me :D

    Quote from Guitartone

    Don't kill yourself just yet, you need to have some more 'Holy Crap' moments. :D

    Hell yes, One thing I can say is that this thing is staying. The tone that I just got was worth the asking price and if it comes over the PA just like I heard when I'm playing live, Game over lol. It's great to know that even a complete newb like me who rushed into tweaking without RTFM was able to get a tone that made me happy and I was able to do it not even fully understanding the rig yet.
    Oh and just for the record, Im not as clueless about tweaking sounds as I might sound hahahaha. I just figured that Id document my findings as it happens. So far, so good. I Went from WTF am I doing wrong to Holy S&^t in one day hahaha :D
    8) :D

    Gainfreak, I see you're online now, probably writing stuff that'll lead to less money in my pocket! :) I could have demoed a Kemper today at a dealer near me. I literally fought off the urge and did yard work. I've got two Eleven Racks. Can I sell them for enough for a Kemper lol. Actually, I LOVE Eleven Rack. I play in a cover band and the 11R is a beautiful, fantastic tool.


    OK, let's hear more about the Kemper that's in my future. 8o - that's me waiting lol.

    Quote from Gainfreak

    Hell yes, One thing I can say is that this thing is staying. The tone that I just got was worth the asking price and if it comes over the PA just like I heard when I'm playing live, Game over lol. It's great to know that even a complete newb like me who rushed into tweaking without RTFM was able to get a tone that made me happy and I was able to do it not even fully understanding the rig yet.
    Oh and just for the record, Im not as clueless about tweaking sounds as I might sound hahahaha. I just figured that Id document my findings as it happens. So far, so good. I Went from WTF am I doing wrong to Holy S&^t in one day hahaha :D
    8) :D


    Kick ass Ralph....good to see you here...I switched to the KPA two months ago and have been a happy camper ever since. FTR though I had an Axe Standard for 3 years and loved it to death. I never bonded with the Axe 2 though.....I was already 1 month into my KPA when I tried out the 2.....it was too late... :D


    But I still have much respect for Fractal Audio products.....great stuff..