Today there is no powered Kemper Kab and given the state of manufacturing supply due to the pandemic (read...AWFUL), I don't see it anytime soon.
I'm after a 1x12 powered cab that I can stick a Kemper Kone into and use with my unpowered Kemper Head so I can get the imprints and more of that actual amp thing going on. Has anyone had any success in tracking down something they felt worked well for this application? I did spy the Mission and Matrix stuff. The Mission is spendy for sure and says it has a tweeter and speaker so not sure if I can replace a Kone and have it work. Matrix has a 300W powered 1x12 and it seems like I could drop the Kone in there but they are out of stock and I'm sure there won't be anything in stock for some time.
I was disappointed with the kpa at first too, because I was used to play through Marshalls. I thought that the kpa was never capable to achieve such a sound in a live set up. I kept working with it. And boy was I wrong. It is all about finding the right profiles in combination with the right guitar. The kpa is very sensitive re pickups of the guitar. It really brings out the differences between different guitars. In the studio and on stage I love the kpa. On stage it provides a reliable consistent sound gig after gig. With professionally recorded profiles that thing sounds like the amp sounds we all admire. I play classic rock.
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Haha! This thread came up outta nowhere. I am keeping the Kemper, I was frustrated more by the way it played than the sound, and I guess and I wasn't really communicating that. I feel like I have to pick different, except on overdriven leads, it's weird...like I am playing thru a compressor at all times. Yes, it sounds great...no doubt about it, but if I am stressed while playing it, it does me no good. If I'm not loose and enjoying playing...why do it? Also, I am so sick of tech. From Grooveboxes, Logic, Garageband, Pro Tools, various synths I have owned, I am just sick of spending my life on tech. When I got the Kemper, I expected a mass of great presets that I could start using immediately. I actually thought Kemper and Fractal were boutique, high end modelers with profiling ability. Kemper is more like a sampler and I hate samplers. Always have. I'll let the tweakers tweak the sound and I'll write great music with what they give me. Kinda like a head coach and general manager relationship. Tech has been more of a barrier to me than a mode of transportation. When Pete Townsend and all the others walked into Jim Marshall's shop, did they get hit with a 90 page manual? No, it was a one sentence manual...Turn every knob all the way up!
I'm sure the Kemper is easy to program, but I simply do not want to do it, and I am not going to. Were it not for Rig Manager in my Mac, I would have sent it back, cause that's what I use to switch patches/performances and such...so I'm really using it as a module more or less. Yes, it sounds great...fantastic, and the construction and hardware are classic German excellence...as they do everything right without cutting corners. I read somewhere Fractal got called out for using cheap parts. Not Kemper. My goal is to build a small toaster rig, like a Victory 22 with a 1x12, and use it for cleans w/analog chorus and cranked Marshall type sounds, then A/B over to Kemper for high gain, delayed leads. I just can't get Kemper to respond the way I want it to respond, and I have to have that or i get this weird dagger straight thtu my heart that doesn't allow me to play the way I want to play...except on leads. It's amazing to play lead thru...like nothing else. Lol...anyway, sorry for the rant, that's just where I am with Kemper right now.
Interesting! Still havent fused up the amp...don't know when I will, but I am gonna try Kemper through the back of a Red Stripe Bandit 1x12. If I like it, I may pop a Kone in there!!
Not saying there is a comparison at all. I love the Kemper...took me awhile, but I love it. When it comes to the MP1 and my tube power amp, tubes matter. I made that rig sound crappy real quick when I had the wrong 12 ax7s in there. But with the right blend of NOS stuff from 80s and 60s mixed...Mil Spec China, 60s Japanese and late 70s Bugle Boy, the ADA MP-1 was amazing and had a warmth I have yet to hear from the Kemper. I wont buy another MP-1, at least I don't think I will, but I have the rig handy and the power tubes (JJ-Euro),the fuses are all new and the stereo 4x12 is a beast, SO, I have something maybe a Boss GTK Core would match up well with. Then again, maybe I'll plug the Kemper in and never unplug it again!
Right on! Yes I love the sound of the studio stuff. I may abandon the 4x12 idea with Kemper and just try it with something else. My old ADA MP-1 was just fantastic thru that rig...hoping I get some similar magic through it with the Kemper.
Burkhard and I do! However, I just figured out why I hated the Top Jimi VH profiles thru my real tube power amp and real 4x12 cab. The other night I left their cab in place and sampled it through my pa. Bam all the weird low end woofy frequencies were gone and it sounded like the samples everyone raved about. nowhere near as good as a real amp and cab, but good enough for low volume practicing.
This led me to e-mail Jimi and he said 'You need to use the 'Merged' profiles in his pack because they were the closest to the Direct which most agree are the best for those who use a real cab.
So how did you fair through the 4x12 with the TJ merged profiles? I have a 4x12 tube halfstack I've retubed and getting ready to replace fuses. Wondering how it sounds thru that.
Still have yet to dial in a good lush (Rush) kind of chorus with high gain, any tips?
I agree. There's a vid where the Boss CORE just nails the CE-2, but then again, that's their stuff. The potential exists. The amps are nowhere near the Kemper tho...it's still the best there is and I love the phaser and flanger on Kemper. If Kemper could just get with BOSS and get that program...I'd pay a few bucks to load a CE-2 into my Kemper.
I got a friend with one laying around...wondering how Kemper and the Transtube Technology in the USA Peavey Bandit would work with the Kemper. The speaker is the Peavey Sheffield 1×12. I know this amp is a fan favorite by itself, but wonder if Kemper and a new speaker would light it up!
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recently got a kone and im very happy with it. So much control over the tone! So happy in future I'm wondering if I can drive my tube amps through the kemper effects loop to take advantage of the output section for dialing in tones while recording. Anyone know of any reason that this might damage the kemper? (Powerhead)
Thanks,
James
I could see it being a nightmare. I have wondered what KONE would sound like with a tube power amp, but I also think you need to make sure you have high quality tubes. I have 1967 Japanese Hitachi 12ax7s and Holland Bugle Boy "Mullard Flash" 12ax7s and I just bought 8 JJ-el84s all for the power amp. I still haven't performed the Kemper - Tube Amp test yet. I need to order fuses for the power amp and I've been lazy about it like I am everything else...lol. I know my ADA MP-1 blew up when I went from their old B200S to a stereo tube power amp. Very excited to try it through my old 90s Blue Voodoo 4z12 with 30W Eminence. My initial suspicion is that KONE and tubes may not like each other. I know right now I'm not happy with the headphone/studio monitor sound of the Kemper. I like it, but it's not there yet, just like I felt with my ADA through solid state. It sounds good, but it doesn't PLAY good. I'd also try your tube sound into high quality "other" speakers, but remember to use really good tubes, because crappy tubes can REALLY bring the suck into the signal chain.
So reading page 35 of the manual and the prompts on the top of the Stage I'm still not seeing how save to a particular location in the 3 options (save as ect)
Where I'm getting confused is I was on bank one on the Stage and when I save it it automatically put it in the next back (button 2) I'm sure I'm missing something simple
but because i don't see it in the manual or in the videos I was hoping someone would chime in here.
I have a Stage Profiler and I just use my Macbook and Rig Manager to do all the changes on the fly. I have no idea how to do anything on the actual unit except turn it on and off. I don't have time to figure out E=MC2.
I don't understand why it is difficult to find the chapter named "Performance Mode"!?
You could either check Table of Content or simply search for "Performance Mode" in that PDF. That's faster than raising the question here in the Forum.
Youre a mod and an expert. I can testify the Kemper is a real headache for people ready to plug and play. Its not like an organized processor like Roland, Boss, Line 6, ect, but more like a sampler with an endless maze of bells and whistles.
I was thinking of getting an analog chorus pedal to loop into the Stage. The one I want is mono, but if I loop it and run a stereo rig, can I send the pedal to one side of the stereo rig with the other being dry or with another chosen effect, say, Phase or Flange, on the other side of the stereo rig? Also, I see the blocks where I can move effects around. Can I move whatever i have in the loop around like a block, too? Thanks.
