Posts by Dynochrome

I hear some talk now and then about people wanting a "Kemper 2" and I have always been a naysayer about that. I love the way Kemper has kept the unit valid and upgraded.

I know that some people get bored and have to have the latest greatest so they can be first to tell you how great their new one is that you don't have. As I always say there's a limit to how exact you can replicate a tube amp and Kemper has perfected it IMO. When a unit gets to the point it can replicate an amp so well you cannot discern it from the "real thing" it's all it needs to be.

I wrote this because I was watching a new rig rundown with this new artist and they were all blown away by this reverb pedal (that of course you can't get) and I was listening to it thinking I can make the same sounds using the crystal delays or one of the reverbs that pitch in the Kemper.

We already all have his wondrous unobtainable pedal right in our Kemper keeping up with all this "new" stuff.

Quote from Ruefus

Jack Pearson (The Allman Brothers Band, Gregg Allman, Vince Gill, Jimmy Buffett, Tommy Emmanuel, Joe Bonamassa, Charlie Daniels, Keb Mo', Delbert McClinton, Earl Scruggs......and the list goes on and on and on.....)

Here's a video of him playing a $90 Squire Bullet:

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So folks don't think this might not be a 'real' Squire....here's the story as Jack told it. From Guitar Player Magazine February 2015:

"I play a $90 Fender Squire Bullet Stratocaster. A friend of mine wanted a guitar for his daughter, so I went to the store and played all the Strats. The Squire Bullet was the most acoustically resonant. I never plugged it in. If it vibrates and holds the note acoustically, that is it. The salesman thought I was nuts. The next day my friend said, 'She wants a Tele.' I said 'Good, I'm keeping this.' I replaced the volume pot, had the frets dressed, filed the nut and took it out on a gig. The second gig was the Gregg Allman Tribute at the Fox Theater. It's a great guitar. I have gone back several times looking for another one, but it was just that one out of the batch. It even has the 'undesirable' ceramic magnet pickups. The polepieces are weird heights but they sound great. I wire the second tone control to the bridge pickup, but most of the time it is full up."

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I went to a jam once where this guy that didn't really play much had this old squire (70's?) he wanted to sell. I grabbed it and played it, it was more solid than most American Strats are now and sounded awesome. I wanted it but after I played it and liked it so much, he decided not to sell it. I screwed up, I should have played it like crap and said "meh" but I'll take it off your hands. I always think about that Squire that got away, it was a killer piece!

I think you always look better playing "stock" gear and being great than having tons of "custom" stuff and being mediocre.

I used to be a bit of a cork sniffer until I saw a show with one band using "junk" that was looking good, really connecting with the audience and bringing the house down. Playing a $100.00 guitar packing the dance floor slaying the other band that looked like they stepped off a bar stool with their cammo hunter hats and pot bellies, mouths open staring at their feet holding ten top PRS guitars and $4,000.00 amps heads. The bass player sat on a stool.

Quote from V8guitar

Personally I went down the whole Van Damme cables and George L's....and I felt it was a waste of money. Why? I didn't do a back to back test so I can't claim if they sounded better or not, but if they did it was a very small difference e.g. putting on new strings probably has a bigger impact.

I've just seen so many corksniffing people worry about the tiniest detail about their guitar, the finish thickness, cable type, IEC cable type, tube brand, potentiometer brand etc. etc., then go on stage looking horrible staring at their feet all night. They would have been way better off paying less attention to all of that and more to their stage presence which is going to be way more noticeable to the people paying them.

Quote from BayouTexan

Well, I think we learned what we needed to know about wireless. Do they suck tone? Yes (but live sound is never 100% of what you want. 85% is probably good enough). Do they cause latency? Yes (but you sort of learn to deal with that and adjust). Would you use them in a studio? No way! Would you use one live? Yes ( but always have cables for backup and not dance around as much).

Not TRYING to be opposite but..

I really can't hear the difference between My Line 6 G10 and an expensive cable. Recorded in a mix I don't think Eric Johnson could.

The latency isn't any worse than standing 3' from the amp and I'm usually farther than that.

Sometimes I'll have my amp in the live room and run my G10 and end up recording with it. It doesn't sound any different than using a Mogami gold cable. Not saying the G10 is the best wireless ever and I'm sure it's not, but It sounds like a cable to my ears.

Crap I just realized this was a thread about wirelesses. Sorry. I usually respond to the notifications and don't pay much attention to the start.

At least we're having some conversation better than dead air.

Quote from BayouTexan

Oh. Okay. He meant the old traditional SSS Strat

Yes, The strats I'm referring to don't have humbuckers.

Quote from BayouTexan

But what about Gilmour's sound?

He was using SSL-1 pickups not "strat" pickups I recall. Those have a lot of highs rolled off and are fairly hot. Hendrix never had anything like it. I used them for a bit in my strat but they were too dull and didn't sound like a "strat" anymore. (I'm not using a strat to get smooth and warm, I got gibsons that do that.)

Quote from BayouTexan

P90's? Are they only fat in the neck position?

In my old JR you can roll them off with the amp/definition to get pretty smooth. I had one with a Alnico5 and changed to a Alnico2 (Antiquity) and there was a big difference that took me a while to get used to. The A5 was crisp and sharp like a strat but bigger and was a little "crashy" on the top but great. The A2 still had that piano like string sound but rolled off just right. It will do Early ACDC exactly and simple as it seems is a difficult tone to replicate accurately, Its real raw and clear. I recorded over some ACDC tracks that had the guitar removed and it's about perfect. I used MB's L68 Marshall liquid profile that's in the rig packs and it was killer. P90's and strat pickups can be made close to the same tone wise but by themselves are different. My A5 P90 was close to a strat pickup and The SSL-1 was closer to the P90 with A2. I was never one of those magnet swapping guys but A5 to an A2 in a P90 makes a easily audible difference

Quote from lbieber

I've heard or read directly from Hendrix that he was aiming for a fat, smooth, loud sound without upleasant highs. He was sensitive to the high end and was specifcally aiming for this.

Wonder why he played a strat then. It's about the hardest guitar to make fat, smooth and non strident on the bridge pickup.

Quote from theplayer

If I may say...alle these guys were always knowing what they were doing. And what about this: Do you know any well known guitar player who is still chained to a cable on stage...? They are all wireless, so it can't be that bad.

OK, cabled Hendrix was God in those days but I wonder what he would prefer now...

Actually there still are quite a few big name players that play some pretty large venues that refuse to use a wireless.

Quote from Ruefus

Everyone, do what you like.....but $150 for 43 feet of cable? That's $3.50 per foot? Good Lord.

And I'll betcha Van Halen, Jimmi Hendrix, Clapton, Beck etc. etc etc. did their most famous work without a cable that costs $3.50 a foot. It's cork sniffery.

Quote from JEverly

They are PRS cables made by Van Damme Cables. They are a low capacitance cable. I bought an 18' and a 25'. They are on sale through the end of the year. I can honestly hear and feel a difference.

If I could, I'd bet you money in a blind test you couldn't tell the difference between your cables and my $175.00 G10 wireless system.

If I lost, you should donate your ears to science.

Quote from MontroseStudios

I am not using the Kemper because it is so quiet, not a very powerful amp

600 WATTS (160 continuous) is "quiet"? I'm pretty sure I can fracture glass with mine.

Quote from MontroseStudios

I don't even know where to start how to use it.

Sorry to be cliche' but the manual is the place to start. Not that tough of a read and it will be well worth your time. Things that don't connect there, ask here and you'll more than likely get a solution. Chances are the artist you're trying to emulate was using a guitar amp and guitar speakers. Don't make it too complicated, the Kemper can cover pretty much anything, it's all in the profile.

Quote from Justin1971

It sometimes amazes me that people will spend a grand or more for the KPA and then ask about "cheap as chips" equipment - really?

Maybe they spent almost every dime they saved all summer to buy a Kemper and didn't have a lot leftover. Not everyone is made of money.

Quote from V8guitar

I suspect ( but I don't know) for indoors and what the OP needs it for, its unlikely to be an issue

It doesn't matter where or what scenario, you will notice excessive latency. I'm pretty sure I can start to detect about 5ms +.

Quote from Morph

Without starting a new thread, does anyone have a recommendation for cheap wireless? My xVive are dying and I need something for use in the house. They won’t be gigging

Make sure you check out the latency, that's where some corners can get cut that you won't want. Even with a perfect connection without droputs that cloud will still be hovering.

Quote from Wreckington

Looking forward to any new packs that are coming. My Kemper has essentially become just a player for "MB - Mars Reissue 20 1" from the liquid rig pack. With my speakers and guitars that is so perfect. Just the right saturation, cleans up the way I like. Probably my favorite profile of all time.

It's great. All three of the Marshalls in the sample pack are. Personally, I do not care for profiles with pedals baked in, I always think it sounds better /e realistic/ has better feel using a pedal in the stomps section IF I want to add a pedal.

Quote from paults

I recommend Pale Blue AA for in ears and guitar wireless. Only do they have plenty of power, and last a long time, but it only takes one hour to fully charge them with the included USB cable.

Thanks, I never knew these existed! Wow!

Quote from BayouTexan

I solved this problem by going wired. Until you happen to step on the cable a particular way on a particular day and it no longer works.

My bass player at one time wore heeled boots. If he happened to step on my cord at the same time I moved it would shear it off instantly. (Usually in the middle of a solo) I always had to have a spare cord coiled right there. Although I don't care for the physical design of the hardware, I love the plug in wireless. Instead of a body pack you have plug in cable that doesn't have a cable.

Quote from JEverly

I don't have any experience with the exact unit but I have been using wireless units for decades. I will not buy anything that isn't made by Sennheiser or Shure. Both of these brands have held up for me very well over many uses. I also tend to not buy the cheapest ones they make. IMHO, you really do get what you pay for with a wireless unit. I currently own units of both brands I mentioned. I use the digital as well as analog units and have zero issues. If I were buying a new unit today, I would buy the updated Shure GLX-D+ unit. I am still using the OG version and it just works. The new one is a dual band so you get distance and performance. I really don't experience latency with the ones I have used.

You must have more rigid requirements than tons of professional artists. I can't tell you how many gold and platinum selling artists I've seen using the Line 6 G50. LOTS of them. Many have been using it for quite a few years so I doubt it is junk.

The big thing for me that I researched besides ease of use, reliability and run time was latency. XSW-D has (I recall) 3.9ms and the G10 has under 2.9. so they are like standing another 3-4 ft from your amp. Mine has about 8hr play time and when inactive for a bit, will sit on standby for 200 hrs. I just charge mine during break if needed.

I won't leave it in the guitar on breaks because I'm always worried it will get snapped off. Especially on a top jack like a 335.

That's my biggest gripe about it is that it sticks out and not flexible. It got in the way of the whammy with my strat so I bought this short male-female extension to hang it from. I was going to get a right angle one for my 335 but ended up just being careful. I wish it had a flexible jack so you could keep it low profile for every input jack type. Then it would be way better. If I ever replace it, I'll do so with something that has that ability that hopefully has easily removable replaceable batteries.