Hi all
Previously I had been running a rather large pedal board set-up, Gigrig G2, Strymons etc. And, whilst it sounded great, there was always problems due to the high amount of cabling, and power supply issues etc. You know the kind of thing....... When all you want to do is play, yet you spend most of the afternoon crouched down over the pedalboard trying to catch the latest gremlin. Anyhow, I decided that I wanted to simplify things a bit, and just get some stress-free playing in. I looked at the TC G-System, but read so many bad reports of poor support, and technical issues that had to be worked around. So then I got wind of the Line 6 Helix, and got quite excited. It seemed to tick most of the boxes, and there seemed to be quite a positive buzz surrounding it's impending release. So I sold loads of stuff to put sufficient funds in the bank in preparation. Then I waited, and waited and waited some more. There just never seemed to be a release date in sight and I was getting twitchy.
Enter the Kemper. Although I'd obviously heard/read about the Kemper before, I'd never really "got it". The whole concept seemed a bit hocus-pocus, and I couldn't possibly see how it could fulfil it's ambition. Well, with the money burning a hole in my pocket I started researching the Kemper a bit more thoroughly. And, try as I might, it was hard going trying to discover anything negative about it. I checked multiple online reviews, several youtube videos, and many forums, including this one. And I started to get very excited about the toaster. Although I must confess that I still had a yearning for the Helix. So I hatched a plan. I would buy a Kemper, and would probably quite like it, but not be blown away. I would then sell it when the Helix got released, and probably not lose a fat lot of money in the process. Only my plan hit a bit of a snag. The Kemper is absolutely incredible!! No way, on this earth, am I going to sell it.
The day it arrived from Anderton's is a day I'll not forget in a hurry. I hooked it up and started to cycle through some of the on-board rigs. Just WOW!! My jaw hit the floor. All of the tone and dynamics of a tube, without having to nuke the neighbours with a sound-bomb. I just couldn't believe how utterly dynamic the profiled amps were. As part of the Kemper package, I also had a TAF bundle included, so I had some great quality "pro" rigs in there too. I can honestly say that I have never, ever played my guitar so much since the KPA arrived. When I'm at work, I'm literally counting down the hours so that I can get home for a blast on the beast. And the lust for the Helix? That's well and truly gone now, destroyed by the sheer might of the toaster. One happy bunny