I've been told 
I'll certainly do so 
Posts by Bilbosmeggins
-
-
Yes, awesome, Sammy!
Ain't that the truth
On the bright side, it's made me dig deeper into the Kemper, and I've just had the last hour, or so, with the best sounding rig I've ever created. Tonal bliss, jamming along to some youtube backing tracks. One of Top Jimi's '74 Superlead profiles, with the Green Scream, and Phaser Vibe in the pre-amp section. And a good chunk of delay, with some reverb sprinkled on top. God it sounds good. Even with my sh!t playing. Some kind of sonic heaven
I solemnly promise to not look elsewhere for my goodly sounds. What's the point? It don't get no better
-
The Helix arrived earlier today, and I've been having a play with it for the last hour or so. Had to stop in the end as it was hurting my ears and giving me a headache (which I've still got). What do I like about it? Very, very little at the moment. The build quality is very robust. The main screen, showing the current signal chain is quite nice, and the scribble-strips are great. I thought a couple of the chorus's were nicer than the Kemper. But, as for the rest of it................................................ I hate it!!
It sounds harsh and brittle, and there is a constant hiss/buzz going on irrespective of gain level (there is probably a global noise gate somewhere, but I've yet to find it). I've been playing it through headphones, and I feel so fatigued now. I'm sure I could play around and get it eq'd to sound better, but it's soul-destroyingly bad "out of the box". I'm a bit loathe to start editing the parameters in case I have to send it back, and that looks incredibly likely at the moment. I've been through all of the presets, and had a play around with some of the effects. It's no Kemper, that's for sure
-
Display More
My new Gibson Les Paul 58 Mark Knopfler came to me last saturday! A wonderful piece of gear!
The most important: Here's how it sounds:
Used a JTM45-Profile from the Amp Factory (AFUM-JTM45 C1 BB++).
Wow!! Stunning guitar, and wonderful tone. The great playing helps too. Listened to the whole thing, then googled the lyrics, started it again and had a sing-along, lol. I'm incredibly jealous
-
-
Thanks Ingolf. You are very much one of the selfless people I alluded to in my opening post. It's folk like you that make this community so much better than all the others. I may have to keep my Kemper just to still be a part of it
-
Thanks both. Regarding location, I'm in the UK so the USA is deffo out of the question. To be perfectly honest, if my little toaster blew up in a cloud of smoke while I'm typing this (please don't, toaster) I wouldn't feel cheated. It has provided me with the best musical experiences I've ever had over this last year or so. Every guitarist I know who has heard it has been wowed (not by my playing
). I would wholeheartedly recommend one to anyone. And, in the grand scheme of things, my KPA problems are hardly life-threatening. The good has definitely overshadowed the bad. But, this is a good opportunity to scratch the Helix itch. As I said before, I don't think it will quite match up, but I'm looking forward to a little hands-on -
I'm wondering, did you order over the internet or buy it at a physical store?
I purchased it online from Anderton's. My 12 months warranty are long up. I should have returned it before but you know how these things are. First time it happens, you just shrug it off thinking that, at the the end of the day, the Kemper is just a computer. And computers crash. By the time it's happened on a few more occasions you are a year down the line and it's too late.
It is a surprising problem if you have to do a reset every now and then. Haven't had that problem, and I can imagine how frustrating it must be.
Are you sure it's not "all in your head"? Not to downplay your problem, but I used to have this problem with a lot of modellers I used - I'd tweak and settle on a tone and the next time I played it I was like 'Ugh'. Haven't had that problem with the Kemper, everything seems to work beautifully every time I put it on.
As others suggested, contact support. I'm pretty sure if you can get it vetted by the good folks at Kemper, even if you sell, it won't be with a huge hit "because it has a problem".
I know what you are saying, but it's absolutely not in my head. I'm not talking about the tone sounding not quite as good as it did, but sounding terrible to the point of being unusable. And it's a global thing. One profile turns to crap overnight, and so do the other 800 or so. A factory reset and all is dandy again. And the wah thing......... It's not like the wah sounds are not to my taste, but they are unusable. Wah pedals come in all flavours, with many tonal varieties, I realise that, but there isn't a single user on here that would use the sounds I'm getting. They are just....... well, broken.
-
Display More
Good call, Gary.
Bilbo, I don't know what to say, mate. The Helix, whilst apparently-great, just won't have the organic, real-tube-circuit-mojo feel and sound of your Kemper... when it's having a good day. It just won't, mate, no matter how hard you try to convince yourself.
I s'pose this is a heads-up warning that no amount of desperation on your part to regain a fluid, issue-free playing experience is gonna be able to mask the reality of what you'll hear. I'm betting that initially you'll be satisfied, but that in time the sameness / inorganic / static / slightly-lifeless / predictable nature of the models (I don't know how else to say it) will become ever-more apparent to your ears.
Be warned, brother; it ain't no Kemper! Very good for a modeller, yeah, going by the clips I've heard, but no Kemper. All things considered, I do think it'd be in your best interests to contact support. I mean, put yourself in their shoes - imagine how passionately they'd hate for you to walk away thinking the product's a dud in any way.
Thanks MM. I know that there is plenty of truth in what you are saying. It may just be that I keep the Kemper as I'm already getting depressed at the thought of a parting. Regarding the Helix, I really don't expect it to be anything like as good as the Kemper tone-wise. I just want a solid platform that I can depend on. I'll also be happy to have a little less spaghetti wire trailing across the bedroom floor. I will contact support at some point, probably when time isn't quite such a luxury -
Wasn't suggesting you were trying to dupe anyone :). It's just that, as you're going to be contacting them anyway if you're going to sell, you may as well do so now with the very real possibility of them making you a happy guy with no money being spent
Sorry Gary, I know you wasn't implying anything untoward I was just nipping anything in the bud before the pitchfork brigade jumped onto my case
-
If you contact support, you may find there is something they can help you with that does not involve sending it away. If you are happy with it on a good day and a reset takes it back to that 'good day' place then it's entirely possible they can help you.
Even if you do decide to part company with it, you'll still have to contact support and get their help prior to selling it on in fairness to the next guy
I probably will contact support at some point. I'll see what frame of mind I'm in after Tuesday's arrival. I definitely won't be trying to dupe anyone if I do decide to sell. That's not my style. Check my eBay feedback under the same name. -
Agreed... plus I'm a little surprised you don't like any of the wahs. There's several really fine ones, never had a complaint on those - though certainly not all are gems, just like anything. That's partly personal taste of course. I personally wasn't a fan of the Mission EP-1, though some are. I much prefer the Dunlop. I wonder if that could be related to your displeasure over the wahs? Just a thought.
It's not that I don't like any of the wahs. I just cannot get any of the wahs to work correctly. -
I'll be amazed if it sounds as good. I'm just craving a bit of stability and simplicity. It'll also be nice to trail a few less cables
-
Got this from BILLIAM666 on another post and it might be relevant to your problem if yours is powered:
Try turning your power boost knob and see if the boost activates. Even though my power boost is on and is at the correct setting when I turn on the amp I have to to give it a twist to activate the boost. Not sure why, if anyone know why let me know.
Mine's an unpowered unit, but thanks for the heads-up -
Have you tried the mimiq with the kemper on headphones? How dows it work? I am interested in that pedal
Yes I have. I've got to be honest and say that I'm not as blown away as I thought I'd be. But then people do say that it really comes alive with a twin-amp setup. If it impresses me on Tuesday then it'll be a keeper. If not, then it's off to eBay.
-
Well, the Kemper going up the shitters caught me at a low ebb, so I just had a shop around. Managed to get a good deal on a Helix so I've ordered one, so shall have a good A/B session when it arrives on Tuesday. Feel like Judas 'cos I love my toaster. On the bright side - I'll be able to give my new Mimiq Doubler pedal a proper twin-amp session
-
I'll do that later. The unit is on it's arse again, so I shall be performing yet another factory reset this evening some time.
-
Because I don't fancy shipping it to Germany only for it to behave itself on the day, and be declared fit.
-
After much deliberation, and even more regret, I think it's time to wave goodbye to my Kemper. I don't know if mine's duff, or I'm just unlucky, but I've had enough of fighting with it. It sounds truly epic for a couple of months or so, and then I have a session and power it down. Upon my return, I discover that it has inexplicably turned to crap overnight, and sounds like a cheap, Zoom multi-fx pedal. My Roland Micro Cube then puts it to shame. Factory reset time, and then it sounds epic again. Thing is, it makes me very reluctant to spend any time setting up performances etc, knowing that I'll be starting off with a fresh palette again 3 months down the line.
And to add to the above, I still cannot get a half decent wah out of it. I've imported suggested rigs that incorporate a wah setting, and I've copied other people's settings. All to no avail. All the wah's sound pathetically weedy, yet other people report getting great wah sounds, and I don't doubt them for a second. It just doesn't seem to happen on my KPA. I've tried it with two separate Mission EP-1's, both of which calibrate perfectly, and cannot get anything near usable. Something's amiss, and I just don't know what.
I should also mention that I'm a bedroom player, so the Kemper only gets light use. I don't exactly send it to hell and back. Nor am I what you might call a "deep editor", so I neither expect, nor deserve a tonal meltdown every three months. I'm currently considering a Helix as a replacement. I shall miss the great, selfless folk on this forum, but the end is nigh........
-
What he said
I'd like to know too, preferably with the the KPA headphone out as my preferred way of listening.
