Posts by MistaGuitah

  • Which Profile Pack & Why Only A Handful of Overdrive Stomps?

    After a LOT of deliberation and hours upon hours of listening to videos, I took the plunge and bought a Kemper rack. I can see that there is a whole lot of free profile packs to download, but I don't want to stock my Kemper up with unnecessary stuff. Which profile packs would you consider absolutely essential for everything from clean to blues to death metal? I gues the Rigbuster pack is the first one to download?


    Also, I have some nice overdrives, but just wondering why the overdrive/distortion selection can't be expanded. You would think something like a Klon Centaur or something would be in the list instead of cheap sounding crap like the DS-1 and Metal Zone. I hate the DS-1 and Metal Zone, so God knows why those were selected. I just don't understand how everything except the stomps can't be better quality or why the stomp list can't be expanded. AxeFX isn't much better about it, but from what I've been told, Kemper works better with your own overdrive pedals than the Axe FX. Anyone know if this is accurate?


    Thanks in advance.

  • Building Rigs

    I'm used to the Axe FX so I'd like some insight into working with profiles vs models. Let's say for instance that I want to create an Eric Johnson lead tone with the Axe FX, I'd just take a plexi and add the cab, delay, etc., and tweak from there. If I wanted to do the same thing with Kemper, would I be able to use a plexi profile and work with it in a similar manner or would it only sound great if I profiled Eric's rig?

  • Advice on Buying a Kemper

    Have you tried a tube power amp with the Kemper? If so, how do you think it compares with built-in power supply? I'm not sure there is any advantage of using a tube power amp with the Kemper, but some people seem to think a tube power amp is more organic.

  • Advice on Buying a Kemper

    Quote from Charvelguy

    I was in a similar situation a couple months ago. I went with a powerhead with remote even though I own a Freyette Power Station. I wanted to have the flexibility of not having to carry a power amp and be able to play thru any available cab if need be.
    In just want to add I bought mine as a demo from Sweetwater. My demo was like new. Still had the plastic on the displays, arrived in factory boxes. Demos from Sweetwater are reduced in price by 10%. They're having a demo sale at this moment. Might be worth looking into to save a few bucks in case one pops up. Put it in a wishlist and they usually will notify you if one comes available if they don't have one in stock already. Just thought I'd mention it as an option.

    Yep, I was looking at those too, but they ran out of demo units at the moment. I have the store credit at Sweetwater, I just have to wait around for the right deal to come along.

    That's one thing I really liked about the powered head - the amp-like feel. I don't think I'll be able to afford the powered head because I'll need the remote, so I hope that it's equally as good through a Fryette Power Station.

    Quote from Finally

    I never use it to profile amps. I had a play with that initially, then realised that the commercial profiles were way better than I could achieve so why bother.


    I don't agree that the Fractal has more bottom end. You can EQ as much of that as you want into either. In the context of a mix you often get better results with less low end than when you're just playing alone.


    If you're going to upgrade to even an entry level dedicated audio interface it will likely have S/PDIF, which lets you record directly in digital from the Kemper, which is what many do.

    What I like about the Axe FX is that you start with the amp and then tweak and add effects from there. Because I've only played the Kemper a few times, it's still kind of hard to wrap my head around the concept of using profiles rather than having a virtual amp to start with. This video makes only a little sense at the moment because I don't have a unit with me to work with. Do you know exactly what he's talking about?


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EygtX53sVb8&t=499s

  • Advice on Buying a Kemper

    I just listened to several of the stock patches again and am really liking what I hear. The Kemper seems to have a little more something in the midrange that the Axe FX doesn't have. Some of the reviews I've read, people have complained about the Kemper midrange, but I think it sounds great. I might just go ahead and pick up a powered rack with remote. Thanks for the input everyone.

  • Advice on Buying a Kemper

    What about the lack of a software interface? Wouldn't that be something very useful? I wonder why they didn't make anything other than a preset manager. How much hassle do you think it would save if they provided software?

  • Advice on Buying a Kemper

    I've kept up with the Line6 stuff since the beginning, owned a few, buy even after the Helix came out, I still didn't like it. To me, the Axe FX and Kemper are the best and there is no competition even close. Even the Positive Grid Bias and Amplifire are still on the level of the Helix.


    I had an Axe FX II XL+, but find it quite cumbersome to dial in and mess around with all the I/O and settings. Also, there are a lot of phenomenal clean sounds with the stock presets, but only a few distortion sounds in the factory presets that I really liked on the Axe FX. It was necessary to buy an amp pack to get a more usable set of presets to work with. When I used the Kemper, the amp profiles were immediately satisfying, and it's great that I could plug it right into a guitar cab and get a nice tone. However, when tweaking the EQ, gain, and a few other things, something seems to go off in the process as if there's only so much tolerance for changes with each profile.


    That's not too much of a concern because I like to find a good sound and not have to work at it too much. As far as effects, well like I said, I use them, but nothing fancy. I like that the Kemper has a more affordable foot controller that's not huge like the Axe FX controller. However, since I'm considering the Axe FX III, it apparently has a more portable foot controller.


    Anyway, I'd rather not struggle with things. For example, I had a heck of a time getting a satisfying Dimebag tone from the AxeFX, and the patches I found were only OK except for maybe one, but that had to be purchased. After looking around at various patches for Fractal and Kemper, it seems like Kemper is a little easier to get different rigs like Pantera, Metallica, Eric Johnson, etc... I know that can all be done fine with the AxeFX to a high degree of detail, but I just want to play.


    I'm really leaning towards the Kemper. My only concern was that people keep telling me that it's mostly good for profiling your own rig to carry around instead of your amps. It seems like it offers more than that, but I just don't have one that I can borrow anymore, so I'm going to have to go on your advice.


    By the way, what's the general consensus regarding the powered version v. non-powered? It seems like a steep price tag when I can just buy a Fryette Powerstation or something. However, having said that, the Kemper I was borrowing had the power supply and it was actually pretty darned good through my guitar cab. Anyway, is the powered version worth the investment or do you prefer a tube power amp?

  • Advice on Buying a Kemper

    Quote from Netheravon

    Personally I don’t think you can wrong with either. I don’t notice any lack of low end on the kemper. What were you monitoring thru when you noticed this?


    If you were heavily into effects, I’d recommend the Ax. If not, then I can’t see any reason not to go for the kemper.

    Thanks for responding. I tried a few different things. For practice, I like to use some good quality computer speakers through the headphone jack. It's just convenient sometimes. The unit I used was the powered rack, so of course the first thing I tried was directly into a cab - which sounded great. I used the AxeFX with a power amp through the same cab and the low end is bigger overall in most profiles on the AxeFX. When I try to get the bass up to par on the Kemper, something doesn't quite sound right, so I'm assuming that the profile needs to be done with a bit more low end or something?


    Lastly, I have an interface which I've hooked up to. I'd say the Kemper has a thicker midrange (which I like), but sometimes seems like it lacks a little meat in the low end. I'm not saying it's a big issue, but it's noticeable.


    I'm not too much into effects, but I usually use some reverb or delay for overdriven tones, sometimes a phaser or flanger for lead tones, and some reverb and chorus for cleans, but nothing too ambient or crazy. I have all the big Strymon boxes, so I'm covered for effects anyway. Though I do think the Axe FX has outstanding effects. I just haven't messed with effects enough on the Kemper to know enough to decide. However, as far as I can tell, the FX are good quality and effective enough for what I'd need.

  • Advice on Buying a Kemper

    I've been doing a lot of reading, watching videos, and have played a Kemper a few times. I really like what I'm hearing, but have noticed a couple of things and am wondering if the Kemper is right for me. I only have one Friedman BE-100 amp, so I don't have more than one amp that I need to profile. I hardly ever play gigs or do any serious kind of recording. I like having amps and effects in one good quality unit, so I've narrowed it down to the Axe FX and Kemper. However, I've noticed that the Kemper seems to have less low end than the AxeFX. Also, I've noticed that the Kemper sounds great as long as I don't deviate too far from whatever settings were originally set when profiled. I don't use heavy effects, so I'm not too worried about that aspect, but I do like a good quality FX on some patches.


    I've used the AxeFX and really liked it too. However, for the way I use it, the AX8 doesn't meet my needs as well as the Axe FX II XL+, so having to lug around a rack unit is the only issue with that. I love the fact that I can plug directly into the USB of my computer and record wit Audacity. The quality is actually decent, so that's a big plus. I know you can't do that with the Kemper, but I wouldn't call it a deal-breaker. On the other hand, the Axe FX has a LOT of tweaks and I don't always like to mess with so much of that.


    I know this is the Kemper forum and there's going to be a bias towards the Kemper, but I've saved up a long time to buy one of these units and want to make sure it's a good fit for me. Therefore, I'd appreciate some good practical advice so I can make the right purchase decision. Please let me know what you think, and thanks in advance.