Did you miss your old gear after the Kemper honeymoon?

    Hey everyone,


    I'm still debating switching to the Kemper as my main rig.


    There is however only one thing that holds me back.


    Over the last few years I have found myself going between pedals and multi FX for my delays, reverbs etc. I love the idea of multi FX and having everything MIDI controlled (using a TC Nova System in the loop of a Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister 36 with an always on compressor up front and a Behringer FCB1010 as a stage controller) so that I can have one press patch changes. I end up reverting back to my old pedals after a while because I end up missing some of the character of them, but then get sick of doing the tap dance during songs and going multi FX again in a viscous cycle!


    I'm worried that after the honeymoon period with the Kemper is over (when I finally manage to save enough up to actually buy one!) I'll get the same feeling and then try and faff around putting the pedals in the Kempers loop, which destroys the point of it for me. I basically want an all-in-one solution, and the Kemper seems the way to go.


    Any of you guys find this is the case or are the Kempers FX adequate to keep the GAS at bay?

    I only have my Kemper for about 3 weeks now so it is still honeymoon BUT I can tell you one thing: I had to sell my Mesa Rectifier to be able to afford the Kemper. Got the Kemper three hours before rehearsal, took the very first profile that sounding good (was a 5150 which I also like a lot), went to our rehearsal room, plugged it into a Behringer EPQ900 power amp and my old 4x12 cab and the feeling was there, instantly. I played a 5150 thru this cab and it felt and sounded just like that. Now after a couple of days I managed to set up some rigs with my beloved Rectifier tone and also added some effects, reverb, delay for leads, a flanger for some extra effect stuff. After the first rehearsal with these rigs I'm more than convinced. It sounds, feels and plays just as good (sound is just a tad different, but the character is the same) as the setup I had before. I also use the Behringer midi board with the U4K prom and it is a lot more relaxed switching stuff than it was before. Switching time is barely noticeable and there isn't even any kind of dropout, the tone somehow transforms into the tone switched to seemslessly in just a few ms. I couldn't be happier :thumbup: (well, maybe only with the power head version which I couldn't afford).

    Nothing will help if you really have GAS :D


    If you only look for a great solution - try the KPA - it's a great 'all in one box'.


    Is it easier to use than a tube amp?
    It depends - I love to just bring a guitar and a combo - that's easy - much easier than a floarboard, KPA, speakers, cables ...


    But yes, if you have a large system (effects, switching system, more than one amp, ...) - then the KPA is a much easier solution.


    Will you miss your old system after some time?
    Sure :D (guess because of your old experience)


    I love both the KPA (replaces all my other digital amp simulation gear) and effects / tube amps.


    The KPA is this great I never use ANY of my tube amps for recordings.


    So if possible don't sell your old gear before you get the KPA and profile all you have - then compare the sound - and sell the stuff which can be covered by the KPA.


    I sold 3 tube amps after I got the KPA - and don't miss them - and if I ever feel I miss them - I use the profile ;)

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    My two cents:
    If you're looking for a set of really good effects, the Kemper won't disappoint you.
    If you want 100% exact copies of many slightly different effects pedals, you might continue with your "vicious cycle". :)
    I for one absolutely love the amazing perfection of the amp/cab simulation and I'm happy to have a very good but limited set of effects built-in. I never try to nail a specific sound from one of the guitar heros to the very last detail. It's still me making music and for me there's no point in spending hours or days to make exact rig copies of my guitar heros as long as I can't profile their fingers anyway. :)


    You'll have to try and see. The quality of the existing effects won't disappoint you. But don't expect to get a choice of 20 different fuzz box pedals. :)


    Cheers,
    Martin

    Thanks for the replies, sounds like you are all very happy with the Kemper!


    It's interesting when people sell on the heads they have profiled, sounds reassuring. Where I am it's next to impossible to try before I buy so I reckon I'll end up taking a punt. I have a few valve amps floating about at home I plan to profile and then shift on, one being a Traynor YCV50 blue which I have always loved but have lots of issues with the reliability of it so the Kemper is a great solution for getting that sound back again without the risk of the YCV50 going down mid gig.


    Back on the subject of the FX - I'm not fussed about getting exact sounds of certain gear/players, just good useable sounds. I think the problem I have had with previous digital gear is I have gotten those good sounds, but nothing truly exciting where as I have had both from individual stomps. This has always been the case for me as a bedroom player, but I think playing live the difference is so much smaller almost to be irrelevant.


    It may seem petty, but I want to cut back on stage gear too. I hate having FX loop cables, MIDI cables, PSU cables etc running everywhere. The thought of having Guitar > Kemper > PA & monitor with a single MIDI controller without sacrificing anything is very alluring.


    It is also good to hear about the rig switching time being so fast, one other thing I can tick off the list. :)

    The thing about pedals: I always switched them around to chase various cool sounds I'd heard elsewhere. Not necessarily, exact replications, but just different cool tones.


    With the Kemper, you can do that by switching to different cool amps/rigs...it's the same thing, just a different paradigm. The different amps substitute for different stomp pedals. :thumbup:

    I also like both worlds. The last weeks I am investing again in stomp boxes and use it with my tube amp. Just sounds right and feels good. For recording I use only the KPA as it is easier and sounds as good as... GAS will anyway never go away... At least my 40 years experience with equipment...


    Cheers
    Sacapuntas

    I sold my Crate Blue Voodoo 300h stack and a Ibanez mtm2 (mick Thompson signature), and I think it worth it, I love the kemper, honestly I haven't used it live because I am afraid it could mess up or something so I use it for recording, I love the versatility of amp sounds, endless. Totally worth it and I haven't regret to sold my monster amp :) actually a friend bought it so I can profile it if I want too


    http://youtu.be/UcLiUfnaAeY

    i have to confess that i ALWAYS had problems with my live sound or rehearsal sound with my tube amps.
    the problem were the effects that reacted so differently to different rooms that i almost always had to minimize
    the effects or even cut them off. my soldano delivered a VERY good sound without effects, but that was still sub optimal.
    the best - believe it or not - solution was to programm my sounds into a preamp and amplify them with the clean channel of
    a transistor amp. strange, but true.


    i bought the KPA initially as the best bedroom solution and for recording in my home studio. little did i know what the KPA is capable of!
    i have the best sound of my life in rehearsals now. the best while recording. i can record and reamp it later! i do not gig anymore, but i am sure,
    if i do, the FOH-man will get a decent tone out the outputs while i have my sound behind me via 1x12 or 4x12 and a 60watt power amp.


    the only thing i miss is the fortune i have spent in search of the tone. no, honestly i am a lucky devil and i miss not one of my 12 tube amps.
    (i sold them all but my cream, but this is another story some may know)


    cheers

    My occupation: showing teenagers the many hidden secrets of the A-minor chord on the guitar.

    I still look at things but it ain't amps and pedals, my gas has just ramped up studio gear lust ;(

    New talent management advice to Laura Cox -


    “Laura want to break the internet? let’s shoot another video of you covering the Nightrain solo in the blue singlet, but this time we’ll crank up the air conditioning”.

    The field where the KEMPER really excels is the really faithful recreation of your amp sound at it's sweet spot. There are also a lot of good effects which in general are really good to work with (some of them like the pure tuning pitch really excellent and unique in the market) but for those players who want to experiment with really the wildes setups of combinations of lots of different FX it might be not enough at a certain point when it comes to signal routing.


    My personal opinion is, if the basic ampsound is good and expressive and flexible, then I can do with these restrictions in routing and FX linkage. And in this field, providing a good, basic ampsound, the KEMPER is just gorgeous! Anyway worth a try!

    www.audiosemantics.de
    I have been away for quite a while. A few years ago I sold my KPA and since then played my own small tube amp with a Bad Cat Unleash. Now I am back because the DI-profile that I made from my amp sounds very much convincing to me.

    No, because I've kept my "old" gear :) I am never going to sell amps like Cornford Carrera which have practically unlimited number of sweet spots. I'd have to fill my Kemper with one amp profiles to recreate this.
    I've got huge GAS for a Virus tho :)