The KPA keeps surprising me

    Pretty uninteresting rant following and you know where it's going to end, but it's good for community building, right?


    At a recent studio session, working with the engineer, we decided to bring a load of amps and cabinets and experiment with different combinations to set the sound. I brought my Friedman BE & a DR Z Antidote, both incredible sounding amps, paired with a couple of Scumback loaded cabinets. I also brought the KPA and a competing, high-end modeler (with which I have years of experience), and I had already recorded a couple of tracks with the other modeler.


    We set up the amps in different rooms with several close & distant mics, worked to eliminate phasing issues, moving around and adjusting until each amp sounded great alone and in combination. We recorded a couple of takes with my strat, looking for a jangly, mildly overdriven strat sound. It sounded good, naturally, how bad can those amp sound?


    After a couple of takes more, I asked the engineer/producer if he could hook up the KPA, which he was interested in, as the KPA keeps showing up in big studios everywhere. He wasn't too keen on the competing box, as it sounded a bit too correct on the tracks we had used it on. We hooked up the KPA and I went for one of the AC30 models that is floating about for free (either a free one from Amp Factory or one of the stock KPA ones). And to quote the late Steve Jobs: Boom! There it was, juicy and shimmering with the jangly speakers and all, and that el84 chime that breaks up when you push it. We spent 15 minutes discussing how awesome this was, comparing it with the other stuff we had used so far. We also browsed through a couple of different profiles I had made myself by carefully adjusting the amp and mic (just a single 57) at home, and these profiles sounded equally good and _right_.


    So we decided to redo a couple of tracks and do the rest with the AC30 profile, my own profiles of my old Marshall plus my Friedman. And -- man! -- comparing the KPA with the rest of my gear (first time I use the KPA in a recording production outside of my own tracking studio) in a commercial studio setting, finding out how great this box captures the sound and feel of the amps, is both a blast and extremely educative for a tone freak. I've used it a lot live, but listening to it closely in context in comparison with amps and that competing box is different.


    How fun is that? ;) Now I want two!

    Quote from DonPetersen

    great story!


    thanks. :)


    now, ... about those Friedman and Dr Z profiles... :D


    Hehe, I'll get them out there soon. I haven't profiled my DR Z yet, but I have a couple of profiles of my Friedman (with a good, broken in Scumback H75, their take on a Greenback) that are golden and which I use live regularly both with my Strats and Les Pauls. I also have a couple of good profiles of my modified JCM 2000 which sounds great -- great, old mid gain Marhsall sounds that sounds great with pedals in front. At low volumes they might not immediately capture your attention, but in a mix and at loud volumes they are chewy and really good.


    I'll work with the DR Z too at some point.

    That is exactly one of the reasons why this is such a great piece of gear. You'll always get the folks that say digital technology is done and gone after something new comes out. Well....really.....what is better than being able to clone an amp and not be able to really tell the difference between the two? How much better can it actually get? I'm pretty happy with it. The only limit we will hit with this unit is the processing power but at this point, how many pedals do you need running at the same time in front of the amp?


    I came back to using the Kemper because they really stepped up their game with the updates and they were all of the things that I was looking for. Couple that with a powered rack unit and I have a really versatile setup that I can literally use anywhere. It's easy to hook up and take and with my FCB and Uno4Kemper chip, I can switch things in and out exactly the way I wanted to.


    At this point, I've sold my JVM410HJS and my rather large collection of pedals and board as well as my Torpedo live. My setup is so much simpler and sounds fantastic.

    Great story.


    I'm the same - been using my Kemper for 8 months now and at rehearsals the other day I took my beloved Marshall JMP1 preamp and hooked it up. I used to love the tones this unit gave so after rocking a few tunes with some Kemper profiles I wired the JMP up - expecting some of the old magic and BANG - masssive disappointment. Sound wasnt as clear, punch or 'big' as the Kemper.


    In my mind technology has simply moved on and as much as my logical brain keeps thinking a great valve amp should beat this toaster into the ground - simply put it doesn't.


    Looking forward to continuing my Kemper adventures

    Lots of similar experience here, I guess. Another thing that surprises me, both with the KPA and with, you know, the competing high-end modeler, is how it brings out the characteristics of different guitars. Contrary to one of the many myths about tube vs non-tube amps, it's easier to retain a clear and uncluttered signal with the KPA so that there's actually an audible difference between my different strats even when using pretty much gain. When firing up one of my tube amps, stacking overdrive pedals to achieve the type of gain I like, some amps tend to wash out differences between some guitars. With the KPA, I can bring out more of the amp's gain in ways that gives me more control over the tone; input control, a neutral boost, notch the gain control up a tad, etc. Also, the eq can be changed in subtle ways. And all of this without the shortcomings of the tube amps, which by the way is part of what's fun with tube amps as well, where a notch up on the gain or down with the treble completely changes the characteristics of the gain and feel of the amp. But I simply love having a great amp captured and being able to touch upon it without ruining the core tone and feel.

    Quote from Boanerges

    Lots of similar experience here, I guess. Another thing that surprises me, both with the KPA and with, you know, the competing high-end modeler, is how it brings out the characteristics of different guitars. Contrary to one of the many myths about tube vs non-tube amps, it's easier to retain a clear and uncluttered signal with the KPA so that there's actually an audible difference between my different strats even when using pretty much gain. When firing up one of my tube amps, stacking overdrive pedals to achieve the type of gain I like, some amps tend to wash out differences between some guitars. With the KPA, I can bring out more of the amp's gain in ways that gives me more control over the tone; input control, a neutral boost, notch the gain control up a tad, etc. Also, the eq can be changed in subtle ways. And all of this without the shortcomings of the tube amps, which by the way is part of what's fun with tube amps as well, where a notch up on the gain or down with the treble completely changes the characteristics of the gain and feel of the amp. But I simply love having a great amp captured and being able to touch upon it without ruining the core tone and feel.


    Great reply!


    I too have Dr Z amps to profile. Hoping to nail it down next week. JAZ 20/40 combo and an SRZ Limited Edition head. My First attempt at profiling my SRZ almost made me cry (and not for the right reasons). I really messed up my profiling settings. Figured out my mistakes days after so I am hopeful to be able to share them with you all soon.


    Great thread!


    m

    Did not want to start a new topic, but I surprised myself today:


    I listened to the New Steel Panther Record (Streaming through a German Website).


    And after a few seconds I guessed that Satchel used an EVHIII for that record.


    I never read about that but it was my first guess. After a few seconds in google and Wikipedia I read that Satchel indeed uses an EVHIII.


    Before the Kemper I had no Idea what amps people were using, due to my limited experiences with tube amps.


    I think the Kemper sharpened my ears. :)