Getting Better

    Hi
    Just a note to Kemper users(as if you don't already know). I have a unpowered rack kemper. I am using a stealth power amp into a Mesa 2 12 cab. It took me a month or so to tweak my Kemper to how I wanted to hear it but I'm There !! Last night at practice it sounded so good. When I play out I plan to use the main out to the PA as well. The other guitar player is using a tube amp with a few pedals and although he sounds ok the Kemper just sounds so much like a tube amp its incredible. The other thing I noticed is his amp hisses on his gain channel,part of using a tube amp, I know I've been there before.! Sometimes I think maybe it's my setup hissing but nope stone quiet- I profiled my amp( a Wizard MC 2) and I do not miss dragging around a 50 lbs amp. I was one of those guys who said I would never use an set up like this but here I am and loving it lol. For you guys that may struggle with your Kemper stick with it,its worth it. It's also cured my GAS,now when I hear an amp I have no desire to buy it since the kemper sounds so good. I want to thank all the guys on this forum for their help and guidance! I only wish a unit like this would have been out years ago .


    Cheers
    Tim :)

    Well it was out 3 years ago, lol!


    Same story. I was all in love with my boutique amps and ordering a casket large enough to put them in with me then BLAM the Kemper comes along and I'm like "shit". I didn't want it to be true. But every YouTube of profiling session just looked so convincing. I showed it to my brother and he just basically ordered me to do it. Said the Tech had "arrived" and would simplify and would pay for itself in paring down my amps sold.


    He was right. These stories are all unique, but have the same vein of gold!

    Quote from db9091

    Said the Tech had "arrived"


    It will be nice when the guitar modeling tech arrives. I borrowed a friend of mine's Variax this past weekend. The sounds just aren't there yet. However, it is very nice not having to pack an extra "wild card" guitar and either spending set breaks tuning it or getting to the Stones' songs in the set and realizing
    you forgot to spend your set break tuning it.

    Quote from Khaki_Lackey


    It will be nice when the guitar modeling tech arrives. I borrowed a friend of mine's Variax this past weekend. The sounds just aren't there yet. However, it is very nice not having to pack an extra "wild card" guitar and either spending set breaks tuning it or getting to the Stones' songs in the set and realizing
    you forgot to spend your set break tuning it.


    I know the Variax uses a DSP chip and all, so I imagine this might be more programming than CPU crunching, but it seems to me there would need to be a lot of complex crunching to approximate the various differences in tones between pickups. You'd have to model differing metals, wire thickness, winding, wood density and type, etc but ultimately you'd need a very bright person to pull it off. It seems like another one of those things that is best profiled than modeled from ground up to establish an authentic reproduction.


    I've not heard or played a Variax that had the satisfaction you get from an LP, a Taylor, a 60's Strat, etc. It's close enough for gigging and no doubt some professional recordings, but that personal satisfaction when you've played the real thing is something I'm still waiting for.


    Besides, there's a world of difference in guitar construction that can't be put into just ONE guitar. I have short scale guitars that are simply bending dreams. Others are long scale and have the best intonation above the 12th fret. Each guitar has fret variety that can't be one-size-catch-all.


    So while you might get the tone, you certainly will never re-create the multiple-variable nuance of actual playing differences to get large agreement among guitarists.


    Thus I think the concept of a Variax will always be a compromise and not a firm replacement like the Kemper.