Ok guys, at a crossroads so to speak...I finally have a chance to get a real deal QUALITY amp, however im trying to decide which one: A Splawn Quick Rod/Street Rod, Friedman PT-20/Runt-20/50, and/or a Kemper Profiler. Let me say first, I don't gig out much any more, mainly a home studio/bedroom jammer. So a low wattage tube combo amp is ideal, also DI recording would be nice, play thru headphones often BUT I could just mic it if needs be. The sounds I like are only a few, but great ones: The old brown sound aka VH1/2, I love the Soldano/CAE +3 SE tone off For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge as well, oh and Steve Stevens tone off the Vince Neil "Exposed" album(but his current tone is killer too!). These three tones are my bread and butter so to speak. Not a EVH Cloner guy but I dig those sounds so much. Obviously, looking at my choices it's safe to say I need an amp that def gets the ideal hot-rodded Plexi-JCM800 and a thicker OD marshall-type tone ala Soldano/CAE. Now the Splawn amps, they def seem the ideal choice here, they nail a lot of those sounds. The Friedman PT-20/Runt amps...it's a shame, there's maybe 1-2 vids that actually demonstrate a real "Rock" sound, most all other demos are bluesy>clean>scooped metal. I just can't tell if they can do what I want. And nearest Guitar Center is 2hrs away, probably don't have em anyways.
So, the Kemper....I've certainly seen quite a few vids showing it nail an amp sound, very impressive. I've listened to a lot of profile demos like M-Britt, Choptones,etc...Some obviously are better than others. The one thing that concerns me regarding the Marshall-type/Friedman profiles I've heard is this: Can they really get that "crisp but not brittle" top-end bite common to the Marshall sound? Yeah a lot of that is the speaker too, I know. But can the Kemper get that speaker bottom-end "resonance/chunk" ya get when you mic an amp or are sitting in front of it? Mainly heard when Palm-muting. I realize these are all very subjective questions. But I'm hoping that y'all can convince me it can sound just like the amp being profiled (got no amps currently btw so I'll be buying profiles). Most all profiles I've heard just seem abit dark/slightly muddy, I've listened on various HP/Speakers and they're still kinda dull. Say I turn up the presence/treble on a profile, will it really sound like turning the dials on the real thing? Turning the gain up, will it retain the amps distortion vibe? I'm sure when cranked it gets further from the real thing. The reason I'm considering the Kemper is simple: I'd love to be able to play through headphones and get a "real amp" sound and hear it awash in my Eventide Eclipse delays/verbs. Itd be fabulous to buy some QuickRod profiles and get that amp's sound, then maybe the Friedman Stevens amp. This would be a godsend for me if it does nail the sound. As I said I don't play out much any nowadays, been using an Axe Fx Standard for yrs, running an Eventide Eclipse in the fx loop. It gets fairly close but not good enough. And I honestly don't think the newer AX8/Axe Fx II is much better. Those units seem to run 3-4 basic OD sounds and fine tune them to get close to the amp being modeled. I'm hoping the Kemper will nail an amp's distortion characteristics based on which individual amp it is, ya know? I know this post is lengthy, and probably a bit confusing. As I said, ideally a Kemper would be perfect if it really is just like the amp being profiled, I'd love that. But the main things deterring me via listening to profile demos (mainly Marshall-type amps) is I haven't really heard maybe a couple examples getting that characteristic Marshall bite/top-end and also the resonance/chunk of the amps speaker. Guys, I'd appreciate any advice/miracle stories/etc, b/c yeah, I'd love to have a hundred great amps in the box. But if it doesn't really get the feel of the real thing, I'd just settle with a great tube amp that gets 1-2 tones perfectly. Thanks for listening
Plz convince guys...
- 1badelement
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Rob Chapman and the Cap'n test the Kemper vs Real amps.
Watch the video (both of them). You may not like the tones the guys get from their valve amps but it shows just how close the Kemper will sound to it. So in other words, the Kemper will sound just like the amp it is profiling. If you're not profiling your own amps, it's just a case of finding the right profiles. I find many to be quite dark and choose not to use the treble and presence to adjust them, especially when aiming for a nice, bright Marshall tone. Often a change of cabinet provides the solution, but once I found a few JVM profiles free on rig exchange that suited me, I've not looked back.
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Well, hard to get the brown sound without cranking an amp, so a low wattage tube combo will likely leave you dissatisfied. Kemper can capture that tone and translate at any volume. There are plenty of 5150 and Soldano profiles to try out. Just search "Soldano Kemper" and "5150 Kemper" in YouTube.
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tough decision
if money isnt a problem , buy the real amp and the KPA
i didnt sell any amp after buying the KPA, both have pros and cons imho.
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Welcome.
Please play the Profiler and convince yourself.
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KPA has no problem reproducing the sounds you're looking for. Don't forget that it can also be used with guitar speaker cabinets with amazing results. Download the manual and quickly browse through to find out the amazing features that it has.
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Welcome.
Please play the Profiler and convince yourself.
^This
Welcome! Grab your guitar and head the music store and try it. Bet it puts a smile on your face -
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Oh you'll definitely get convinced here. Many, many here with high regards for this piece of gear. Few have left after getting it and some of those that did returned. Best wishes whichever decision you make.
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Thanks for replies everyone. I guess one main thing I'm trying to get a handle on is in regards to editing a distorted amps profile. Obviously I gotta use profiles in the amp and bought online, with no current amps at home. Kinda asked this earlier, but maybe this a better rephrasing: When editing, say a Friedman BE-100 profile, does changing the Kemper profiled EQ controls react very much like that amp?
In theory, no. Changing the settings won't behave in the same way that the BE100 will because the tone stack hasn't been modelled upon the amp. You could consider it more like an EQ pedal and depending on the settings, either in front of the amp or in the loop. Either way, it is best to put aside the hopes that a Kemper will give you an amp which sounds and behaves just like another. Line 6 aim to do this with their stuff, and whilst I don't want to sound like I'm beating on them, it doesn't do it for me.That said, just because the controls aren't modelled to behave like the real amp, doesn't mean that changing them will achieve something inferior. You may even prefer it.
I don't really spend much time editing amp profiles. With so many professional profiles and when many of the free ones on Rig Exchange are just as good, there's little need to. For instance, in some of the Amp Factory packs, you'll get 10 different profiles of the same channel, on the same amp. You're not likely to pick a mildy crunchy profile and change it into a metal monster; just pick the heavier one to start with and you're already mostly there!
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When editing, say a Friedman BE-100 profile, does changing the Kemper profiled EQ controls react very much like that amp?
This was an issue I thought about before I ever considered buying a Kemper. In fact, it was a turn off that the Kemper didn't accurately model the tone controls of amps. In reality though, after having actually tried one, I found that the tone controls on the Kemper work amazingly well. So much so that I honestly didn't think about whether they authentically replicated the tone controls on the actual amp or not, and that's coming from an Axe FX II XL+ owner. That said, I don't use the tone controls very much, but that's not because they're not effective or don't work well. It's simply because there are so many great sounding profiles out there that it's often faster just to click a button and switch to another profile. However, for the times when I do use the tone controls, I have to say they do an excellent job at shaping the sound. Seriously. I mean, I love the Axe FX II, but it's easy to get caught up in tweaking more than playing. For me, the accurate modeling of tone controls used to be a big deal, but in my honest experience, it's become non-issue. Seriously. You'll see what I mean if you try one.I take it switching cab IR's doesn't really affect the originally profiled amp very much? I understand it's split into two.
It doesn't affect the amp. You can turn off the Cabinet section off and use the amp section in conjunction with your favorite IR software (on your PC) if you want. I've used the amps in conjunction with IR's and cabs on my Axe FX. You can separate the two without an issue.Also, say I buy a typical 3rd-party profile pack that has a preset for a great amp tone but with a tube screamer boosting it, called SLO-TB LD for example...is that usually hard wired and profiled into these commercial Kemper presets, or do the profiles typically let you bypass that pedal in the chain like a verb/echo. Just wondering.
If an amp is profiled with a Tube Screamer, the Tube Screamer will be baked into the profile. You can't bypass it. However, many profilers offer variations and include profiles with and without pedals.Last thing here, if y'all have any links to some of what you think are truly the best mid-high gain Marshall/SLO/CAE-type profiles I'd love to listen to them. Figured the Kemper Forum folks would know where the best ones are. Btw I've checked out a lot of Choptones/M-Britt/couple others I can't recall.
Have you checked out samples from The Amp Factory and Top Jimi? -
Believe me I'd love go to a music store and check one out. However the closest one is Guitar Center in Atlanta/Marietta, a good 2-2 1/2hr drive for me. The other problem is, it's about impossible to listen/play anything in GC without being hounded by the salesman. Also, can't hear anything worth a flip with all the people banging outta time on drums, guy next to ya cranking a Dual Rec destroying Cliffs of Dover Intro...and can't tune a guitar....really distracting. Of course we all sucked at some point I guess..ha. I could literally see the salesman. "Well idk, headphones? Why would ya wanna listen thru that?" Haha, just joking but probably close to mark.
Order it from Sweetwater , they have a great return policy ( which you won't use) and try it out at your leasure for a couple of weeks
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So, the Kemper....I've certainly seen quite a few vids showing it nail an amp sound, very impressive. I've listened to a lot of profile demos like M-Britt, Choptones,etc...Some obviously are better than others. The one thing that concerns me regarding the Marshall-type/Friedman profiles I've heard is this: Can they really get that "crisp but not brittle" top-end bite common to the Marshall sound?
I've been chasing Eddie's tone for years. I hand built a Metroamp clone (68, 12000 series) and spent hours and hours modding the thing with help from rockstah and Friedman and others. Eddie is my number one for tone, even though my tastes have branched out a lot.
It seems your tastes are close to mine. I don't have a Kemper yet, but the tones from Top Jimi have me convinced. I highly recommend you check out Top Jimi Brown Pack on youtube. Please note it is youtube and there's some sound degradation.
Link: https://youtu.be/m9UMHc4rs2k
Oh there's a Soldano model, too. I'm on a slow inet connection, but it's on his youtube channel. Top Jimi also has a free demo pack in the RE
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Just wanted to add that the bite and sizzle you talk about is the main reason I went with the Kemper. Kemper is the only digital modeler that has accurate high frequency representation of real world amps. With Every other modeler, I was always afraid to raise the presence or treble as they sounded harsh and terrible, not with the Kemper, they sizzle and bite just as you would expect from a tube amp.
Dean_R, you hit the nail on the head. That's what I really needed to here, thanks man!
Indeed.
Welcome, 1badelement! Sorry for the late greeting - internet and 'phone have been down for quite some time.
