Welcome.
There are outstanding profiles of clean amps for the Kemper.
Yes
I think that, overall, the Kemper sounds better than the Axe-fx but you should be sure that you can live without some of the things that the axe has, that The Kemper doesn't, such as an editor.
It sounds, from the description of your needs, that the Kemper may well be a better choice but, only you can decide.
Yes. it's one of the MAIN reasons I have one. It's especially important for single coil pickups (which I use an overwhelming amount of the time) which can sound brittle and cold with most modelers.
I spend most of my time on clean and Tom Petty style overdrive sounds.
I made this exact same switch last year. Here are my thoughts based on last year when I switched up to now:
Based on what you described, I don't think you'd be disappointed in the Kemper.
Does KEMPER do better clean amps?
Yes!... if "more-authentic = better" to you.
Welcome, mate!
I had an AX-8 and I tried desperately to love that unit. I so wanted it to be the end-all for me. No matter how hard I tried, it simply did not sound like a real Amp.
To me, all of the overdrive and sounds, regardless of the modeling, all basically sounded the same to me.
Since buying a Kemper, I have fallen in love with it. It's everything I wanted it to be and a thousand times more!!!
The thing with the Kemper, it's all in the quality of the profiles. If you end up buying one, make sure before it even arrives to your front doorstep, that you buy one of Michael Britt's profile packs!
Welcome - Yes, the Kemper can do this great.
Have a listen to the "User-Clips" on my homepage - select clean or blues on the selector top left.
Check also profile demos from other sellers or the music section in this forum.
One of my favorite cleans is from a 1957 Fender Deluxe pack sold by Armin (Soundside) above (Pack #03). There's also a Mesa/Boogie TA-30 clean profile in the Rig Exchange that's awesome as well, especially for single coil guitars. That one's free!
Another favorite of mine comes from Rig Exchange and it based off of a Bassman amp, but I don't recall the name if the profile. I'm sure there are plenty more, but those are the ones I've found so far.
Good luck on your quest for great tone!
One of my favorite cleans is from a 1957 Fender Deluxe pack sold by Armin (Soundside) above (Pack #03).
I'm not sure if it's the same pack I have, but the '57 Deluxe model from Soundside never leaves my Kemper.
I think that, overall, the Kemper sounds better than the Axe-fx but you should be sure that you can live without some of the things that the axe has, that The Kemper doesn't, such as an editor.
It sounds, from the description of your needs, that the Kemper may well be a better choice but, only you can decide.
No editor, huh?
Thanks, teleologic!
I made this exact same switch last year. Here are my thoughts based on last year when I switched up to now:
- In terms of sounds, I think you can get the clean to pushed sounds faster with the Kemper. I really liked the hot rodded Marshall and high gain stuff on the AxeFX...maybe slightly better than the Kemper. However, that's not necessarily your thing so the Kemper is in your sweet spot for sure.
- I've not had the best success in trying to create my own profiles. Mostly because I don't have my own gear or a space to really open up the amps. I also don't have a lot of experience getting great recorded tones out of amps. I've based my live sound on the MBritt profiles. I've bought some others. Just know that you could end up spending more money to find your sounds if you follow the commercial profile path. You could also spend a lot of money on the AxeFX with cab IRs which leads me to...
- I am a tweaker by nature. I still tweak with the Kemper but if you find a platform of profiles you like, the process can be easier. I don't chase IRs anymore but I do swap in and out profiles for my different guitars in the performances. The performances section and how you edit is clunky...in my opinion. It can consume more time and can't be done in the editor effective...in my opinion. With the the Axe Edit program, I could really whiz through patch edits and the the scenes. So the net is, you can edit and work with the AxeFX much faster than the Kemper, due to the AxeEdit program, but I find I do less overall changing and editing than I did with the AxeFX. The MBritt stuff is mostly the same cab with different amp options. Of note, on stage I am not a tweaker and prefer set and forget and the Kemper works well here if you've done the work up front.
- The AxeFX controller is more expensive and larger than the Kemper Remote, but I feel it's better. It is much more versatile in terms of control. You could use a larger controller with the Kemper but you'd have to set it up manually vs native integration. As a smaller controller though, the Kemper Remote packs a lot of punch and is easy to program.
- The AxeFX "FX" sound better to me on the whole but I am not an effects guy per se. The Kemper covers this ground just fine for me.
- I have a lunch box version of the Kemper. On the whole, I think it's easier to get off the floor and handle on stage than a piece of rack gear that needs a rack case. I don't use other rack gear though.
Based on what you described, I don't think you'd be disappointed in the Kemper.
Thank you so much, mtmartin71!
Yes!... if "more-authentic = better" to you.
Welcome, mate!
Thank you, Monkey_Man!
Display MoreI had an AX-8 and I tried desperately to love that unit. I so wanted it to be the end-all for me. No matter how hard I tried, it simply did not sound like a real Amp.
To me, all of the overdrive and sounds, regardless of the modeling, all basically sounded the same to me.
Since buying a Kemper, I have fallen in love with it. It's everything I wanted it to be and a thousand times more!!!
The thing with the Kemper, it's all in the quality of the profiles. If you end up buying one, make sure before it even arrives to your front doorstep, that you buy one of Michael Britt's profile packs!
You have to BUY, huh? Thank you, barryjohns2126.
Welcome - Yes, the Kemper can do this great.
Have a listen to the "User-Clips" on my homepage - select clean or blues on the selector top left.
Check also profile demos from other sellers or the music section in this forum.
Will check it out. Thanks, Armin.
One of my favorite cleans is from a 1957 Fender Deluxe pack sold by Armin (Soundside) above (Pack #03). There's also a Mesa/Boogie TA-30 clean profile in the Rig Exchange that's awesome as well, especially for single coil guitars. That one's free!
Another favorite of mine comes from Rig Exchange and it based off of a Bassman amp, but I don't recall the name if the profile. I'm sure there are plenty more, but those are the ones I've found so far.
Good luck on your quest for great tone!
Thank you, Jose7822.
@ginthepartisan, you are asking this question on a Kemper forum, so of course you are going to be advised to switch. 
It would be hard for me to compare never having owned the Axe-FX (though I will at some point because I think it has some advantages). What seems very common is people migrating from the Axe to Kemper, much more than the other way around. I will try my best to weight the advantages and disadvantages from the research I did before settling on the Kemper. And bear in mind while I like the Kemper, I am not one of the many on this forum that prescribe to the religion of Kemper, where it can do no wrong and is the end-all-be-all-of-everything-ever.
Firstly, the advantages of the Kemper is it is the truest representation of a valve amp in digital form. You can capture a pretty damn good and sometimes indiscernible from the original "snapshot" of an amp. There is still a Kemper quality to these snaps, so it may not be 100%, but it's about 95% there, which isn't going to be picked out of any mix. Its profiling has fooled a lot of people who know their shit. And although you were suggested to check out the Michael Britt profiles (which are fantastic), there are also thousands of free profiled rigs on the exchange that will no doubt satisfy that need. No need for extra purchases, unless you hear one that you are just in love with. I've yet to buy a profile and have no complaints.
While there is no computer editor, the user interface is very intuitive. This, to me, is still no good reason not to have a computer editor for a digital device, especially one in which you can really dive deep and customize settings. It's maybe one of its biggest drawbacks, if not the quintessential one.
Another advantage is you can get it with a power amp built in, where the Axe requires a separate power amp if you want to run it through an unpowered speaker. I have the head configuration and it's very convenient to transport vs lugging around rack gear.
The Kemper gets a reputation as lesser vs the Axe because of its EQ "amp modeling". In other words, you can EQ a profile to get it closer to the original or closer to something you like, but unlike the Axe, it's not modeled to react the same exact way as the amp that was profiled. It's still amp-like, musical, and very good, but the further you tweak the EQ, the less it's likely to respond exactly as the amp in question would. I haven't found this to be a problem in my case, and some even prefer the Kemper EQ, but that's a matter of taste.
The main disadvantages of the Kemper vs the Axe would be the world of effects and customizing power. Truthfully, I'm not much of an effects guy or a tweaker, so the Axe made little sense to focus on for me. If you like messing with every little nuance of an amp and having expansive signal chains, then there's no substitute for the Axe (though, possibly the Helix). With the Kemper you get 4 stomps, 2 post-amp effect slots, a delay, and reverb. And obviously a disadvantage is the current absence of an editor.
If you're entertaining this thought, chances are the Axe isn't giving you what you want. If you know what you want, it's only a matter of finding the right profile of that amp for the Kemper and I suspect you'd be as happy as a clam.
To give another perspective, I own a Helix and find myself tweaking for long periods before I am satisfied with the tone I want (The recently released Celestion IRs help a lot though). But, even then, I am never 100% satisfied with the Helix. That's why I decided to get the Kemper. Now I just browse my profile collection, make a couple of tweaks, and I'm done! Takes all of 5 mins or less to get a great tone. I'm not a tweaker, so the Kemper is the perfect fit for me. I also don't use a lot of effects, but the new Delays are just amazing! All that said, YMMV.
Take care!
You have to BUY, huh? Thank you, barryjohns2126.
You don't have to buy profiles. There are many factory profiles and there's rig exchange, where users can share their profiles for free.
You can also profile amps (or the axe fx) yourself to get the sounds you want.
However, there are some sound engineers or pro guitar players with great amp micing skills and studio environment who capture the sounds of many amps and make great profiles. They sell them on their homepages.
Some profiles of a few of those guys are included in the factory rigs and many of those guys offer some sample profiles for free.
I suggest to check those first befoee buying anything.
