Hello All - Huntsville, Alabama

Since I have a feeling I'm going to have a lot of questions in the very near future - I should at least introduce myself and say hello. I've been so busy trying to figure out a noise issue that I forgot my manners

I've played off and on for quite a number of years now - I'm over 40 so - yeah - long time. That doesn't mean I'm very good - I'm not. But I do love the guitar - life just has a way of getting in the way and other things take priority. My gear has collected dust for about 6 years now - all I ever do is just noodle on the couch from time to time with the acoustic while watching TV - but I've had the itch to play again for a while so trying to knock a lot of rust off. Also, I'm trying to show my 8 year old what it means to practice. She's been taking piano for a couple of years - and I want her to see what it takes to really practice. That said - I'm a bit out of the gear loop these days - I used to be a bit of a gear junkie - and spent a lot of time on TGP and Rig-Talk but no longer. I did come up for air and play a little around the time the Axe-FX was taking off. I have an Axe-FXII - but I could never find the time to really learn it. I don't want to spend my time tweaking - I just want to play/practice/learn. I only really need about 8 solid tones anyway.

As I was thinking of playing again - and realizing that no matter what - my tube amps are probably never going to see a stage again - I thought I'd check the Kemper out. Hoping to find the sound quality and feel of my tube amps, with the scaleability and portability of the Axe-FX - but in a simpler to use format. I will probably fire up my tube amps after a while and profile them - I have a Bogner 101B, Hughes and Kettner Triamp Mk II and Marshall JVM - that haven't been powered up in almost 10 years. Shameful, I know.

I'm liking the Kemper - to a degree. I still have a ton to learn and if I can't figure out how to tame this noise issue - it's really going to be problematic. i'm using an RCF NX12 powered FRFR speaker - but today i noticed that I prefer a lot of the profiles I've downloaded (including the MBritt ones I paid for) with the cabinet off. With the cabinet on it sounds like a blanket was thrown over it. With it off it sounds lkke what used to happen when I engaged my sonic maximizer that i used to run in my old rack with my Gsystem. Except fizzier. Is that normal? Or do I have questionable ears?

Honestly - if someone would just sell a Kemper like device with about 20 rock solid tones - making sure to have the hairy 80's covered - I'd buy that. I'm not smart enough or have the tweaking time to learn every parameter in this machine. Thats time I should be putting towards actually practicing. I'm hoping to get the hang of this thing reasonably soon.

Quote from Monkey_Man

If that thing's truly FRFR, it should sound perfect with the Cab module engaged. How does it sound through 'phones?

Good question - I don't know but will have to find out. My Adam A7X monitors have pretty similar sound coming from them.

Quote from raunch

Oh man, first of all welcome.

Second, it sounds like I wrote that post.

I hear where you're coming from, family, wife, mortgage, kids and no time to really dig in. Nonetheless the Kemper has actually reduced the amount of procrastination and optimised my time. I love the old Van Halen tone. 80's metal tones are my favourite to be honest but I wouldn't say I'm stuck there. So along comes the Kemper with so many great tones to try out. If you're like me, you might love TopJimi's profiles (no, I'm definitely not affiliated with TopJimi, but I wouldn't mind if he dropped me some free rigs haha). That sounds neither like a blanket nor like an exciter or sonic maximizer. I don't touch my amps anymore but play more than ever. The Kemper is all about WHO does the profiling and HOW it was done. Another thing is training your ears to hear the guitar objectively instead of subjectively, i.e., to hear from a third person perspective. I suggest downloading some isolated stem tracks from your fave guitar tones and comparing directly to the tone you're getting from the Kemper. You might be surprised how close you're actually getting your guitar tone to your chosen tone.

Are you recording songs or just jamming to yourself nowadays?

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Thank you. Yeah - by no means do I think I'm unique in my predicament . If I can get this thing nailed - so I'm happy with the tones and understand how to use it live I'll be happy. Yeah - I love the old 80's marshall tones. I used to have a Cameron modded Superlead 100 - and I wish I had it now because I'd profile it. The gain channel was just perfect - and the way it felt and responded was so chewy and reactive. Someone needs to get their hands on one and profile that thing.

I have checked out some of TopJimis - and did like them. I'm drowning in profiles to check out - which probably doesn't help. I did a quick recording in my "noise" thread using a Lee/Jackson preamp profile I found. I think it sounds pretty good from my speaker but the recorded sound isn't the same.

That's an interesting suggestion regarding the stem tracks. I've never used or looked at those - but will go googling this evening. I appreciate the suggestion.

Just jamming with myself right now - trying to relearn some songs - and build a bit of a song portfolio and then I might look for a project to get into. I know some of you guys probably never lose your chops - but whatever chops I might have had - definitely require finding again. I'm hoping to find something to get into that will help focus my practice time - but first I have to know that I have a rig I can go play with and be comfortable with with other instruments.

Thanks all. I added where I live - if there any other Huntsvillians on here - would love to trade notes and expedite my learning curve.

Quote from Armin

Welcome!
I had the AxeFx (ultra and later the II) as well - great gear - but need a lot of tweaking.
The KPA is perfect for tube amp recording - I like the results 100%.

Hope you find your 20 dream profiles

Thanks!!!! So many to go through - not good for an ADHD guy like me. I've found some really good Marshall high gain tones - still looking for a good ac/dc ish tone - that also comes with the feel I'm looking for. Same goes for clean although in fairness - i haven't really started looking. I've contributed quite a bit of $$ to different profile sellers thus far - but I'm still looking for that amp feel/reactiveness for those in between tones. I'm still new though - barely even know this machine yet - so this isn't an indictment - just a passive aggressive plea for recommendations.