Posts by HowardBrown

Quote from Ruefus

I would say if a V30 is what you're going to use....and you have no intentions of doing anything else, no. The Kabinet offers little. Regardless of how good the Kabinet is.....it's not a real V30.

I'd kind of look at this as "If it's not broken....don't fix it."

I got the Kone fever and after a year bought one. I was super stoked to say the least, my hopes were very high. Put it in an open back cab this morning and spent several hours tweaking settings and.....nope, just to fizzy no matter what i tried. Just swapped it out for an old celestion out of a fender mustang for now, not ideal but I can tolerate it. The quote above is worth its weight in gold.

There's a lot of information on the forum to dig through, I've learned most of what I know about operating the Kemper from reading posts. Just learned this week that by pressing the left or right arrow in rig manager while auditioning profiles switches from one profile to another, previously I was double clicking each profile to switch for 3 years, definitely a hugh improvement with less steps.

There are many very knowledgeable individuals on this forum who can help, maybe you can share a little more information that might help them point you in the right direction, such as the following:

1. what are you monitoring your Kemper through.

2. what profiles are you using, Kempers default profiles, commercial or from rig exchange, and is it all profiles showing this behavior or limited to one type such as high gain

3. do you have the latest update loaded on the Kemper

4. have you changed the default settings on the input section or output section and if so what settings.

Just examples, sorry but I'm not very fluent in Kemper world language but with more in depth data to work with I'm sure the guru's here can get you closer to where you want to be. I've been very fortunate, even though I'm not monitoring through a more appropriate system I get very good results, after 35 years and many, many amps and pedal boards I'm getting the best tones I've ever had, if it works for me it can definitely work for anyone lol!

Good luck and I hope achieve your goals in the tone journey ?

Quote from jstoffel

EDIT: I am ashamed... one of my quarter inches was ever-so-slightly unplugged from my Big Sky and was the source of the ENTRIE problem. I'm an idiot, and now I can't figure out how to delete this post, so I will just have to wallow in my embarrassment for all of eternity. Happy Friday, my friends

Been there many, many times lol!

I do pa installations and setup at churches occasionally (for free) and after several 18 hour work days it's inevitable, I'll miss plugging something in or forget to flip a switch somewhere and I am meet with dead silence in the auditorium when first firing up the new system, and there are always witnesses present, who then often become critic's

Did an update to latest release on 5/21/21, no issues so far but admittedly I've never used RM for anything but auditioning, loading and organizing profiles. For the first time I tried the section that allows you to operate the profiler, found it user friendly (I only use the profiler in browser mode).

Been very fortunate with updates, bought the Kemper in June of 2017 and did my first update with a thumb drive in early 2019, have done 2 or 3 updates since through RM with no issues, but again I'm not a power user, I just pick a profile and play for awhile. I usually do dial back the delay and reverb and add a dirt stomp occasionally but that's really quick and easy to do on the rack profiler itself, but with my new spectacles I must admit I found making parameter setting adjustments on a 24 inch screen much easier to read, I may be turning the computer on more frequently when I sit down to make noise from now on?

Quote from Thomerz

I have a camplifier on the way and hope that it magically makes the kones work, but it amazes me that, with only the speaker changed from the setup, the difference in sound quality was so lacking.

I have a Kone arriving tomorrow, reading the forum for the last year has presented quite a mix in results from forum members concerning the Kone. This resulted in me going back and forth in my mind between the Kone or a fairly neutral guitar speaker (at least by manufacturers claims) to replace my current setup. I found that the experiences users on the forum have shared, many of which are extremely well versed in the Kemper Universe, and the solutions they have arrived at to be invaluable free advice.

An older video on YouTube from forum member Ingolf helped me make my decision to purchase the Kemper instead of a new tube combo amp, I found his use of a Fender Mustang III in the video as one of his monitoring solutions intriguing as I also owned one so I pulled the trigger on a Kemper in June of 2017. I did try using my powered pa speakers and was very disappointed even though I've seen several other forum members reporting good results with the same speaker. I think after 35 years of playing through traditional amps I was more comfortable with the Mustang over the pa speaker, it was to much of a shock to my brain to totally go to the dark side all at once.

As others have already stated profile choice is a key link in the chain. Last summer after 3 years and trying thousands of profiles on the rig exchange, many of which were really good, I followed the advice of forum members and took advantage of sales Mbritt and Tonejunkie were having and purchased several packs from both venders. It made quite a difference overall, very good quality profiles and more consistent in sound quality from one amp type to another.

I'm confident the advice these members share will help you achieve your goal of tone nirvana, I have benefited greatly thus far. The only downside I've experienced is the amount of money they have caused me to spend

Quote from whippinpost91850

thanks for sharing. You have a very nice wife

Take it from a fellow who knows, that's the understatement of the century lol!

Thank you for the kind words though, its beyond my comprehension but after 24 years she still comes home every day after work and stays home on the weekends. I know me pretty well and if I was her, I wouldn't ?

Three and a half years in and still enjoying it. My wife bought me an unpowered Kemper rack in May or June of 2017. I took it out of the box and sat it on my kitchen table, hooked up a speaker cabinet and there it stayed for 3 years. After six months or so I finally loaded Rig Manager on a laptop and grabbed a few more rigs, didn't open Rig Manager again for about 2 years when I finally did my first updates.

With extra time on hand this year I cleared out my old office about six months ago and moved my laptop to a small desk, hung my guitars on the wall and set my Kemper up next to the desk, having a proper place to noodle around has been absolute nirvana!!!

So in a new space and feeling kind of giddy I started to actually look into the Kemper further, for years I've just pulled up a rig and played without doing much else except turning the delay or reverb down a bit or off and maybe adding a boost or overdrive, I'm not much for tweaking these days, I've had pedal boards or digital amps for years and got tired of messing with menu's and settings, if you lean to the side of OCD, which I do with many things, tweaking settings takes you down a rabbit hole you may never get out of, that equals less time actually playing and enjoying yourself. Therefore my pattern has been pull up a rig, wear skin of the end of your fingers then leave the room with a smile

So on to the silver lining, the pandemic cloud opened a new avenue for me, Mbritt and Tonejunkie (other vendors may have too but these caught my attention) had some sales events due to lockdowns so I took advantage of them. I cleared my Kemper and loaded it with their profiles, I was fine with the free profiles off of Rig Manager, many of them were really good but the ones I bought have been fantastic, three years in and it's all new again, and that's the beauty of the Kemper!

This week I did updates to the newest Rig Manager and latest OS and for the first time I dug into all the new delays, reverbs and dirt boxes. I know the delays and reverbs have been out for awhile, I've just never bothered to mess with them. I spent 5 or 6 hours playing around these yesterday and all I can say is WOW!! Thank you Kemper team, if nothing changes from this point forward I'm set for life! Usually you buy a product, get support for a while but the new and improved version comes out and you start all over again, but so far with Kemper it has been the gift that keeps on giving which is not really the norm these days, so again Thank You!

There is still room for improvements in my setup even though I could stick with what I have and be fine, but with each change comes pretty sizable dividends. I still plug into the effects return of a Fender Mustang 3 lol, but it sounds really good, a different power amp and speaker would raise the bar even further, just can't decide what direction to go but there's no hurry.

And lest I forget, this forum has been invaluable, thank all of you who take the time to share your knowledge!

So the journey continues, I consider myself very fortunate that after thirty plus years of chasing gear but never satisfying the gear lust I have finally found a product that not only meets but exceeds my needs.

stratdude, thanks for the input. Distinction between amp's from a speaker in a space is what I'm shooting for. It seems the Kone is capable of accomplishing this from your reply as well as comments I've read in other threads, just looking for positive reinforcement of the concept I guess before moving forward. There are some YouTube videos out there and they are somewhat helpful, but they can never take the place of an individual's experience in a live setting, and that's where this forum helps fill in the blanks.

I've never even considered looking at an amp that wasn't listed in the category of "guitar power amp", I need to look a little further at options available in sound reinforcement, thanks for the suggestion.

Finally, thanks for chiming in. I have a non powered Kemper rack. I'm looking to pick up a rack mount power amp to go with it, would love to go stereo later on just for my own enjoyment. The SD Powerstage 700 looks to be a solid choice but I'm trying to gather more info on the Palmer PMACHT402, almost half the price but I've found very little info on it here in the states.

I like moving around between rigs, a blackface here, an ac there etc... What I'd like to accomplish is a setup that allows the character of different amps to come through. My setup now colors every rig with a similar eq curve (regular guitar speaker), it's not a bad sound but it doesn't allow much distinction between different amp types. I gather from reading threads here on the forum and YouTube demos the Kone does pretty well, but most people discuss the imprints at least from what I've seen more than the Kone in frfr mode. I'm hoping someone has had experience with both speakers and might give their opinion on using either of them in this manner.

I've been considering a Kone as of late to load in an open back cab as well as one other speaker. I haven't played outside the house in years but I have been invited to dabble a bit in live situations, smaller places where you just turn up a bit to be heard, no running direct into PA.

After 3 1/2 years of owning a Kemper I still just plug into the effects loop input of a solid state amp here at home, not the best solution but still sounds pretty good but I need to get a better solution. I've tried it through my EV zlx12p speakers but didn't care for that setup. I use the Kemper as a combo amp, haven't done any recording in years, but I enjoy it more than any amp I've owned over the last 30 years.

I want to improve my setup for live use but I'm wrestling with myself over two options to pursue, keeping in mind what speaker I'm playing through will be what others hear also.

Options:

1. Open back cab with a Kone (not sure I'm interested in imprint mode to be honest, I don't tweak rigs much, just find one I like and go). So wondering how well it sounds in the frfr mode to the listener.

2. Open back cab with an Eminence Legend Em12. I noticed these were being used in the Valvetrain Powertrain Stage 50, Mbritt and HW did a short demo last year on these and gave it a decent review. I'm assuming I might have similar results with a decent class d amp.

I really just want to get out and play some again, but using a speaker that can let the character of different amp rigs come through would be the fantastic.

Any input that might help me make a decision between the two would be greatly appreciated, I rarely post on the forum but it has been an invaluable information source which has helped me tremendously.

I've been using the same amp for the same purpose you are planning with an unpowered Kemper rack for almost three years. I've never changed the monitor output gain from the factory setting. Personal preference for me at least in browse mode, clean and distortion sense set at zero, pure cabinet off or zero, haven't looked at it in quite some time and can't remember what it actually says. I've tried several thousand rigs off the exchange, some sound really good, some don't.

The speaker in the Fender adds a little mid range honk to most rigs that might not be so prevalent through other monitoring options. I have some EV zlx12 speakers that I've tried and headphones but it just isn't my cup of tea, they are probably a closer representation of the amp profile but my brain just doesn't seem to be able to come to terms with such a radical departure from a guitar speaker lol! I'm anxiously waiting for feedback from others once the Kone is released out into the wild....

Quote from JRusidoff

If you find one, let me know! I would be interested in that.

I've been diligently searching, tons of information available but not in layman's terms. If and when I find something or by trial and error figure it out for myself I'll gladly share.

Ruefus, I'd say 90% of the suggested units that are ready to go (whether Seymour Duncan, Orange, ISP and others not mentioned) would be astronomically better than what I'm currently using, I doubt I'd be disappointed by any of them with a passive cab.

The power modules peak my interest due to my desire of building a powered cab, but my lack of knowledge of all the electrical components needed to get a working product may be a major pitfall. There's a lot of information out there but it seems geared more to a person with a substantial knowledge base with some degree of electrical engineering. I'll have to do a lot of research and reading to wrap my mind around it, if that's even a possibility. A basic step by step guide may exist for someone like myself but I've not seen one yet though I am early on in the search.

skoczy, I've looked at the Seymour Duncan 170 before but was not aware of the Orange Baby Pedal. Went to read up on both a little more and ran across this, the ISP Technologies Stealth 180.

2 channels each rated 80 watts @ 4ohms class A/B power, comes with rack ears and weight is 1.2 lbs. Might not be enough power for some but I believe it would be more than adequate for me, plus the opportunity to add a second cab later for stereo which I would love to do just for my own entertainment at home!

I like the Orange also but not sure on the ohm rating compatibility with the 4ohm Kone. Shows single channel with one out at 8ohms, one out at 16ohms or both outs at 16ohms.

Thank you for the info, becoming more aware of the options available will help me make a better decision when the time comes. Kind of follows the standard rule of thumb when I worked in my own shop and for others, "Measure twice and cut once, don't waste materials". If I can apply that logic to this scenario that would be fantastic, "Gather all available product information, buy once, don't waste money". But I know from past experience the gear bug just won't let that come to pass?

paults and Ruefus, thank you for the link and info on icepower, I really appreciate it. Now here's the sad truth, I purchased 4 or 5 compression drivers from parts express last year while working on pa systems, in fact I've bought from them for years but never once paid any attention to the audio amplifiers, always on a mission for something particular and didn't browse around. Unless the 200AS1 model becomes available here in the next few months it looks like the 200ASC would be a good choice to try. Thanks again for the information.

After 2 1/2 years of owning the Kemper rack I am, as are many others on the forum, eagerly awaiting the Kone. I've tried several solutions for monitoring the Kemper but all fall a little short of my expectations, still looking for a more traditional amp in the room experience, which may never actually come to fruition. But if by chance the Kone opens that door to in the room bliss, or even a little close to it, I was entertaining the idea of building my own cabinets.

My Kemper still sits in the same spot from the day I took it out of it's shipping box on a table, no updates, just grabbed a few rigs off the exchange. I'm ready to start playing outside the house again after many, many years of nearly being a recluse. Not gigging, no plugging into a PA, just sitting in with others at very small places, everyone else uses small combo amps (really small), not much output volume needed.

I've considered selling the Kemper and going with a small combo lately but I made the change from small combo to Kemper 2 1/2 years ago and I've not even tapped into the power of the Kemper yet, I still just plug and play without exploring it's potential. Breaking down and getting the foot controller would probably make everyday like Christmas for the foreseeable future for me lol! That's where I'm at in the never ending tone chase that so tortures the average, everyday for 35+ years player. So I believe I'll stick it out with Kemper and see what develops in the next few years.

I read the forum often but don't post, you all are very good with helping others and if I have a question the answer generally lies in a post already. I've gotten to somewhat know a lot of you through your posts but I've remained a ghost here for the most part so please forgive the long introduction in this post before actually getting to the subject matter in the header, but I felt I should at least open up a little and not be a complete stranger to the forum before asking for advice.

So to the subject, I was a custom cabinet builder for 20 years but I'm no longer active in that occupation. I have been toying for some time now with the idea of building a head for my Kemper and a 1-12 cabinet so I can leave the house to play, with the release of the Kone that will be something I will pursue. There are quite a few options for tolex covered racks and cabs available here in the states but I want to make mine from a wood species and finish it. One item that eludes me and I could use some advice on is the power section, I want to build a powered cab but don't know what to look at as far as something that can be integrated into the cab itself for power. If someone could point me in a direction of whats available here in the states I would really appreciate it. The only other option I see would be a rack mounted power amp built into the head with the Kemper and the cab passive, but I'd prefer a powered cab solution. If I were to add something to the head it would be a space in the bottom to store the foot controller.

Thanks don1960lp, I couldn't try one out so I was a little apprehensive about the purchase but two weeks in and I'm very pleased with it.

Been playing the same guitar for 26 years , started eyeing the Cutlass when they came out a few years back and the new gear bug bit me a couple of weeks ago.

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Been playing the same guitar for 26 years , started eyeing the Cutlass when they came out a few years back and the new gear bug bit me a couple of weeks ago.

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Thanks for the input. I found today the EV's sound better when the source is from my mixer and not direct, whether it's the Kemper, media player etc.... which kinda defeats the grab and go aspect I was hoping for.
Since I've had decent sound from the Fender I may take some time later this summer and build a 1-12 speaker cabinet for a coaxial speaker, might just be the ticket