The Kemper thread

kennedydream1980

FarleyUK said:

When I had a Kemper, I lived on the TJ Caswell AFD profiles. They sounded GLORIOUS to me, and I've never actually been able to get that sound on my Fractal units since...

I think I have them somewhere. I’ll have to dig them out.

kennedydream1980

FarleyUK said:

When I had a Kemper, I lived on the TJ Caswell AFD profiles. They sounded GLORIOUS to me, and I've never actually been able to get that sound on my Fractal units since...

Did you use these profiles live @FarleyUK ;
Which were your go to profiles?

FarleyUK

I can't remember specifically which one, but yep, used them live.

Lestratcaster

Lestratcaster said:

Managed to nab a couple of profiles off a member from a FB Group. 5150/Mesa and Bogner amps all into a Marshall 1970's cab. They sound pretty cool, though I probably wouldn't have paid $50 for 78 of them. Very dark sounding though, presumably cos of the Marshall cab. Usually I like V30's but it might make it too fizzy in a band mix. I think these STL ones are mixed so it sits in a band setting nicely.

Also I've never actually found a clean profile that I like from the stock ones. I like the generic Fender amps, Twin, Deluxe, Reverb, Black face etc but none on there sound that great with my strat single coils. If I turn down the gain it diminishes the tone and just makes it muddy. Not looking for anything too gainy, maybe edge of breakup but just that classic chimey clean, bell like tone. 

The TJ ones aren't really inspiring me, the Bert guy one sounds ok and I'm yet to check out the Michael Britt one. All of them do loads of profiles (like 30-50) and I really don't need that many.

Just going back to this, I managed to get the same profiles but with a Mesa cab as there's different ones with 3 levels of gain, and a bright/dull profile too. The 5150 through the Mesa 4x12 sounds a lot chunkier. As for the Mesa Rectifier head, they're good for pop punk, so Marshall cabs sound warmer though more vintage sounding, the Mesa cabs are more modern with more focus. I found Channel 2 low gain on bright was the best for me. Right amount of gain with enough to palm mute and cut through.

As for the clean tone stuff I had a mess around using the clarity/definition controls. It makes a difference! Also using the amp setting compressor as opposed to the pedal effect makes it sound better. Using a Michael Britt 74 Champion one (one of the stock ones) and fiddled around. Sounds nicer than what it was though just need that mid range in there as its a bit bright.

andyg_prs

Long story short - I've had and sold a Kemper twice (last time 3+ years ago) and they have some great aspects, in particular love the morphing function.

However, I found the dirt pedals a bit rubbish.....and also I had a weird bug where the whole thing would randomly sound like a cocked wah had been placed in there somewhere.  Sometimes even a complete factory reset and restore wouldn't fix it....or would fix it the 3rd or 4th time.

I mentioned this recently on the public Kemper forum and nobody had heard of it.....but I have friends who have experienced the same thing.

Anyhoo....I am playing with the idea of going back and wondered if much had changed.  I also wondered about reducing the form factor by using a Kemper Stage but remember lots of gripes when it first came out about reliability and hardware issues?

Finally, the age old 'Kemper 2' - I wouldn't want to get a Kemper just as a new version is coming out....

grappagreen

andyg_prs said:

Long story short - I've had and sold a Kemper twice (last time 3+ years ago) and they have some great aspects, in particular love the morphing function.

However, I found the dirt pedals a bit rubbish.....and also I had a weird bug where the whole thing would randomly sound like a cocked wah had been placed in there somewhere.  Sometimes even a complete factory reset and restore wouldn't fix it....or would fix it the 3rd or 4th time.

I mentioned this recently on the public Kemper forum and nobody had heard of it.....but I have friends who have experienced the same thing.

Anyhoo....I am playing with the idea of going back and wondered if much had changed.  I also wondered about reducing the form factor by using a Kemper Stage but remember lots of gripes when it first came out about reliability and hardware issues?

Finally, the age old 'Kemper 2' - I wouldn't want to get a Kemper just as a new version is coming out....

Hi Andy,

Each to their own but I own a Kemper Stage (my second Kemper). It's rock solid and I've gigged it about 300 times. I've never experienced the problems you have but I may just be lucky.

Has much changed? Well liquid profiling is new and works well. To be honest with the right profiles I never have to resort to dirt pedals and for me it's perfect and sounds great.

As for Kemper 2 - nobody has any idea, but if one came I'd still be happy with the one I have is it just does everything I need.

This was recorded using one of Bert M's SLO liquid profiles..

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/258015/hamer-chaparral-custom-1986-alan-murphy-style-demo#latest

Si

kennedydream1980

andyg_prs said:

Long story short - I've had and sold a Kemper twice (last time 3+ years ago) and they have some great aspects, in particular love the morphing function.

However, I found the dirt pedals a bit rubbish.....and also I had a weird bug where the whole thing would randomly sound like a cocked wah had been placed in there somewhere.  Sometimes even a complete factory reset and restore wouldn't fix it....or would fix it the 3rd or 4th time.

I mentioned this recently on the public Kemper forum and nobody had heard of it.....but I have friends who have experienced the same thing.

Anyhoo....I am playing with the idea of going back and wondered if much had changed.  I also wondered about reducing the form factor by using a Kemper Stage but remember lots of gripes when it first came out about reliability and hardware issues?

Finally, the age old 'Kemper 2' - I wouldn't want to get a Kemper just as a new version is coming out....

I just switched back to Kemper and I’m loving it. I switched back due to the new Liquid Profiling feature, however I haven’t really utilised it to its full potential. I am using Liquid profiles from Amalgam but I’m using their presets in their packs rather than dialing in the amp from the blank slate Liquid Profile. I think the modelled tone stacks that Kemper have introduced have improved the sound.

That cocked wah sound you mention I think is there to some degree in all legacy profiles. It’s a big part of the Kemper sound. I remember experiencing that on my first Kemper and thinking there was something wrong, some days my ears were more sensitive to it than others. However the new modelled tone stacks seem to have eliminated that sound. I don’t hear it at all on the liquid profiles I’ve purchased.

nero1701

Ive loved my kemper, Its been a great setup, I mainly stuck to a couple of profiles, which in the end was part of the decision to buy the amp that I spent most time modeling.

Lestratcaster

I've known a few people who have ended up selling their Kemper cos they can't quite replace that warm tube amp feel. I don't think I could go back to a proper amp though, love my Kemper too much as its so good for home playing when I can't crank up 4x12 cabs. Been getting more into loading new profiles now too. It gets quite addictive.

Also its taken me 3 years to realise turning off the power amp in the output sections stops the unit from heating up after prolonged use.

Lestratcaster

Oh and I brought up this topic a few years ago but this was before I bought my Kemper. Been trying to get this sound with it but not quite there yet, I think its a Fender 1965 Bassman BlackFace amp which I got the factory pack off the website, put loads of compression on in the amp settings and there's a pure boost on the profile. Fiddled a bit with the clarity/definition but can't quite get that breakup Ed gets when he hits the string with the back of his hand on the backbeat.



I got everything else, Strat neck pickup etc. What am I missing? Mid gain? Preamp gain? More compression? I've tried doing all these but can't seem to get that "spack" sound. Or am I simply not hitting the string hard enough on the backbeat haha.

Lestratcaster

Does anyone know what amp that might be in that clip? At first I thought it was a Fender Blackface type one but I saw somewhere he uses (or did use) a Vox AC15 C1 with his electrics. I've bought TopJimi and TAF Blackface packs and can't quite get that sparkly chime so I'm beginning to think if it really is a Vox amp instead. Its a relatively clean sound but has that "chkk" when he mutes and hammer on's on those strings.

susbemol

It looks like some cool new modulation options are coming soon:

grappagreen

The new stuff sounds great.. can't wait to explore