Kemper Impressions

singemonkey

I got to hear, and play through, Joe Moore's Kemper profiling amplifier at EZ's place the other day.

It was connected up to EZ's 2x12 Marshall cabinet with G12H30s that I know very well. As a result the cabinet modelling/profiling whatchamacallit was turned off. It's slightly smaller than you might think. About the size of a small tube head.

I finally got to understand what the millions of buttons on the device's very unattractive interface are for. So nothing is redundant. You can control every aspect of a guitar rig from this one device. All your effects units can be used from profiles and individually tweaked.

The sound quality is well-beyond modelling amps and effects units–any of them. Every profile sounds exactly like the amplifier or effects unit in question. So the Singemonkey is sold? Selling all his amps and effects to buy one? Not quite.

It sounds exactly like a recording of the amplifier. A good recording. A top-notch studio recording. But it doesn't give the feeling of a live amplifier in the room with you. For me, but not for everyone, the valve guitar amplifier is part of the instrument. The sound box of the guitar. It has a very different feel when you're playing it to the Kemper, or any recording of the amplifier.

This will make no difference to the audience. In fact, if I mic up my amp with say, a Senheisser E609, it's not going to sound as good through the PA as the Kemper. But it does make a difference to me on the stage.

If I were using a Kemper, I'd ditch guitar cabinets (what's the point? Big heavy, and adding little to the Kemper's work-flow) and run a line to a powered monitor and straight to the PA. Guitar cabinets are totally redundant with this system, IMO. You want to run this stuff into a hi-fi power amplifier.

So do I think the Kemper is over-rated or worthless? Not at all. There's a kind of guitar player for whom this thing is heaven sent. The guitar player who is duplicating the sound of various recordings and guitar rigs professionally. You will not get a better duplication of those sounds without a truck-load of guitar gear (and it's unlikely that it'll sound as 'right' live as the Kemper even then). This is a single box that does everything. And it does it perfectly.

But if, like me, you're going for your own signature sound, this stuff is completely unnecessary. A single small tube amp will sound as good, and costs a fraction of the price. Why do I want 5,000 different amp profiles? I've got one that sounds frickin' awesome. And I also respond to the raw sound coming out of my loudspeaker. The Kemper gives phenomenal sound, but at one remove–the sound of the miked up feed from the amp.

You know what? If I could get the profile, just the one, of the Trainwreck Express, in a stomp-box with cabinet profiling and an out to the PA, and nothing else, I'd happily pay R2,000 for it as a backup system for when I don't or can't have my amp. That profile sounds like God. But the full Kemper is only truly worth it to a certain kind of pro guitar player IMO. For others it's overkill.

And I hope they won't make that stomp-box look like a karaoke system.

ezietsman

He pretty much summed it up perfectly. I was really impressed by how accurate the profiles are. Yes they sound like mic'd up amps but I can hardly mic up and record my own amp that well. Also, you have the option of a bunch of different amps (Trainwreck, Plexi <3) and effects. Joe Moore's Kemper has an aftermarket power amp built-in so we could use it through my cabinet, that would make a really nice gigging rig as well as a play-any-time-of-the-day amp and recording rig.

I still feel they're pricey. For me, I don't really care for every amp in the world, there's a couple of classic amps I'd like to own and I'm busy building them one by one. Yes, its more expensive that way but I get to have some fun along the way. So if I had a Kemper I'd probably only use 4 or 5 profiles ever.

Either way, epic piece of gear. If you have one of these you can throw away your floorpedals and that clean amp of yours. This thing rocks.

Keira-WitherKay

a kemper and yes i too have played through one ... is a must buy for any studio session muso or even for a studio owner who can dispense of all that pesky mic'ing at sessions and and having to have special amp rooms to record loud amps....and of course can get recordings done that sound like the amps on 11 through 4x12 cab and not disturb the neighbours ..

so yes an essential item for that market

**but yes i agree 100% with Singemonkey ... definitely NOT an essential tool for the gigging muso ...especially doing original music ......cos when i play in my indie alternate band The Bad Sheep i play a tele into an Engl 1x 12 50W tube amp and get exactly the sound i like and i get the sound guy to mic it up and i get ....like Singemonkey said ..THAT 1 sound but THATS MY SOUND and i don't need more................

so would i use a Kemper unit if i had one ...yes of course i would ...

do i have any complaints about the unit NOT at all .........

would i like one if father xmas dropped one off...hell yes ........

BUT do i NEED one as a gigging muso ...not at all in fact if i had that amount of money to spend i'd buy more vintage tube amps or guitars ....

Danny-B

Spot on! I disagree with two points tho

1) in my experience I can divest myself from the emotional attachment to a live amp and still perform exactly the same as well as enjoy it just as much;
2) the Kemper is not limited to cover gigs or copying others sound - as a tool, it's extremely creative and versatile.

I have had a few valve amps that I loved, that I toured and recorded. I also had an enormous pedalboard with some of the best pedals on the market (pics of which are floating around here). I sold all of it and bought a Kemper and othe studio bits. I am extremely happy with my decision.

I rationalized it as such:
1) music isn't solipsistic - I think other people's experience of a recording/performance is vital
2) other people's experience of an electric guitar is almost always one in which the guitar amp is miked up
3) the Kemper sounds like an incredible, miked up amp (yes it does not have the amp in the room sound, but I think it's possible to divest oneself of that when considering the benfits)
4) for my use, as a touring musician playing in well equipped venues, I was getting tired of lugging a pedal board around and using different back line every time. I realized my tone wasn't in the amps, but in my personal performance (sort of 'tone is in the fingers' without getting too earth love and peace about it). Where as I used to be convinced that I had to use my 1963 bassman cab and my NOS valve filled laney lionheart, after touring and cutting a few tracks without my amps I realized that the song and the performance was more important than an amp, and that good tone can be found anywhere with a good ear.

I'm extremely happy with the Kemper, and have produced a few tracks that sound really really great (relying solely on the Kemper for bass and guitar tone). What I've also done is recorded both the Kemper and a mic'd amp simultaneously with a DI track, which makes for a very versatile recording solution.

Obviously my context is entirely different from you guys, but I think the Kemper is a creative and powerful tool.

Danny-B

Further, good gear is vital. I wouldn't have replaced my amps and pedals with a zoom. I'm just interested in bridging the analog digital dichotomy.

ezietsman

Yeah, I agree, the actual gear one uses to do the thing is not all that important. If these things are only tools then you use whatever makes the most sense in various ways. The Kemper is a phenomenal piece of equipment for someone who wants to sculpt their own sound and add effects or use a large variety of sounds for recording or during a gig.

For me, part of the joy of electric guitars is the different looks, textures and sounds you get from different guitars and amps. I like just LOOKING at them. Each of them has their flaws which forces you to play around those and that is fun too. So in a way, while I was playing the Kemper, the sounds were amazing but I kept feeling that this thing is not real. This is probably just because I "know" its not 'real' and basically just my own bias towards analogue amplifiers with their flimsy valves and dangerous voltages.

There is the problem with the sounds that sound like a mic'd up amp yet it looks like an amp in the room, but that is only apparent for a while then you get used to it.

I'm not convinced a Kemper is for me. I'm not the kind of guitarist who needs a lot of different sounds, in the bands I play in (blues, rock, murder-rock), I can get by with my HT5, 18 watt or tweed and an overdrive pedal and any one of my guitars. I also feel that it being a digital device (basically a computer) it's not going to be around in 10 or 15 years' time, whereas my valve amps will still be going strong, as long as I can get valves for them.

Horses for courses I guess. If someone gave me one I wouldn't say no.

singemonkey

Yeah. So Danny B, when I talk about duplicating a lot of sounds, I'm not just talking about cover bands. I'm also talking about people like you who, I presume, want to be able to accurately duplicate your album sound on the stage. And when you've used a lot of gear in the studio to achieve these sounds, something like a Kemper is the best way to be able to reproduce it live.

I'm more the kind of person who'll use a single amp for recording. And I'm not fussed if my live sound is different to the recorded sound–I'm sort of old-fashioned in that way. So to me the 'vibe' of my little 1x12 combo on the stage with me is more important.

But I don't think we're in disagreement. For most professional musicians, the Kemper is going to be a better solution. Many pros have been finding ways of dealing with this for years that weren't as good (you think of the 30W combo hidden behind the pair of Marshall stacks). One of the luxuries of being an 'amateur' (even if you earn a trickle of cash) is not having to worry so much about the practicalities and logistics when gigging.

So the Kemper is an incredible piece of kit. But surplus to requirements with most 'bar bands,' I think.

free2rhyme

Is it worth the hype... yup.

I love my Kemper, does everything I need. Guitar and bass.
I use it through a 500w powered 15" speaker that JP is building me ?

I was a gear whore before getting a Kemper and I dont see me buying another guitar or bass amp ever again.

Real valve tone? Good enough for me and for people at gigs, I can finally play over the number 1 volume. Lightweight - no more lugging around a Mesa or EVH for me. No more worries of valves dying mid show or dodgy power taking out the sensitive electronics. I dont miss valve one bit.

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