Plankspanker59
Member
To my ears. The Fractal Overdrive , cranked amp sounds seem to be a little less compressed sounding than the Kemper. This is only slightly . I am no ways near rich or even financially stable at times. However, I do not smoke cigs or have any really nasty habits . I am just a working class full time musician , so this gear are my tools of trade, not toys. It does take me a while to save up for such things. No matter what ones main gear is, it would be wise to have a back up of some kind in case of a major malfunction, so two two two units are better than one ! As it seems to be the case, if the clean sounds of the AXE III are at least as good as what I am getting with the Kemper, I am sure I will be pleased with it. With out a doubt , I know the actual FX on the AXE III are above and beyond the Kemper.Well, whether you decide to borrow a III for a trial, or take it out on the trail, I hope you'll drop in occasionally and leave us a little recording. I enjoyed what you've posted so far.
Yeah, I've DEFINITELY been down the gear trail.... still have a few amps I don't want to part with, and a sweet pedalboard, but no racks or half-stacks, anymore. Kept a Mark Sampson Star Sirius, a Deluxe I built, and a Goodsell Super 17, but mostly just playing the Fractal, now. Sold all but a handful of guitars and pedals.
I think you're on the right track researching first; there's nothing like playing and setting up presets to really understand the depth of the III, but you can get a good idea, especially, from the YouTube videos. I'd say learn all you can, and borrow, or trial-buy one, if you think that might suit you better than the Kemper. However, if the Kemper is working for you...don't fix it. I haven't tried the Kemper, so I can't give a valid comparison. The videos sound pretty darned good! From the tones I'm hearing in the videos, I do think you'd like the III, too. What the heck, if you're rich, why not both?!?!
I was actually looking for a Star Sirius when I came upon the Todd Sharp. The Star does sound better than the Matchless C 30 , Less Brittle and a little richer , more stable, low end . The Todd Sharp is similar, best way I can describe the Todd Sharp . . imagine a Matchless or Star with more ASS ! Thicker but still with all the chime. None conventional controls. Also , it is way more strat and single coil friendly . Never really liked a Strat through my Matchless all that much . Love it through the Todd Sharp.
I am in the same line of thinking , I have my two really good tube amps to use with a pedal board. Will not be looking for any more "Tube guitar amps" I believe I have as good as it will get as far as regular amps go ( And I can always use those with my Fryette PS 2 to add an extra 50 watts if I need LOUD ! ). So units like the Kemper & AXE III are the way to go > Now that both have much better "REAL" amp sounds now days than any just a few years ago. Finally got past that" barely useable" tones and now have "Very" useable tone!.
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