Tijl Carrein
New Member
Hello everyone.
This last year has been an exhilarating ride with this box of wonders: at home through my studio monitors, the Kemper has been my pride and joy and I dare not contemplate on how much time I spend playing for hours on end…
I hope the following story will help some people out who are cotemplating on buying a Kemper.
Here goes...
From the bat, this is by no means a complaint about the Kemper, it's great but it just lacked in one area and one area alone, albeit a very important one… playing live. Mind you, I’m not talking the big stages through a mid-sized or bigger PA system -here the Kemper is unrivalled in my humble opinion- but when using with a cab or FRFR solution in small clubs and smaller venues…
I play a local cover band and alas the ‘big’ stages only come by once in a while, we play a lot of small venues and for the last year I owned the Kemper, I tried to match the sheer brutality and depth of both my fellow guitar players in the band:
I tried to ignore it for the longest time… I tried multiple setups: Matrix GT1000FX, Mesa 2:90, Camplifier 360, my friends powered Kemper… with ultimately my old Marshall EL34 50/50 yielding the best results…. ‘somewhat’ close, but definitely no cigar. Mind you, I tried all sorts of profiles: my own, Michael Britt, Choptones, Top Jimi, Bert Meulendijk…). I tried Studio’s, Merged, Direct, IR's, you name it.
My dad and Davy, two very loyal friends who have been supporting our band Fixxxer (from Belgium) from the very beginning 17 years ago both said that indeed through big PA’s the Kemper sounded great, but in local venues, the Kemper gets lost in the mix and that 'my sound' has been long gone since I stopped using my TriAxis and H&K Access with the EL34 power amp… with several friends confirming this phenomenon. It’s not a matter of volume or EQ’ing: stand alone, the Kemper delivered, but in the band mix, it lacked so much punch…
So I took the plunge: I got my ‘old rack’ out (alas the TriAxis was sold together with the Axe FX Ultra I used for effects and midi control to fund the acquisition of the Kemper) so it was just merely my H&K Access into my Marshal EL 34 50/50 into my cab… no bells, no whistles…. Man, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing: massive, bone crunching, face melting hard rock tone!! An experience I forgot it existed… During rehearsal that night, my playing was never been so tight, notes bounced of the frets, power chords and two string chops, palm mutes all went through my stomach rambling my very inner soul… I left with a big grin on my face…and very confused indeed…
My green ‘studio baby’ is gone, sold to a fellow musician from our great capital… where it will be used with love and care, no doubt.
Luckily, the Kemper (with the Camplifier 360) had great resell value, so I ended up getting enough to not only fund a used Axe FX II XL+ in pristine condition, but my merchant skills also left me with a starting budget for getting that illusive TriAxis back…
For now the Axe will be used in 4CM, so any advice on this is greatly aprreciated.
Tijl
This last year has been an exhilarating ride with this box of wonders: at home through my studio monitors, the Kemper has been my pride and joy and I dare not contemplate on how much time I spend playing for hours on end…
I hope the following story will help some people out who are cotemplating on buying a Kemper.
Here goes...
From the bat, this is by no means a complaint about the Kemper, it's great but it just lacked in one area and one area alone, albeit a very important one… playing live. Mind you, I’m not talking the big stages through a mid-sized or bigger PA system -here the Kemper is unrivalled in my humble opinion- but when using with a cab or FRFR solution in small clubs and smaller venues…
I play a local cover band and alas the ‘big’ stages only come by once in a while, we play a lot of small venues and for the last year I owned the Kemper, I tried to match the sheer brutality and depth of both my fellow guitar players in the band:
- Jim plays a JCM900 with GT-10 in 4CM into a Marshall 1960b, and in spite of what people say about the JCM900, it sounds huge and immense. A simple Sennheiser e609 delivers all that punch straight to the desk which gives an amazing sound through PA and in my IEM’s.
- Nicolas plays a Mesa Dual Rectifier solo head with a Helix in 4CM into a Mesa 4x12 OS recto cab and it’s bone crunching. Again, a simple e609 delivers all that grind straight to the desk and in my IEM’s.
I tried to ignore it for the longest time… I tried multiple setups: Matrix GT1000FX, Mesa 2:90, Camplifier 360, my friends powered Kemper… with ultimately my old Marshall EL34 50/50 yielding the best results…. ‘somewhat’ close, but definitely no cigar. Mind you, I tried all sorts of profiles: my own, Michael Britt, Choptones, Top Jimi, Bert Meulendijk…). I tried Studio’s, Merged, Direct, IR's, you name it.
My dad and Davy, two very loyal friends who have been supporting our band Fixxxer (from Belgium) from the very beginning 17 years ago both said that indeed through big PA’s the Kemper sounded great, but in local venues, the Kemper gets lost in the mix and that 'my sound' has been long gone since I stopped using my TriAxis and H&K Access with the EL34 power amp… with several friends confirming this phenomenon. It’s not a matter of volume or EQ’ing: stand alone, the Kemper delivered, but in the band mix, it lacked so much punch…
So I took the plunge: I got my ‘old rack’ out (alas the TriAxis was sold together with the Axe FX Ultra I used for effects and midi control to fund the acquisition of the Kemper) so it was just merely my H&K Access into my Marshal EL 34 50/50 into my cab… no bells, no whistles…. Man, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing: massive, bone crunching, face melting hard rock tone!! An experience I forgot it existed… During rehearsal that night, my playing was never been so tight, notes bounced of the frets, power chords and two string chops, palm mutes all went through my stomach rambling my very inner soul… I left with a big grin on my face…and very confused indeed…
My green ‘studio baby’ is gone, sold to a fellow musician from our great capital… where it will be used with love and care, no doubt.
Luckily, the Kemper (with the Camplifier 360) had great resell value, so I ended up getting enough to not only fund a used Axe FX II XL+ in pristine condition, but my merchant skills also left me with a starting budget for getting that illusive TriAxis back…
For now the Axe will be used in 4CM, so any advice on this is greatly aprreciated.
Tijl