Former Kemper user, just bought axefx II

The other downside to the Kemper vs. the Fractal I found was you are solely dependant on other people's amp captures. Which includes their preamp, mics, mic placement, mic choice, speaker cab, speakers and amp settings. Yes you can tweak some, and there are plenty of good tones out there but nothing is really true to post tweaking of the real amp. Fractal is way more precise and legit to the actual amp settings. It's really all personal preference though. Both exceptional products but I favor the Fractal.

That's one of the hangups I'm having with the Kemper. For arguments sake, let's say the tones from the Kemper are, to some degree, more authentic. I still have a bit of an issue with the seeming lack of versatility and modularity. I don't see a way to mix and match amps and cabs or tinker with the innards of an amp / cab. For me that's a major drawback, but that's me. And whatever profile you're using is a singular snapshot of whatever settings that the setup was using at the time. I don't see a way to interact with the profile to faithfully mimic the effect achieved by turning knobs on the actual amp or cab the profile is based on. In other words, it seems rather limiting given the asking price.
 
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Love the kemper but the effects are horrible. So , I just bought an Axefx II. Primarily interested in clean fender tones but I also use dumbly and holdsworthian overdrives.

I haven't gotten my axefx yet but I have a few questions.

1) Will the built-in speaker impulses be good enough to get great cleans? What I use on the kemper is a '64 vibroverb set for no overdrive. It's profiled with a jensen 15 I believe which is a bit nasally for my tastes but it works for the most part. A 15" JBL might be a better bet...Looking forward to better digital time based effects that the kemper gives you, including 60s spring reverb.

Here's an example of what I get out of the kemper. Looking for something similar to start with.



2) What are some good patches to start with for clean, semi-clean dumble and violiny dumble-style leads?
3) What's the smallest rack that I can get for it? I don't need space for other gear.

thanks in advance!


Not to re-hijack the thread, but welcome! I recall messaging with you years ago (80's?) on rec.music.makers groups in the pre-web days.
Nice to see you aboard!
 
Welcome ! For a rack bag, I have a 4 space version of this gator bag... you will have to get a right angle power cable to make it fit, but even the 4 space bag will fit in an overhead compartment of a 737 or larger, if you do any fly dates...

LOTS of great people here, Cliff knows all, Yek is a wealth of knowledge and everything Wiki, Fremen does great work with presets, as well as Simeon and others...

Enjoy the ride... hope you find it as inspiring I do !
 
Hi Jzucker, If you can after having some experience with the axe could you tell us your expericene. I too had and Ultra that just sold, and In the future I will probably purchase the axe or kemper. Its not a Kemper vs axe thing (So people don't go crazy) just let us know your experience with both units and what you like a bout each.

thanks (Awesome playing)
 
I suggest taking this debate offline or in another thread? let's not sour jack's welcome aboard with anther "vs." argument... plz.
Sorry wasn't trying to cause a war. The title of the thread is that subject though. Just putting in my 2 cents having owned both units. Not bashing either product just stating my findings in hopes to help anyone trying to decide. I had a hard time choosing between the two units and couldn't find any threads before buying that weren't biased on bashing one product or the other. Both good products with pros and cons.
 
Jack, please tell us how you get this warm "Pat Martino" sound, whenever you have dialed it in on the Axe.

I'm playing around mixing 2 amps:
- JAZZ 120 together with DELUXE VERB VIB

Any other suggestion I can try ? :)
 
just got my axe home a few minutes ago. Using the USA clean with the gain turned all the way down and using a medium spring verb. With the tone control on the guitar all the way up, it sounds like Benson. With the tone control rolled back and a little less verb it sounds like Martino. Much better than the kemper for this application.
 
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