The Watering Hole

Check it out.  Some GREAT choices here.  That Jem is awesome even though I'm not completely sold on the color.  The pedal sounds KILLER from the samples I've heard, and the amp will probably be my next one.  Check it out.

http://www.guitarplanet.eu/332/date/2013/01/22/guitar-planet-gear-of-the-year-2012.html

no use for the pedal but I'll take the guitar and amp :)

I watched the vid and heard the word "Indonesian made" but reviews so far are off the charts on it, so it must be good.  The amp, oh yeah.  The pedal, I know... I know, you aren't a pedal guy.  But it seriously kicks butt at what it does.  

That said, I can't wait til the next trip to W Va since you told me that the one channel/setting is supposed to be like a Mark IIC.  That DOUBLES my interest in the amp and it's the one channel I didn't even briefly check out.  Where can I get some good info on this amp?  (Forum, user feedback etc.)  I know you mentioned you had been reading about them, but I don't think you mentioned where.  

just me, or does that pedal look like the knobs are the wrong size? too big... will have to scour EJ interviews to find out if that effects tone! ;)

that's what she said.  

I think it's just the angle.   She said that too.  

well played sir, well played.

It sounds pretty dang good from the PGS demos.  For my money, it's way too gainy to have "Tweed" in the name.  But I can build it if someone wants one... I've had good luck building Wampler stuff, although the Mids switch on the Pasiley drive is driving me nuts right now.

Ah sorry for the misinformation Howie, not supposed to be a IIC per se, but Mark-ish.  some of the samples I have heard have definitely had that flavor to them.

I've listened to more demos.  Had already watched the factory one with Tien about 10 times months ago.  Found some more.  Covers A TON of ground for sure.  Still think I need one.

Charger, I might take you up on that.  Got some gear moves to make as I think I'm going to get a Mini Rec.  If you do one up, I'd love to hear it.  IT does sound great in the demos.  

With respect to Guitar Planet, I'm not sure what planet they're from.  ;)
An Ibanez guitar, another Wampler pedal, and another "very old" Mesa Boogie, these things are Gear of the Year.   ;D

The Kemper was amongst the Gear of the Year in almost every other major magazine.
Searching Kemper on Guitar Planets website results in "no matches".  ::)

Come on Lance, isn't it clear?  They have their OWN planet!   ;D

The mini rec is not that old, is it?  I'm going to buy one to demo the Tokai's with!   :)

Lance — Feb 07, 2013With respect to Guitar Planet, I'm not sure what planet they're from.  ;)
An Ibanez guitar, another Wampler pedal, and another "very old" Mesa Boogie, these things are Gear of the Year.   ;D

The Kemper was amongst the Gear of the Year in almost every other major magazine.
Searching Kemper on Guitar Planets website results in "no matches".  ::)

The best amp have tubes......hence no Kemper! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Personally I was surprised how fast the Kemper "disappeared" after all the hype it seems to have dropped off the radar completely.  On the other hand, maybe it's just because I'm looking, but it definitely seems like the output of boutique and non-boutique tube amps is having a massive rebirth right now. I guess people still like tubes...

For all the tube-sniffers out there.  ;)
(Been awhile since I posted it so... WTH!  :D )

charger — Feb 08, 2013Personally I was surprised how fast the Kemper "disappeared" after all the hype it seems to have dropped off the radar completely.

Have your radar fixed, bro.  ;)

Fenderbender — Feb 08, 2013[quote author=Lance link=1358957916/0#9 date=1360267462]With respect to Guitar Planet, I'm not sure what planet they're from.  ;)
An Ibanez guitar, another Wampler pedal, and another "very old" Mesa Boogie, these things are Gear of the Year.   ;D

The Kemper was amongst the Gear of the Year in almost every other major magazine.
Searching Kemper on Guitar Planets website results in "no matches".  ::)

The best amp have tubes......hence no Kemper! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Record your tube amps and make them sound like this.  ;)

Charger will like this one, it reminds me of his backing track from many years ago, the one I used for the "Mother" clip.
https://soundcloud.com/jayapala/folk-song-kpa-d-clone-demo-dt

https://soundcloud.com/jayapala/kpa-2nd-pass-was-dirty-dr-now

https://soundcloud.com/okstrat/ej-fuzz-smoother

Lance — Feb 10, 2013[quote author=Fenderbender link=1358957916/0#11 date=1360286372][quote author=Lance link=1358957916/0#9 date=1360267462]With respect to Guitar Planet, I'm not sure what planet they're from.  ;)
An Ibanez guitar, another Wampler pedal, and another "very old" Mesa Boogie, these things are Gear of the Year.   ;D

The Kemper was amongst the Gear of the Year in almost every other major magazine.
Searching Kemper on Guitar Planets website results in "no matches".  ::)

The best amp have tubes......hence no Kemper! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Record your tube amps and make them sound like this.  ;)

Charger will like this one, it reminds me of his backing track from many years ago, the one I used for the "Mother" clip.
https://soundcloud.com/jayapala/folk-song-kpa-d-clone-demo-dt

https://soundcloud.com/jayapala/kpa-2nd-pass-was-dirty-dr-now

https://soundcloud.com/okstrat/ej-fuzz-smoother
<-----Not impressed

I do like Solid State amps for clean.  I think of Roland.  The clean was....OK.....the dirty I just couldn't listen to.  Didn't sound like a real amp to me.  But then again I've lost the hearing in one hear recently and maybe it's just me.

Lance — Feb 10, 2013[quote author=Fenderbender link=1358957916/0#11 date=1360286372][quote author=Lance link=1358957916/0#9 date=1360267462]With respect to Guitar Planet, I'm not sure what planet they're from.  ;)
An Ibanez guitar, another Wampler pedal, and another "very old" Mesa Boogie, these things are Gear of the Year.   ;D

The Kemper was amongst the Gear of the Year in almost every other major magazine.
Searching Kemper on Guitar Planets website results in "no matches".  ::)

The best amp have tubes......hence no Kemper! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Record your tube amps and make them sound like this.  ;)

Charger will like this one, it reminds me of his backing track from many years ago, the one I used for the "Mother" clip.
https://soundcloud.com/jayapala/folk-song-kpa-d-clone-demo-dt

https://soundcloud.com/jayapala/kpa-2nd-pass-was-dirty-dr-now

https://soundcloud.com/okstrat/ej-fuzz-smoother

Yeah that dude's an amazing player.  Very nice stuff.  I heard a couple of recognizable amps in there, some sort of tweed in one of the clips.  Some nice cleans... didn't like the efx, not sure if those were outboard, sounded like a freeze pedal or a short looper. Some nice heavy sounds.   That fuzz face sound was just too clean and sweet.  I've never heard a fuzz face that sounded anything like that... so nice and presentable--and I know that circuit, everyone knows it who build efx, it's just not a pretty sounding circuit.  But that's the digital, you take something that's a wild untamed beast and then photoshop it into a glossy, tame animal with a couple of knob twists.  

For me, there's just no way to replicate what a tube power section does under load, how it interacts with a speaker, how it plays back it you, compresses when you dig in, pushes back when you lay off.  You can capture moments in time of that with your dynamic modeling whatzit, but it's never going to be the same.  You've played tube amps, and in there somewhere, you know this is true.  Get a tube amp you love in a room with some other musicians and it's into the realm of the spiritual.  If I couldn't sit in that room and play the music live and loud, then I think digital would be my only resort.  

So I went home and listened on a different system altogether.  Still not impressed.  There is a certain sterility in the dirty stuff.  The nasty just doesn't have the bite that it should.  It's very edgy (in a very solid state way).  There is no ROAR to it.  No omph.  It doesn't breathe.  It doesn't seem alive.

I think it only sounds GREAT to some people because of the player.  A good player will sound good on about anything.  Doesn't matter what the guitar or amp is.

I'm not trying to be a dick and just naysay against you Lance.  It's nothing like that at all.  There is this almost indescribable thing that happens in a tube amp that just doesn't happen in a solid state amp.

The Axe-FX is still more impressive to me than the Kemper.  

To me this technology is better served trying to be something different rather than copying all the great tube amps.  These things get more interesting when you fiddle with the effects part of it.  But ultimately you end up twiddling knobs like a mad scientist for hours, when all you had to do is plug and play with a couple of effects boxes and an amp.  It's just right there.  None of that parameter adjusting shit is required.

Don't get me wrong.  There are interesting applications for all that shit.  But to me it's just so uninteresting.  Close isn't close enough.  It either can produce it exactly or it ain't producing it right.

There are 3 amps that are solid state that I would own.  
1.  Lab Series L5.......the best of the bunch IMHO  had a buddy that owned one years ago and that amp was the tits.  
2.  Roland Jazz Chorus.  I don't even need to defend this.  
3.  I played a Hughes and Kettner amp years ago.....can't remember which one it was.  But it sounded so much like a tube amp I thought it was one.  

I had 2 Vettas.  The first one and the 2nd series.  Neither lasted.

Played an Axe FX.....through a Bogner Ecstacy.....don't really know how much of that tone was the Bogner.  

Have yet to be impressed by anything on the Kemper front.  

I'm not anti-solid state.  I love distortion pedals as a gain stage... in fact as much as, or more than, tubes most of the time.  Solid state amps I've loved include the pignose, and a whole range of bass amps that kill. I don't mind modelers as distortion generating devices or as fx boxes.  I only have two small problems with the Kemper. One is I would not spend that much money on something that wasn't hand-wired, built somewhat to my spec, and using a tube power supply.  I just wouldn't, I don't have that kind of money to spend on something that isn't a work of wiring genius.  2nd is that, as an "effect" box I find the fx themselves underwhelming.  The distortion is nice, but something like the fractal, or even the line6 M9, kills it in terms of fx.  I do know there are guys who love the Kemper and have good reasons for it.  Maybe at some point I'll be too old and hard of hearing to stand in the studio with the drums and a loud amp.  You never know...

The Kemper is a groundbreaking piece of gear.  Not because Lance is a distributor, just because it is.  I have heard some demos that were VERY impressive.  But the technology and tone are what makes it groundbreaking.  You don't have to like every clip you've heard, or even ANY of them to make this true.  I've seen more than one video where they "profile" and amp and then go back and forth between them and it's dead on the original.  If not identical, so close that live or in the studio, you could make it too close to call.  

Any particular clip that Lance or anyone else puts up may or may not tickle your fancy.  The fact that I could get this and then road trip to see Derek, Paul and Sheep and have about 7-8 great amps in there when I get home is incredible.  

FB, remember the effects are models as well.  You ever played two fuzz pedals that were identical?  Ask Charger now that he's into it.  In the DIY world, guys who sell germaniums for these things list the specs on them because they are ALL OVER the place.  Do you want a matched pair or a specific mis-match in your Fuzz Face?  How much gain?  

I know what you are saying that this particular fuzz wasn't exactly what you want.  But you've read in the REAL world where guys tried 25 fuzz pedals to find the one  they wanted.  Or, had one for years that was THE BEST then found a better one.  What is "better" is up to the individual.  What you heard may be one you wouldn't choose.  But the cool thing about the Kemper is, once you have THE ONE, model that one.  ;)

Lance isn't trying to sell you guys one of these.  LOL  In fact, when I asked him about one, he said that he could sell me one but since these are readily available here, that I could actually get one for the same price or maybe even cheaper, locally than he could import one for.  He's just sharing what it can do.  

Best solid-state amp I ever had was the SansAmp PSA-1.  I currently don't have anything except three tube preamps and one tube poweramp...  Oh well.  :)

Fenderbender — Feb 12, 2013So I went home and listened on a different system altogether.  Still not impressed.  There is a certain sterility in the dirty stuff.  The nasty just doesn't have the bite that it should.  It's very edgy (in a very solid state way).  There is no ROAR to it.  No omph.  It doesn't breathe.  It doesn't seem alive.

 

Matt, it's a recording.  :)...and it's David Torn's style of play and the crazy tones he likes using...I don't particularly like his choice of tones.

Put a mike in front of your favourite amp and record it, you'll lose a lot the ROAR, the omph and the "breathe" that you're talking about.
No recording will ever sound like the amp speakers sitting a yard away from you in your room.

Remember Peter?
Here's a recording we did with the Kemper the first day I got it, in other words, using stock Profiles as is no fancy tweaking...Texas Special pickups in his Strat.
Tokai Les Paul for the heavy rhythm and lead for second section of clip.
I doubt a mic'd tube amp will sound any better.

https://soundcloud.com/temper59/kemper-profiling-amp-foxglove

And a different flavour, my buddy Robin Gallagher (Fender SAfrica)...best guitar player I've ever witnessed.  :o
He has access to every Fender amp on the market, he's miked them all, doesn't bother anymore, the Kemper smokes his previous recordings.
Recorded this on a little Boss desktop recorder.

https://soundcloud.com/temper59/robin-gallagher-the-kemper

My friend, guitar tech, Grant, fucking around, he didn't know I was recording him...a Matchless Chieftan Profile...stock USA Standard Strat.

https://soundcloud.com/temper59/the-chief-dirty-1

charger — Feb 11, 2013[quote author=Lance link=1358957916/0#15 date=1360521566][quote author=Fenderbender link=1358957916/0#11 date=1360286372][quote author=Lance link=1358957916/0#9 date=1360267462]With respect to Guitar Planet, I'm not sure what planet they're from.  ;)
An Ibanez guitar, another Wampler pedal, and another "very old" Mesa Boogie, these things are Gear of the Year.   ;D

The Kemper was amongst the Gear of the Year in almost every other major magazine.
Searching Kemper on Guitar Planets website results in "no matches".  ::)

The best amp have tubes......hence no Kemper! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Record your tube amps and make them sound like this.  ;)

Charger will like this one, it reminds me of his backing track from many years ago, the one I used for the "Mother" clip.
https://soundcloud.com/jayapala/folk-song-kpa-d-clone-demo-dt

https://soundcloud.com/jayapala/kpa-2nd-pass-was-dirty-dr-now

https://soundcloud.com/okstrat/ej-fuzz-smoother

Get a tube amp you love in a room with some other musicians and it's into the realm of the spiritual.   

I can't disagree with this.

Lance — Feb 13, 2013[quote author=charger link=1358957916/0#17 date=1360613724][quote author=Lance link=1358957916/0#15 date=1360521566][quote author=Fenderbender link=1358957916/0#11 date=1360286372][quote author=Lance link=1358957916/0#9 date=1360267462]With respect to Guitar Planet, I'm not sure what planet they're from.  ;)
An Ibanez guitar, another Wampler pedal, and another "very old" Mesa Boogie, these things are Gear of the Year.   ;D

The Kemper was amongst the Gear of the Year in almost every other major magazine.
Searching Kemper on Guitar Planets website results in "no matches".  ::)

The best amp have tubes......hence no Kemper! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Record your tube amps and make them sound like this.  ;)

Charger will like this one, it reminds me of his backing track from many years ago, the one I used for the "Mother" clip.
https://soundcloud.com/jayapala/folk-song-kpa-d-clone-demo-dt

https://soundcloud.com/jayapala/kpa-2nd-pass-was-dirty-dr-now

https://soundcloud.com/okstrat/ej-fuzz-smoother

Get a tube amp you love in a room with some other musicians and it's into the realm of the spiritual.   

I can't disagree with this.


You still have that Fandango and Vibrolux?  Man I'd like to have one of those Fandangos, would be an excellent amp for our jam setup.

My current lust amp is a Tweed Vibrolux.  I played one at my local shop, from 1959.  It has every bit of the tonality I like--dark, warm, big and fat, even though it's got a 10" speaker.  Of course, no breakup and just gain and tone plus the vibro controls. Being from 1959, it is priced at $1750.  My next amp project is to build one, from the chassis up (probably a $400 project).  It's got a very simple schematic and very beautiful layout... see it here:
http://www.thevintagesound.com/ffg/schem/vibrolux_5e11_layout.gif
My plan is to build an amp based on this, to try to replicate the warmth, while adding another half a tube of gain stage and possibly a reverb. It's already got my preferred cathodyne (split-load) phase inverter, which no one uses anymore, but which is the greatest thing ever, especially when you add a pot to allow you to balance the mix between the two halves of the PI...

You remember my Vibrolux?...the story is insane.

If you recall, by chance I happened to be walking past a pawn shop and decided to check it out.
Long story short, it was tucked behind some old printers and I happened to see the grillcloth, realised it was an amp and walked out with it...at the time I paid $150 (R950).

But, I had a feeling all was not 100% Kosher.  :)
Anyway, when was that, about 6 or 7 years ago?

Moving on.
Three and a half years ago I got the Tokai distribution in SA.
As the months went by I was starting to meet all the big pro musos in SAfrica, guys I never knew before because I wasn't in the 'business'.
About 18 months ago we organised a tribute gig for a buddy of mine who has cancer of the pancreas and needed seriously expensive treatment in Germany...he's a session guitarist, owns an incredible studio as well.
Anyway, Dan Patlansky played on the gig, a few other guys, and another band who had a killer old school blues guitarist playing some seriously good slide...he's also a amp builder and guitar tech.
Very cool guy, Wayne Cochran, met him after the gig, ended up buying a Tokai from me.
Two months later I'm at a friends gig and Wayne's also there.
So we're sitting and chatting and he starts telling me about his favourite amp of all time, his 66 Vibrolux Reverb that was stolen from him.  ;D

lol, do I tell him or do I shut TF up.
I decide to tell him...man I felt like a real dick.
He was like where's the amp I'll buy it back from you, and then I tell him I sent it to the USA and sold it there.
When I told him what I paid he nearly puked on the table.
Luckily he was very cool about it.

Actually, my buddy Grant now owns my Fandango...I sold it during my divorce, needed the cash.
So it's very close to home, still in mint condition and I'm pretty sure he'd sell it back to me at half the price I paid for it when I bought it....but I simply don't have the funds to buy it back, I use every cent I possess to pay for Kemper and Tokai orders.

Lance — Feb 13, 2013[quote author=Fenderbender link=1358957916/0#18 date=1360643107]So I went home and listened on a different system altogether.  Still not impressed.  There is a certain sterility in the dirty stuff.  The nasty just doesn't have the bite that it should.  It's very edgy (in a very solid state way).  There is no ROAR to it.  No omph.  It doesn't breathe.  It doesn't seem alive.

 

Matt, it's a recording.  :)...and it's David Torn's style of play and the crazy tones he likes using...I don't particularly like his choice of tones.

Put a mike in front of your favourite amp and record it, you'll lose a lot the ROAR, the omph and the "breathe" that you're talking about.
No recording will ever sound like the amp speakers sitting a yard away from you in your room.

Remember Peter?
Here's a recording we did with the Kemper the first day I got it, in other words, using stock Profiles as is no fancy tweaking...Texas Special pickups in his Strat.
Tokai Les Paul for the heavy rhythm and lead for second section of clip.
I doubt a mic'd tube amp will sound any better.

https://soundcloud.com/temper59/kemper-profiling-amp-foxglove

And a different flavour, my buddy Robin Gallagher (Fender SAfrica)...best guitar player I've ever witnessed.  :o
He has access to every Fender amp on the market, he's miked them all, doesn't bother anymore, the Kemper smokes his previous recordings.
Recorded this on a little Boss desktop recorder.

https://soundcloud.com/temper59/robin-gallagher-the-kemper

My friend, guitar tech, Grant, fucking around, he didn't know I was recording him...a Matchless Chieftan Profile...stock USA Standard Strat.

https://soundcloud.com/temper59/the-chief-dirty-1





There ya go.  Now I can say I HAVE heard clips of the KEmper that I like!  Thanks

DreamTheaterRules — Feb 12, 2013The Kemper is a groundbreaking piece of gear.  Not because Lance is a distributor, just because it is.  I have heard some demos that were VERY impressive.  But the technology and tone are what makes it groundbreaking.  You don't have to like every clip you've heard, or even ANY of them to make this true.  I've seen more than one video where they "profile" and amp and then go back and forth between them and it's dead on the original.  If not identical, so close that live or in the studio, you could make it too close to call.  

Any particular clip that Lance or anyone else puts up may or may not tickle your fancy.  The fact that I could get this and then road trip to see Derek, Paul and Sheep and have about 7-8 great amps in there when I get home is incredible.  

FB, remember the effects are models as well.  You ever played two fuzz pedals that were identical?  Ask Charger now that he's into it.  In the DIY world, guys who sell germaniums for these things list the specs on them because they are ALL OVER the place.  Do you want a matched pair or a specific mis-match in your Fuzz Face?  How much gain?  

I know what you are saying that this particular fuzz wasn't exactly what you want.  But you've read in the REAL world where guys tried 25 fuzz pedals to find the one  they wanted.  Or, had one for years that was THE BEST then found a better one.  What is "better" is up to the individual.  What you heard may be one you wouldn't choose.  But the cool thing about the Kemper is, once you have THE ONE, model that one.  ;)

Lance isn't trying to sell you guys one of these.  LOL  In fact, when I asked him about one, he said that he could sell me one but since these are readily available here, that I could actually get one for the same price or maybe even cheaper, locally than he could import one for.  He's just sharing what it can do.  

I know Howie.  I'm that guy that never had a fuzz pedal cause I could never find anything I liked.  Till I got the one I got and I love that one.