The Watering Hole

Jon — Sep 19, 2011The funny thing is, the harder I work the luckier I get ....

I find the more ENERGY I put in the more energy I get out...kind of what you're saying but using different words.  :)

As Tom Lehrer once said....

"Life is like a sewer, the more you put into it the more you get out of it"  ;D

Some clips using some of the stock profiles.

Using a Mesa Roadking profile...and Tele
http://piller.at/music/kemper/reamps/davidm_kpa-fischer-roadking.mp3

A JCM800 profile...335 I think
http://piller.at/music/kemper/reamps/javi-lp_kpa-bossert-jcm-dlyverb.mp3

And some guys profile of his Retro channel of his Lance Keltner amp (whatever that is)...Tele as well.
http://piller.at/music/kemper/reamps/javi-esp_kpa-hossrr1.mp3

Sounds pretty damn good to my ears.

Remember the Nashville demo where they profiled a Matchless?

Here's a clip that's been re-amped using that Matchless profile.

http://piller.at/music/kemper/reamps/javi_warmoth_kpa_matchless_nashville.mp3

And here's a profile of the 1st Preset on the Axe-FX, "Studio Lead"....also re-amped using the Kemper.
The Kemper can profile every amp sim on the Axe-FX, HD500, whatever.

Here's the clean unprocessed clip.
http://piller.at/music/kemper/reamps/javi_warmoth_dry.zip

Same clip re-amped through the Kemper using the Axe-FX preset..
http://piller.at/music/kemper/reamps/javi_warmoth_kpa_axefx_studiolead.mp3

The profiling process is very cool.  Many positive aspects, intriguing possibilities and it sounds good in those clips Lance.

I'd like one...

Listen to this clip, just some noodling through some of the profiles.

Especially listen at 11:42 on the clip...I dont recall any previous or current modeller sounding like this...sounds like a very well mic'd tube amp to my ears...the guitar volume knob is being used to control the gain.

http://soundcloud.com/bt-king/changing-rigs-111002

Wtf? What profile is that?  :o

Zonta — Oct 02, 2011Wtf? What profile is that?  :o

The guys just randomly switching through some of the stock profiles in the unit.
He's taken some of the stock profiles, added some delay/reverb, etc, then saved them as rigs...he just noodled and scrolled through some of his saved rigs.

Are you asking what profile he's using at 11:42?...dunno, I'll ask him.

You want one?  ;D

How much?

Zonta — Oct 02, 2011How much?

As far as I know it's 1450 Euros in Europe and $1800 in the USA.

I'll wait for a couple of months and see.  8-)

I'm blown the fuck away!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0932EwJJvcw

Lance — Oct 03, 2011I'm blown the fuck away!

You will be if Australia takes the SpringBoks out!  ;)

(Sorry Lance, but I'm predicting Wales versus the All Blacks in the final - You've got one TOUGH bracket there! :) )

CraigBert — Oct 03, 2011[quote author=Lance link=1312399097/100#111 date=1317659762]I'm blown the fuck away!

You will be if Australia takes the SpringBoks out!  ;)

(Sorry Lance, but I'm predicting Wales versus the All Blacks in the final - You've got one TOUGH bracket there! :) )


I'm with you, I think Australia will beat us, they're a very clever side, too clever for us.
It will be a war, and we might beat them upfront in the scrums, but they'll change their game plan during the game, run all kinds of crazy angles at our defence, and we'll fall apart.
I agree with your Wales choice as well.

Remember, I said from the beginning, I'd bet my apartment on the All Blacks.  :)

We're going to watch the Ireland/Wales match at an Irish bar of all things - THAT should be interesting!  My business partner might be the only guy there in Welsh attire...  We may need to buy some shots of whiskey to get out alive if Wales wins!  ;D

Kemper Profiling session of a Soldano SLO100.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErZfk5sz82A&feature=player_embedded

And a Deluxe Reverb profiling session.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSBaM6-Gl64&feature=player_embedded

Profile of a Framus Cobra, soundclip.

http://soundcloud.com/groups/kemper-profiling-amplifier-the-tracks-of-the-people

CraigBert — Oct 04, 2011We're going to watch the Ireland/Wales match at an Irish bar of all things - THAT should be interesting!  My business partner might be the only guy there in Welsh attire...  We may need to buy some shots of whiskey to get out alive if Wales wins!  ;D

How fucking ridiculous was that SA VS Australia game?
We dominated them, hurt them, beat them in every facet of the game, and then lost.  ;D  :'(

Like I said at the beginning, put your house on the All Blacks to win the WC...it's a banker right now, the cup is theirs.

Thanks to work crap we didn't make it out, but still a good thumping by Wales.  I was a bit surprised by France taking a 16-0 lead by half time.  I guess you were right about the 'Roos over the Boks!  ;)

The Haka will rule over Australia, now the Welsh must beat the Frogs...

Lookin' like the 24 year drought for the All Blacks will be over!  :)

CraigBert — Oct 11, 2011Thanks to work crap we didn't make it out, but still a good thumping by Wales.  I was a bit surprised by France taking a 16-0 lead by half time.  I guess you were right about the 'Roos over the Boks!  ;)

The Haka will rule over Australia, now the Welsh must beat the Frogs...

Lookin' like the 24 year drought for the All Blacks will be over!  :)

The Welsh should beat the frogs, but the frogs are so unpredictable who knows how they'll play on the day...who knows if they'll even arrive at the game.  ;D

Yeah the All Blacks should take out the Aussies, and then destroy either France of Wales...end of story. :)

It would be a travesty if a player like Richie McCaw never lifted the World Cup at least once in his career...he's a genius rugby player and a GREAT guy as well...so I'm all for the All Blacks winning the WC.

Lance — Oct 10, 2011Kemper Profiling session of a Soldano SLO100.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErZfk5sz82A&feature=player_embedded

And a Deluxe Reverb profiling session.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSBaM6-Gl64&feature=player_embedded

Profile of a Framus Cobra, soundclip.

http://soundcloud.com/groups/kemper-profiling-amplifier-the-tracks-of-the-people

No comments?  :)

oops. I missed that in all the rugby talk.  I'll check them out.  

Lance — Oct 12, 2011[quote author=Lance link=1312399097/100#115 date=1318260634]Kemper Profiling session of a Soldano SLO100.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErZfk5sz82A&feature=player_embedded

And a Deluxe Reverb profiling session.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSBaM6-Gl64&feature=player_embedded

Profile of a Framus Cobra, soundclip.

http://soundcloud.com/groups/kemper-profiling-amplifier-the-tracks-of-the-people

No comments?  :)


Identical tonewise. Literally Identical.

Dunno if it also "feels" identical. Have to test myself.

Lance — Oct 12, 2011[quote author=Lance link=1312399097/100#115 date=1318260634]Kemper Profiling session of a Soldano SLO100.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErZfk5sz82A&feature=player_embedded

And a Deluxe Reverb profiling session.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSBaM6-Gl64&feature=player_embedded

Profile of a Framus Cobra, soundclip.

http://soundcloud.com/groups/kemper-profiling-amplifier-the-tracks-of-the-people

No comments?  :)

Gotta say the Fender Deluxe profile was unimpressive. I was hearing some weird chorusing and modulation on sustained notes on the Kemper.  The heavy stuff is always impressive.  Clean tones are harder to clone with the Buck Rogers tone machine, I guess.

This is interesting.

One of the highly respected Axe-FX users used the KPA to profile an Axe-FX Dumbre preset.

Here are his clips...don't blame the KPA if you don't dig the tones, it's profiling the Axe-FX.


Axe Dumbre preset recorded direct from the out of the axe, cab and mic emulation is on:
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11131934

Axe recorded trough the pa and mic'd cabinet:
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11131933

KPA recorded direct:
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11131932

KPA through power amp + cabinet mic'd:
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11131931

KPA through the monitor output to a pa + cab and mic'd:
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11131930

charger — Oct 13, 2011[quote author=Lance link=1312399097/100#119 date=1318451468][quote author=Lance link=1312399097/100#115 date=1318260634]Kemper Profiling session of a Soldano SLO100.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErZfk5sz82A&feature=player_embedded

And a Deluxe Reverb profiling session.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSBaM6-Gl64&feature=player_embedded

Profile of a Framus Cobra, soundclip.

http://soundcloud.com/groups/kemper-profiling-amplifier-the-tracks-of-the-people

No comments?  :)

Gotta say the Fender Deluxe profile was unimpressive. I was hearing some weird chorusing and modulation on sustained notes on the Kemper.  The heavy stuff is always impressive.  Clean tones are harder to clone with the Buck Rogers tone machine, I guess.

Something went wrong with that profile, there are many other clean profiles already done that don't have that chorusing or mod you're hearing...in fact a month ago the TGP forum was saying the KPA clean profiles are amazing but any bets it can't do hi gain...and then the Soldano profile hit Youtube and put that theory to rest....but I agree with you, something went wrong in that particular profiling process...perhaps he touched the chorus button or something.  :-/

Ok, I just had a testdrive with the Kemper over the weekend with a fellow guitarist.

Seriously, I haven't felt this inspired by a piece of gear since... well ever!
This is the first time a digital box actually feels like a real, breathing tube amp. I dunno about 100% profiling accuracy and stuff... but this thing sure sounded - and more importantly felt like a good tube amp.

Truth be told, out of the like 80+ profiles in this ugly box (looks like ass really!) - there were many that sounded only so-so to me. But some amps really smoked!
I think this means that you really have to take care in 100% optimal conditions when you "profile" -  well either that, or I'm just not into many tube amps.

I gotta say, we dialed up a few Marshall amps, crunchy and distorted - and honestly, through basic $400 active monitors you could "feel" the tube sound in your gut. The dynamics were unreal!

Personally, I think the Kemper will make a lot of noise. The only downside I see is that I think it is really important to have optimal conditions.
But if Kemper gets a whole bunch of pro-made amp models ready or downloadable - this will kill anything out there (well almost - don't know about the Axe-FX2).
My Pod HD is history!

Ok, so I sound like I'm getting paid by Kemper. Truth is - I was utterly impressed this weekend, my guitar never sounded better and I couldn't stop playing...


Another negative: after 2 hourds of straight playing - the software shut down and could not be brought up no matter what we tried. I guess it is still in BETA.. but I hear Kemper is very good with their support covering years of use...

Hey Chris, nice review.

Agree on the point about doing a profile in optimal conditions.
I wouldn't attempt doing a profile in my apartment with no mic pre-amp, etc, etc...I would go to a studio and do it there instead.

Kemper are busy setting up a profile sharing website, which will be very cool.
I know in the last few days they profiled a Tony Bruno Vox, looking forward to that one.
The unit will release with plus minus 100 stock profiles, if 20 are exceptional that's a few months fun right there.
If one of the the Marshall profiles (not sure which one you used) impressed you big time then I know I'm going to enjoy it.

The Marshall that you messed around with, did you need to tweak it to get great tones or was it good with the stock profile.
Did you mess around with the gain or EQ knobs at all, and the Reverbs and delays, etc...how did all of that work out?

I kind of dig the "ugliness" of it, being half blind I'm into a nice big easy to navigate screen with lots of flashy different colour lighting for different menus.

Anyway, my 'demo' unit should arrive this week, look forward to taking it to a studio or two and doing some soundclips...I'll post them here.

The Marshall that impressed both me and Davide (the other guitarist) the most was pretty early.
I think it was profile 11 or 18 or something. A JCM 800?
I also liked a JCM2000 that was a little later but I think I preferred the 800 just by a hair.

The great thing is that they sounded awesome just right out of the box. We did tinker with the gain and EQ to see where the amp models (somehow I don't like the word "profile" :D ) could go - there is an impressive range available. But it was great right out of the box!
What I was truly impressed with was the dynamic range and 3-dimensioniality of the Marshall sims.
I dialed up just a touch of delay (stereo - nice quality) and was happy as can be. No need to add a virtual distortion box in front of the JCM or a compressor - as I do with my HD500, as the sound was so "full" and "breathing" that you just focussed on playing and getting nuances out of your picking hand. That was what sold me on the unit.
Later that day when I came home, I plugged into the JCM800 sim of the HD500 and that was it! It sounds like ass by itself. I can make it decent with the RAT and compressor, postEQ and a touch (7%) of tube comp (little trick Davide taught me) - but it's still missing the 3dimensional amp-feel and "breathing" thing of the Kemper.

We tried a few of the reverbs (I didn't pay particularly attention to those - but Davide felt they were Lexicon quality) and a little phase and chorus stuff. But I was so in awe by the amp models that I did not really pay any attention to the FX and cannot remember how they sounded. We also missed to tweak the comp, pick and sag parameters. Didn't see em, I guess. But the amps sounded great without tweaking those.


The lightshow is good but the general appearance of that green box is a little ugly. That military green and all. Anyway - I don't really care as long as it sounds great.

Let me know what you think when you get it!!

If you're in the studio - will you be doing a couple of profiles with Peter?
I seem to remember a nicely saturated Marshall combo amp clip you posted years ago (I think it was Peter plugged straight into the amp). Back then I had the PodXT and tried everything to get that sound from the Pod  ;D
Now it would actually be possible...

Chris

Ya, I'll definitely do some stuff in Peter's studio.
I remember that clip, it was the "RuffRiff" jam, it was Les Paul into his TSL602 with a Marshall Drivemaster in front.
He now uses the TSL602 with a Crunch Box in front, I guess we'll profile his TSL602 clean channel, then with the Crunch Box on, and do comparison clips between his recorded/mic'd amp and the KPA....same backing track...that could be interesting. :)

I'm also going to profile two DrZ amps, two different studios two different DrZee's.
Also a Fender Twin, a Marshall TSL100 head and DSL100 head...all three in another friends studio.

Damn, it's going to be lot's of work and lot's of driving around.  :)

Schneidas — Oct 17, 2011
Another negative: after 2 hourds of straight playing - the software shut down and could not be brought up no matter what we tried. I guess it is still in BETA.. but I hear Kemper is very good with their support covering years of use...

That right there is enough to scare me off of it.  I had 2 Line 6 Vetta's that did the same type of thing.  It's like they need to install a fan to keep the guts cool and don't.  Thus you get situations like that were the amp poops out on you.  Unacceptable for me.  It's one of the main reasons I went back to a tube amp.  The tube amps have never let me down.  Which is odd as they are supposed to be more prone to breakage.  And anyone that's played with me will tell you I play loud so it's not like I baby my amps.

Fenderbender — Oct 18, 2011[quote author=Schneidas link=1312399097/125#125 date=1318878397]
Another negative: after 2 hourds of straight playing - the software shut down and could not be brought up no matter what we tried. I guess it is still in BETA.. but I hear Kemper is very good with their support covering years of use...

That right there is enough to scare me off of it.  I had 2 Line 6 Vetta's that did the same type of thing.  It's like they need to install a fan to keep the guts cool and don't.  Thus you get situations like that were the amp poops out on you.  Unacceptable for me.  It's one of the main reasons I went back to a tube amp.  The tube amps have never let me down.  Which is odd as they are supposed to be more prone to breakage.  And anyone that's played with me will tell you I play loud so it's not like I baby my amps.



It's not like the Vetta, it doesn't have a poweramp, nothing gets hot, it was a software glitch that Davide sorted out after Chris left.
One of the other beta testers explained to Davide how to reset and that sorted it out.
Keep in mind, it's in beta testing, it hasn't released yet.
Christophe Kemper is no newbie, he's the inventor of the Access Virus Synth, that's his company...one of the best synths ever.

Access Virus Synth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhY95Vkgkws&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RUmnCUFVkQ

Chris...you notice the colour scheme of the KPA is similar to his Virus Synths, also lots of flashing lights.

Yes sorry... my bad! I just got word from Davide today that all it needed was a reset!
Of course, it came without a manual (since it hasn't been released yet) and we didn't know what to do. And abviously it is still in beta so I hear all this will be fixed in the release.

Lance — Oct 18, 2011Access Virus Synth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhY95Vkgkws&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RUmnCUFVkQ

Chris...you notice the colour scheme of the KPA is similar to his Virus Synths, also lots of flashing lights.

Haha, yeah - just as flashy as the Kemper. Same scheme as well.
Now I get it!
But still not too fond of it (as Davide said: we'll have to "hide" it behind some speakers or something!)  ;)

Schneidas — Oct 18, 2011[quote author=Lance link=1312399097/125#130 date=1318951841]Access Virus Synth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhY95Vkgkws&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RUmnCUFVkQ

Chris...you notice the colour scheme of the KPA is similar to his Virus Synths, also lots of flashing lights.

Haha, yeah - just as flashy as the Kemper. Same scheme as well.
Now I get it!
But still not too fond of it (as Davide said: we'll have to "hide" it behind some speakers or something!)  ;)

lol, it's kind of like a Tyler headstock, you either love it or hate it.  :)

I always thought the Access Virus was beautiful.  That's why the Buck Rogers look on the Kemper surprised me.  Just no visual appeal at all.

The Virus A particularly...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrjR02Ju7UE

My Access Virus-b is one of the few synths I've kept.  Looks great, sounds great!   :)

Engl Powerball.

And these profiles were just done in a music store in Spain, not a studio.
This is not the kind of stuff you hear from a "normal modeller", this sounds like a real mic'd amp...IMO

Not saying the Powerball is my dream amp, it's definitely not, but I can see myself having some fun with it judging by these un tweaked profile tones...this is the raw profile.

Engl Pwerball Clean1
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11150825

Engl Powerball Crunch2
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11150824

Engl Powerball Lead3
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11150823

Engl Powerball Lead4
http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11150822

Although I'm not a big Engl fan in general, Lead4 sounds amazing to me!!!

$260 Kemper upgrade...
http://www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/cabinets-vintage-marshall-style/Marshall-Style-Large-Box-Head-Cabinet

Well, I've had the Kemper for two days now...all I can say is, you have to play this thing to understand how amazing it is, on the other hand, if you want your bank balance to stay the same, don't play it.  :)

Went to my buddies studio today, it's not easy to do clips because you just can't stop playing this thing and time just disappears.
Anyway, I eventually left at 7 in the evening so I decided to leave the KPA with him, he'll make some clips, I'll post them tomorrow.

The mixing desk is insane.
He pressed some buttons, next thing every light starts flashing and all the sliders start moving up and down like a Mexican wave, I was like WTF!  8-)
The big opening you see in the rack had a 11R and Pod XT Pro filling it a week ago, he sold them to help fund the Kemper he's ordered from me...the HD500 on the floor is also sold.

Here's some pics of the control room in his home studio,also a pic of the drum room, pretty amazing.
He's playing his Tom Anderson, a lefty he ordered from the USA...one hell of a guitar.

First prototype of Kemper:

Was the first prototype all tubes ?  :o


;D

Every guitarist who saw and played it yesterday absolutely loved the look of it.

Once you've heard it and played through it, you begin to understand the look...it looks different because it sounds different.

Patience, stick around...I promise you that you will look in the back of it to see where the tubes are. :)

Lance — Oct 23, 2011Every guitarist who saw and played it yesterday absolutely loved the look of it.

Once you've heard it and played through it, you begin to understand the look...it looks different because it sounds different.

Patience, stick around...I promise you that you will look in the back of it to see where the tubes are. :)

Wait, I thought it sounded the same as all the amplifiers it models.

Is that a Digidesign C24?  Not really a mixer per se, but a control surface for Pro Tools... what he did was put it in Vegas mode, which puts on a little light and fader show.

Here's another prototype, back when they thought maybe it really did need the tubes from every amp they modeled...

... but the wiring was too confusing, so they scrapped it...

I knew I had seen that Kemper design somewhere before :-)
It definitely has the "Fisher Price" look about it .

Thanks guys for all your extremely useful contributions & comments...you can't imagine how helpful it's been.

I've asked Howie to delete the thread, I'll save you all the trouble of wasting your time posting, you can now go and fuck around with some other thread. :)

Whilst I am not in the market for a Kemper Profiling Amp, I would be in the market for a device that profiled just the speaker cab/mic/room etc that you could then plug your real guitar amp into.....similar to impulse modelling but all in one box....now that I would buy.


edit:  This of course is what essentially the Kemper is. It just also has it's own tonestack and effects in front of that.

this version has built-in reverb.

I'm sorry Lance, it's just I've heard the hyperbole before.  This is probably the 30th product I've heard of that will completely revolutionize guitar playing, just in my lifetime.  And I still prefer a tele into a bassman, or a strat into a princeton, or a Plexi with the master volume dimed, and one or two good pedals...