Place your bets....Will the Kemper fad go away or grow???

[snowdog]

I like the idea of it and have heard some great clips of it. I don't like the idea of it being obsolete every 2 years and having to buy another one. Even as "upgradable" as the AxeFx is they had to hurry up and put out another one....

 

[stratotone]

I like the idea of it and have heard some great clips of it. I don't like the idea of it being obsolete every 2 years and having to buy another one. Even as "upgradable" as the AxeFx is they had to hurry up and put out another one....

Well, you have an Alesis Quadraverb in your sig. It works well, you obviously like it. It's obsolete as hell. Why don't you buy a newer processor?

 

[supersonic]

Rigtalk will become obsolete and be updated as Kempertalk, oh wait a minute...

 

[snowdog]

Well, you have an Alesis Quadraverb in your sig. It works well, you obviously like it. It's obsolete as hell. Why don't you buy a newer processor?

I suppose if you look at it that way, everything I own is obsolete. I use it mainly for reverb, I could go buy something newer...is it going to sound any better-probably not.

I see it happen frequently when the AxeFx gets some new update, and it's like "these new amp sounds are 1000 times better than before" seems never ending.

I know someone who has both the Johnson and Line 6 2x12 amps (early "latest and greatest" modeling amps) he got them when they were new...they are both boat anchors now.

To me this technology will be more important to keep updating that others. Look how far it's come so far.

 

[stratotone]

Well, you have an Alesis Quadraverb in your sig. It works well, you obviously like it. It's obsolete as hell. Why don't you buy a newer processor?

I suppose if you look at it that way, everything I own is obsolete. I use it mainly for reverb, I could go buy something newer...is it going to sound any better-probably not.

I see it happen frequently when the AxeFx gets some new update, and it's like "these new amp sounds are 1000 times better than before" seems never ending.

I know someone who has both the Johnson and Line 6 2x12 amps (early "latest and greatest" modeling amps) he got them when they were new...they are both boat anchors now.

To me this technology will be more important to keep updating that others. Look how far it's come so far.

I still use a J-station at times, I like how it sounds. Ditto for a Yamaha DG-Stomp, I keep one with me at all times as an 'oh shit, finish the gig' rig for emergencies.

With the Axe (and the Line6 stuff) each update was to make it sound better. And typically, people would agree that there was room for improvement. The Kemper might get additional features like a tone stack that matches the real amp, or better effects, but if you use it to clone a guitar amp sound - it already does that. Amazingly so. So well that it's already useful no matter what comes in the future. It might have more features, or easier to use, or quicker/less noisy way to copy your amp, but the actual 'does this sound like the amp we just miked' part ain't going to get much better because it's there already.

The ONLY thing that I would worry about on the Kemper is if it broke in say 10 years... but then again, I've seen a lot of gear built to a lot lower standards like Line 6 amps and those seem to be trucking along pretty well.

Pete

 

[steve_k]

News Flash - Buggy whip experts anticipate an industry boom with the surge in Amish converts.

 

[Badronald]

nothing stays the same with anything.

Really? Most studio's and live rigs are still full of holy grail amp designs that are almost 60 years old.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

 

[geetar_geek79]

Has anybody kemper'ed a Kemper? Will it be like googling Google?



all joking aside, the idea of being able to profile my amps and other friend's amp is really appealing to me right now. I just need to play one to see how it feels/responds. I've never been able to gel with digital stuff for live use except for the GSP1101.

 

[steve_k]

Has anybody kemper'ed a Kemper? Will it be like googling Google?



all joking aside, the idea of being able to profile my amps and other friend's amp is really appealing to me right now. I just need to play one to see how it feels/responds. I've never been able to gel with digital stuff for live use except for the GSP1101.

No, but I am going to do a Kemper profile of an Axe FX Silver Jubilee model....

 

[Man With Gas]

.

 

[DoomBuggi]

Who cares?

If some one wants to buy a Kemper, and record in there home, let them.

 

[Piero the Guitarero]

I personally am interested...But wanna see this play out...Especially since I read here that Brad has 6 on order right now...This place will buzz and buzz about this gear...

But will the classifieds be full of them in a year or less?

My bet is: They will all go into the gear classfied section ....


...as soon as the 19" KPA arrives!

 

[Rogue]

This all seems vaguely familiar.....

 

[VESmedic]

The only product I've ever bought that COMPLETELY 100 PERCENT lives up to the hype... I can't say enough about it... It is fucking incredible.. I've said it before, i feel bad for those who don't own one ... The proof is in the pudding... These huge megaproducers aren't using the axe or talkig about the axe like they do the kemper.... I mean it is what it is, you can't deny that, that is a fact, not an opinion.if nothing you have heard, read, or seen about it will change your mind, then nothing will, and thats fine...at this point, frankly, in it's 1 year infancy, it has already been established as a game changer, end of story, call it what you want

 

[luther910]

This all seems vaguely familiar.....

Yes it does.

I have a lot of respect for modelers in the sense that they are a tools that contains a lot of sounds and effects. I use them myself mostly for practicing and overdubs in a recording situations. Started with the GT8, and now I own an 11R. I may buy another in the future for the same reasons. They can be very inspiring when you sit down to practice or compose music.

In my experience modelers do not deliver the same punch as an amp do in a recording or live situation, and why should they? After all they are digital copies of a certain sound from a certain amp. From what I can judge from demos on the internet the sampled sound lack some of the punch and hi end you hear in the original. And then there is other problems. Endless scrolling and editing in menus, volume variations between patches. Sounds that don't sound the same trough different speakers etc.

And then there is the weight issue. From what I am reading a lot people with modelers buy expensive tube power amps and cabinets. Add to that, most people stay with a certain clean and dirty sound, a couple of effects to go.

 

[59Bassman]

It may grow, but it won't be necessarily as the Kemper. I don't think "game changer" was in the vernacular back then, but I remember the same hyperbole being thrown about with the ADA MP-1, the Marshall JMP-1, the Digitech 2101, the Pod, the Pod 2.0, the Vox Tonelab, etc. Major studios using them, pros selling all their amps, etc. The demise of the tube guitar amp has been imminent since the first transistor amps were made.

Every generation sounds better - that's a given. And there are certainly more folks playing all-digital rigs now than before. If I were betting, I'd say it continues to grow, but it won't be Kemper. There will be some other company with some other "game changing" technology that this time, no really we mean it, makes tube amps completely obsolete.

I'm not a hater, truly. I was an early adopter (1994-ish) of an all-digital preamp and effects unit, which I gigged with for several years. I've been very, very close to pulling the trigger on one of the digital units recently. Most of my practicing is through an all-digital path, either a modeling amp or software on an iPad. I'm not against the concept.

But at the end of the day, there is still a synergistic high that you get smelling the dust heating up on those glowing glass bottles. I like that smell.

 

[zuel69]

The fad will grow and grow, the thing that turns me off is fanaticism. Someone may listen to clips and not like a product that's currently the hot topic and just get roasted for it. Thus far I've been trying everything out there only to relish my favorite tube amp...the axe 2 was sweet, but the whole 4cm promise and debacle really was a turn off. Gonna get a Kemper this up coming year for sure...unless someone type's some b.s. about how it brings them to "tears" every time they plug in or something.

 

[thiswaythatway]

I like the idea of it and have heard some great clips of it. I don't like the idea of it being obsolete every 2 years and having to buy another one. Even as "upgradable" as the AxeFx is they had to hurry up and put out another one....

Well, you have an Alesis Quadraverb in your sig. It works well, you obviously like it. It's obsolete as hell. Why don't you buy a newer processor?

Rock N Roll is obsolete....but here we still are.

 

[thiswaythatway]

This all seems vaguely familiar.....

But it's a game changer! However, the game has been changed soooooo many times in the past few years I forgot what sport we were playing.

 

[rupe]

News Flash - Buggy whip experts anticipate an industry boom with the surge in Amish converts.

I knew it!!!