the FINAL word on the Kemper

[Kemper-VS-Fractal]

Apart from the obvious load of toss he's spouting otherwise, can somebody please link me to some citation to prove that people are buying amps, profiling them and then returning them?

Just because some idiot on YouTube who also works for Joyo and quite fancied doing a controversial video to grab some views says it's happening doesn't mean it's actually happening.

I bet you guys are still waiting for your millions of dollars that Nigerian prince promised you in an email if you're that quick to believe everything you hear on the Internet.

 

[ElectricVoodoo]

Odd to me. My trusty EVH 5153 50watt continues to shine day in and day out. No need to profile or spend any more $. Have everything right here and its the best there is

Shame that so many people go through tons of amp only to quickly sell them and never be satisfied.

I even went so far as to just yesterday buying the MXR EVH overdrive for home practice. My Marshall and EVH are too loud so I needed something for home use. Considering picking up a fender 212 combo also. May just take that and the MXR to jam out. Much easier.

Just get a Kemper and profile the EVH 5153 50 watt and your quest is finished for good !

 

[shreder75]

I have amps. I like to play and stuff

 

[slash57]

Fuck that. Marshall copied Fender, so they should pay them billions as well?

Seriously, people are still going to buy amps. The AxeFx is the devil as well then?

 

[dfrattaroli]

Wow, very emotional topic. Most people are missing his points with their counter arguments though.


* if a Kemper is sounding identically good or not is not the point. It's good enough for people to avoid buying the original product which does the damage to the market
(

True. But then why does he single out the Kemper? Line6, Fractal, etc., were all at the party first. Among others. His video sounds like he has something against Kemper and that he's just bashing them specifically.

 

[dfrattaroli]

At the end of the day, the argument that the Kemper is causing people to buy/return amps and in effect, killing the amp business is ridiculous.

 

[Stumplegriltskin]

I have a Kemper. I'm contemplating a Mark II C +
I wont return it. I'll probably get bored with it and sell it like the 3 MKV's I have had

I'm too F'N lazy to profile an amp. There's others that do it way better than me.

But I'm thinking of getting one of these to profile it and return it though.

 

[Bxlxaxkxe]

Where does this notion that the amplifier industry is dying come from?

There are more amplifier companies today than ever before. Few people are satisfied owning just one amp- which is all anyone "needs" to play electric guitar. Go look at the emporium on TGP.

If you've ever bought a used amp, you can blame yourself for HURTING the industry. But it's not dying you drama queens.

Mesa, Friedman, Diezel, Bogner, etc continue to churn out new designs every year. They have money for R+D, production, promotion, advertising...

I'll say it again because I don't know how else to put this- everything is ok.

 

[shreder75]

I bought my engl used. I'm a monster! Woe.

 

[King Loudness]

I can't speak for anyone else, but here's my $.02 on the matter.

For the longest time, I was anti-digital. I found that even though I couldn't always afford the amps I wanted, that I had no desire to even consider anything digital. I had all the Zoom/Digitech/L6 processors as a kid and found them to be average at best. Flash forward a few years; eventually I had the chance to check out the Axe FX II and I was so knocked out by what I heard that I went out and bought one a week later. Initially when I bought it I had the *brilliant* idea that I was going to sell my tube amps and use the Axe FX II for live and studio applications with a full range speaker system. I went out and bought all the gear I needed, and sold my beloved tube amps all in the same breath.

It didn't work.

I've never once been able to use the Axe FX live and really enjoy the tone. To me it's just lacking something. It could be harmonic content, or it could just be something in the EQ but I never managed to get tones that I enjoyed. In fact, the gigs I used the Fractal on were probably some of my least favourite tonally. This went on for about a year before I decided that I was using it in the wrong application; I then started to buy more tube amps and I put together another pedalboard to use with them. For live use I was immediately happier. However, I still enjoyed the Axe FX for home playing, jamming with backing tracks on my computer, and recording here at the house. I still have and use the Fractal on a daily basis, but it's not the tool for the live job, at least for me. I can't rely on the average sound-person to make my guitar sound as good as I want it to out front without having some kind of saving grace.

At the end of the day for me, I had to change how I thought about the digital stuff in general. It's not a replacement for tube amps, but rather another tool to do a different set of jobs. I've tried the Kemper a couple of times and left fairly unimpressed, although if I had time to fully tweak one I'm sure I could get some tones that I like better. I can see Henning's point about the "ethics" of the matter but really it's not much of an enforceable point anyway. I'll still buy amps and enjoy my digital stuff. It all depends on what you need for the task at hand.

W.

 

[crwnedblasphemy]

I'll chime in. I like his layout and how he says it in the video, but there are so many other factors. I agree u could argue that IR's are hurting speaker sales and mic sales then too right?

I do agree that returning a product/s too many times should be penalized cuz something is fishy.

On the Kemper/axefx: working at one of the top music venues I have heard most rigs. The axe rigs sound better live to me that I've heard. There was only one time so far that the Kemper sounded really good and that was Trivium. Both guitars and bass player were using Kemper and it sounded great. Testament, Amaranthe, and others I've heard play them were okay.

Axefx Vai, Devy, scale the summit, born of Osiris all sounded killer.

For some reason though the tones that stand out that I've heard in 5 years is the vh4 and Herbert. Me bikers uses vh4 every show and it sounds beyond awesome.

 

[messenger]

Only watched 3 mins and stopped after her COMPLETELY contradicted himself.

 

[messenger]

I have the solution. Kemper should sell licenses for EACH amp that is profiled. You have to register each amp, and pay for it. Then that registration payment gets sent to the manufacturer.

Aren't you the same guy that says Jose's family shouldn't get anything from techs that use his mods??

 

[messenger]

I think you might see stores like GC changing their return policy if the trend of buying to profile and then Returning doesn't stop.

 

[BYTOR]

I think you might see stores like GC changing their return policy if the trend of buying to profile and then Returning doesn't stop.

Yeah right..............companies have 30-45 return policies because of competition. Basically they have to offer this because other big retailers are.

Anyone can do anything they want with something they purchase. If you buy an item with a 30 day return period that says "you get a complete refund as long as item is returned in the same condition with all packing materials" etc.........then you are basically getting a free trial period for that item as long as you live up to the terms.

Just like with anything else, it will usually just be a relatively small percentage of customers who take advantage & abuse it.

I'm pretty sure plenty folks have taken advantage of all the Friedman amps etc... they can purchase, profile & return to GC. Even some of the professional profilers that do it as a business. Do you think folks just own or borrow from a friend every amp they profile.......of course not.

 

[Anonymous]

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.....

The technology is here now. The genie is out of the bottle. Who the hell cares? There is nothing that can be done to stop it and it is gonna get better and better.

It's laughable to think that the (relatively) few Kempers out there are ruining the amp industry though. And the idea that there is some army of Kemper owners buying amps just to profile and return them is the ultimate in comedy....

What's "killing" the amp industry is the lack of young people interested in guitar driven music.

Steve

 

[Racerxrated]

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.....

The technology is here now. The genie is out of the bottle. Who the hell cares? There is nothing that can be done to stop it and it is gonna get better and better.

It's laughable to think that the (relatively) few Kempers out there are ruining the amp industry though. And the idea that there is some army of Kemper owners buying amps just to profile and return them is the ultimate in comedy....

What's "killing" the amp industry is the lack of young people interested in guitar driven music.

Steve

Really good point. Rock just doesn't hit the popular music scene enough unfortunately. I still gig at 49 because the few bars that have bands locally don't have many younger aged bands to choose from. I can think of one that has guys in their 20s. Most bands here have members 35 on up. Younger aged music listeners just don't pick up the guitar unlike the 80s, when every high school had one or two bands trying to be the "best" lol. So, when we don't call the club we play every 6 weeks to book up the year they'll call us because they just don't have newer bands to pick from. My kid plays because I do..but how many 14 year olds are picking up the guitar? Unfortunately not many I'd bet.

 

[messenger]

I have the solution. Kemper should sell licenses for EACH amp that is profiled. You have to register each amp, and pay for it. Then that registration payment gets sent to the manufacturer.

Aren't you the same guy that says Jose's family shouldn't get anything from techs that use his mods??

LOL. I don't know , I remember making jokes about that. Unfortunately he didn't patent his shit. whatever.

The whole point TO ME about the video is people buying and returning the amps after "profiling" them.
I just think it would be a better business model for the amp manufacturers to sell official profiles, or something.
I know WHO the guy talked to in the video, and its actually a real problem.
great discussion though, everyone has got some valid points.

Ah. I didn't realize you meant have "official" profiles from the amp company's. That's probably a good idea.

 

[smdb]

He looks like a Bond villain

Erik Von Buzz Kill

 

[sapphireskiss]

If it is such a big issue for amp builders, then build something into your amp that stops the kemper tech. from working. If it is removed, then that's your business if you want to buy an amp and give away the profile. I had a feeling a long time ago that this could end up being an issue (first with the Axe, and now especially with the Kemper). People will take what they can, if given the opportunity and nothing will change that, as technology get's better it will only get cheaper and easier. What can you do?