Kemper profiler beckons

[enuenu]

I'm a guitarist who just bought his first bass (German made Warwick Streamer). I love bass. Now for a rig.

I'm seriously considering a Kemper & FRFR speaker. Great for recording, playing at home & consistently reproducing tones.

However something tells me this rig will never give me the thick thump for post rock I crave. Perhaps only a big tube amp and big cab can satisfy. Of the gear I've tried only the ubiquitous Ampeg SVT & big Ampeg cabs moved my soul. Everything else was a distant second. I played all the other Ampeg stuff and while good, I kept longing for the real thing once I'd played it.

The other option I've got is a used Orange AD200 Mk3 and matching OBC 4x10 cab. Yet to play it but clips and the tech specs make me think it might do the trick.

Would a Kemper & FRFR leave me forever wondering what if? It has so many pros, plus I can use it for guitar, which I'm pretty sure it will do justice to. Maybe even pushing my JMP100 & and Recto (4x12 cabs) rigs aside, now my lower back is totally stuffed. Getting tones at low volume and the recording options are amazing pros for the Kemper.

Can it do my new bass justice? Seems too good to be true.

 

[xk49w]

I don't know of many folks here that have any experience with a Kemper, which could have something to do with the dearth of responses. For example, I had to look up FRFR (full range flat response).

I think your question is sort like asking if whether a recording of an SVT/810 at full song could be played back through a FRFR loudspeaker and provide the same experience as the original. My suspicion is no, but that's all it is, a suspicion.

 

[Rickter]

While the Kempers do a very good job of getting the sound of a rig it is still an emulator. The physical traits of the given rig are harder to duplicate, if not impossible via modelers. You would be able to get the tone of, say, a classic SVT through an 8x10 cab to go to the mains of a PA or onto recorded tracks, but you would not feel that rumble and pants-flapping sound pressure in the same way unless you did indeed actually have that rig behind you.

It is a trade-off, but only you can determine if it is a worthwhile trade-off for your wants and situation. Do you want to drop $1500 and have unlimited numbers of both high quality guitar and bass rigs at your disposal and be able to roll up to a venue/studio, axe in one hand, kemper in the other, and play a whole gig on either instrument? Or are you willing/able and is it needed for you to drop more coin for a single one of the rigs profiled by the Kemper for the sake of authenticity and then have to haul/move a 200 pound cabinet and an 85 pound head?

I've been on both sides of the situation and have seen others perform with both aspects you are considering. There is something to be said for the presence of the "environmentals", feeling it as a monitor when you play or feeling it punching you in the gut as you look on. But if "feeling it" is a non-issue for you, or if your ability to transport a rig that size is an issue for you, then you could easily go the Kemper route and be satisfied. There is a reason why the Sansamps and Darkglass pieces are so popular. It's nice to show up to a gig, throw down a pedal or two, and play an entire show/gig/session with a rig that fits in carry on bag.

 

[guy n. cognito]

I love technology, and the Kemper certainly is getting some love in the guitar world, but I find that it lacks in bass capacity relative to it's outrageous costs.

 

[Rickter]

For what it's worth, if you look at the Gear Gods page of Youtube and look at their Rigged segments, there are a handful of bands that are using the Kempers for all guitar and bass amplification needs while on the road. Metallica is one if memory serves. Bullet For My Valentine is another I think I remember seeing. All the bands amplifiers housed in a 12 space rack...

 

[JimmyM]

I apparently have to be extremely careful about what I say these days because I endorse Ampeg and a couple people on here have made it their business to whine to the mods every time I say something about them, so I'll try to answer in more generic terms.

I find that all current emulators, whether digital or analog, do an excellent job of sounding like recordings of mic'ed cabs being powered by tube amps. But I prefer analog emulations to digital, and nothing compares to having the real thing in your face, or even having it running direct to a board from the speaker out using an outboard DI that does speaker level. I also think stuff like the Kemper is overkill if all you want is one or two basic amp sounds. That's easily handled by analog devices for a lot less money. But it is a very cool use of technology that keeps getting better and better, so I'm not going to knock it or the possibilities. Plenty of folks use stuff like the Kemper and Axe-FX and they seem happy with it.