I watch a lot of rig rundowns, and the Kemper is the single most common piece of equipment I see in touring setups. Everyone from Mark Hoppus to Ilja Lappin.
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Kemper Profiler or Ampeg SVT Heritage.
- Thread starter jazzbass_5
- Start date
I watch a lot of rig rundowns, and the Kemper is the single most common piece of equipment I see in touring setups. Everyone from Mark Hoppus to Ilja Lappin.
They're all over footage on youtube, for example:
And many many recordings. Amps never make the liner notes.
Many other modeling, sim, ... are all over stage and recording these days.
I've seen these used in church bands but never paid much attention as what I heard just sounded okay. But I'm sure in the right hands they could sound good and I'm sure they are useful.
I can see why some musicians would dig them. I played a gig where the band before ours used boutique instruments (I never heard of) into Helix processors (I think) into powered monitors. They were very proud of their setups, let me tell ya. They played a wide variety of covers and the setup let them get a bunch of different tones at the flip of the switch. They tried to cover those songs as closely to the originals as possible, so flexibility was important to them (which I get). Unfortunately, I thought their tone sounded like ****.
I guess maybe the Kempers sound better? I don't know - even if they sounded EXACTLY like the amps they were trying to model, I wouldn't have one for love nor money. Too much tweaking - I'd rather turn the amp on and get a great tone right away. I don't need a lot of flexibility - I can get what I need from the controls on my bass. I'll take a PBass and SVT all day long...
I guess maybe the Kempers sound better? I don't know - even if they sounded EXACTLY like the amps they were trying to model, I wouldn't have one for love nor money. Too much tweaking - I'd rather turn the amp on and get a great tone right away. I don't need a lot of flexibility - I can get what I need from the controls on my bass. I'll take a PBass and SVT all day long...
The Kemper makes a zillion different sounds. How many will you use? I often use an SVT-cl and I haven't moved a knob on it since the Johnson administration.
The Johnson admin predates the SVT by a year and the SVT-CL by like 25 years. Your comedy is not pure. Buy a Kemper
But seriously, I'm right with you, plus I use a PF-50T most of the time, which weighs much less than an SVT. And it's not like I need a buttload of pedals for the projects I'm doing as of late.
Jimmy, Boris Johnson took office 4 months ago. My SVT -cl is brand new.The Johnson admin predates the SVT by a year and the SVT-CL by like 25 years. Your comedy is not pure. Buy a Kemper
I play guitar too, so having one preamp that I can play any guitar or bass, any style, that I can lift with one hand is pretty nice. Oh, and I live in an old apartment building with thin walls so absolutely no loud amps allowed outside of the band's practice space.
Even having the ability to use an SVT and fridge at all is a luxury many people don't have, before factoring in the price of the gear itself. Modelers are popular because they're flexible and nobody under 45 even really cares about the difference in tone, if there even is one. In AB comparisons, almost all the difference in tone comes from the fact that the modeler is using a different IR compared to the mic on the tube amp...crappy amp models with great IRs sound great, just like great tube amps with an SM57 in front sound like an SM57 (that is, not great...unless you happen to like that sound, but I don't).
I like fiddlin, but not with digital stuff... and everyone I've played with that either has a Kemper or some other digital stuff, usually doesn't sound as good as when they bring their real amp, and just turns the fecker up n down to control gain.
I know I always like MY bass sound better when I'm using all tubes....
SVT or AD200B FTW
I know I always like MY bass sound better when I'm using all tubes....
SVT or AD200B FTW
So much misinformation about the Kemper.
No one says you even need to get rid of your current bass rig.
Instead profile YOUR rig, for those times when lugging a head and fridge does not make sense but you still want your sound. You will sound exactly like your amp because you profiled your amp and your settings.
If you want you can even just profile your Ampeg head and still plug into your 8x10 or any other cab of your choosing and still have your sound.
One last note...you don’t have to fiddle around with settings if you don’t want to. It can be as easy as plugging in and just adjusting your bass, treble, mids and volume and go. The Kemper is different from other digital modeling amps because you actually profile a real amp (your amp if you want) and you get a snapshot of the amp and settings and sound. So simple, so easy and that is why it has become very popular, along with sound that side by side with a real amp you can not tell the difference in sound.
No one says you even need to get rid of your current bass rig.
Instead profile YOUR rig, for those times when lugging a head and fridge does not make sense but you still want your sound. You will sound exactly like your amp because you profiled your amp and your settings.
If you want you can even just profile your Ampeg head and still plug into your 8x10 or any other cab of your choosing and still have your sound.
One last note...you don’t have to fiddle around with settings if you don’t want to. It can be as easy as plugging in and just adjusting your bass, treble, mids and volume and go. The Kemper is different from other digital modeling amps because you actually profile a real amp (your amp if you want) and you get a snapshot of the amp and settings and sound. So simple, so easy and that is why it has become very popular, along with sound that side by side with a real amp you can not tell the difference in sound.
How ironic this post is Ampeg tube amp for home recording
I guess this person should have purchased a Kemper, lol
I guess this person should have purchased a Kemper, lol
I honestly think there is a generational thing, a lot of older guys got turned off by very early digital stuff and have a distaste for it, younger players have come up with great digital gear and silent stages and can't even tell the difference. My first time playing an all tube amp i was so confused, it didn't sound or feel basically any different from good digital gear...I knew I was SUPPOSED to prefer it but honestly I couldn't see any reason to.
I played a Warwick all-tube bass head for a while and replaced it with a lightweight solid state class D Ashdown head because I truly hated the sound. I don't want to yuck anyone's yum but tubes aren't the gold standard anymore, they're just another option with pros and cons.
