Kemper modeler vs. "real" amps

[blue]

In the blindfold strat test, Bob Womack listed the Andertons Kember vs. Valve amp test. That thread is here http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=442974




Well there were conditions to the test that the Captain wanted to change. Like instead of unplugging and plugging guitars in and the downtime that produces, using a switching box. Here's the result of that test.

[Bob Womack]

You know, I've got a growing pile of new and old tube amps but I've been sold on modeling technology for years. Years. It all runs back to two days:

1. The day that a friend brought in his modeler to the studio, connected it up, handed it to me, and left me with it for the day. "Help yourself." I became convinced that modelers were viable that day.

2. The day that I took my modeler in to band practice and used it instead of my Marshall. The guys I was working with, all seasoned players with at least twenty years of serious playing, simply couldn't get over the sound I was getting. They absolutely LOVED it and couldn't believe there was anything except a tube amp in the chain.

Oops. It was time to rethink.

But I still have and use both technologies, just like Chappers and the Captain. Interestingly, a band I follow, Wishbone Ash, still take their tube rigs on the road with them, even internationally, but use the Kemper in the studio, exactly the opposite of Chappers.

Bob

[mr. beaumont]

I know a couple of guys who have gone all modeling. They're pretty darn happy.

The future is here.

[blue]

One of my favorite guitarists, Vernon Reid, has being using this technology forever.

I most love his statement about using it. He basically says "yeah, you can make it sound like a vintage amp... But I don't want to do that. I'd rather see what happens when you stack 5 vintage amps on top of each other and throw a few (modelled) distortion pedals in front of it"

I too have no desire to sound like the "beano" era Clapton. I want to sound good. To my ear.

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by blue

I too have no desire to sound like the "beano" era Clapton. I want to sound good. To my ear.

And that, my friends, is why I use modelers: To create that sound that is already in my head.

Bob

[redir]

I've played with them and think they are great but I just can't bring myself around to accepting them permanently in my rig. I'm just too old school that way and I ain't gonna change

I am very much considering a Fishman Aura at the moment though, but that's different

[muscmp]

i've tried one and if it wasn't so expensive, i'd probably buy it. when i'm recording, i'm always open to recording direct with my logic plugins vs. my tube amps. whatever works for what you are doing.

play music!

[maxtheaxe]

While not in the same league as a Kemper, I use an old 1st gen Line 6 POD into a Tubeworks TD-752, through a couple Celestion V30s to get my live tones and while it may lack some of the mojo of, say, a classic 4x10 tweed Bassman, it gets very convincing tones in a WIDE variety...Marshall, Vox, Mesa, clean Fender...all of it with the twist of a couple knobs, on stage, in a matter of seconds. I would challenge anyone to discern the difference in that setting, with drums, vocals, bass and (sometimes) keys roaring in the mix. The best thing is that it's completely consistent from one venue to the next.

In a recording studio environment, side by side, the difference is more readily apparent and perhaps useful, but the flexibility of modeling in a live situation is indispensable to me.

I've never had the pleasure or opportunity of working with a Kemper...I hear they're the ultimate, but in any case, count me in as a big fan of modeling.

Incidentally I also have a Line 6 DT-50 head...just an awesome Bogner-designed tube amp but in some ways less practical for gigging than my old standby rig. I find it far easier to maneuver with the POD.

[Steel and wood]

One of my favourite guitarists on the planet James Calvin Wilsey uses Line 6 Pod Farm software to emulate his Fender clean tones for recording purposes.

[moon]

Tubes and transformers have got soul in the same way that a real fire has got soul. It's a hands-on, human-scale technology and that matters. You steal fire from the gods.

[blue]

Originally Posted by moon

Tubes and transformers have got soul in the same way that a real fire has got soul. It's a hands-on, human-scale technology and that matters. You steal fire from the gods.

It's a personal thing. I think when you are playing for others, it doesn't matter. Get in and out with a great sound, for them, with the least effort and most consistency for you. When playing for myself, there is a responsiveness that I love out of tubes, and I'm talking about a lot more than "the harder I pick, the more grit".

I have no doubt that emulation will get there. I ALMOST picked up a Roland Blues Cube recently but ended up finding a handwired tube amp I loved for the right price after demoing the Cube. If the 30 watter I played had all the features of the bigger ones, I may have gotten it when I demoed it and never would have seen the one I got, and honestly love. The system in the vid is clearly way beyond the Blues Cube.

[MBE]

Originally Posted by moon

Tubes and transformers have got soul in the same way that a real fire has got soul. It's a hands-on, human-scale technology and that matters. You steal fire from the gods.

I can wax poetic about tubes like the next guy, but I bought a Kemper and I'll be ****ed if I haven't sounded better ever since.

My awesome '65 Bassman sounded awesome at home, awesome (after some lengthy setup) in the studio...and variably decent-to-good at shows depending on who was doing the amp mic'ing.

My Kemper sounds awesome at home, instantly awesome in the studio (just plug it in!), and equally instantly awesome at gigs (all the sound guy has to do is EQ for the room, no mic positioning and compensating for the mic position and bleed through of the actual amp onstage).

The Kemper is in a different league from anything but the AxeFX when it comes to feel and dynamics. I've owned all the major modelers from all the major companies (and some not so major ones), but what the Kemper does is give you an amp that FEELS like the original. Using touch do go from a juicy clean to just-over-the-edge overdrive and then hammering a chord for a full-on crunch adds a level of joy to playing through the Kemper that none of my other modelers had. Many can sound decent to great in a mix, but this latest generation gives you back that soul.

[Jeff Scott]

In a recent VG interview, Paul Gilbert mentioned a few times how much he loves his Kemper.

[aknow]

Originally Posted by MBE

I can wax poetic about tubes like the next guy, but I bought a Kemper and I'll be ****ed if I haven't sounded better ever since.

My awesome '65 Bassman sounded awesome at home, awesome (after some lengthy setup) in the studio...and variably decent-to-good at shows depending on who was doing the amp mic'ing.

My Kemper sounds awesome at home, instantly awesome in the studio (just plug it in!), and equally instantly awesome at gigs (all the sound guy has to do is EQ for the room, no mic positioning and compensating for the mic position and bleed through of the actual amp onstage).

The Kemper is in a different league from anything but the AxeFX when it comes to feel and dynamics. I've owned all the major modelers from all the major companies (and some not so major ones), but what the Kemper does is give you an amp that FEELS like the original. Using touch do go from a juicy clean to just-over-the-edge overdrive and then hammering a chord for a full-on crunch adds a level of joy to playing through the Kemper that none of my other modelers had. Many can sound decent to great in a mix, but this latest generation gives you back that soul.

Glad you praise the Kemper. Each modeling amp I've tried (Fender, Pod, Zoom, Marshall, Blackstar-----have sounded like I was playing electric guitar at the bottom of a giant glass of carbonated beverage. I'll check out the Kemper. Seems like they become obsolete, or need new software frequently.

[Steely Glen]

Adding the Atomic AmpliFire unit to this discussion. It's not quite as extensive as the Kemper, AxeFX, or Line 6 Helix, but has the same DSP power and gets RAVE reviews by the modeling illuminati.