Hi guys!
My name is Chris. I’ve been playing guitar for about 20 years and have recently joined a cover band. We Do covers from Alice In Chains, Godsmack, Seether, Shinedown etc. and I’m going to need some gear!
For about the last 10 years, I’ve been playing with almost exclusively VST software (BIAS, TSEx50 and others). I’ve never really owned a “real” amp. My last head unit was a Line 6 Spider II which has AWFUL tone!
The VSTs have spoiled me it seems. I’ve looked at so many amps and could find one I liked without going in to very pricey territory. The trouble I have is finding a rig that can do classic rock, modern hard rock, AND metal.
Here are some of the setups I’ve tried:
* Marshall DSL40C
- Other guitarist in the band uses this 1x12 combo amp and swears by it. While the clean is really pretty solid, I really couldn’t get down with that gain tone.
* Blackstar HT Club 40 / 100 Head
- This one had some pretty decent gain tone and some fine cleans. Overall, wasn’t a bad choice really, but I feel that dialing it down to just a modern rock tone wasn’t what these amps were made for.
* EVH 5150 III 50W
- Now HERE’S an amp I can rock with. WOW! Only problem? The shared EQ and volume jump between clean and gain... seemed like a pain to deal with.
* 5150/6505
- Damn that’s got some gain, but really, where’s the clean??
* Orange Rockerverb
- I don’t know what it is about Orange in general. Lots of metal heads love these amps. I just can’t get over the creaminess of them.
* Mesa Boogie TC / Mark V / Dual Rec
- And here comes the winner in my rig search. These amps did practically everything I wanted them to and sounded damn fine with everything I threw at them! Problem was the price point! At this price point why not just go for the Kemper and steal the souls of every amp?!
So now I’m down to this. I’m going to be gigging soon enough and need something that works nicely on stage that I can setup to specific songs in a set list. I’ll definitely need foot control, but not sure if the remote is necessary (over a midi foot switch).
I already have a Line 6 L3T FRFR Speaker that I purchased recently (still within return period) and I was hoping to get away with the cheaper unpowered Kemper as I do not intend to use a cabinet. Will this approach significantly hurt my sound with the Kemper?
Any thoughts on the other options around this price range? Helix? Axe-8? Headrush?
Thanks guys for reading my long intro!