HEY All
Thanks for the add!
My name is Conrad and i am based in the UK. I play originals and covers and have played live for the last 5 years. Main axes are les paul gibson traditional (PEARLY GATES PUPS) and the very first guitar i ever owned - a Mexican strat which i have changed EVERYTHING on! I have owned a serious amounts of amps in my time (as i am an AMP guy - some guys are guitar guys - i'm an amp guy)
Still own:
1) a 1959 JCM 800 (from 81) 100 watt head (the good one),
2) a Victory V130
3) a Victory Sheriff 44.
I own several cabs with different speaker combinations and had too many analogue pedals to list. I have tried modelling in the past (Helix, pod and plug ins - S gear) BUT HAVE NEVER BEEN IMPRESSED ENOUGH TO DITCH MY VALVE AMPS AND i have always returned to them! I have been playing for over 20 years and love all things rock, classic rock and blues rock.
Bought the kemper (powerhead toaster and remote) a week ago and have been trying it with my guitar cab (creamback 65) and an alto TS212. I have read the entire manual three times, and bought some good profiles (M Britt and Top Jimi) BUT I thought i would use this thing for at least two weeks before i posted. Yes i am still in the honeymoon period but i am comfortable enough to now commit my views to writing.
I was initially impressed with the Kemper BUT NOT BLOWN AWAY. That was until i found M Britts FREE JCM800 profile and the FREE fender vibrolux profile!! JESUS this thing has BLOWN ME AWAY!!!!! Both profiles sound EXCELLENT through the guitar cab and Alto (both at low and high volumes !!) Those classic rock sounds we all grew up on are NOW AT MY FINGERTIPS!! No tweaking , no messing about - I HAVE LED ZEP TONES AT MY FINGERTIPS finally!!! . I have the BEST TONE I HAVE HAD IN 20 YEARS!!
I have now realised that MY REFERENCE TONE (the one in my head) has been based on those classic guitar recordings, i grew up with! I have spent thousands of pounds and hours of my life chasing those tones - ONLY TO REALISE i needed to hear those tones as they were created (RECORDED THROUGH A MICROPHONE AND GUITAR CAB!!) I am beaming from ear to ear this morning, as i have been learning good times bad times and the tone is AWWESOOOOOME!!!!!
I packed all my valve amps away today !! I have also sold most of my analaogue pedals (with no sellers regret!) .
This is an INCREDIBLE amp (i'm not even going to call this a modeller as it is WAY ahead of any real valve amp i have played!! )
If you cannot get good tone out of this amp - then i do not think you'll ever achieve the "tone in your head" This thing is the most tweakable bit of technology i have every come across. IT IS BETTER THAN A TRADITIONAL VALVE AMP as you can tweak every conceivable parameter UNTIL you find the tone you are looking for!! Clean tone not bright enough? : brighten it up! Tone too bright? (darken it up!) - Got a frequency bothering your ears? - record your guitar into the looper - let it play and simply sweep the frequency range until you find the offending frequency! As has been suggested on this forum countless times - THE PROFILE MAKES all the difference - i will find myself a maximum of 10 profiles i like and will tweak these until they work FOR MY EARS. I will then DELETE EVERYTHING ELSE.
I know i have bought a good piece of kit when all i do is PLAY! With the helix i spent weeks trying to find a tone my ears liked. With the Kemper i find myself trying a profile and an hour later i'm still playing, that profile ! THIS IS THE POINT!! I hated the Line 6 pod and Helix BECAUSE I LANDED UP PLAYING SO LITTLE AND TWEAKING ENDLESSLY
This valve amp purist is CONVERTED!!! Thanks to those who helped me when i asked for workflow suggestions.