Why did I just buy a Kemper in 2024?

With all the choices out there in the world of guitar modelling today: tone master pro, fractal axe fx 3, fractal fm9, Line 6 Helix, even more recent Kempers like the profiler player and the stage...why did I just buy a nearly 12 year old piece of gear?

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[DennyBob]

I bought a Kemper Profiler Stage in August 2019, a week after they came out. It had to be replaced a few months later because the switch manufacturer sent them a bad batch for foot switches, but since, it's been my main piece of guitar amp gear. I've run it straight into the board in most shows I've done. I have two Dunlop DVPX mini volume pedals, one for volume and one for Morphing (controlling parameters of effects - like turning up the delay mix or reverb depth). I love it and really like the fact that Kemper continues not only to support the profiler, but continues to innovate the unit through software updates - like Liquid Profiling.

I always have a few tube amps around, but I basically only use them these days to power the Kemper ;) I am planning on buying a Friedman Dirty Shirley Little Sister 20 Watt amp, just because I love the tone of the amp, and even though the profile I have is spectacular, I still love to move air. To me, unlike most modern guitar electronics, the Kemper is like a 72 Plexi 50 watt head - it's still just as relevant today as it was when it came out and will continue to be.

I tried every modeler on the market when I bought the Kemper, and it was one simple test that won me over - turn off all the effects, what do the amp models sound and feel like. A helix sounds great swimming in reverb, but the amp models are brittle and dry with no "feel" to them. The Fractal stuff has great effects, but their amps are little better. A great Kemper profile of a Marshall, or a Mesa Lonestar, or whatever, sounds and feels like the real thing though a great mic, mic pre and compressor, into a great board. It's the sound of the amp, but even better, it's the sound of the amp you hear on albums.

[motherwoodofficial]

Just bought a Kemper Stage and I hope it fills up with my expectations! It will arrive in 2 days 🖤

[FuzzWoof]

I bought another Kemper Rack towards the end of last year after selling my old one and taking some time trying out pretty much all the alternatives - I still feel it's the best combo of sound, feel, build quality and versatile connectivity but I can't say my decision wasn't at least a little swayed by the fact it has lots of knobs and buttons and I missed the satisfying chonk of the rotary power switch, haha. I very firmly agree that if you can't get a great sound out of pretty much any of the modern direct guitar solutions, the problem is more than likely not the gear, even the cheap budget options these days are incredible.

[ThePinheadsNL]

I totally understand your explanation. I also went looking for different gear, mainly triggered by my own curiosity and that ‘we need innovation’ feeling. I bought the Tone Master Pro which is a great user experience, great sounds, but is lacking in various features. Also there are a lot of bugs at the moment. It might get there in the future. The formula is there. Then I went for a Quad Cortex. Also spectacular, but I find it too small (switches to close for my size 13 feet 😂) and I just can’t live with the way it’s powered. It’s just unbelievable for a unit in that price range. Great features though. So - I’m back to a Kemper Stage for live and rehearsals and gonna add a power head with Kemper Kabinet to my arsenal for home and backup. It makes sense to have 2 Kempers and not 1 Kemper and another unit. I leave 1 in rehearsal room and 1 at home, and I can do backups or changes to setlists via usb backup. On top of that, none of the other units had the same feel and tone the Kemper has. It’s still King in my book. Have to say - of course it highly depends on the profiles you use. For me - the Bert Meulendijk profiles are the best out there. And as you mentioned, it’s 12 year old tech. But I don’t get the guitarists that are complaining. They all want guitars from the 50-60’s and boutique amps from the early days. Kemper is becoming vintage 😂!

[kevinmacv]

Hello!! Great video!! Can I ask you a question? My band does around a 100 tunes. My question is that it seems that each rigs output volume to the board is never consistent. Our sound person has to tweak my volume on virtually every song. Any thought on how to level that out so it behaves like a miked amp? Thank you!! Hello!!

[warrenfeit]

Yeah keep buying and selling the same gear and losing money each time lol.