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Old 02-05-2016, 01:08 PM   #90
The Telenator
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Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Oud West, NL
Posts: 2,335
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EvilDragon View Post
I think it's quite great that you can have a lot of different amps modelled to a very high precision in a box like Kemper. For bands covering a wide setlist of genres it is definitely a godsend (that was the example I mentioned above) - one real tube amp is certainly fine enough, but when you stretch different periods in time in your setlist, if you can get very close to those tones as recorded (which Kemper allows you to have), you automatically provide better satisfaction to the crowd. One tube amp might be perfect for 80s rock, but utterly fail when you want to jump back to 50s, or if you need to have a more modern sound. While there are versatile amps out there, and you can certainly complicate your life even more with a huge pedalboard, with Kemper you get 99% of the way there, all in one box, all in one press on the "next preset" switch. Very, very, very convenient.

This is just one scenario where I can see boxes like Kemper succeeding perfectly. Another scenario is when the band wants to facsimile the guitar sound as on the record - without live stage related issues, micing and whatnot. There are very good use cases for a Kemper.
I will certainly agree with your starting remarks here. To me, at least on paper, it is amazing the Kemper models as well as it does. In other words, being no electrical engineer, of course, but from all I know of the works, the modeling should not come out as fantastic as it does. This is the one intriguing thing for me about Kemper. Good for a serious smile.

And certainly, ewven as only a science project, it needs no justification to exist. BUT ... after decades of owning and using all manner of pricy guitar-related items, I tend to look at real-world use and practicality, and this is where having a Kemper can be questionable. More and more these days, I find too many options in all we musician-producer-players have available. And what I also see is a complete inverse relationship between the too many options and the quality of musical output. That is to say, we may have all these wonderful options, but the more we have the less quality (in this case) guitar sounds and playing I'm hearing. Something has gone wrong.
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