The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #151

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    A good friend has a KPA and had a problem with no output. A local shop, EMI was able to get a new board and get it up and running complete with new updated software in a week. It was still under warrantee and so no charges. At least it didn't have to get it shipped back to the manufacturer. My friend Kevin swears by his KPA and tells me I need one, so far I have resisted but then I can borrow his or use his studio anytime he is not using it. I was worried that it was overly complicated but he has shown me it is really only as complicated as you want to make it. Simple for me but some of the stuff he does is over my head. He recently sold his AX FX, which I thought he would never do.
    Thanks John

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  3. #152

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    There were some problems with a batch of LEDs in the 1st or 2nd year, simple board replacement. Kemper did a good job on the physical design. Kemper has always maintained they are done with the coding of profiling so profiles will not become obsolete; there have been 1 or 2 modifications to the process but that did not render earlier profiles unusable but there was a slight difference in sound. Mostly the coding upgrades are new features or a couple updates to the profiling process to accommodate more accurate or more versatile ways of profiling.

  4. #153
    regarding obsolescence, there will always be improvements in technology but the kemper already sounds better to me than most if not all of the original tube amps so who cares if the profiles are no longer supported 10 years from now. Just make good backups.

  5. #154

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    There's been a relatively recent addition of a feature called pure cab that guys are raving about. It essentially takes the mic sound out of the profiles so the Kemper sounds more like an amp in the room rather than listening to a miced amp.

    The setting is now in the output section following latest firmware update

  6. #155
    Quote Originally Posted by Chimera1to1
    There's been a relatively recent addition of a feature called pure cab that guys are raving about. It essentially takes the mic sound out of the profiles so the Kemper sounds more like an amp in the room rather than listening to a miced amp.

    The setting is now in the output section following latest firmware update
    i haven't updated to that version yet. The original release with that feature had a severe bug so I've been holding off for a while. I wish they'd add a spring reverb.

  7. #156

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    i wonder if Kemper will get on the bandwagon and release a floor based only version like the Line 6 Helix or Fractal AX8. Seems to me a floor based unit is more practical than the rack versions especially if you need to use a midi foot controller for your rack system. With these new units you get the entire processor and the foot controller together in one unit on the floor.
    For the price of about $1400 for both the helix and/or the AX8 it makes more sense to wait for one of these to be released than buy a kemper rack unit.

  8. #157
    Quote Originally Posted by steves3972
    i wonder if Kemper will get on the bandwagon and release a floor based only version like the Line 6 Helix or Fractal AX8. Seems to me a floor based unit is more practical than the rack versions especially if you need to use a midi foot controller for your rack system. With these new units you get the entire processor and the foot controller together in one unit on the floor.
    For the price of about $1400 for both the helix and/or the AX8 it makes more sense to wait for one of these to be released than buy a kemper rack unit.
    mine's not a rack version. It's a head version and i've never felt the need to get a big midi switch and I hate those big, long midi switchers on the floor. Oftentimes, the room isn't big enough or the singer is tripping over it and then you need a wall wart to connect it to AC. I prefer the head version and a zendrive pedal sounds 90% as good as the zendrive amp model when you run it through a clean dumble front end in the kemper. YMMV...

    I do like the form factor of the atomic amplifire though. But I hate the wallwart...

  9. #158

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    Quote Originally Posted by jzucker
    i haven't updated to that version yet. The original release with that feature had a severe bug so I've been holding off for a while. I wish they'd add a spring reverb.

    Hey Jack, I know you mentioned this before so I just went and checked mine. If you press and hold the reverb button until the display changes and then turn the browse knob until you hit the second page, there you should find Matchbox Sproing which if I'm not mistaken is a spring reverb. EDIT there seems to be 3 Matchbox reverbs but according to the thread you posted to @kemper forum there isn't a spring reverb. I'm confused because I didn't know any other reverb had "sproing".

    Pete
    Last edited by Chimera1to1; 10-17-2015 at 02:04 PM.

  10. #159

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    I've heard Jack use his Kemper and it's the real deal. It can give you any number of great sounds for any style of music. Of course, if the only sound you'll ever want is a Joe Pass sound, then all you need is Joe's guitar, amp and hands.

    I'm just waiting until Kemper comes out with the "making coffee in the morning" feature. Then I'm jumping on it.

  11. #160
    Quote Originally Posted by Chimera1to1
    Hey Jack, I know you mentioned this before so I just went and checked mine. If you press and hold the reverb button until the display changes and then turn the browse knob until you hit the second page, there you should find Matchbox Sproing which if I'm not mistaken is a spring reverb. EDIT there seems to be 3 Matchbox reverbs but according to the thread you posted to @kemper forum there isn't a spring reverb. I'm confused because I didn't know any other reverb had "sproing".

    Pete
    i can't remember trying that. Maybe in the early days. I've gotten used to one of the other reverb programs and it sounds good. However, today I heard a Dr Z Z-Lux and it was amazing. Need to profile one of those!

  12. #161

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    I admit I only started playing the guitar a few years ago only as a way to play jazz, the music I've always loved. The's, I'm not one of these people who has been playing guitar since grade school because of Eddie v Halen or whatever.

    consequently, I only know "jazz" gear (Polytone, arch tops, etc).

    Since I've heard the term "Dumble" mentioned a lot here, I finally decided To google it. Because I have no idea what it refers to.
    Wow!!!! $50000 for an amp? Are you kidding me??? That's crazy.

    I guess my question is: can it be used in a clean jazz setting? iF so, does AmpFactory or others make Dumble profiles?

  13. #162
    Quote Originally Posted by NSJ
    I admit I only started playing the guitar a few years ago only as a way to play jazz, the music I've always loved. The's, I'm not one of these people who has been playing guitar since grade school because of Eddie v Halen or whatever.

    consequently, I only know "jazz" gear (Polytone, arch tops, etc).

    Since I've heard the term "Dumble" mentioned a lot here, I finally decided To google it. Because I have no idea what it refers to.
    Wow!!!! $50000 for an amp? Are you kidding me??? That's crazy.

    I guess my question is: can it be used in a clean jazz setting? iF so, does AmpFactory or others make Dumble profiles?
    yes it can. There's a fuchs clean floating around that sounds great. Ampfactory and several others have profiles of the two rock custom reverb which sounds great for jazz.

  14. #163

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    I just bought the rackmount version used off Reverb. I haven't been through the manual yet & would like to know: When going out stereo can I have each side set a little differently? And maybe fx set differently for each side? Also: Though I'm convinced I'll be thrilled with the profiles, will I be able to profile some of my favorite software amps into it too? And I guess I could profile some Ethos settings? It hasn't arrived yet & I can't wait to take some of my dream amps for a spin!
    Last edited by geoffsct; 10-18-2015 at 09:50 PM.

  15. #164

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    Well I've played with it for a day. From most others' first accounts I expected to be a little underwhelmed until I got it dialed in. Not so. Right out of the box I found some good clean amps. There's a great twin. I had to bring down the verb a bit and crank down the drive a little but this sounds better than I remember my old early '70s twin. The cool thing is you can tweak the presets about any way you want to. I'm not ready to sell my amps yet-- but I'm getting close. Thanks Jack for your reviews and youtubes....they pushed me off the fence.

  16. #165
    Quote Originally Posted by geoffsct
    I just bought the rackmount version used off Reverb. I haven't been through the manual yet & would like to know: When going out stereo can I have each side set a little differently? And maybe fx set differently for each side? Also: Though I'm convinced I'll be thrilled with the profiles, will I be able to profile some of my favorite software amps into it too? And I guess I could profile some Ethos settings? It hasn't arrived yet & I can't wait to take some of my dream amps for a spin!
    It's not as flexible as the axefx so you can't - for example - set one side up as clean fender and the other as polytone to imitate what benson does. So it's stereo implementation is somewhat limited. It's mostly the time/space effects which make use of the stereo settings. You can profile anything that you can mic.

    Quote Originally Posted by geoffsct
    Well I've played with it for a day. From most others' first accounts I expected to be a little underwhelmed until I got it dialed in. Not so. Right out of the box I found some good clean amps. There's a great twin. I had to bring down the verb a bit and crank down the drive a little but this sounds better than I remember my old early '70s twin. The cool thing is you can tweak the presets about any way you want to. I'm not ready to sell my amps yet-- but I'm getting close. Thanks Jack for your reviews and youtubes....they pushed me off the fence.
    No problem. Check out Welcome to TheAmpFactory | The Amp Factory...Sounds of the past, present and future profiles. They are the best IMO. I'm using their '64 vibroverb for all of my clean jazz playing. It's superb. Best jazz guitar sound I've ever gotten. I did tweak it a bit. I turned the gain all the way off so there is absolutely no distortion and I also inserted a parametric EQ to take down some of the low fundamental tones which cause an archtop to be woofy sounding

  17. #166

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    Hi folks,

    This is quite old thread but... are you still using KPA? I have plan to buy it. I haven't heard anything better (I mean digital) and it has some obvious advantages. However before buy I'm looking for all const I can find.
    Are you still using it for live JAZZ gigs? What disadvantages you see after 6 years of using it?

    Thanks!

  18. #167

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    noone?

  19. #168

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    Many jazz guitar folks think it's an overkill for most jazz applications.

  20. #169
    Quote Originally Posted by asedas
    Hi folks,

    This is quite old thread but... are you still using KPA? I have plan to buy it. I haven't heard anything better (I mean digital) and it has some obvious advantages. However before buy I'm looking for all const I can find.
    Are you still using it for live JAZZ gigs? What disadvantages you see after 6 years of using it?

    Thanks!
    I ditched mine long ago. I was using the axefx AX8 which is based on the axefx II for quite a while, many gigs. I switched over to it from the kemper because the reverb and effects on the kemper were a joke. The architecture of the kemper is such that the single DSP processor has to do both effects and amps so it's been really difficult for them to do complicated algorithms such as spring reverb without it detracting from the amp processing. My thought was that the basic amps were more accurate in kemper but the axefx architecture with it's dual DSPs was superior tech and was about at 95% of the kemper and that was good enough for me.

    However, I was telling a friend of mine about how much I loved the axefx and he invited me over to jam. He has a room full of 60s and 70s fender amps. While we were playing, I felt like my rig sounded "toy-like". During a break, I plugged into his silver face twin after 1 note, I knew I had been fooling myself with confirmation-bias. The fender amps smoked the axefx. No comparison, not even close. Once I was "woke", I realized that even a SS amp like the quilter blew away the modeling amps in terms of just solid, clean tone.

    The real problem isn't the tech. It's the marketing / target audience. The only growing market segment for this stuff is hardcore-metal players. The old guys wanting a great, old fender sound and spring reverb are a teeny/tiny minority. The guys doing hardcore metal don't need spring reverb or fender amps. And neither kemper or axefx even bothers to utilize an insertion point between the modeled preamp and power amp to put the reverb so even if they had a great spring reverb, it would never sound like a blackface fender amp. The axefx people told me that folks wanted reverb in front of their amps and so they weren't changing.

    The other big SNAFU with all this stuff is the FRFR speaker systems. They just sound horrible and completely unlike a real amp. Why would you need a cab that goes to 20k when a 12" guitar speaker falls off a cliff at 4.5k? It makes ZERO sense. A friend of mine runs his modeler through a power amp and guitar speaker cabs and it does sound much better so if you do buy a kemper, consider that avenue. It's a total illusion that an FRFR cab will allow you to sound like different speaker cabs. It just doesn't work and cabinet modeling / impulse responses don't sound or feel right IMO.