Bassman666 Posted September 11, 2023 Share Posted September 11, 2023 Evening folks, I recently picked up a powered kemper. I'm trying to decide wether it's for me, or to return it. Alot of the bassists in bands I listen to use these so figured I'd try one. I've made a few profiles, mainly based on an ampeg svt. I usually play through headphones however liked the idea that I can run this through a cab if needed. I'm just after any opinions/experience as it's a fairly complex bit of kit of which I probably won't scratch the surface. IMHO the profile I am using sounds amazing with loads of clarity and it seems amazing to be able to have SVT tones/ a tuner/ compressor/ overdrive all in one place! 🤘 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted September 12, 2023 Share Posted September 12, 2023 (edited) I had an (unpowered) Kemper for about a year when they first came out. It was super realistic with the amps it recreated, including some of my own that I profiled myself, I was a big GK fanboy at the time. However, ultimately I realised that I'm not bothered by having spot on recreations of amps and I found the effects a bit lacking so I swapped for the Helix and ultimately the Stomp. The Kemper was great but ultimately not what I was looking for. I believe the power amp on the Kemper only goes to 8ohms, so be careful with bass cabs, many of which are 4ohms. Edited September 13, 2023 by Jack 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassman666 Posted September 12, 2023 Author Share Posted September 12, 2023 Appreciate the insight. Yeah I agree the amp models do sound very good but I think I'm happy to admit I don't need more than one nice tone, so having a plethora of amps to fiddle with seems overkill. I'm also a gk fan so think I may just stick with what I know! Is your helix the stomp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted September 13, 2023 Share Posted September 13, 2023 I have a Helix which is a similar device. TBH I'm not that much interested in the authenticity of the amp/cab models because firstly I don't know what the originals sound like, and secondly that's not what I'm after for my personal sounds. Most of the time when I add a bass amp and cab to the signal chain it sounds less good IMO, so I've given up and use EQ and drive modules instead. I have a couple of patches with a bass amp in the signal path, but that has been chosen primarily because the distortion sound it produces works perfectly for the song rather than anything good about the actual amp sound itself. I also use a Roland Jazz Chorus sim for some sounds- some that in real life would be totally unsuitable for bass guitar at gigging volumes, but again I like the sound it produces. And that for me is the great thing about modelling devices, you're not going to break anything by putting low frequencies through it. The worst that can happen is that you won't like the sound and then you try something else in the signal chain instead. Even if I only needed a single sound for the whole gig, I'd still be using the Helix, because it is possible to dial in exactly the sound I want, and trying something else is a question of selecting another module rather than going to the expense of buying another amp/cab/effect to see if it's the right one for me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted September 13, 2023 Share Posted September 13, 2023 15 hours ago, Bassman666 said: Appreciate the insight. Yeah I agree the amp models do sound very good but I think I'm happy to admit I don't need more than one nice tone, so having a plethora of amps to fiddle with seems overkill. I'm also a gk fan so think I may just stick with what I know! Is your helix the stomp? I swapped the Kemper for the full fat rack Helix then bought the Stomp as a backup/small rig, then sold the rack as I was just never using it. Don't be fooled by thinking you have to use all of the features on a given anything. If the Kemper sounds good to you, and it's within your weight/size/price budget then just go for it. Frank Turner uses a Kemper for about 3 songs when he plays electric. It models a Fender combo with no effects, it's just smaller, quieter, easier to manage and more consistent than an actual Fender combo. When I had the rack Helix I only really used one patch per gig as there were enough slots to turn everything on and off like a normal effects board. Now that I have the Stomp I use two or sometimes even three patches. That's maybe 0.5% of its capabilities but it's still better than anything else for my needs and wants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted September 13, 2023 Share Posted September 13, 2023 11 minutes ago, Jack said: I swapped the Kemper for the full fat rack Helix then bought the Stomp as a backup/small rig, then sold the rack as I was just never using it. Don't be fooled by thinking you have to use all of the features on a given anything. If the Kemper sounds good to you, and it's within your weight/size/price budget then just go for it. Frank Turner uses a Kemper for about 3 songs when he plays electric. It models a Fender combo with no effects, it's just smaller, quieter, easier to manage and more consistent than an actual Fender combo. When I had the rack Helix I only really used one patch per gig as there were enough slots to turn everything on and off like a normal effects board. Now that I have the Stomp I use two or sometimes even three patches. That's maybe 0.5% of its capabilities but it's still better than anything else for my needs and wants. Very much this. Although I have a separate Helix Preset for every song often with multiple Snapshots, a lot of the time I'm using the same set of modules in the same order just with small tweaks to the EQ, drive and volume to get the bass to sit in the correct place in the mix as the guitar, synth and drum sounds change around it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassman666 Posted September 13, 2023 Author Share Posted September 13, 2023 Yeah I get what you mean, my problem I think is that the gk setup I've been playing through at home sounds great and is mega portable. So I'm struggling to justify the expense of the kemper, however I have been very curious with the helix so may invest in a stomp. I currently use a tech21 fly rig as I like having a tuner/distortion in one pedal, however from what I've heard the helix may be more up my street! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelDean Posted September 13, 2023 Share Posted September 13, 2023 You can try out the Helix Native plugin for 15 days as well to see if it might be the right flavour of multi-fx/moddler for you. https://uk.line6.com/helix/helixnative.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0175westwood29 Posted September 14, 2023 Share Posted September 14, 2023 ive been close but the 8ohm powered kemper is limiting as all my cabs are 4ohms so thinking power amp might but then i have side glances at the QC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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