Is a Kemper Morally ok with you?

jwalker99us said:
The Kemper and other companies with software based amp emulations, ie UA’s Fender 5e3, Fuchs, Amplitube, etc have caused an upward trend in purchases of classic and even new amps that the buyers werent previously exposed to. Happened to me. Played the UA Fender deluxe and the bought one. The world is a big place. Amp builders’s sounds are now available globally. But software isnt really the same.


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What really surprises me is that extremely few amp manufacturers do their own Kemper profiles. Do that well and that's a shit-ton of money, not only in the profiles but people eventually buying the amps. Really reminds me of the mp3 thing in the 90s, the whole record industry had no idea how to deal with it and just defaulted to fighting everything instead of taking advantage of it.

People being stubborn for the sake of it really.
 
Dexter Inferno said:
What really surprises me is that extremely few amp manufacturers do their own Kemper profiles. Do that well and that's a shit-ton of money, not only in the profiles but people eventually buying the amps. Really reminds me of the mp3 thing in the 90s, the whole record industry had no idea how to deal with it and just defaulted to fighting everything instead of taking advantage of it.

People being stubborn for the sake of it really.
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100% agree. A successful friend who ran a software co in the 90s told me “ i would rather have my software copied and stolen by consumers than the competition.” Gave him equity on the desktop. Which basically meant the consumers attention.

Kempers are like listening booths for amp sounds you like.


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Aahzz said:
I do indeed have a problem with someone buying an amp just to sample it and return it. That's unethical in my mind.

As for the Kemper's ability to sample, or profile, a sound and recreate it? I have no issues with that. It's not actually copying anyone's circuit, just essentially recording a sound and recreating the tone, to some degree.
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This! Principles remain the same regardless of the "who owns the amp sounds" debate. A person that buys an amp just to profile it and abuse the return policy isn't principled in our house.

What about a rapper sampling a song that has a Friedman amp in it? Where did he get his initial design for his amps?

I'm a Kemper user 100% now, for electric, bass, and acoustic. My sound has never been close to this good in my opinion or as easy to tweak and recall.

They're not as daunting to drive as they look. The controls are incredibly well laid out.
 
Since this got bumped, I re-read the initial question. People buying amps, profiling them, then returning them is pretty shitty, but that’s no reason to be mad at Kemper. That’s like getting mad at Xerox because people are photocopying text books. Kemper isn’t doing anything wrong it’s people buying and returning the amp.

Also, I have no idea how profiling works but why would you have to buy the amp to do it? Couldn’t you just use YouTube demos? And also doesn’t Friedman make a living building hit rodded Marshall clones?
 
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Profiling is a piece of cake. You just set up a mic in front of the amp, plug the mic into the Kemper return, and plug the Kemper into the front of the amp. It then runs a whole bunch of tones and impulses through the amp and creates a profile of the exact amp with the settings.

Mark Knopfler just started touring with a pair of them. In his case it lets him take his amp sounds on the road without the hassle and risk of the real amps, which can remain back in the studio.

It's honestly really difficult to tell the Kemper from the amp it's profiled from.
 
The Kemper does need a real amp sound to profile, as it needs to measure the way it responds to input.

The reality for me is that I buy professional profile packs rather than creating my own. I still use a profile of my Shiva as one of my main clean sounds.
 
Grant Harding said:
I'm a Kemper user 100% now, for electric, bass, and acoustic. My sound has never been close to this good in my opinion or as easy to tweak and recall.
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I’m still a few weeks out from having the scratch to get a Kemper Stage.... what do you use in the Kemper for Acoustics?
 
Brian Krashpad said:
I'm a punk rocker.

I have no morals.

Not really about the modelling, anyhow.
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In heart, I'm an American artist and I have no guilt
I seek pleasure, I seek the nerves under your skin
The narrow archway, the layers, the scroll of ancient lettuce
We worship the flaw, the belly, the belly
The mole on the belly of an exquisite whore
 
baimun said:
I’m still a few weeks out from having the scratch to get a Kemper Stage.... what do you use in the Kemper for Acoustics?
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Profiles of an Avalon acoustic preamp and with the "Cab" section off so it doesn't add a simulated guitar speaker.

A little bit of compression and EQ and whatever reverbs or delays are necessary.
 
Help!I'maRock! said:
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I know those were the stock sounds, but they did nothing for me. The cleans weren't bad, but as soon as any dirt came in, it just didn't sound right. I'm sure getting in there and tweaking it would make it better, but that's not for me.
 
It depends what you're listening through and what you're expecting to hear. The unit puts out the sound of the amp with a mic on it, with whatever outboard effects are required. Exactly what would be coming through the PA (or DAW), not the sound of an amp blasting in a room.

You do definitely need to tweak things to your personal taste and guitars. When you do I guarantee you'd struggle to tell which tracks are Kemper and which are amp.
 
Chad said:
I know those were the stock sounds, but they did nothing for me. The cleans weren't bad, but as soon as any dirt came in, it just didn't sound right. I'm sure getting in there and tweaking it would make it better, but that's not for me.
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I just assumed they were another modeller like everything else.... Until we sat in on the Brooks and Dunn rehearsal. Charlie Crowe was playing through one.

I was sitting next to his guitar tech and could hear the FOH mix as well as his monitor mix and it blew me away.
 
Chad said:
I know those were the stock sounds, but they did nothing for me. The cleans weren't bad, but as soon as any dirt came in, it just didn't sound right. I'm sure getting in there and tweaking it would make it better, but that's not for me.
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Sounded great to me, especially the 5150!
 
Hello...the majority of the amp circuits individuals would need to profile aren't protected/patentable. They're variations on circuits distributed numerous many years prior by tube organizations that are presently in the public space or potentially weren't adequately novel to warrant licenses. Amps' just genuine ensured IP is brand names, logos and names. IOW, you're allowed to duplicate a Fender amp sound or circuit, however you can't consider it a Fender model or utilize their text style without Fender's consent.

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