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RockyStar
Well-known member
I think I am going to grab the Fryette LX II.
MrDowntown
Well-known member
Did your Kab show yet?
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RockyStar
Well-known member
Shows up today!
Hyperionguitarworks
Active member
So your going to use the Kab and a tube power amp? I assume you got the cab so you can continue to use the cab IRs?
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RockyStar
Well-known member
I got the cab to try to make it sound proper in the room. My Kemper is not a powered Kemper so it needs to be powered.
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RockyStar
Well-known member
I wanted to update on this rig build now that everything I ordered has arrived. The Fryette LX II power amp is very nice. The various amps and the Fryette Power Station did color the sound a bit where as the LX II is neutral but without the sterility of a solid state power amp. There are some features that really make it responsive and feel nice under the fingers and give the power some dimension and bloom, feel, tube amp familiarity that nothing else I tried did without losing something dynamically or coloring something. I am very please with this power section.
The Kemper Kab is a trip. It is cool and it does it's job beautifully but I am still mind bent on having 1 speaker instead of 8...lol. It can handle the volume fine and it does sound nice. My regular cabs colored things and I was looking for neutral. By no means did using regular cabs sound terrible, I was simply looking for a purity in the profile and an in the room feel that felt like a cranked tube amp and a 4x12 or 2. This set up has gotten me the closest by far. I could see filling a 4x12 with he Kemper Kones and that could solve that very small % I am missing. I could see getting another Kemper Kab and spreading them out and that could solve that last little bit of a problem in fullness in the room.
Talking very pure tone, the rig as is delivers. The sound is right. The feel is right and the volume is there. I would be lying if I said there wasn't a difference in the 1x12 vs a 4x12. There is a bit but it is a small bit. I don't believe what I am talking about is a sound or volume thing but rather a space thing. a filling of the room standing in various spots while playing kind of thing if that makes sense. From that perspective, an additional Kab could be a benefit but it would be small. A 4x12 cab with the Kones could be a benefit but again, small (and expensive) for the 4x12 cabinet cost and the 4 Kones. I hope what i am saying makes sense.
This way has been the best for me to get that tube amp in the room feel and that punch in the chest sound, pant leg flap of the almighty chug. I have also come to realize that One thing will never be another thing no matter how hard you try. Heck, I have plugged into identical amps and been able to tell a slight difference. I say all this to say I have embraced what this rig is all about and I am going to enjoy it for what it is. My tube amp and 4x12 collection will not be going anywhere and in fact will be growing. This Kemper is a fun piece of gear and does a lot of neat thing (many of which I am probably oblivious to).
Hopefully this helps a bit and didn't confuse. Again, thanks to all those who helped me along the way and contributed to this thread. I appreciate everything very much. Now let's all go play guitar!!!
The Kemper Kab is a trip. It is cool and it does it's job beautifully but I am still mind bent on having 1 speaker instead of 8...lol. It can handle the volume fine and it does sound nice. My regular cabs colored things and I was looking for neutral. By no means did using regular cabs sound terrible, I was simply looking for a purity in the profile and an in the room feel that felt like a cranked tube amp and a 4x12 or 2. This set up has gotten me the closest by far. I could see filling a 4x12 with he Kemper Kones and that could solve that very small % I am missing. I could see getting another Kemper Kab and spreading them out and that could solve that last little bit of a problem in fullness in the room.
Talking very pure tone, the rig as is delivers. The sound is right. The feel is right and the volume is there. I would be lying if I said there wasn't a difference in the 1x12 vs a 4x12. There is a bit but it is a small bit. I don't believe what I am talking about is a sound or volume thing but rather a space thing. a filling of the room standing in various spots while playing kind of thing if that makes sense. From that perspective, an additional Kab could be a benefit but it would be small. A 4x12 cab with the Kones could be a benefit but again, small (and expensive) for the 4x12 cabinet cost and the 4 Kones. I hope what i am saying makes sense.
This way has been the best for me to get that tube amp in the room feel and that punch in the chest sound, pant leg flap of the almighty chug. I have also come to realize that One thing will never be another thing no matter how hard you try. Heck, I have plugged into identical amps and been able to tell a slight difference. I say all this to say I have embraced what this rig is all about and I am going to enjoy it for what it is. My tube amp and 4x12 collection will not be going anywhere and in fact will be growing. This Kemper is a fun piece of gear and does a lot of neat thing (many of which I am probably oblivious to).
Hopefully this helps a bit and didn't confuse. Again, thanks to all those who helped me along the way and contributed to this thread. I appreciate everything very much. Now let's all go play guitar!!!
cardinal
Well-known member
Glad you dig it! I also try to just enjoy a digital amp for what it is: a fun, useful tool that sounds good. There's something to using a real amp and cabs for sure, but these digital things have their benefits for sure, as well.
Monkey Man
Super Moderator
Awesome, Rocky! 
Glad you were able to confirm my predictions about the Kab / Kone. I appreciate that although you were sceptical, you had a go nevertheless.
Glad you were able to confirm my predictions about the Kab / Kone. I appreciate that although you were sceptical, you had a go nevertheless.
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RockyStar
Well-known member
True. I was amazed in this journey exactly how much each piece of the puzzle effected things. I would go so far as to say at least as much if not more than on traditional Tube Amps and Cabinets. Maybe it is more blatant and obvious to me on the profiling side than the other because I am far more familiar with the other. Regardless, the changes were drastic and tangible and it was an interesting journey for sure.
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RockyStar
Well-known member
Thanks for the nudge. I have always been open to change and through many years have also learned what works and doesn't work. If I had to break it all down to one thing it was an overall philosophy more than anything. The Kemper philosophy in many ways is completely contradictory to a lot of the traditional things we all live by in the Tube Amp World. Once I was able to really understand that it was very simple and I really believe that is where most struggle between the Kemper and Tube Amps....(maybe unknowingly). I learned a lot and that is never a bad thing. Thanks Again for all your help my friend.Awesome, Rocky!
Glad you were able to confirm my predictions about the Kab / Kone. I appreciate that although you were sceptical, you had a go nevertheless.
Monkey Man
Super Moderator
You're so-welcome, Brother Rocky.
Awesome sauce, mate.
Awesome sauce, mate.
Hyperionguitarworks
Active member
When you are using the fryette power amp and the kemper kab are you using cab IRs in the kemper? Did you turn the cab IRs off when you played the kemper through the power station?
I believe I've seen a 4x12 with FRFR speakers like the Kab has you may want to looking into that.
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RockyStar
Well-known member
No cab IR's if using a cabinet. That will only mess things up.
Hyperionguitarworks
Active member
I could be wrong but i believe when using the FRFR kab you're supposed to use the IRs in the kemper. The FRFR kab is like a studio monitor/pa monitor it should represent what ever you have playing out of it so if you aren't using IRs you aren't getting any speaker coloration because the Kab is designed to be flat.
Am I off?
dawnofdreamx97
Well-known member
It always sounded best to me into the fx return of my tube heads or a kick ass tube power amp. Fact is you are and always will be dealing with latency when it comes to all of these modelers. I've gotten some good tones , and fiddled for fucking eternity tweaking shit. In the end .... give me an all analog signal path , nothing feels like it, that's what is always off , the latency.
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RockyStar
Well-known member
I misunderstood. I was talking a traditional cabinet and not the Kemper Kab. IR's on a traditional cabinet is not a good thing. The Kemper Cabinet has speaker imprints available for use. You can also (for lack of a better word or term) neutralize things and use / magnify / amplify the profile in use...example Michael Britt xyz profile with a greenback. The Kab has the option of doing the profile or the speaker imprints if that makes sense.
Monkey Man
Super Moderator
Put simply, you can run it as FRFR whenever you choose, to answer Hyperion's question:
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PSGuitar
Active member
Love this thread. Good stuff!
I joined a cover band that also does originals and I have been using my Mark V or PRS Archon but I am looking at the Kemper and a good tube power amp like the VHT or Mesa Boogie 2/90.
Possiboy am they tube head that has four channels like the Marshall JVM 410H or Revv Gen 120, an Engl, Diezel Haven or similar.
I joined a cover band that also does originals and I have been using my Mark V or PRS Archon but I am looking at the Kemper and a good tube power amp like the VHT or Mesa Boogie 2/90.
Possiboy am they tube head that has four channels like the Marshall JVM 410H or Revv Gen 120, an Engl, Diezel Haven or similar.
SpiderWars
Well-known member
Just curious but have you tried something like a bass amp? They are usually pretty powerful and clean with lots of EQ. Even bypassing the preamp and using the FX return should still get you the graphic/parameteric EQ. Something like this Mesa bass amp.
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Locrain
Member
Necro-quote, but since this thread has been bumped from the dead..."There is no actual formula from tube to ss watts or vice versa, because the deal is that cranking a ss amp past its clean rating usually sounds terrible, while cranking an all-tube amp past its clean rating results in massive compression, distortion, and sag, which all increase "loudness" by a big factor, and it also results in the tube amp actually cranking out a lot higher wattage than it is rated for. The combination of all those factors results in this thing about tube amps being louder."Wow, never heard of that Boss WAZA TAE... Sounds very very cool. Very expensive though, does the Built-in 100-watt Class AB power amplifier with discrete analog design Have enough power? I mean, it’s not tube, it’s solid state, so 100 W is not a lot, But I like that it’s class AB and not class D
EDIT:
my buddy Erik, (ErikT) he blew his output transformer in his wizard MTL using this thing.
The above aside, watts are watts, and I would personally not hesitate to try a 100w SS power amp for anything, if it isn't of poor design/quality.