Solution to silent home practice

joeyowen

If it's for recording go Kemper or Helix

For practice, something like amplitube, they do a custom shop where it's about $20 dollars for a single amp 

If you are loaded, go Kemper regardless

paulmapp8306

Jalapeno said:

Is this about practice or recording ? 



I like the idea of a Kemper preamp for my home setup (sounds to me like a lot less fettling than AxeFX too) 

Depends how you approach it.  I find getting the tone I want from the AFX easier than trawling through 100s of Kemper profiles to find something I want....  Having said that, I have a RAC12 as well, which is a MIDI controller (rack mounted) with knobs and switches - so I control my "Patch" like a real amp anyway.

For the OP - If you love your amp/pedals and just want that with headphones - the load into PC with IRs, or the Torpedo are the cheapest ways.  If you want to record, create new sounds as well - either the Kemper or AFX.  

BintyTwanger77

Well, I've gone with a Kemper head (unpowered) and I'm going to dig deep into it and see if it really is worth it. I've got 14 days to return it, so we'll see how it goes.

Who knows, if it's really that good it could replace my entire rig.

Can anyone tell me if there are more reverbs you can load onto the Kemper with recent updates?

Gassage

My solution is a 4 X 12 and fuck the neighbours

hubobulous

Gassage said:

My solution is a 4 X 12 and fuck the neighbours

Do the neighbours get a say in that, or do you just force your manliness upon them, both sonically and physically?

Teetonetal

If you you can unplug your speaker from the amp then you can easily use a two notes.

I have mine in a helix loop it's so awesome.

octatonic

Go for a modeller.
They are less hassle if you need to be playing silent and they sound pretty good these days.

Drew_TNBD

Tbh, having done lots and lots of buying and flipping and A/B comparisons between all sorts of gear.... you can get fucking EXCELLENT sounds from any of them to be honest. It's really about how your mind works and how quickly you can bond with the piece of gear in question imho.

I've compared real amps + reactive loadboxes to the Kemper, Axe FX II, and the Helix. All get decent sounds. For me I'd be happy with any of them. Sometimes there is that last 1% that you convince yourself a real amp has, but when it's all said and done... most of the time you can't hear or feel it. Time for us all to stop being so precious about gear.

I'm hoping to get a Helix for home and live use. After using it the workflow was great and I think it would suit me better. I will keep my loadbox and amps though.

Teetonetal

That post from @Drew_fx  is full of wisdom. All of these units are great. It's got to the point where they only thing stopping a unit sounding great is the user.

digitalscream

For what it's worth, AMT have a 15W reactive load for about £100; that's the cheapest you're going to get unless you make one yourself. @John_A might know more (I've only seen them on their Russian site).

Reactive load is by far the best way to go for me. Then again...the amps I like generally aren't included in any modeller out there, and I'm not willing to go down the Kemper route just for recording at home when I can do it much more cheaply with my actual amp.

John_A

Hi I'm not affiliated with AMT in any way, just had a lot of their products over the years.  @AMT_Electronics is the UK distributer, he may be able to tell you more, and there's a FB discount code, see my sig below

thomasross20

I need to learn, out of curiosity.... about Kemper / AxeFX etc - are they good for gigging as well as home use? Do yuo get the valve amp "air push" feel? 

BintyTwanger77

Isn't GAS a ridiculous thing? I was at home yesterday, headphones in the Kemper, scrolling through presets, and after about 30 mins the thought hit me, "what the merry, 50-percent-less-fat F*CK am I DOING?!".

Went to play the DRRI and pedals and thought, "I don't want to replace any of this". I really only need a good practice amp with headphone input/reactive load box for occasional silent practice, I don't need to replace anything.

Suffice to say the Andertons courier is coming to pick up the Kemper tomorrow and getting a refund. Also getting a refund of the deposit I put on the Helix.

Both are astounding bits of kit, but for what I need right now, both are WAY overkill.

This was definitely the biggest bout of GAS I've had yet.

thomasross20

@BintyTwanger77, I agree... I'm constantly looking at the minimal amount of gear I need to get the job done. If the gear is worth it, I'll pay. But look at my recent amp quest - ended up saving a stash of cash as was happy with the lower-price-range Blackstar amps. A few bits of gear to take up less space and save cash can only be a good thing IMO - how many of us are minted enough to afford all that or justify it by being in a touring band? 

digitalscream

John_A said:

Hi I'm not affiliated with AMT in any way, just had a lot of their products over the years.  @AMT_Electronics is the UK distributer, he may be able to tell you more, and there's a FB discount code, see my sig below

Ah, my bad - sorry, dude. Brain clearly not working today.

BintyTwanger77

thomasross20 said:

@BintyTwanger77, I agree... I'm constantly looking at the minimal amount of gear I need to get the job done. If the gear is worth it, I'll pay. But look at my recent amp quest - ended up saving a stash of cash as was happy with the lower-price-range Blackstar amps. A few bits of gear to take up less space and save cash can only be a good thing IMO - how many of us are minted enough to afford all that or justify it by being in a touring band? 

Exactly. If I got to the latter stage, well...that would be incredible and I could see the need, but the overriding factors in this are

1. I spent ages trying to find a base tone I love and I found it with a 65 DRRI boosted with a Cleanness and a JHS Kilt.

2. I will never get that tone with headphones in any scenario without spending £1000s.

3. A half-decent tone with good headphones and a small practice amp (or a Reactive Load, etc.) will do just for silent practice.

digitalscream

thomasross20 said:

@BintyTwanger77, I agree... I'm constantly looking at the minimal amount of gear I need to get the job done. If the gear is worth it, I'll pay. But look at my recent amp quest - ended up saving a stash of cash as was happy with the lower-price-range Blackstar amps. A few bits of gear to take up less space and save cash can only be a good thing IMO - how many of us are minted enough to afford all that or justify it by being in a touring band? 

Well, yes - I've been all around the houses with amps (everything from a £200 Jet City to a Soldano Decatone), and I've settled somewhere in the middle. Currently trying to sell my rack unit, in order to move to a MIDI-controlled pedalboard; for me, the definition of "minimal" is the amount of gear and its weight, rather than how much it cost.

I'm a big fan of keeping the "moving parts" to a minimum, though.

Jalapeno

thomasross20 said:

I need to learn, out of curiosity.... about Kemper / AxeFX etc - are they good for gigging as well as home use? Do yuo get the valve amp "air push" feel? 

Certainly the Kemper (+Power amp option) sounds bloody marvellous live.  The talent (I'm more of a rythm stalwart) in our 8 piece Jazz group uses one for his Semi Tele, ES335, and ES175 (with a couple of Mackie 350s) for a great stereo sound, really cuts through nicely.

Back OT, for practice if I bother plugging in I choose between Cornell Plexi on 1/4W or a very old Line 6 Pod XT Pro (it's on Blackface Lux permanently) for silent headphone sounds

BintyTwanger77

@Jalapeno Don't get me wrong, the Kemper sounds and is unbelievable, it really is. With speakers, the Deluxe Reverb model absolute nailed it (on Vibrato and Normal Channels) and the JCM patches were brilliant, but if I'm mostly going to be using it for headphones, I just won't get the benefit. 

Maybe if Nick McCabe asks me to tour with with him I'll invest in one...  

hubobulous

So yeah.......the Two Notes ;-)