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Kemper Kabinet – An Honest Review

November 18, 2021June 3, 2024Andrew NuttallLeave a comment

I have had Kemper Profiling Amps on and off for the last couple years, normally selling them when I realize I don’t actually play them like an amp as much as I twiddle through the thousands of profiles I have on my computer. The concept of the Kemper was a ground breaking thing 10 years ago, but has been done by other companies with more powerful processors and updated UIs. The one thing none of the competitors have match thus far is the powered head/rack with their built in 400 watt solid state amplifiers which let you use the Kemper as a stand alone amp.

But there has always been a drawback to doing that, which is your still had to lug your favorite cab around with you (in my case a Two-Rock 2×12 open back) and it never quite sounded right for the different profiles, though I find I prefer the Two-Rock for most amps, digital or tube. Then Kemper came out with the Kab and Kone which are Full Range Flat Response (FRFR) speakers make by Celestion in a small cab (or sold alone). These plus a software update promised to let you change the sounds and response of the speaker to match a selection of popular speakers, giving you a truer amp in the room experience. But do they deliver?

Having picked one up for myself, I immediately loaded up some of my favorite profiles of a Hi-Octane kit amp I once had. It’s a 5 watt class-A Marshall clone, that sounded incredible when you pulled the second preamp tube out, giving more of a JTM vibe. I profiled this amp a while back using a direct box to record the speaker out signal, meaning the cab/mic was not in the “direct” profile giving it a true amp only feel. So how did it sound into the Kab? In a word: Terrible. You see, what I expected was that the Kemper Kone setting in the software would make the Kab work like a standard guitar cabinet. Instead what it does is use the existing cab information in the profile (in my case, nothing) and tweak the response and eq curves to mimic having that cab loaded with different speakers.

At this point I was pretty much ready to return the Kab and sell yet another Kemper, but then I decided to do a quick copy/paste of a Two-Rock cab off another profile, onto my Hi-Octane profiles to see how well it works compared to my actually cab. While I can say it’s not 100% accurate (partly because there is no impulse for the Two-Rock branded speakers in the cab) it does sound much better, and the little 1×12 Kab can really put out some volume and bass despite it’s diminutive size. Oh right, lets talk the Kab itself.

It’s small, about the size of a Fender Princeton, meaning it can fit pretty much anywhere. This plus it’s laughable weight (25 lbs) means it’s very portable, something that I was really excited for. You see, I have my guitar amps all setup in a nice place in the basement, good for playing and recording, but not near my computer. Especially having gotten rid of my Bloomfield Combo, I no longer have a good way to play guitar in my office area, so being able to chuck this speaker under my desk and far enough back that I won’t kick it is great.

The weight also means I can carry the Profiler in it’s case in one hand and the Kab in the other hand down halls, up stairs and anywhere else with ease. I’m still not sure how that speaker is so light, being used to a 1×12 Blackshadow in my old Mesa Boogie Mk III weighing almost 20 lbs by itself, I’m not sure how this beast of a speaker exists. What do I mean by “beast of a speaker”? The Kemper Kab is rated for 200-watts rms! Though they do say that you shouldn’t use it with any other signal generator as it won’t sound right unless running the Kone software, but it does pump out tons of volume. The bass response of this skinny, tiny speaker cab is also quite impressive thanks to that power handling and a bass boost option in the Kone settings page. I still need to play with it more, but it seems to get close to my very large 2×12 cabs in overall bass response, which is very impressive.

So what is my final verdict? At $500 with tax, it feels a bit too expensive, but if you want to go with a Kemper as your main rig without resorting to in-ears, it is a pretty good option for monitoring on stage. Ultimately for me, I am a bit disappointed by it’s failure to work without a cab in the profile, and I would have returned it the next day had the store I bought it from online not had a 5% restocking fee. But I am glad I didn’t as the more I use it, the more I find how I can tweak it to get some great tones and am spending less time zipping through profiles and more time playing guitar. Which is ultimately the goal of any gear.

Update (12/8/21)
The Kabinet is gone. In the end I decided the convenience of the light 1×12 didn’t outweigh the cost when I already have a couple 2×12 cabs I like the sound of the Kemper through already. Money-no-object, I probably would have kept it around just to have under my desk for the occasional quick play, but at $500 it just wasn’t worth it when something like a Yamaha THC, Waza Air or other more practical options exist for less.

If you’d like to support the site, consider buying your own Kemper Kabinet using our affiliate link on Reverb. It costs nothing more to you and gives a small cut, just check the return policy first. Thanks and keep playing.

Pedal Deals: Tube Works Blue Tube

January 5, 2021June 3, 2024Andrew NuttallLeave a comment

I am starting a new series of videos and blog posts that I am calling “Pedal Deals” for now. The basic premise is to highlight some pedals that people might not know about, or have dismissed based on their price, but are actually great sounding or inspiring. As I have been getting into higher end gear over the last couple years, I am guilty as much as anyone as dismissing some of the old staples as too “pedestrian”. So let’s take a look back through some old favorites and try out some new pedals that are either at a deep discount or simply budget minded from the beginning.

The first pedal I wanted to highlight is the old series of pedals by Tube Works. These pedals are designed by B. K. Butler of Tube Driver fame (used probably most famously by Eric Johnson) and use a 12ax7 running at good voltages to generate the overdrive tones. The Blue Tube is a low to medium gain pedal, good for pushing an amp that’s already overdriving, or adding organic tube overdrive in front of a clean amp.

One popular mod is to replace the original foot switch with a high quality true bypass switch. The originals were somewhat prone to failure with heavy use, and the mod is very inexpensive especially if you can solder at even a basic level. Another much less common mod, is a power conversion. The original pedals have a permanent 110v power cable attached. This is a much more difficult mod but can make the pedal work much better on modern pedalboards.

Tube Works Blue Tube - Tube Overdrive Pedal

One interesting feature on these pedals are the knobs. They are what I can best refer to as “clicky” knobs. As you turn them they have notches you can feel giving you more exact settings and making it easier to reproduce them. Not sure how robust they are, but I haven’t seen any fail on the pedals I’ve had in the past.

The Blue Tube and other old style Tube Works pedals can be consistently had for under $150 USD (at time of writing), and if you keep an eye out and are patient, can be found for around $100. At this price they are competing with inexpensive solid state overdrive pedals and are definitely a good deal that could give you some interesting texture and tones outside of what’s normally available.

One last thought is something I still have to try, but I wonder how well these tube based overdrive pedals would work in front of a cheap solid state amp? As these pedals do sag and compress as a tube should, they may be able to add some of the feel and life of a tube amp to a solid state practice amp. I will test this out when I get a chance to borrow a practice amp.

Support the channel and buy your own Blue Tube on Reverb.

Bliss Factory

December 7, 2020March 23, 2023Andrew NuttallLeave a comment

As many of you know, I have found a new fatuation in Chass Bliss pedals and all their configurability and quirkiness. Also if you’ve known me for even longer than you may know that one pedal I’ve always come back to is the ZVEX Fuzz Factory 7, my all time favorite fuzz. When I found out that they were doing a collab for the Reverb Pedal Movie, I jumped on the chance to snag one.

Of course this being the time of Covid where everyone is home and online, as well as Chase Bliss pedals going for ridiculous markups after undoubtably selling out, I was too late. In the first hour of sale all one thousand pedals were gone with no plans to make more. So back to the board with a plan to watch the flips pop up, and to try and get one for as little as possible, which would still turn out to be nearly double the original price.

But this post isn’t about the troubles of limited runs and the scalpers that markup the pedal the next day, it’s about this fantastic pedal. And it is FANTASTIC. One of the reasons I keep coming back to the Fuzz Factory 7 over the years is that it has fantastic cleanup, and there are a ton of different tones in there. From classic Fuzz Face, to thick molten modern fuzz, octave rich spitty tones and gated video game effects, all are possible. With Joel’s magic done to the Bliss Factory, the biggest part for me was the ability to save all those sounds to presets.

The added resonant high pass is a nice addition, giving some flexibility to tone, whether mellowing it out with reduced high ends, or adding some peak resonant frequencies to give a cocked wah feel. The Aux foot switch let’s you do things like make the high pass in one state and have it rolled off in the other allowing you to sit back in the mix even with a thick tone.

Lastly in true Fuzz Factory style, the noises that happen when this pedal self oscillates can be used for all sorts of crazy creations. Add this to pedals like the Thermae, Mood and Blooper and you have music potential with no guitar needed. That said, for me this is a fantastic fuzz pedal first, with all those noises coming in as an occasional fun thing to play with. The cleanup on the guitar volume knob is up there with the best of any fuzz and is truly an overlooked feature of this amazing pedal.

If you’d like to support the blog and the channel then please use our links when purchasing through Reverb and pickup your own Fuzz Factory variant today.

Chase Bliss Pedals – Reverb

iZotope Spire Studio – Can it make me sound better?

August 14, 2020June 3, 2024Andrew NuttallLeave a comment

The iZotope Spire Studio is a standalone recording studio that’s portable and easy to use, but can it handle recording a guitar amp and how good can it sound?

Having a full time job as well as being a father of two small kids, I don’t have much time or energy at the end of the day when it comes to recording. The desire to be creative and to share information that I wish I had however, continues to drive me to create videos on the gear that I find interesting. This means that I typically record using just the mic built into my iPhone 6s, not exactly the best for recording an amp at volume, but better than not recording. However recently a comment on YouTube brought in to sharp focus my recording technique. I was asked why some videos (like mine) didn’t sound as big and lively when recording the Two-Rock Bloomfield Drive, and I knew the answer came down to the lack of using a close mic and room mic to give a better mix and representation of the sound in the room.

Enter the SM57 close mic and iPhone room mic test, which successfully proved that some additional setup time could make my videos sound much bigger and crisp. The downside was cables strewn across the room and an annoying walk to setup and start recording, like trying to run a recording managing a recording desk in a studio while also performing in the live room, ugh. I’ve tried other solutions such as a Zoom portable recorder, or a usb interface with long cables, but ultimately I didn’t like having to set and adjust levels using headphones to monitor. Hopefully the Spire could be the solution.

Portability means I leave my mics in place and grab the Spire when I want to record. A high quality built in stereo mic means I can close mic the cab with the SM57 but also get excellent room sounds at the same time straight to the same DAW for mixing on the go (which is conveniently done on an iPhone or iPad wirelessly). The built in mic is high quality and does an excellent job of handling the output of a 40 watt tube amp cranked. The “Soundcheck” button gives me the one touch level setting that I always though should be on all interfaces, especially cheaper ones aimed at home recorders. Hit it and play for ten seconds or so and it sets the input levels to match your peak levels so you don’t clip, while also optimizing the track based on what it thinks your using to record (guitar, voice, etc). Mix the tracks using the graphical mixer, export in any number of formats (including mixed individual tracks in wav format for importing into a video editor), and you’re set to go in your video software in minutes.

So far the only real complaint I have it the way your phone connects to the Spire. You connect your phone to the Spire’s inbuilt wifi signal, which is fine and allows for high data rates, but which means you need to disconnect and reconnect to your home wifi before you transfer final mixes to a cloud location. The lack of USB port for file transfer from the Spire to a computer seems like a huge oversight as it would make for a great computer conferencing mic as well, but would also just make it less painful to transfer the large zip files created when sending multiple tracks of wav files.

I’ve only recorded one video so far, but it seems to be less painful than any other solution I’ve tried so far and the results are pretty good. But don’t just take my word for it, check my video and see what you think.

Buy a Spire on Reverb

Analogman DS-1 Pro Mod

June 5, 2020June 3, 2024Andrew NuttallLeave a comment

The Boss DS-1 is a classic distortion box used by many artists over the years. Known for it’s somewhat scooped tone and high amounts of gains, it’s really a pedal that lends itself only to the heavy metal/rock tones. Built to a price, cheap parts abound and a thin fizzy high end makes it unusable on too clean of an amp.

Enter Analogman Mike Pierra and his pedal modding wizardry. Refined over a couple variations, the Pro Mod replaces mod of the cheap parts allowing way more bass and mids to come through, and taming the top end fizz. This pedal can now be thrown in front of a clean amp (think Fender Silverface Twin) and gives are Marshall-esque tone that any player could find use of. With the gain all the way down you get a crunchy boost pedal that drives an amp from on the edge of breakup into full glorious gain. Maxed out the pedal invokes all kinds of beautiful harmonics and overtones while retaining a percussive clarity that drives rhythm tones without turning to mush.

When you want a high gain pedal, there are tons of modern alternatives that do a great job, but it’s definitely worth taking a look at this old favorite as it has some tonal qualities not found in many modern pedals. Plus who doesn’t love the classic orange box?

Buy one now on Reverb