Re: Kemper Profilier Amp or, careful with that Axe FX, Eugene

[Pawel Janowski <pjanowski@gmail.com>]

I'll jump in, since I am also in the 'I don't like too many options' camp. What I mean is definitely 'poor value to me'. Axe-FX and similar tools are great pieces of technology and they open up tons of possibilities for talented artists who like to explore these possibilities. It's simply a matter of preferred workflow - some like to have many tools available (ultimate box of crayons) others like to limit themselves (paint with three crayons, a Telecaster into a Twin).

 

I still see value in having the options at hand, which is why I put the Line6 M5 on my board (to have access to a reverse delay, for instance), but something reasonably simple suits me better. And I am still probably more hi-tech than most guitarists out there, with my pedalboard of AMT preamps, M5, drives, fuzzes, and the LP2.

 

I think what it boils down to for me is not liking patches - I like to 'see' my sound-making devices and be able to tweak them with real knobs, but I definitely see the value in being able to create complex sounds and being able to recall them at will.

On 20 July 2012 11:54, Simeon Harris <simeonharris40@googlemail.com> wrote:

bill said - "why does sounding good have to equate with a bunch of

parameters that have very subtle effect, and a huge assortment of
options?  I'm saying that if you only use 1/4 of what's available in a
device it doesn't strike me as a particularly good value"

and

"This is a personal short coming of mine. given a  box of crayons  i
might actually draw a nice picture, given the ultimate crayon box with
every color they make, I might  spend the day trying out every crayon
and wondering where the time went. "

so would you describe the ultimate box of crayons as "poor value"?
would you also criticise the crayon makers for putting in too many
colours? would you say - "hey i don't need all these shades of
orange...just give me one orange and i'll be happy". what about those
wonderful artists who have made amazing pictures with the super box of
crayons...utilising every colour at their disposal to make beautiful
pictures? i'm sure someone drawing a sunset would appreciate a large
number of orange crayons.

i don't get it. you freely admit you have a problem with choice
anxiety and yet you say things with "too many" choices are poor value.
i think what you mean is, they have poor value to you. that's fine.
the axe fx is obviously not for you. you don't like choice and i don't
have a problem with that. but to say the axe fx is at fault for having
too much choice sounds like displacement.

and sounding great on the axe fx has absolutely nothing to do with the
number of parameters available. you don't have to tweak them to get a
great sound. all cliff has done is expose the inner workings of the
amp to the user. the user can then modify (just like many people have
done in the past with real amps) those parameters if they wish. leave
everything at default and just tweak the gain, bass, middle, treble,
pres and master if you wish....after all that's what 99.9% would do
with a real amp and i suspect that's what most people do with the axe
fx as well.

also the number of times i hear people moan about the axe fx only to
discover they haven't read the manual....if i had a penny...! :O)

respectfully,

sim

ps - one important thing to remember. as valve amp users, we get very
familiar with the response of amplifiers in relation to their volume,
so it's very important to set up the axe at the appropriate volume
level. if you're playing through a marshall plexi sim with the master
on 9, then listening to it at bedroom volume is going to give you a
very "unrealistic" experience. whack up the volume to a more
"appropriate" level and things will suddenly start to gel in a way
that your experience tells you is natural.