After years of chasing tone, I found the amp that sounded like I pictured in my head: the Dr. Z Maz 18 Junior, Mark I. Shortly after buying that, I had the opportunity to buy a Friedman PT-20 v2 and cab. That combo was surprisingly strong, and I loved the way it sounded.
Then I watched the Olivia Rodrigo GUTS World Tour movie with my family. I’m a fan of her music, and the guitars and bass on that sounded really good. Shortly after watching that, I saw a Premier Guitar Rig Rundown with her musicians. It was revealed that the guitarists use Kemper Stage Profilers and the bassist uses a Helix.
After being hesitant, and having owned a Helix LT that didn’t leave me too impressed, I was sold.
I bought a Kemper Head, a Line 6 Power Cab Plus 112, and picked up the Tone Junkie Everything Pack for Kemper. After about a year of us, I put my two amps up for sale, but not before profiling my Maz 18 in both Clean and slightly overdriven form. Those two profiles are my favorites, though I have others that sound really good too.
I’m not here to convince anyone to sell their amps and go digital, at all. For me, it became a matter of being able to record silently, consistently, and being able to take what I need pretty much anywhere. If I were to play live, this combination would make that a breeze. If I wake up at 7:30a and want to play guitar, it sounds great through my headphones.
Is it a 1:1 for the physical amp? No, but it’s 90-95% to my ears. It’s close enough for me to be happy. Between the Tone Junkie packs and the other free profiles I’ve found, I have access to so many amps that I could only ever dream of owning. Again, are they 1:1? No, and I think even proponents of the Kemper, Helix, and Quad Core would say the same, but it’s close enough for a lot of us. And, truth be told, I can’t tell the difference when listening with headphones. I doubt most anyone who listens to my music could tell the difference either.
Now, I do strongly prefer the amp modeling/profiling in the Kemper to the Helix, but that has a lot to do with the fact that I can easily load profiles onto my PC and change them with a couple of clicks. The Helix process, as far as I’ve been able to determine, is far more complex… requiring pairing models with IRs, and that’s a bit of a pain in the ass.
When it comes to effects, I prefer the Helix’s, which is why I have a Line 6 HX-One. The Kemper’s effects sound good, but the Helix FX are better. I’ve also kept my drive pedals as I prefer those to both the Kemper and the Helix’s, though the Helix also gets the nod there. Funny thing is, when I record, I use plug-in FX so that I’m not stuck with a modulated guitar that gets lost in the mix.
I did sell that Powercab 112 and picked up a Kemper Kab, simply because I think it pairs better with the Kemper, but the Powercab sounded better to my ears. In trading for the Helix, my friend included a Powercab 212 and a Line 6 JTV-69 modeling guitar.
I’m happy to answer any questions one might have on my how I use the Kemper and Helix, but I will not share the models I’ve purchased.