Kemper fully integrated into band (report)

    I have officially retired my VHT rig. Last night was the first night I did a full night with only the Kemper and my FCB101 with Uno4Kemper chip.


    SETUP


    Well, it was certainly lighter than my VHT rig ;) Carrying it in and out was a breeze (5 space rack with power strip and harmonizer .... power strip mounted in the rear).


    I immediately found I need to make a custom faceplate for all my connections. 2 XLR's for the Kemper, 1 XLR input for the lead vocal mic into harmonizer, 1 XLR out from harmonizer to mixer, 2 MIDI cables, and 1 guitar input. This was a hot mess that I need to fix ASAP.


    Sound


    Having done most of my rig selection and volume leveling at home with a combination of headphones (Sennheiser HD280), and a pair of 3-way 15" Klipsch KP301 PA speakers, I was concerned that I might have more issues on the main PA.


    Not so much!


    There was a little too much up top for my taste on some of the heavy rigs (Mesa etc), the two rock rigs were just perfect, and the cleans were the best I have ever had.


    Playing in the band vs at home by myself is of course a big change. There was some woof on the bottom I had to tweak out on a few rigs, but nothing serious.


    Nothing but good reviews from all the band members. A few songs the other guitar player had to change what he was playing tone wise to mix better with what I was doing, but nothing big.


    My lead player has a $50.00 bet going with me that he could tell the difference blindfolded between his Rockstar combo and the profile of his Rockstar combo.


    I intend to do a recording both ways with my X32 mixer later this summer when we have a break in our gig schedule. We will then play the recordings back through the FOH to see if he can tell.


    Any bets?

    LOL


    I'm really intrigued by this kind of things :D


    Make 3-5 tracks for each rig! If you make just one he'll have 50% chances, and the test would be meaningless.
    Really telling the difference means that he can always say what's what.


    I'd use different setting/tweakings for each tracks.


    Also, I'd not record the same track/lick twice, but would play different things every time.


    Last, be careful to hide the amp's defects, if any (noise, buzz, hiss... anything which might hint at the real thing) :thumbup:

    Good plan!


    I could also slice up the clips and mix up different parts of the various songs to prevent him from recognizing the particular run.


    The real answer to this question (is it the original ..... or is it Kemper) is that it doesn't matter. If the Kemper sounds so close that you have to listen hard to hear a difference, then it is good enough.


    I have not profiled my VHT, and honestly, I don't feel I need to. I downloaded a couple of VHT rigs off of the rig exchange and tweaked them on my Kemper. To be honest, the sound I can get from a free profile is pretty close to what I can get from the real deal.... and it is SO much more flexible.


    I am very happy with the tone I am getting live. I am actually sitting here right now with one of my DSR112's (from my main gig rig) plucking around and doing some fine tuning to the eq on each rig I use live.


    What a great product.


    Does anyone have any reliability issues with the Kemper? As I was bouncing around over a gravel road last night, it occurred to me how bummed I would be if mine stopped working!

    Absolutely no issues. Been gigging regularly for about a year, now.


    It did take a lot of tweaking (master EQ's treble is at -5.0 and presence at -2.0) to get something more similar to my tube amp rig when rehearsing and some profiles still work better than others, but this may be more due to my PA than anything else.

    "But dignity is difficult to maintain
    stamina requires constant upkeep
    repetition is boring
    and you pay for grace."

    Quote from Quitty

    Absolutely no issues. Been gigging regularly for about a year, now.


    It did take a lot of tweaking (master EQ's treble is at -5.0 and presence at -2.0) to get something more similar to my tube amp rig when rehearsing and some profiles still work better than others, but this may be more due to my PA than anything else.

    Thanks for the feedback!


    I have had to do just a little to the eq on each rig to get the sound "perfect" to my ears. The other nice thing I have noticed is that every pickup selection position sounds good, but different on nearly every rig.


    On my VHT rig, using the bridge single coil often sounded thin and harsh. The Kemper seems to handle this very well.