Very dissapointed with reliability of Kemper on the road !

I don't mean to be critical of Kemper at all, but from reading forums and from personal experience, the Kemper does seem to have a very slightly higher incidence of failure than other similar products I've seen. It's not really fair to compare Kemper reliability to tube amps, tube amps will always fail more as tubes are very fragile and amps are always taking a beating, plus new build tubes are not as rugged as the ones made in the 60s/70s.

Some of the Kemper failures I've read about are: the early LED issue, and distortion developing in the output circuitry, among a few other things. The first Kemper I had was a factory refurb model, and out of the box it had an intermittent distortion problem that required a return. But the replacement for that one (a new in box unit, not a refurb) has worked perfectly. From personal experience I have found Kemper's customer service to be outstanding in every way.

All that being said, the Kemper is a marvelously well engineered piece of gear, at least to my eyes (I have over 30 years of experience in engineering and manufacturing portable test equipment, so I work with this kind of thing daily). With all I've seen, I would not worry about field failures if the Kemper is treated with respect and its power is kept clean and well regulated. But you always need some sort of backup on a gig because any piece of gear can fail. And Kemper's excellent customer service and generous warranty should put your mind at ease, as much as it can being you are depending on a human built piece of equipment.

Sorry to hear of your misfortune

Just hearing of someone else having to play without their Kemper gave me the chills .... the thought is simply horrifying!

I would say this about amp failures though. You guys have to admit, real tube amps fail with a flare (fire, smoke, boom, pop...... ) that the Kemper will never equal So I guess the Kemper isn't EXACTLY like a tube amp after all.

Seriously though, I have gigged with tube amps for the last 30+ years. Between the amp and the pedal board, the failures were many over that time (even one fire). I would say that the Kemper is at least as reliable as any rig I have ever used.

While I could make it through the night with my HRD and a couple of pedals, I wouldn't be happy doing it.

No one should gig or tour w/o a backup of some kind.

Some buy 2 Kempers for that reason. But there are cheapie alternatives that will do in a pinch. i.e. HD500 or something.

Trust me, the crowd won't notice. It's proven alcohol kills your hearing ability and non-amp-lovers are really looking at your chops, not your tone. Most people just look at the singer. Come to think of it, bring a backup very good looking singer and stand behind the drummer with you HD500, haha.

It's an awesome box of tricks...but, I never had the guts to take it out on a gig, only used for recording and rehearsals. My Marshall JMD102 was my final rehearsal choice due to being more reliable. It was during rehearsals that bugs presented themselves like sound cutting-out completely, tuner activation, volume drops etc that put me off. This was 1 1/2yrs ago though.

I would update to the latest FW if you haven't it's very reliable and stable

Quote from db9091

... It's proven alcohol kills your hearing ability and non-amp-lovers are really looking at your chops...

Or your pork chop.

Just sayin'.

Quote from Karl

It's an awesome box of tricks...but, I never had the guts to take it out on a gig, only used for recording and rehearsals. My Marshall JMD102 was my final rehearsal choice due to being more reliable. It was during rehearsals that bugs presented themselves like sound cutting-out completely, tuner activation, volume drops etc that put me off. This was
1 1/2yrs ago though.

I am surprised that no one mentioned using a voltage UPS stabiliser / regulator / spike remover like used on other computing equipment when its out on the road? (Maybe I missed it?). Lets face it, the Kemper is a computer and all those chips ARE sensitive to spikes and bad variable voltages even with the Kemper internal bits to help stop it... especially when on tour in some countries. I have seen crashing of the Kemper through that sort of thing and using one of those devices that is a uninterruptable power supply does help. They cost really little money and will often resolve that sort of thing. Just thought I would mention it.

At home I'm using a Tripp-Lite protector that stops working once it's used up.

These surge protectors don't work indefinitely . They are rated for a certain number of Joules and when used up, it stops working. So if one is rated for 1000 joules, the unit can take one 1000 joule hit or ten 100 joule hits and then it's used up.

Some units (like the Tripp-Lite) won't allow any voltage to pass when they stop working. Others do but have an indicator light that they stopped being a useful surge protector. Others don't do any of the above. So investigate the right one for you.

IDK if the Kemper needs a voltage regulator or not. Maybe Kemper can answer this? There is a raging debate whether most modern electronic equipment need voltage regulation, most already having it, and whether it's just another expensive rip-off. IDK enough about the issue myself. Just read about the debate.

Which brings up an interesting point . Anyone manufacture a green lightning bolt for the Kemper? If not, I'll go halfseys with a potential business partner. Maybe Zappledan. He's closer to the clouds.

I'm 58 years old played guitar all my life and owned a lot guitar amps and guitars.
I bought my first Kemper Power Rack 3 years back and bought a second one two years ago to have a back up for my life gigs, never needed it .
At first I allways took it with me and kept it in my car incase I needed it, but last year I kept it at home, my first Kemper didn't let me down so why worry?
Allways played tube amps and still own a Bogner Shiva 20th Anniversary with special el34 tubes, its collecting dust the last 3 years, so that should give a hint what the Kemper does to me
The only thing I regret and I'am dissapointing about is the fact that I'm allmost 60 years old and Kemper came up with profiling amps when I turned 57 !, where whas Kemper when I whas young !!

Quote from Dorrus

The only thing I regret and I'am dissapointing about is the fact that I'm allmost 60 years old and Kemper came up with profiling amps when I turned 57 !, where whas Kemper when I whas young !!

I am 65 - I do have same question
It's really the most existing gear I ever had in the last 45 years.

Quote from kriswylde

You cant know how frustrating it is !

I can imagine but not help .
But after rainy days sunny days are following. (said somebody who never was in that situation.)
Good luck for future. The law of serie should not hurt you any more.

... and stay away from the Evil Penguin, for God's sake!

Scary

I pictured the "evil" lady from "Drag Me to Hell" when kriswylde mentioned her.

Scary indeed!

Well maybe, if you touch her again but just the other way around, your kemper gets cured immediately. Wondering if that would affect guarantee though?!

Quote

I am surprised that no one mentioned using a voltage UPS stabiliser / regulator / spike remover like used on other computing equipment when its out on the road? (Maybe I missed it?). Lets face it, the Kemper is a computer and all those chips ARE sensitive to spikes and bad variable voltages even with the Kemper internal bits to help stop it... especially when on tour in some countries. I have seen crashing of the Kemper through that sort of thing and using one of those devices that is a uninterruptable power supply does help. They cost really little money and will often resolve that sort of thing. Just thought I would mention it.

Bare in-mind that I've been using one of these (which I infact have 3 of them for my gear) http://www.lindy.co.uk/cables-…itioner-power-strip-p8835 within a couple weeks of me getting my kemper back in early February 2013.

Unfortunately, the bugs were all to do with kemper firmware. Noise issues early on were mostly also firmware related. Too many bugs to list, but, most have been resolved now.