Worship Guitarist now a Kemper convert

    Alright, so I'm new to using the Kemper but not new to digital guitar units. I've owned the AxeFX Ultra, II and AX8 (obviously very recently) over the past 5 years and kept going back to tube amps because of the feel and texture of them. The AFX never really captured the subtle nuances of an amp for me, so I kinda gave up on Fractal and went back to my amps (right before switching to the Kemper, I was using a Matchless SC30 and a Bad Cat Black Cat 30R).


    Then my church hosted a Martin Smith concert and I watched as he and his lead guitar player got INCREDIBLE tone from their Kempers and I thought ok, if it's good enouigh for him, I should probably try to make it work. Bought a Kemper and was ASTOUNDED at the texture and feel!! It got even better when I tried mpacheco's AC20 patch.


    And then the biggest jump was trying MBritt's profiles. I tried a couple of them and they had texture, feel and they fit well in a mix. I have since bought all of MBritt's offerings and am making my way through them, trying them all out and making patches to use live.


    My church (C3 San Diego) does all kinds of worship songs including Hillsong Young and Free, Bethel Music, Jesus Culture, etc and the Kemper not only has the flexibility to keep up with everything, but also the quality that keeps up with tube amps. Does the Matchless SC30 profile sound exactly like my mic'd up SC30? It sounds scarily close, but not 100%. But do any DC30/SC30's sound 100% exactly like each other? Probably not. But it has the same quality sound as that amp and that's what really matters to me. Not just replicating tone, but creating your own tone, your signature sound.


    And I really feel like the Kemper can do this and I'm excited to see what else this thing can do as I learn more about it!


    -Paul Anderberg

    I would be curious to hear which profiles work best for you in this setting. I'm in the same boat, recently sold my Matchless amp and Strymon pedals for a Kemper, and play for 1200 people on Sundays. The Kemper jumped up a level for me when I tried out the MBritt profiles. Any tips on getting that signature Hillsong/Bethel tone live with the Kemper would be great!

    Count me as another interested party if and when you guys dial up some good Bethel, Hillsong tone. Also covering City Harmonic, Switchfoot, Phil Wickam, Needtobreathe, as well as the 'typical' newer P&W stuff on my end. Really pumped about some of the new delays and reverbs coming down later this year!

    The Kemper is great for any style live, but extra useful for worship, since despite touching most modern styles (ok not metal so much) we church folk typically want lower than rock concert volumes during services, which makes low stage volume even more important. There is no better direct to FOH option than Kemper.


    welcome to the club ! Shhhhh it's a secret!

    Not to hijack your thread, but I'm curious to the worship artists here including yourself, which Britt profiles you're using live and with what guitar and pickup. Lots of love goes his way but the few I tried didn't suit me. Big fan of amp factory matchless.

    Quote from Zapman

    Welcome Paul! Mic up your SC30 with it set just the way you like it &gt; Profile it &gt; <img src="http://www.kemper-amps.com/forum/wcf/images/smilies/thumbup.png" alt=":thumbup:" /> good to go with your signature tone.


    To be honest, I trust Michael Britt's mic placement and EQ'ing skills more than my own so I don't really care if the SC30 (for example) being modeled doesn't sound exactly like my SC30. I care that it creates a great, inspiring guitar tone that's reminiscent of an SC30. I care more about it inspiring me to play more and to play better than to sound exactly like one.


    Quote from tntent

    Not to hijack your thread, but I'm curious to the worship artists here including yourself, which Britt profiles you're using live and with what guitar and pickup. Lots of love goes his way but the few I tried didn't suit me. Big fan of amp factory…


    Absolutely! I'm curious what other worship guitarists are using, too! My guitars are a Duesenberg Fullerton Elite and a Gretsch Sparkle Jet. I'm not using any of the built-in effects. Just running my pedalboard into it (pictured below).


    [Blocked Image: http://i805.photobucket.com/albums/yy335/paultanderberg/2010/29A8E52B-8CDA-4959-8E8F-39334D8F4332_zpspz3lbr5i.jpg]


    And I've been running it into these profiles mainly (mostly the first two):

    • Tyler HM30
    • Naylor ND60
    • Matchless SC30
    • XITS X50S
    • 3rd Power (Plexi mode)
    Quote from PaulAnderberg

    I've owned the AxeFX Ultra, II and AX8


    Welcome Paul . . . . I'm curious if you have kept the AX8 or not. I'm a few days away from an invite to buy one and was wondering what your impression of it was/is. I'm very happy with my KPA and love the way it sounds and responds. I hope yours makes you happy.

    Nice pedalboard. I've gone the opposite way since owning the kemper and built in effects seem to be getting better and better. Just waiting for some of the new delays. I've sold many of the pedals you have and for our other guitarist we are building a very similar board currently. Think I may need to audition some Britt profiles again though. Thanks for input. Can you elaborate on the pedalboard and how the disaster areas are configured? Plugs in underneath to .?. Also, I see memory lane, timeline, big sky, king of tone, looks like something jhs but what am I missing ?

    I'm using Michaels profiles as well at church. The 3P blackface clean is great and takes boost/overdrives really well. I use the Marshall SL3 a LOT and the XITS50 for tighter/brighter rhythm parts. Throw in the occasional Dumble or Friedman/CAE PT for some meat and you're there. I use mostly Les Pauls or a Tele. These profiles transfer to a PA nicely at louder volumes.


    What are you using to monitor your sounds? Wedge, amp, in ears?


    Welcome to the forum and land of Kemper fun !!!

    Quote from tntent

    Nice pedalboard. I've gone the opposite way since owning the kemper and built in effects seem to be getting better and better. Just waiting for some of the new delays. I've sold many of the pedals you have and for our other guitarist we are building a…


    Cool! Yeah, other than the ones you mentioned, there's the Selah Scarlett Love v1 which is an amazing Plexi/808 style overdrive (Nigel's signature pedal) and the JHS's are a JHS-recased Micro POG and an Angry Charlie (which is now replaced by a Walrus Deep Six Compressor)


    the Disaster Areas are cool. The one on the right connects to all my dry effects so I can manually control which are in the signal chain. The one of the left creates presets that control the one on the right AND my Strymons. I'm currently figuring a way it can also change my amps on my Kemper, too (based on what part of the song, etc)


    Quote from Joptunes

    I'm using Michaels profiles as well at church. The 3P blackface clean is great and takes boost/overdrives really well. I use the Marshall SL3 a LOT and the XITS50 for tighter/brighter rhythm parts. Throw in the occasional Dumble or Friedman/CAE PT for…


    Hmmm..I'm gonna need to try the 3P Blackface a little more....but I agree, the XITS is good for the tighter/brighter rhythm parts!


    and I use in-ears to monitor (1964 V6-Stages)

    Interesting thread. I also see that this session/worship guitarist also switched to a Kemper, and he notes that he primarily uses MBritt profiles as well....looks like most are from profile pack 2:


    http://therealjonnybird.tumblr.com/gear
    http://therealjonnybird.tumblr…-profiles-do-you-use-live


    What I find interesting is that a number forum members above indicate that they are using external drive and effect pedals...maybe that's the missing link for me live...at least until the new delays/reverbs are released. I'm still trying to find that chewy edge of breakup delay tone that I can find by using a boutique amp, stacked overdrives, and Strymon delay/reverb. Has anyone been successful so far using only the Kemper's onboard drives/effects to achieve the Hillsong/Bethel tones live? I find the free MAB/Tonehawk Bloom 2 profile quite outstanding for ambient stuff, and they work amazing live...but the reverb is a bit over the top for most occasions other than when space and ambience are required.


    By the way, I use a PRS CE24 and a Duesenberg Starplayer, with a floor wedge for monitoring live, and studio monitors at home. The Kemper is sure an amazing tool, and I haven't played this much guitar at home in years!