Newb Question: Live Set Up. Is Kemper Pedalboard required?

    Hi All,
    People may not believe this, but I've been playing guitar for around 36 years and in most of that time it's been an electric. BUT, I have a confession to make... I've always played my guitars "dry" without amplification. I just never have found it convenient to plug in and play and really enjoy an amplified sound given where I lived (neighbors, etc). I do own a Fender amp back in the States (a Fender Stage Pro 185 I think) which I bought back in 1989 but it has sat more or less unused since then. So all this time, I've sounded like a guy plucking rubber bands, albeit with a fair degree of skill. I'm rather embarrassed about this.


    So now I've got this opportunity, having met a really good female singer recently, to play small gigs and part of this set up will be the Kemper unit because of its portability. I know I need a powered speaker to go along with it and I'll probably go with the DXR10 (guide me if that's not a good choice please). But in addition to that, I'm thinking I'll need some sort of foot controller maybe to incorporate different dynamics like lead playing, or pedal effects maybe during songs. Not knowing a thing about live performing and the set ups involved, is it necessary that I purchase the Kemper foot controller, or are there other (possibly cheaper) alternatives to boost volume (for lead playing) for the purpose I just described? Or do I simply kick up the volume control on the guitar itself to accomplish (at least) the volume increase? Any thoughts? What type of simple set up will accomplish what I'm seeking to do here?


    Cheers,
    IG

    You have two input jacks for foot pedals in your kpa. You can use cheap
    expression pedals like the moog ep3 and assign them to different things like volume or wah. Its decribed in the manual.

    Expression pedals or cheap momentary foot controllers with mono or stereo jacks (stomp with volume boost on / off) do the trick.


    I played a few gigs with this solution and finally went for the Remote ... because you can set your stomps and see them for each rig. It sounded good before but sometimes it's cooler to be able to spontaneously throw in a vibrato effect or something.

    DXR10 is a good choice because its small, really portable and sounds great with fab build quality.


    For solo's you can just use the guitar volume but that often has the effect of just changing the gain rather than volume. However if its just you and the signer rather than a full band there is less need to really boost the volume, probably more the gain so that might be ok. I use 5 main sounds and use the morph feature to add more volume/gain/effects boosts so that adds up to around 10 main sounds but I'm in a 2 guitar covers band that needs a variety of sounds.


    Foot controller - you have quite a few options and it really depends upon how much control you will need on stage. You could just get a dual switch ( which I've just discovered) to change performance slots etc or some expressions pedals.


    I would suggest start out with an expression pedal as previously mentioned - will cost you about £30/$50. You can use this in future with the remote so its not wasted money, and then see if you need the remote. Then you could get a dual switch to change up and down rigs or performances ( the Kemper one is about £70).


    You could also get a midi controller/pedal or an FCB1010 which I used before I got the remote and they are very good ( about £100 ish) with or without the Kemper chip.


    So you have a few options - if you are not sure I would limit your spend for now and see how it progresses.


    The remote is fab though, dead simple to use and gives total control but its a fair amount of wonga and not much point if you end up not really needing it :)

    Thanks gents. That's all great advice/ info. I'm glad I don't have to spring for that Kemper foot controller just yet because that is a bit of loot for me at the moment. It's good to know I can build this set up out as needed. Again, my sincere appreciation for your posts.


    Regards,
    IG

    Quote from Indianageo


    So now I've got this opportunity, having met a really good female singer recently, to play small gigs and part of this set up will be the Kemper unit because of its portability.


    Any thoughts? What type of simple set up will accomplish what I'm seeking to do here?

    Depends how "small" but the situation you describe is one of these where I think a small combo amp might just work better. Of course it'd be possible to use a Kemper but there is more variables to deal with in order to achieve a good sound fast both on stage and in the room (especially if you haven't played amplified in a while as you say). As far as portability goes, I'd still rather bring a Blues Junior/Deluxe and a few stompboxes (and mic them if need be) for small bar gigs so I don't have to deal with the inconsistencies of the venues.

    Quote from JedMckenna

    Depends how "small" but the situation you describe is one of these where I think a small combo amp might just work better. Of course it'd be possible to use a Kemper but there is more variables to deal with in order to achieve a good sound fast both on stage and in the room (especially if you haven't played amplified in a while as you say). As far as portability goes, I'd still rather bring a Blues Junior/Deluxe and a few stompboxes (and mic them if need be) for small bar gigs so I don't have to deal with the inconsistencies of the venues.

    Hi Jed, Good points to think about. My reasons for getting a Kemper are two fold..1) as a home studio solution for my electric guitars keeping in mind its space saving characteristics and versatility (in terms of amp selections) over traditional amps, and 2) As an electric and possibly acoustic guitar solution to playing out at small to medium sized pubs and the like. I was thinking of combining the Kemper with a DXR10. I've also got a Schertler Jam 150 acoustic amp that I thought I might be able to use as a monitor. Again, I'm no expert whatsoever on live recording situations. I may just need to experiment (although that could get costly) and get familiar with all the technique and gear out there. But I'm hoping to avoid that experimentation by getting other users' suggestions for what they use and works for them. Thanks for your post and suggestions.


    Cheers,
    IG