First show with the Kemper...

  • And it. Was. Amazing.


    I was pretty nervous because I hadn’t had much chance to play it at gig volume so I wasn’t sure how things would translate with volume, but it was all good. Used my own profile of my EVH 5150 and I think it sounded better through FOH than the actual amp.


    We were using House PA so I didn’t use IEMs like we usually do, but the sound guy did a good job with the monitors.


    The only problem I had was the remote. When I went to switch 1-5 in the heat of battle I kept hitting the bank up/down buttons and even the looper button. Gonna take a little practice with that.


    :thumbup:

  • My first gig with my Kemper was at a small club that is a hang out for all of the top, local musicians. I use a powered toaster with a 1x12 cabinet loaded with an EVM 12S. The stage is rather loud and my drummer is an animal (he broke his kick pedal midway through the 3rd song) but the Kemper had more than enough headroom and sat in the mix perfectly between the keys/second guitar. Not only did it sound great, it felt great, just as natural and responsive as any of my tube amps.


    When we finished, I had 3 guitarists asking all kinds of questions about the Kemper and my little 1x12. They were more than impressed. I probably sold a few units that night. Does that entitle me to a commission? :D

  • Maybe you need some of these:
    https://barefootbuttons.com


    I cannot tell you if it works better with these bc I do not own them but it seems to make sense somehow :D

    I’ve looked at those. Kind of pricey.
    I know it’s a pretty good size piece of metal and it’s tapped for screws and all that, but still...



    My first gig with my Kemper was at a small club that is a hang out for all of the top, local musicians. I use a powered toaster with a 1x12 cabinet loaded with an EVM 12S. The stage is rather loud and my drummer is an animal (he broke his kick pedal midway through the 3rd song) but the Kemper had more than enough headroom and sat in the mix perfectly between the keys/second guitar. Not only did it sound great, it felt great, just as natural and responsive as any of my tube amps.


    When we finished, I had 3 guitarists asking all kinds of questions about the Kemper and my little 1x12. They were more than impressed. I probably sold a few units that night. Does that entitle me to a commission? :D

    I had a couple guitar guys comment on how good it sounded, asked how I liked the Kemper. Nothing but positive.


    There’s some presets that need some tweaking as far as delays and stuff, but I’m thrilled with how it went.


    And load in, set up, tear down and load out were so easy compared to my amp/rack/speaker setup.

  • No Gain - No Pain.... :D

  • The only problem I had was the remote. When I went to switch 1-5 in the heat of battle I kept hitting the bank up/down buttons and even the looper button. Gonna take a little practice with that.


    Yeah, I know that problem! After my first show with the KPA I switched off "mute signal" for the tuner button. Because I hit the tuner button accidentally and muted
    my hero solo :thumbup: That must have looked funny:)

  • My sound man loves me!
    Always has my XLR waiting for me on stage and he’s done!
    Has to fiddle with miking my other guitarists 4X12 cab.
    I just go direct to FOH and get a feed through monitors.
    Load in and load out has never been so easy, just my rack, Remote, and guitar!


    I overheard him at the last gig explaining to my drummer that my tone cuts through way better than my co-guitarist, because he was complaining of not being able to hear him and asked the sound man to turn him up.
    He said it was not a volume issue, we are both at the same volumes but my tone just cuts in the the mix better.
    Thanks MBritt!

  • Same here. The MBritt profiles are incredibly inspiring! I have had my Kemper for 3 months now. I played 4 gigs with it and soundwise it was most relaxing for me and the sound man. I had a POD HD 500 before the Kemper and I was happy with it until I actually played the Profiler. The difference is stunning really. The sound coming out of monitors or the loudspeakers in the rehearsal room is always warm, natural and feels like playing at home, even if it always sounds a bit different depending on where you are. I am really happy to have the Kemper. It made life so much easier for me.
    What I find interesting: when I had the POD HD500 it sometimes was pretty difficult to get a good crunchy sound, I often got lost finding the "Amp-sound" I was looking for. But it was a piece of cake to dial in effects. With the Kemper it is somewhat the other way round. Well,no: I often look for a sound or specific amp and sometimes I find what I have been dreaming of. But very often it is like a trip to IKEA: I come home with something completely different and with a big smile on my face. I think I tried four or five times to find a slightly cruchy VOX AC30 tone. Once I ended up on fitting a dumble into the performance I had been working on, another time I got stuck on a 5150 (don't ask how I got there...) and yesterday I fell in love with a Michael Britt Marshall and tossed the AC30 (well for a week or so.). At the moment finding profiles is a bit Disneyland for me and it is so much fun! And playing life with it is fantastic. LIke a tube amp without the bad bits (complaining fellow musicians, badly miked cabs).

  • Same here. The MBritt profiles are incredibly inspiring! I have had my Kemper for 3 months now. I played 4 gigs with it and soundwise it was most relaxing for me and the sound man. I had a POD HD 500 before the Kemper and I was happy with it until I actually played the Profiler. The difference is stunning really. The sound coming out of monitors or the loudspeakers in the rehearsal room is always warm, natural and feels like playing at home, even if it always sounds a bit different depending on where you are. I am really happy to have the Kemper. It made life so much easier for me.
    What I find interesting: when I had the POD HD500 it sometimes was pretty difficult to get a good crunchy sound, I often got lost finding the "Amp-sound" I was looking for. But it was a piece of cake to dial in effects. With the Kemper it is somewhat the other way round. Well,no: I often look for a sound or specific amp and sometimes I find what I have been dreaming of. But very often it is like a trip to IKEA: I come home with something completely different and with a big smile on my face. I think I tried four or five times to find a slightly cruchy VOX AC30 tone. Once I ended up on fitting a dumble into the performance I had been working on, another time I got stuck on a 5150 (don't ask how I got there...) and yesterday I fell in love with a Michael Britt Marshall and tossed the AC30 (well for a week or so.). At the moment finding profiles is a bit Disneyland for me and it is so much fun! And playing life with it is fantastic. LIke a tube amp without the bad bits (complaining fellow musicians, badly miked cabs).

    ... and back-aches associated with lugging heads and cabs ;)

  • Played my second show with it last night. This time with our PA and sound guy and IEMs. The first show was house PA and sound guy with wedges.


    Same results. Awesomeness.


    It’s so nice having the same sound in the monitors from one show to the next. Not fiddling with mic placement and stage volume to find the sweet spot where you’re happy with your tone in the monitors and can just let it rip. Makes my playing much better when I’m not fighting my monitors.


    And I’m getting better with the remote. Only ended up in the wrong bank once.

  • And I’m getting better with the remote. Only ended up in the wrong bank once.

    Show management is one of the greatest skills that is overlooked in many discussions. In a live show, it doesn't matter if you can achieve the greatest tone ever heard ...... if it takes you 30 seconds every song to get your rig there!


    The LCD on the Kemper remote has been quite effective for me. It would be nice if the LCD was color so that a bit more quick glance information could be gleaned without even reading..... much like the stop LED colors do. Maybe in the next generation eh? ;)