Newbie Kemper Rig Advice

  • Hi experts,


    I’ve been eyeing off a Kemper for quite some time now after all the amazing things I’ve heard, and am upgrading from my beginner gear when I first started out playing guitar/shows.


    Firstly, I’m eyeing off the unpowered unit, the powered unit is just out of my reach.


    With that being said, I really like the look of the toaster version, but having to buy a separate power amp, does this mean I’m better off going for a rack version?


    In the long run, my rig will include a unpowered Kemper, power amp and wireless unit along with an Orange 2x12 for home use (or venues/sites who don’t have FOH/PA)


    Am I better off just going for a rack set up? I imagine having a separate wireless, power amp and Kemper all sitting on top of a cab would look somewhat silly, but I really like that toaster version.


    Any advice would be great :)

    Mike :)

  • I have an (unpowered) toaster because I also loved the look.


    If you are going to haul the gear around with other rack mounted stuff, you probably are better off getting the rack one.


    Other than the looks, you won't lose much, I believe the rack does not have the MOD knobs that frankly I have not once touched on our toaster.


    Also all but the gain knob on the bottom don't have LED lights on the rack. Thinking about it, the only one where I look to check the setting is the gain so I would say that's not a big loss either.

  • I just bought the unpowered toaster/remote combo. I don’t gig so I run the monitor out into the effect return of my v22 if I want the amp feel otherwise just happy with direct into interface or phones. You can’t go wrong with whichever one you get, and workarounds are easy. I think you’ll be pleased. I have a lot of gear I’m selling now.

  • Looking forward to seeing what this thing can do.

    We had ours for ~9 months or so and it still keeps amazing me. Just today, we wanted to play Message in a Bottle and the tabs (actually Guitar Pro files) we had, had a capo on 2 for my son who plays the guitar.


    Also the tab was written in a way that the capo was already "calculated in" so 3 really was 5. I did not want to spend time transposing in Guitar Pro or finding another tab so I just hit the MOD slot and did a transpose effect for +2. Worked like a charm, perfectly in tune, no lag, and we could play the song. (I play bass through a simple DI box, I wish we had 2 Kempers so I can sound as good as my son. ;))


    Again, this is a trivial thing on the Kemper but the workflow is just as amazing with this box as the sound it produces.


    My only advise would be - and I said it before - don't forget to eat and drink once you receive it! ^^

  • Thats nuts!


    Can this thing like auto-enable effects on and off during parts of a song if I’m playing to a click?

  • for me if you are gigging regularly, powered rack every time.

    The benefit of having a built in poweramp and in a convenient rack unit is brilliant.


    With regards to changing effects via click, only via midi I think...

  • Can this thing like auto-enable effects on and off during parts of a song if I’m playing to a click?

    Like V8guitar said, with MIDI yes. It makes the setup a bit more convoluted as you have to have something that will sync your clicks and send MIDI to the Kemper but if you don't mind having for example an extra laptop, it works.


    Also, if you have the Remote or another MIDI foot controller, you can do this yourself naturally live.

  • Just looking at power amps now guys, the MatrixGT800FX looks like a good choice but will this power both the unpowered rack and an Orange 2x12?


    The 2x12 will be mostly for home use, but will be taken to venues that don’t have decent FOH monitors etc


    I get a bit lost at the whole power amp side of things, but my end goal rig will be the unpowered rack Kemper, wireless rack unit, maybe another rack tuner and the Orange 2x12.


    One power amp enough?

  • +1 for the powered rack. You can always go to FOH from a output and just have the powered element as a back up if you need to go direct into a cab. Or if you like the cab you can use the powered all the time and the output as back up to a powered speaker or to the desk desk if the cab fails. It might be slightly more expensive but it gives more flexibility IMHO.