Hello from San Antonio, TX

  • Hi everyone. I'm a brand new Kemper user. I received my unpowered "toaster" and floor controller about a week ago. Definitely really enjoying the sounds I'm getting out of it so far. I have to admit I felt completely overwhelmed the first couple days, as I spent hours going through the 287-or so included rigs, and then diving into some of the packs and then the Rig Exchange. I told a friend it was like walking into a guitar store that had 15,000 amps. I realized I was wasting too much time, so focused on trying to record a song, and then selected the few tones I thought would work for those, and then start trying to record with it, to focus my learning.


    I think the biggest observation I have so far is how different it seems to sound between various guitars. One guitar will sound epic with one rig, and another one not at all. The difference between "perfection" and "meh" between guitars on a single rig seems more than I'm accustomed to before. Also a given rig may sound perfect with a certain pickup selection, but not so much on another. I've just started playing around with other settings like Definition and Direct Mix, and really liking the results.


    So far I bought a few rig packs, from Big Hairy Sounds and Selah Sounds. I do wish there was some way to preview various offerings before you buy within the Rig Manager for a limited time. That would be a killer feature. The various packs have all been inexpensive, so not a big deal.


    I've been playing guitar since about 1987, but my playing ability doesn't reflect that amount of time. I also have generally been a fan of bands that don't have the most complicated guitar parts (The Cure, Nirvana, Weezer, Pixies, etc...) and wish I'd been more influenced by more complicated stuff when first starting out. When young spent a lot of time jamming (I was always the rhythm player) with friends in garages, but after getting married, took about a 7 year hiatus. When my wife started to go back to school, I had tons of time, and realized I should start playing again, and haven't looked back. While I do a lot of covers, my true love is writing (crappy) original songs.


    I've never been a gearhead; for years and years at a time I've been content with one or two guitars, a single amp, and a tuner pedal. We live in an apartment, so I can't be loud, and I can't store too much stuff. The past year or so, I've been starting to get into recording, and was using Reaper and a Focusrite, initially both mic'ing and using direct out of my BOSS Katana, and then mostly AmpliTube and BIAS FX. While the sounds were OK, I still didn't think what I heard back was as good as what I wanted to hear. I kept seeing YouTube videos about the Kemper, and just didn't want to get it because of the cost. But, finally decided to pull the trigger, and think I'm glad I did. I think it fits the bill of what I need perfectly. (Though I do hope Rig Manager gets quite a bit better...) My first recording with the Kemper is here. Just tried an old Cure song I like, with no EQing or any other effects, just to hear the guitars. With VSTs, I always heard what I would describe as some kind of 'hiss' or 'fizz'...hard to describe, that I just couldn't get to go away with these kinds of distortions. I was pleased with the Kemper tones, and can't wait to play more with EQing and additional effects.


    I am afraid now this is the beginning of getting more Kemper products, as I'm pretty sure I will now want to buy the Kabinet, as it isn't super satisfying playing constantly through headphones or studio monitors. Here is my "studio" now, which is our kitchen table. I used to have a little music corner, but ever since COVID, my wife has been sewing a lot, and needed to take over the standing desk, due to getting back pain. Hopefully someday I'll have a nice, dedicated music room.

  • Welcome!


    Yes, it's the same as with real amps - one amp setting will work for some guitars but not at all for others.


    Enjoy!

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