Posts by joshriggs

  • All that and Firmware OS 8.7x

    Helix is fantastic from a usability standpoint and has excellent effects, but the core amp tones are just not there for me. Fractal sounds great, but it's about as easy and enjoyable to use as doing my taxes or going to the DMV. Kemper Stage is the sweet spot for me, so I just want a few extra niceties.

  • All that and Firmware OS 8.7x

    I'm someone who does use several effects because it's the style of music that I play. So in one song, I might go from a clean amp with some comp, a dual delay, and 2 different reverbs, to a dry heavy tone with just a boost, to a lead with a boost, poly octave, delay before the amp, different single delay after the amp, and totally different reverb, then back to the original clean dual delay sound, but with boost engaged. Suffice to say, a few simple improvements would make my life easier, such as the ability to remember the state of morphs and pedals when switching rigs in a performance, per-performance effect slots, set morph to pedals 1-4, or even a Helix-style snapshot option. I don't see how any of those things would take away from the simplicity that others enjoy.


    Back to the car analogy, I'm not asking to take a Ferrari offroading, I would just like it more if the Ferrari had a power convertible top.

  • All that and Firmware OS 8.7x

    It's also possible they're like every other small company right now: short staffed and overworked. They could also be in that weird spot where maybe they've finished r&d of a new product, but they can't get all the components for it with the supply chain disruptions. I personally think that's why Line 6 has been doing bigger updates lately - they were expecting to have a Helix replacement out by now, but all the supply chain disruptions caused a big delay, so they're holding over with firmware updates.

  • All that and Firmware OS 8.7x

    Quote from Kim_Olesen

    Was that directed at me? Why the bitter tone? That was TOTALLY uncalled for! Where did i say that people weren’t good players? Hell for all i know you are probably all better players than me…. Don’t put words into my mouth that i didn’t say!


    What i said was that i personally didn’t see any reason to update. I am also three mac OS behind etc….


    Sometimes an update breaks things, so i only do it when i have time to fix things if unexpected happens. I don’t want to deal with bugs on a gig, that’s not what i get paid for.

    I LOVE new features. But i don’t mind waiting for them, and i have no problem with long intervals between OS updates.

    No, I wasn't referencing your original comment. Although looking back at the feed, I can see how it came off that way. So my apologies for making you feel like I was attacking you, and I could have said the same thing with less snark.


    I was referring to comments like these:


    "If updates are your biggest concern, guitar playing must come second."


    "if the frequency of updates bothers you compared to other units……y’all ain’t playing enough guitar"


    To me, they come off as condescending to people who are excited about new features and improvements, or to people who have different use cases than regular live gigs. Frankly I see so many types of these comments ("This is what I do/need so if you do/need something different, you're wrong") in the forum that I start to get frustrated with it. I understand that we all are invested in the success of this product, but we also all have different needs and use cases. The forum should be about building people up, not looking down on people which is how those kind of comments come off.


    This is all I will say on the matter because I wanted to respond to your comment to me. Now I'll let it go since it was asked for.

  • All that and Firmware OS 8.7x

    Quote from Ruefus

    That comment referenced another where the person was lamenting the fact that other devices see updates more often.


    For a pro musician, where the tool (KPA) is a mission-critical piece….upgrading introduces risk. Like screwing with an auto mechanic’s tools.


    You’re messing with their livelihood.


    Everyone can do and feel how they want. But I agree that if the frequency of updates bothers you compared to other units……y’all ain’t playing enough guitar. ‘Cause that fixes me right up.

    Great! That's your opinion. But don't insult someone else because they're excited about new features. Nobody is making you upgrade if / when they come available. And great if you're a gigging pro! Most Kemper customers aren't. Or maybe they are studio pros who can easily upgrade. But still no reason to look down on people who do want more updates, or want to see an amazing piece of gear be even better.

  • All that and Firmware OS 8.7x

    "I play my guitar so I don't care about updates." What does that even mean? It takes 5 minutes to run an update, so who's saying that they can't play guitar because they're stuck waiting on an update? If you wanna stay on version 5.0 from 1976, do you. But don't accuse people of not being a good player or not playing their guitar because they like to keep their hardware current.

  • Next updates?

    I heard there's a new feature to make it even more amp-like. Every so often, the KPA will just not produce any sound and you have to send Kemper $200 for "new tubes." You know, since everyone wants the most accurate tube amp simulation. I heard the feature might also include a more realistic 6-8 week turnaround time to simulate taking your amp into a local shop.

  • Performance Best Practices

    Generally it seems to fall in to one of 2 camps: one performance per song, or a "kitchen sink" performance that does everything. I use both approaches at different times.


    For live sets: I play in an instrumental prog/post metal band, so my approach is probably much different than, say, a cover band player. We never switch song order during a set and play with some backing tracks. I use lots of time based effects and textures, and need to switch between very different sounds instantly. The drummer plays to a click and my delays have to be on tempo with the song's BPM. All of this means one performance per song is what I need. I never have to tap tempo or do any crazy switching because each sound I need for a song is saved as a rig or a morph. I just step on one big number switch when I need to change sounds. Easy peasy.


    For songwriting / jamming with the same band: I use a kitchen sink performance with most every sound I need accessable with some combo of rig switching, pedals 1-4, and morphs. I need to tap tempo and sometimes do some funky footwork, but I can improvise and try pretty any of my sounds on the fly if needed. Once my parts of the song get worked out, I'll copy it to a new performance and program it specifically for that song.

  • Kemper Profiling Amp Successor

    Quote from skoczy

    Marshall Plexi is like 60 years old now. I haven't heard anybody asking for Plexi 2 - even if, I'm pretty convinced Marshall wouldn't even move their finger to mess with that.

    Whatchu talking about? There's been like 800 (not literally) iterations since the Plexi, just from Marshall alone. A literal million if you count all the other modded Marshall style boutique amps, and amps with plexi DNA. People wanted more gain, reverb, 2 channels, 3 channels, less power, more power, etc.

  • Kemper Profiling Amp Successor

    Quote from skoczy

    I am not against KPA2, I think current hardware is fine. I am not kidding myself, I don't think KPA needs hardware and UI updates. Maybe they also don't need to stay competitive in the market by releasing new ULTRA FINAL MK2 version of their gear. Kemper is good as it is from day 1 with software update through the years. I remember AXE FX 2 and their Quantum (or similar) firmware which supposed to be groundbreaking. But it became legacy and meh just after the release of next firmware and later next hardware. And this will be the same when AXE4 comes out. All the boys playing powerchords will have to get AXE4, because it will make them play better and this will be the best gear in the world (until AXE5).


    This chase never ends.

    If Kemper only made products based on your opinion, then they'd have gone out of business already because they'd have sold exactly one unit. But I play power chords so what do I know?