Hi Guys,
I have been playing guitar since I was 7 (now am 48). I play in a cover band "Minutes to Midnight" in the Detroit Michigan area.
For the last 10 years or more, I have been a VHT Pittbull owner. Back when I first heard my first VHT live, I was in love (you know what I mean). The growl, the harmonics, the touch, the impact .... all things that ONLY could be had from a real set of tubes and a great 4x12 cab (I also have a fat bottom 2x12 to go with it).
I am a electrical engineer. I often got asked over the years why I didn't use something digital. Always my answer was the same. "If there were anything out there that could be both digital .... and sound like my VHT .... I would have it .... but there isn't. Nothing sounds like a good tube amp!".
So I am browsing over the web forums and come across this .... Kemper thing (I don't even remember what I was searching for when I ran across it). I am not one to quickly make a big buying decision like this. I research 4 digit purchases with a religious furor 
Some of the basic questions I wanted to understand was:
- What is the background of the people that are advocating the Kemper? I have heard lots of people who play in their bedroom praise a Line 6, but they don't play live .... which kind of invalidates their opinion for my purposes.
- What gear did they own before they bought the Kemper? Surprisingly, almost all of the Kemper converts appear to be tube purists..... seemed like a good sign
- Was anyone using it live and was there a good workflow live?
- How many reports of issues are there in the field? I can't blow a gig because my gear is down.
- How good are the efx?
I looked through every post I could find on the Kemper profiler. The more I read, the more promising it sounded.
I have long dreamed of a rig that fits in a rack that I can carry with one hand while I carry my guitar case with the other. Tomorrow .... I will have it.
I have a FCB1010 just laying around that I once thought I would use for more than I ever did (too many foot switches already). I have purchased the Uno 4 Kemper chip (with labels) and it is on the way.
My band uses all IEM's, so I will likely go straight into the PA at gigs. For jamming with friends, I can use one of my Yamaha DSR112's.
This is the end of a long process I started about 5 years ago. I went from an all passive PA with folded horn subs to all powered speakers. I went from a bunch of amps and wedges for monitoring to IEMs, I went from a huge rack containing a mixer and tons of outboard gear to an X32 console, and now I will give up my 2x12 cab, 4x12 cab, VHT Head and digitech 2120 efx unit for my new Kemper profiler.
I have already listened to tons of profile samples. I have a list of my favorites from the clips, but want to get my own guitars into the Kemper to see which ones really sound best to my ears live.
I am looking forward to a long and productive existence as a proud Kemper owner!
