Taking the Kemper out for its first gig in a couple days - Tips/Advice?

    So I am thinking about taking my Kemper out this coming Saturday, May 2nd for my first gig using a Kemper. I usually use a head, 2x12 cab and pedalboard. I have a Behringer FCB1010 Eurekaprom 2 that I will use to switch channels.


    We have someone doing sound so we will have FOH and PA. I don't have a power speaker to use for myself, so I would be using what is coming from my monitor from the sound guy as my primary monitor.


    I have a couple questions:


    Do I need to use both the Left and Right XLR outputs from the Master Output section or can I just use one of them?


    Would it be advisable to use this setup without having a speaker behind me (I am used to having a cab behind me when gigging)?


    My band plays hard rock, alternative, and metal covers so I need go through lots of different sounds in a gig.


    Any other tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.


    Thanks!

    My advice:

    • Don't rely on an unfamiliar monitor. I made that mistake once, never again.
    • Make sure you've heard your patches at full gig volume before you go onstage with them.
    • Some people might be bothered by having their sound coming from in front rather than behind, but it's never bothered me. Every electric guitarist has practiced facing their amp at some point in their life.

    Sage advice from Ben, there. Regarding the Main Outs, I'd run it in mono and just use one side (set the appropriate output source in the Output menu). The sound guy will probably prefer this, too.

    Quote from sambrox

    Sage advice from Ben, there. Regarding the Main Outs, I'd run it in mono and just use one side (set the appropriate output source in the Output menu). The sound guy will probably prefer this, too.


    How do you get it to output in mono? I did a quick glance through the manual but I may have missed it. Would I just have a cable plugged into the left XLR then?

    In the Output section (page 1) set Main and Monitor Output to Master Mono and you're done. Either side will send the same signal via XLR. As a thought for the lack of a speaker you might send the Main Output of the Kemper to FOH and have no stage monitor used on that signal, then send the Monitor Output of the Kemper to the mixer and put that through the stage monitors. You can then have the Monitor Output EQ (page 3) available to adjust your stage monitor tone without messing with the FOH tone, if his speakers are crap you stand a chance of making your tone bearable. Make sure that on Page 2 you have Monitor Out Link selected and nothing else, this way you can adjust monitor volumes without changing FOH volume.

    A successful gig!


    The sound guy and my bandmates had never seen or heard of a Kemper before so they were quite intrigued. Safe to say, I made them Kemper believers!


    As Booyah suggested, I set the Kemper for Master Mono. Kemper went straight I did not have a power monitor for myself but I did have a monitor from the sound guy that I had my guitar coming through (as well as vocals, rhythm guitar, etc).


    Everything sounded amazing. I will need to balance out the levels of my rigs a little to make it perfect but it all went well. The sound guy was very pleased with how easy it was to work with the Kemper. I am definitely going to start using my Kemper at more gigs now. =)


    Nice! My sound guys love my Kemper compared to my old 15 watt tube amp (even with it's power amp attenuator turned down quite a bit). Glad to hear your gig went well, get us some more Kemper converts!

    I'd go with -15ish to be on the safe side, -10 might be a bit too hot.

    I'm just trying to be as truthful to my experience and personal opinion that I'm clearly presenting only as a personal opinion no more no less in an honest and truthful discussion about equipment.

    Like 1
    Quote from lobster56

    Hi. Glad the gig went well. I have only used monitor out on gigs, so far. What is your setting for main out, -10db or what?
    /Hans J Umeå Sweden


    I wasn't really paying attention to the main out setting when I did the gig. I used whatever it was and it worked just fine. I just checked and it looked like it was around -19db.

    I never run mine hotter than about -20... That's roughly line level and boards like to see that. Some venues will like you to run quarter inch to a DI box for various reasons ( talk to sound guys about that, I don't remember the technical aspect of it), but that's rare: however I've seen that on my more "professional" gigs. -20 always seems perfect for me, enough head room for solo boosts etx.