Any tips for KPA with an Acoustic Guitar?

    We've been booked for several acoustic shows over the Christmas season and I'm wondering if you guys have any tips for using the KPA with an acoustic guitar? Havn't gone down this road with the Kemper before so I'm hoping I can hit the ground running with some good advice or info from people with previous experience running the Kemper this way.


    The acoustic guitar I'm using has a nice Maton AP-5 pickup system that consists of Piezo in bridge and a small Condenser mic sitting just inside the sound hole. I used to play in an acoustic duo at weddings etc many years ago and it always sounded pretty good going direct to the desk, but as I now have the Kemper I was thinking I might as well use it for compression, eq, reverb, delays, etc. I'll also plan to have my trusty "feedback buster" (big rubber disc that sits in the soundhole) installed as it just seems to work really well.


    Who uses their Kemper with an acoustic regularly? Any advice on what kind of profiles (if any?) I should be looking for?


    Thanks! :thumbup:

    I do it the same way...
    just a little compression, reverb, sometimes delay
    and for soloing an equalizer boost in the X slot - everything works fine.
    There are several acoustic guitar rigs, so you will find a good starting point to work with...
    best sounding acoustic guitar preamp for me!
    I switch between electric and acoustic guitars a lot, so it works really fine - and just one channel on the mixing desk!


    Best regards, Mario

    Quote from Netheravon

    Is there any advantage to using an actual profile? Makes sense to me to just turn the amp section off if you have a decent preamp/pick up ?


    Yeah, this was my thinking Netheravon, but at the same time there are some highly regarded amps out there touted as being made for the purpose of amplifying "acoustic" instruments (the AER line for example). I guess I don't understand how an amp like this would differ from a powered PA speaker?


    If the AER stuff is better suited to the purpose, I'm hoping I can find a profile of one and use the KPA's compressor and the eq's for any notch filtering, etc to basically give me the full virtual amp with whatever benefits it might bring.


    I'm going to spend some time playing around this weekend before rehearsals start next week. Would just prefer to be pointed in the right direction before spending hours and hours in the rabbit hole of trial and error.


    I agree that method is usually the best (but most painful) way to learn stuff though! :P

    I play acoustic nylon, acoustic steel, resonator, mandolin, banjo, bass and a variety of electrics through my profiler. What I do with acoustic instruments depends on their characteristics. Sometimes I simply bypass the amp and cab sections, add a touch of EQ and basic FX as needed, maybe a boost stomp for soloing. Then I may also use one of the acoustic rigs that are available. You have to experiment. There are no absolutes other than the general principles laid down for all use of the profiler such as always adjusting your sounds at gig level.


    As for acoustic amps, my impression is that some sound really good, but they are not really different from a similar sized compact PA. Those two product lines, acoustic-amps and compact-PA, seem to be converging on each other.

    Of course the profile of an acoustic amp makes sense as long as it's not flat, so it adds some colouration that you might like. This specially depends on the mic used, if it's not a direct profile.
    As heldal wrote, feel free to do whatever sounds good to your ears :)


    When I use a guitar whose sound I particularly like, I use the Profiler as an fx unit. Some 12-string simulations work very well with an acoustic :)

    Thanks everyone. The profiles in the thread Fishman link seem to be very well received. I'll snag those and give them a go this weekend. Listening to the demo someone did on soundcloud it sounds like it will do the trick nicely. I did a forum search for acoustic but must have missed that thread.
    Thanks again.

    Quote from DonPetersen

    I can think of an application of a 'flat' profile.
    First, profile a patchcable & save it.
    Now you can use the parameters Definition, Amp Compression & Clarity to quickly adjust your tone without coloring it too much.


    I wonder if anybody created a "flat" profile, as Don suggested. Does anybody know? At least i could´t find one in rig exchange.

    I didn't know you could profile a patch cable, but if so that sounds like a work-around to access the amp controls. However, I wouldn't expect any magic from a profiled acoustic amp.
    After, let's consider what acoustic amps are for. In general, pickups for acoustic guitars were designed to sound as much like a real acoustic as possible, so a guitarist can have the sound of being mic'd up while being able to walk around like an electric guitarist does. However, even with this, acoustic players were still at the mercy of the sound man to give them enough volume in floor wedges. Acoustic amps that they could control gave them the stage volume they wanted, just like an electric guitarist has. Furthermore, it gave them the portable amplification that an electric guitarist has when there's only a weak PA system for vocals. Finally, it has a few things built in that are useful to acoustic players, in particular EQ controls helpful for the range of a guitar. In other words, they were designed to be glorified active monitors with the power and range needed to amplify an acoustic guitar. But the Kemper already has EQ's and effects voiced for the guitar, albeit with electric guitars mostly in mind. However, since nothing is entirely flat, it's possible that a particular profile would be flattering to the acoustic guitar you plug into it, in which case you'd benefit from having the profile vs. profiling a patch cable. I've personally had fine results just turning the amp block off.

    Actually I am using an RME Acouswitch with the Acoustic A profile. I am Using the acouswitch to switch between electric and acoustic. Main Out feeds the PA for Acoustic and electric (different profiles for electric....)

    I have found the following acoustic rigs.
    Two of them are commercial.
    But there are also very useable rigs at RE.
    Generally is to say that the quality of the guitar has the main influence for a good sound.
    The Yamaha THR10 from Costa (RE) is not named as acoustic rig but you should give it a try - suprise, surprise :)

    I profiled my Shertler Unico acoustic guitar amp. I think it sounds great. I play my Martins thru t
    it, makes them a bit fatter...


    if if you want the profile, it is on the exchange. Just do a search for "JR shertler" and you will find it...


    hope it helps...