New From Wymondham Norfolk...the journey begins!

    Kemper Power Rack arrived yesterday, spent an hour doing Firmware and rig manager updates mainly due to Windows 10 software glitch. Process very easy, much easier set up than my old Line 6 Pod HD 500 Pro Rack (I wont mention the Digitech 2120 Artist I had...)


    Just spent a bit of the evening scrolling through the stock presets with headphones, will wait till i get used to it a bit more before I hook it up to the 4x12 and put it through its paces. Lovely piece of kit, well made (this one doesn't seem to be broken!)


    I'm sure I'll have loads of questions which i hope you guys wont mind :rolleyes: but looking fwd to giving this a proper spin over Christmas, I now at least dont feel like a fraud as I actually now have one!!


    Cheers for now guys
    Niall

    Quote from Niall182

    ... I now at least dont feel like a fraud as I actually now have one!!


    Doh!


    ... and now I won't be able to rib you about being a "fraud", Niall. Bummer.


    I sincerely hope you love it, mate. Done the HD500 thing too. Talk about different leagues, eh?

    Hi, thanks guys (sorry Monkey - Man!! you can rib me over my newbie lack of knowledge!..yes its a step above the POD PRO, but it is a lot more money) ...yes a serious case of GAS, and also 'all the gear no idea!'...and that includes the Kemper...at the moment!


    Am I missing something, as far as Delay anyway...does the Kemper only have 3 different delay types?? Analogue, Tap (and another one which I cant remember as I'm not in front of it)???


    Anyway guys, I'll be delving into it over Christmas, wish you all a Happy One and a great New Year wherever you are in the world...not just Wymondham!!


    Cheers for now
    Niall

    Quote from Niall182

    Hi, thanks guys (sorry Monkey - Man!! you can rib me over my newbie lack of knowledge!


    Bloody newbies. Knowledge-lakin' newbie. Grrr.....


    Quote from Niall182

    'all the gear no idea!'


    See what I mean? Geez. Bloody newbies.


    Quote from Niall182

    ...and that includes the Kemper...at the moment!


    Geesh... only thing worse than a newbie is a Kemper noob. Cripes.


    Quote from Niall182

    Am I missing something, as far as Delay anyway...does the Kemper only have 3 different delay types?? Analogue, Tap (and another one which I cant remember as I'm not in front of it)???


    You may be right, Niall.


    As an AE, my job is to twiddle knobs and look like I know what I'm doing. Hang on... let me rephrase that:
    As an AE, my philosophy is to add time-based fx (chorus, flange, phaser, delay, reverb) post tracking; I like to track the amp & cab combination dry and in mono.


    Because I don't play live, I've not had to rely on any sort of delay from the KPA.


    Alternative explanation: I'm a noob and have no idea whether I'm coming or going, so whaddaya askin' me for, yer nanger! :D


    Quote from Niall182

    Anyway guys, I'll be delving into it over Christmas, wish you all a Happy One and a great New Year wherever you are in the world...not just Wymondham!!
    Cheers for now
    Niall


    Thank you and right back at ya, Niall.


    Kickin' back with a fever and achey body after eating something that didn't agree with my noob tummy at my sister's place tonight (that's my big Chrissy outing and only "normal" meal for the year!), so I really do appreciate your well wishes for all at our wonderful forum. Seriously, this place is great.


    Enough ribbin' for the evening, methinks. You may even have some bruising or a few cracks after that. LOL

    Welcome to the club Niall. Let me know how you get on with the KPA live as I'm having a bit of a love-hate thing with mine at the moment. After initial good results I'm now considering reverting to my valve amp again, I just can't get the same delivery of sound from the Kemper that I can from the amp at the moment.


    low vol or through headphones the KPA sound great but when things start getting loud it's as though my core sound gets lost and I suffer from feedback issues. The KPA does get loud enough, but it's as though that sound isn't being projected in the same way as my amp. Where my normal amp seems to get more focused and driven with volume, the KPA seems to fill out more and and become less focused. It's a hard one to describe but Id be very interested to hear how you get on.


    The rest of the band commented on how my guitar sound was poor at the last rehearsal, not something any of us want to hear! I'm sure it can all be sorted but when you come from a valve amp where the good sound is baked in the temptation is to revert to safe ground!


    Paul

    Edited once, last by pauljoy ().

    Quote from pauljoy

    Where my normal amp seems to get more focused and driven with volume, the KPA seems to fill out more and and become less focused.


    Don't give up to early.
    Many of experienced user here have stated, that the live sound should be adjusted as loud as you want to play later.
    You need to explain this your colleagues. Maybe you can start alone earlier at rehearsal.
    And you should keep in mind. The knob "drive" is not exact working in the same way as with a tube amplifier.
    For achieve the tone of an amp there are more possibilities. ( see manual and/or tutorial videos at you tube)
    Believe me some perseverance pays off. KPA can more as one amp can do.


    keep rockin' Harry

    @pauljoy I think it's something you just need to get used to. The sound of the Kemper what you hear on a record. The amp going through the mic, not the same as having a 4x12 powering out behind you. When I first got mine over 3 years ago I remember it was weird because I was used to having this blaring amp behind me and the Kemper didn't sound/feel like this. but I have never had such a good stage and front of house sound as I do with the kemper. Best way to describe it is like old shoes. You buy new ines but they don't feel as comfy as your ones when you wear them but after a couple of weeks they feel just as good if not better than your old shoes they just need wearing in and getting used to :)

    Thanks guys. I've been doing some more playing and testing today while switching between my amp and the Kemper. I'm starting to get the feeling that while I can get the tone of the Kemper very close to that of my amp at a specific volume, the built in amplifier just doesn't respond like a guitar amp at all, it's more HiFi or PA like.


    One test I've just done is start with a medium drive sound which at average room levels is very hard to differentiate between the two systems. Then if I put the guitar on a stand and slowly increase the master volume of each amp while just rubbing the strings it becomes very apparent that they react in a totally different way. With the amp as the volume increases the strings become more and more sensitive to touch, with the KPA they don't, things get louder but the strings almost become more buried in the noise.


    As you say Raoul, I'm starting to think thing that moving to the KPA requires a different train of thought, it's more about comparing what the front of house sound is like through the PA with the KPA vs an amp with a mic than what the guitarist experiences from his amp. This is maybe why rehearsals are sounding a little rough as the PA system is behind the drummer and not the best PA in the world. This mixed with the less defined sound coming from my cab is probably not ideal.


    I think I'll try running the KPA in to my amps power stage and see what effect that has next.

    Hi Guys,
    Must admit I'm feeling some of Pauljoy's pain. Spent a day with it, paid for some pro profiles of EVH from A&M Audio Profiles, all the downloading/updating/rig manager stuff is simple and easy to use...so is the Kemper itself..pretty straight forward. But the sound is just not what I'd hoped for.


    I'm lucky enough to have some space, & 2 4x12's so I hooked up my usual rig, 5150iii valve amp, L6 pod hd Prox for fx & 4x12.....and next to it Kemper and 4x12.....ummmmm


    No doubt the Kemper is seriously loud (I had it at 300watt into 16ohm cab) but the distortion sounds were not what Id hoped for, fizzy and not focused actually sounded quite 'muffled' and as with Pauljoy at gig volume seriously 'squeely' during playing!!


    I've spent a day twiddling and tweaking many many parameters, just cant get it to sound right at the volume I want it at, which might be too loud for most but not for me.


    I'm taking it to my local rehearsal studios in Wymondham tomorrow night...to give it another run through. See what happens.
    Niall

    Quote from Niall182

    I'm taking it to my local rehearsal studios in Wymondham tomorrow night...to give it another run through. See what happens.


    If it's not path of trial and tribulation then everybody could do it ;)
    you will see - steps becomes bigger after a while


    wish you success - Harry

    I looks like we're on the same page then Niall, let me know how you get on at rehearsal. It's a shame really as I like the portability benefits the KPA offers and it's great programming sounds for songs using the performance mode and seeing that immediately reflected on the remote. Going back to programming my liquid foot midi controller and multiple midi pedals for each patch now will be a royal pain in comparison.


    I'm even thinking that I might try and use the KPA just for effects in the amps loop for live use, that way I can still utilise the remote and control the amps channel via midi commands.


    Lots of experimenting ahead!


    Raoul, thanks for the tip but no, I'm not using the noise gate at all currently.