Hey Everyone-
Thanks for all the words of advice and welcome to the forum and Kemper family.
I've had my Profiler for 7 days and really can't get over how remarkable this thing is.
There was an extreme amount of anxiety about this gig as I have only been working on the set for about 4 weeks. I have been a Rocktron Chameleon user for over 25 years and I have been extremely happy with that unit in terms of it's flexibility and longevity. It has never once needed servicing or repair.
However, as with anything it has had it's minor shortcomings and I knew that I needed the best modeling type of amp in order to cover the material going back to 1977 through the 80's. The bad has gone through several different line-ups and musical approaches and I wasn't going to be able to nail those tones with my former set-up. It took 2 weeks to get the Kemper and I was on pins and needles the whole time waiting fearing that I wouldn't have enough time to program and get comfortable with the foot controller. I spent those two weeks reading the manuals and watching all the video tutorials so I was ready when I opened the box for the first time. So after all the buildup and anticipation, I was horribly disappointed as I went through about 200 rigs as the sound was unbearable. Everything sounded the same, harsh and buzzy. I went to bed concerned I would have to return it and start programming my Rocktron for the set. Instead I woke up convinced it was operator error and sure enough, quickly found out that I had the cab simulator locked off for the main outs feeding my DAW.
Within 2 days I had over 90% of the material programmed and laid out for changes on the controller. It was a bit of a head switch to get used to kicking individual FX on and off within one rig as opposed to having a completely different patch change and a slight balancing act with my big dumb stage boots to ballet toe-tap to get the second row of buttons but I really couldn't be happier. Having the tuner built in to the controller is a huge plus and great for muting the guitar when needed.
I started with the High Watt rigs to get the bulk of the base tones from the album, "Keep the Dogs Away" recorded in Canada in 1977. Adding vintage FX like the Boss Chorus and Big Muff were mind blowing. Just perfect. Other sounds needed radically different approaches and I pulled up some great Marshall and Fenders as well. The speed and ease of getting this stuff together was so satisfying. I have always been a knob twiddler and early adopter of MIDI preamps going back to the ADA but the Kemper is beyond anything I have ever worked with before. Once all my programming was done, I pulled it out of the DAW and put it into a power amp and a 4x12. Unsurprisingly, this was another level of incredible satisfaction as the sound jumped out of the cab, punchy and ultra-responsive. I so wish I had this amp 25 years ago when I got started and was playing in so many different cover bands that I had to struggle to get even close to the tones I needed to program. I feel like joining a wedding band just to experience the challenge of taking a couple of hundred songs and simply crushing the task of nailing each individual sound.
This is the most fun I have had in a long time with music and simply the best piece of gear I have ever owned. Kudos to the engineering that went into the design and build of this thing. I am sure I will have suggestions on how to improve things in a few weeks but for now I am just in happy bliss getting ready for the show tomorrow knowing that my ass is covered.
If anyone is in the NYC area tomorrow, come hear it for yourself!!
Thank you Kemper!
