Posts by Gizmo

  • Adrian Belew rig run down.

    Wow, this guy is a pedal head….not for the first few minutes but when he starts talking about his studio.
    Very interesting.
    Notice the KPA at 9:36

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  • FRFR 2 years later

    I think the more people pay through FRFRs, the more our ears will get used to it (as a player, not just a listener)


    When I play through an FRFR, I really appreciate the quality of sound I get from the KPA, it is reproducible and flexible, it can give me great tones at all volumes, so it's not about what I have, it's more about what I miss.


    When I play in my rehearsal room with the KPA, I love the tones and the low volume. I miss the so called "amp in a room" sound…..there's still something just glorious about it and when I do play a real amp I think I have to get used to the FRFR sound all over again, only it doesn't take that long now.


    When I play live with the KPA, I miss the "simplicity" of going straight into a tube amp….but i don't miss the "amp in a room" sound at all. I always take a tube amp backup…but that stays in the van and so far I've resisted the urge to bring it into the room ;)


    So for the last 12 months, 90% of my gigs have been done with the KPA. If I'd settled for something smaller and lighter at the beginning, I would probably have GAS'd for a CLR and would likely have one now anyway. Only difference is I'd have gone for the Neo version.


    Still, I'm going to try two EON 10s and play in stereo…whoohoo!

  • FRFR 2 years later

    It kinda reminds me about when I bought my first stereo….in fact I didn't buy it, I made it out of two "record players" sometime in the late 60's.
    I really enjoyed listening to it for a while….then I bought a "proper" budget stereo. Blew me away.
    Then for years and years after I upgraded things slowly. Each time I was thrilled with the improvement.


    If I'd gone for "the best" I would never have had those fantastic moments of listening through something better. In fact I doubt my ears would have really been able to appreciate "the best" while listening to old scratchy vinyl.Now of course, through age and too many loud gigs, my ears don't hear as well as they used to.


    I do appreciate my CLR. But if it had been the first FRFR I'd bought, I may not have trained my ears to listen to FRFR guitar and I might have been just as dissatisfied with the experience.


    Just sayin'

  • FRFR 2 years later

    So I've had my KPA for two years now. For over a year I've been gigging with it using an Atomic CLR and very happy with my live sounds. I play a mix of blues, R&B, surf and some light rock, so no metal or high gain stuff. I've been using tube amps for over 40 years.


    I remember the first year with the KPA, trying everything I could get my hands on to play it through and being VERY disappointed with the FRFR sound and pretty much ready to sell the KPA.


    To my ears, everything sounded boxy, lacking in feel and I was SO missing the amp-in-a-room sound...I couldn't tweak my way out of this feeling.


    Then I decided to go for the best and bought a CLR powered cab. From then on I was much happier. (I had to be...I'd just spent $1000 and there was nothing better!)


    Just recently I decided to re-visit some of the old powered monitor spkrs I had tried at the beginning so I plugged into a small JBL Eon 10.


    It sounded pretty damn good to me, nothing wrong that some minor eq wouldn't fix (this wasn't at gig volumes)...and it made me start to wonder.


    Our ears (and our heads) must get used to listening through FRFR and do we really need to spend all this $$$ on expensive monitors when in reality the audience is usually listening to mostly mediocre PA systems anyway.


    Don't misunderstand me, I love my CLR. It's top class for my personal monitoring in a gig and for using without a PA.... but if my ears had been "trained" for FRFR at the beginning, I might have settled for something much cheaper (and lighter) for on stage monitoring.


    I don't plan to sell my CLR anytime soon, although with the KPA and a case it's about as heavy as the Super Reverb I used to use. I gave up on the SR because it was just too much to carry to a gig....now I seem to be carrying about the same weight.


    The difference now though, is that I know what I'm going to get through the KPA/CLR combo, and I know I can get it anywhere, at any volume.

  • Global Reverb mix multiplier

    I would find something like this most useful.
    In a typical gig with about 30 songs, I often want to adjust reverb/delay globally. This of course can be done by locking them so that any adjustment affects all the rigs I use in that gig….probably about 10 or so.
    However there are 2 or 3 songs where I absolutely want the reverb and delay to be what is set in the stored rig….eg for surf tunes. So I would have to unlock them before I selected the surf rigs. Once I want to go back, I have to reset rev'del to where they were before and lock them again. Quite a cumbersome process….unless someone knows a better way!

  • Shoulder strap failure...

    Glad I wasn't this guy…..epic fail!
    (go to 1:10)


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  • Mindblowing! :)

    I was nervous about using my KPA live for the first time about 18 months ago.
    Now I'm nervous if I have to use a tube am, knowing that I won't be able to use the range of sounds and fx that I'm now used to…AND at a volume that will keep the venue happy!

  • Buying an Atomic CLR

    Thats why mine never goes on anything higher than a bar stool :D


    Quote from JuLai

    I'm loving playing through my CLR and would love it even more if there would be possibility to get NEO version, but unfortunately not yet here in Europe. Some may think the 5kg weight difference is not much, but I feel the difference lifting those things on a head high PA pole night after night in some cramped stage.

  • Broken.

    If you're used to building/fixing PCs then you probably already know this but it's still worth mentioning.


    Don't forget to dissipate any static charge you might build up on yourself.


    At the every least, touch something large and metallic before you handle any of the innards of the KPA.


    If you can get a grounding strap, so much the better.

  • Powering Down

    In my studio I've been doing it like this since I bought it nearly 2 years ago.
    When I take it out for gigs I use the chicken knob.
    No apparent problems.