The Kemper thread

chrishill901

FarleyUK said:

chrishill901 said:

FarleyUK said:

Beta version of new Rig manager - which is ONLY compatible with the new Beta firmware 7.0.0 - is up.... as is the new beta 7.0.0 firmware

Is this what was demo’d at NAMM where you can edit parameters inside the software?

Nope - that's the editor. Beta for that should land in the next month I'd guess.

Thank you looking forward to the editor being released, it may tip me toward the Kemper Stage but at the moment I don’t want to have to edit everything on the floor is I’ve got a bad back

chrishill901

So I had my first practice with a new band last night, and the first time I had used the Kemper outside of the home.... just wow. I've owned and gigged a lot of quality valve amps and the Kemper hands down beats them all - The sound was just unreal. I was never able to push a 50w valve amp to its sweet spot before, especially not in a rehearsal room, but last night my tone was pure cranked sweet spot at whatever volume I wanted.

I was using the Kemper through a Laney LFR-112 and it sounded huge. I'm really impressed how the Laney sounded, it sat in the mix really well and didn't give me any surprises; my profiles sounded as I expected them to with no tweaking needed at all. I also bought and tried the Reampzone PRS MT15 and although I forgot my laptop and only had one of the profiles loaded it sounded absolutely brutal. I'm still getting used to the Kemper remote, it feels like a bit of a tap dance but I've never been an FX guy. I was reading yesterday about morphing though so I'm going to set up a rig where the morph adds a volume boost and a touch of delay for solos.

Sorry for the pointless post but this is one Kemper user who is extremely happy. The drummer in the band has worked with a lot of bands and heard probably hundreds of amps of all shapes and sizes and he said last night (and the night before he worked with another guitarist for the first time who had a Kemper) was the best guitar tone he'd ever heard. I was using a Reampzone Dual Rectifier for most of it and then a TopJimi AFD100 #34 mode for a song at the end. But yes, major +1 for the Laney

Jonathanthomas83

That is very cool, mate. I always wondered how the Kemper would stand up in that scenario, but I didn't get an opportunity to try it, unfortunately. I reckon the Stage would be awesome in that setting too.

FarleyUK

Just a word of warning - probably not worth trying the OS7 beta at this stage. It's VERY buggy, and you cannot go back to a previous OS version....!

crunchman

FarleyUK said:

Just a word of warning - probably not worth trying the OS7 beta at this stage. It's VERY buggy, and you cannot go back to a previous OS version....!

I normally wait for the release.

After seeing what @chrishill901 said, I really need to start using mine live.  Had a preamp valve go bad on me playing at church on Sunday.  Princeton was distorting with the volume on 2 with a vintage output Fender pickup.  The spare preamp valve I had with me was bad as well.  Put it it the amp and got spluttering noises.  Bought the amp home and got it all sounding nice again with another valve in the first position, but I can live without those kinds of problems.

chrishill901

crunchman said:

FarleyUK said:

Just a word of warning - probably not worth trying the OS7 beta at this stage. It's VERY buggy, and you cannot go back to a previous OS version....!

I normally wait for the release.

After seeing what @chrishill901 said, I really need to start using mine live.  Had a preamp valve go bad on me playing at church on Sunday.  Princeton was distorting with the volume on 2 with a vintage output Fender pickup.  The spare preamp valve I had with me was bad as well.  Put it it the amp and got spluttering noises.  Bought the amp home and got it all sounding nice again with another valve in the first position, but I can live without those kinds of problems.

I've been a purist since the beginning and I've owned probably 20 amps. I've had a JCM800, Silver Jubilee, JVM410h, DSL50 (I like Marshalls) and then other stuff from Orange, Blackstar, Egnater, Laney... I literally forget. I didn't think I could ever replace an amp live. I got the Kemper to solve the home practice and recording problem as I can't crank a 50w Marshall at home. I got rid of amps when I made the decision to pack in playing live a few years back so decided to pick up the Laney as I've just formed/joined a band and I figured it would be a good while before we ever gig and I can't afford the amp I wanted. I wasn't expecting to ditch amps after one chord though.

Jonathanthomas83 said:

That is very cool, mate. I always wondered how the Kemper would stand up in that scenario, but I didn't get an opportunity to try it, unfortunately. I reckon the Stage would be awesome in that setting too.

Every part of me is telling me to get a stage as I've got the unpowered rack anyway and it would save space and be one less thing to carry. But the amp lover in me loves seeing the rack on top of the Laney cab as it looks more traditional. Terrible reason to stick with a piece of kit I know but it just seems a step too far right now!

FarleyUK

chrishill901 said:

crunchman said:

FarleyUK said:

Just a word of warning - probably not worth trying the OS7 beta at this stage. It's VERY buggy, and you cannot go back to a previous OS version....!

I normally wait for the release.

After seeing what @chrishill901 said, I really need to start using mine live.  Had a preamp valve go bad on me playing at church on Sunday.  Princeton was distorting with the volume on 2 with a vintage output Fender pickup.  The spare preamp valve I had with me was bad as well.  Put it it the amp and got spluttering noises.  Bought the amp home and got it all sounding nice again with another valve in the first position, but I can live without those kinds of problems.

I've been a purist since the beginning and I've owned probably 20 amps. I've had a JCM800, Silver Jubilee, JVM410h, DSL50 (I like Marshalls) and then other stuff from Orange, Blackstar, Egnater, Laney... I literally forget. I didn't think I could ever replace an amp live. I got the Kemper to solve the home practice and recording problem as I can't crank a 50w Marshall at home. I got rid of amps when I made the decision to pack in playing live a few years back so decided to pick up the Laney as I've just formed/joined a band and I figured it would be a good while before we ever gig and I can't afford the amp I wanted. I wasn't expecting to ditch amps after one chord though.

Jonathanthomas83 said:

That is very cool, mate. I always wondered how the Kemper would stand up in that scenario, but I didn't get an opportunity to try it, unfortunately. I reckon the Stage would be awesome in that setting too.

Every part of me is telling me to get a stage as I've got the unpowered rack anyway and it would save space and be one less thing to carry. But the amp lover in me loves seeing the rack on top of the Laney cab as it looks more traditional. Terrible reason to stick with a piece of kit I know but it just seems a step too far right now!

Plus - the 'brains' of the unit are safe behind you on the amp; NOT within beer spillage / stiletto distance of the punters when playing live. That's my main reason for sticking with the toaster and remote

Musicman20

I must say this floor unit has opened up the possibility of getting one over a Helix. 

cbellanga

I got the stage a couple of days ago.. that's my second go with kempers after using an AX8 for about a year and then downsizing to an Amplifire 6.

The first time around I didn't get my head around it and wasn't happy with the form factor (I usually commute to central London for practices with the band etc). 

So yesterday I spent some time with it expecting the same old issues my ear always pick with digital.. some weird low mid bump. Plugged into my studio monitors, the sound was just exceptional, exactly what I wanted to hear from fiddling with literally 3-5 profiles.

I've managed to get a very close sound out of my qsc k8.2 as well, it still adds some extra low miss but I'm hoping that with a eq sweep I'll be able to find that frequency range and dial it back a bit.

Very happy with the purchase and can foresee a bunch of other gear inundating the FS forum

Musicwolf

chrishill901 said:

 I was reading yesterday about morphing though so I'm going to set up a rig where the morph adds a volume boost and a touch of delay for solos.

If you do nothing else in life - explore the morph feature.  I use a Boss FV-500-H pedal.  Set this as Morph, then turn all the effects on.  Toe up - set your rhythm sound on the Kemper (so wind the delay down to zero - don't turn it off), press save.  Now push the toe down - nothing will change with the sound.  Turn up your delay, volume, boost the mid etc and save again.  Now toe up will give you your rhythm sound and toe down your lead.

I started doing this with my old POD500HD, then the Kemper and now I also have a Helix for live set up the same way.  I started doing this because I was also singing and I couldn't look down to change patches.  Now I only do backing vocals but I still use this method.

chrishill901

FarleyUK said:
Plus - the 'brains' of the unit are safe behind you on the amp; NOT within beer spillage / stiletto distance of the punters when playing live. That's my main reason for sticking with the toaster and remote

There is that, although in all my years of gigging i've only had beer spilt on my pedalboard once and thankfully my Nova System was a tough SOB...

cbellanga said:

Very happy with the purchase and can foresee a bunch of other gear inundating the FS forum

Congrats! The people in this thread have been really helpful with me with any questions. I've had mine for a while now and I'm still only just discovering features! I only tried performance mode for the first time last week! Let us know how you get on.

Musicwolf said:

chrishill901 said:

 I was reading yesterday about morphing though so I'm going to set up a rig where the morph adds a volume boost and a touch of delay for solos.

If you do nothing else in life - explore the morph feature.  I use a Boss FV-500-H pedal.  Set this as Morph, then turn all the effects on.  Toe up - set your rhythm sound on the Kemper (so wind the delay down to zero - don't turn it off), press save.  Now push the toe down - nothing will change with the sound.  Turn up your delay, volume, boost the mid etc and save again.  Now toe up will give you your rhythm sound and toe down your lead.

I started doing this with my old POD500HD, then the Kemper and now I also have a Helix for live set up the same way.  I started doing this because I was also singing and I couldn't look down to change patches.  Now I only do backing vocals but I still use this method.

That's exactly how I want to use it, thanks! Glad to hear its as useful and powerful in practice as it is in theory. I've never been an FX person minus getting a Nova System for a band I was in. When I practice for myself i'm a guitar straight into the amp kind of person so it is taking me a while to get used to but it is intuitive. One thing I always hated was putting a boost or EQ in the loop for a solo boost. It was just 'sudden' and never sounded great and was an extra press if you wanted delay on the solo. The idea that you can taper in the boost with the delay already applied with an expression pedal (or I believe you can predetermine the taper length and just use the switch on the remote for the morph feature?) is just mind-blowing to me as I've never owned anything capable of that.

Jonathanthomas83

@chrishill901 what's your guitar of choice with the Mesa profiles?

chrishill901

Jonathanthomas83 said:

@chrishill901 what's your guitar of choice with the Mesa profiles?

Gibson Les Paul with Slash Pups. Guitar of choice for everything, I managed to find the best Gibson I've ever heard. My Gibson has a lot of natural clarity and is quite bright and biting and suits the profile well; my Tokai Love Rock with APH-1s in doesn't sound as good (a little darker) with the profile but I didn't bring that guitar to the studio. The Tokai probably sounds more like a stereotypical Les Paul than the Gibson though... its hard to describe. The profile sounded great with my EVH Wolfgang Special too (definitely more 'metal') but not so great with my ESP GL-256 with Arcane Inc Mr Scary in the bridge but to be honest a small tweak of the mids on the profile would have sorted that out. Most of the sounds I gravitate toward natural sound better with a HH guitar and less good with a strat style guitar

FarleyUK

chrishill901 said:

Jonathanthomas83 said:

@chrishill901 what's your guitar of choice with the Mesa profiles?

Gibson Les Paul with Slash Pups. Guitar of choice for everything, I managed to find the best Gibson I've ever heard. My Gibson has a lot of natural clarity and is quite bright and biting and suits the profile well; my Tokai Love Rock with APH-1s in doesn't sound as good (a little darker) with the profile but I didn't bring that guitar to the studio. The Tokai probably sounds more like a stereotypical Les Paul than the Gibson though... its hard to describe. The profile sounded great with my EVH Wolfgang Special too (definitely more 'metal') but not so great with my ESP GL-256 with Arcane Inc Mr Scary in the bridge but to be honest a small tweak of the mids on the profile would have sorted that out. Most of the sounds I gravitate toward natural sound better with a HH guitar and less good with a strat style guitar

That's the exact same guitar and pups I use!

The TopJimi stuff sounds amazing with it - discovered the 74 SuperLead profile last night for rehearsal, and it sounded and felt brilliant.

chrishill901

FarleyUK said:

chrishill901 said:

Jonathanthomas83 said:

@chrishill901 what's your guitar of choice with the Mesa profiles?

Gibson Les Paul with Slash Pups. Guitar of choice for everything, I managed to find the best Gibson I've ever heard. My Gibson has a lot of natural clarity and is quite bright and biting and suits the profile well; my Tokai Love Rock with APH-1s in doesn't sound as good (a little darker) with the profile but I didn't bring that guitar to the studio. The Tokai probably sounds more like a stereotypical Les Paul than the Gibson though... its hard to describe. The profile sounded great with my EVH Wolfgang Special too (definitely more 'metal') but not so great with my ESP GL-256 with Arcane Inc Mr Scary in the bridge but to be honest a small tweak of the mids on the profile would have sorted that out. Most of the sounds I gravitate toward natural sound better with a HH guitar and less good with a strat style guitar

That's the exact same guitar and pups I use!

The TopJimi stuff sounds amazing with it - discovered the 74 SuperLead profile last night for rehearsal, and it sounded and felt brilliant.

Ooh I'll have to check that out! I love the TopJimi stuff, I think his profiles are my favourite. The Caswell AFD amp is just out of this world. I tried the Top Jimi AFD100 #34 mod with the Laney and it needed no tweaking at all, just perfect. The Laney was probably on a third of its volume and was comfortably louder than a heavy hitting drummer. Did I mention how good the Laney was?? :P

FarleyUK

chrishill901 said:

FarleyUK said:

chrishill901 said:

Jonathanthomas83 said:

@chrishill901 what's your guitar of choice with the Mesa profiles?

Gibson Les Paul with Slash Pups. Guitar of choice for everything, I managed to find the best Gibson I've ever heard. My Gibson has a lot of natural clarity and is quite bright and biting and suits the profile well; my Tokai Love Rock with APH-1s in doesn't sound as good (a little darker) with the profile but I didn't bring that guitar to the studio. The Tokai probably sounds more like a stereotypical Les Paul than the Gibson though... its hard to describe. The profile sounded great with my EVH Wolfgang Special too (definitely more 'metal') but not so great with my ESP GL-256 with Arcane Inc Mr Scary in the bridge but to be honest a small tweak of the mids on the profile would have sorted that out. Most of the sounds I gravitate toward natural sound better with a HH guitar and less good with a strat style guitar

That's the exact same guitar and pups I use!

The TopJimi stuff sounds amazing with it - discovered the 74 SuperLead profile last night for rehearsal, and it sounded and felt brilliant.

Ooh I'll have to check that out! I love the TopJimi stuff, I think his profiles are my favourite. The Caswell AFD amp is just out of this world. I tried the Top Jimi AFD100 #34 mod with the Laney and it needed no tweaking at all, just perfect. The Laney was probably on a third of its volume and was comfortably louder than a heavy hitting drummer. Did I mention how good the Laney was?? :P

Likewise; his stuff is easily the best I've purchased. I mostly use the Caswell Marshall pack, but all his stuff is great.

cbellanga

Just had a full afternoon blast with the K. Stage.
Messed around with my QSC K8.2 settings and managed to get a pretty accurate sound out of it compared to my studio monitors. If it sounds as good as that at full volume with the band I'll be extremely happy.

Been using the Two Stone Bloom from Tone Junkie with my strat and it is very, very close to their sample video here (around 2:06):



The form factor without the editor is a bit of a pain of course but the interface was easy enough to get my head around with no time. Guess I can remove the display's plastic protector now

Freebird

chrishill901 said:
Ooh I'll have to check that out! I love the TopJimi stuff, I think his profiles are my favourite. The Caswell AFD amp is just out of this world. I tried the Top Jimi AFD100 #34 mod with the Laney and it needed no tweaking at all, just perfect. The Laney was probably on a third of its volume and was comfortably louder than a heavy hitting drummer. Did I mention how good the Laney was?? :P

I like these Wizard profiles with my Les Paul Bill Lawrence circuit board pickups.

https://petesprofiles.weebly.com/wizard-profiles.html

WiresDreamDisasters

Hey Kemper peeps - when banking around using the floor unit (or the Stage) and using the up/down buttons in performance mode, how does it perform?

What I mean is... can you move from performance 1 slot 5 to performance 10 slot 2? Will it allow you to queue up a change like that, or does it switch performance slots instantly? Can't find a video of this in action.

For example - with the Boss ES5 I can hit the bank switch to change banks.... I hit bank 2.... it then waits for me to hit the switch for the preset inside the bank. So I can queue up changes throughout the song very easily this way.

Also does it change from rig to rig instantly, and what about trails?

WiresDreamDisasters

Okay, should just read the manual  


Here it is:

In Performance Mode, use these buttons to browse your Performances. A short tap will step up or down to the next Performance. Hold either button to scroll in that direction. Depending on the status of the parameter “Performance Autoload” in System Settings, the PROFILER will either load a Slot of the selected Performance immediately or wait until you hit one of the five Rig Buttons (2).