What an informative video. So refreshing keeping to the 'set up' rather than playing. I took delivery of a Kemper Stage last week and am just finding my way around a Kemper unit. Well done for a great video.
I had similar experiences with digital equipment before the kemper. But, I recently bought one. Its so good and easy to work with! I’m blown away by it. I can’t wait to gig again!
You definitely will not regret it. Love rocking up with my 4U rack case at 4kg, and sounding 20 times better than the guys hauling 200kg 4x12 stacks around giving them hernias :-)
Excellent video, thanks for sharing. I use a similar setup, 4u rack case with a vented grill at the front. Only difference is I put my grill underneath the Kemper as it vents from the bottom. I had a problem with it overheating at a gig once but haven’t had any issues since I moved it to below.
Thanks for the kind words, and that is a really great tip thanks! I have since moved mine into an on-wheels 6U with the space underneath (where I store the remote), as was on the road all the time, and of course everything is better on wheels! :-) I should do an update video at some point.
First off awesome video, very informative. I just purchased my Kemper Stage now that we’re back on the road, and after fighting with it and getting comfortable I’m blown away with what it has to offer. My biggest two questions are these: Assuming the sound engineer will know what to do when I get there without an amp behind me to mic up things will go smoothly, but if not (considering it’s a dive bar) how do I need to go about having them connect it so I can hear my self on my floor monitor in the mix and bring me up or down volume wise while playing for both front of house and stage?
HI thanks so much for the great feedback. I am currently using it on a month long 'dive bar' tour of the UK and have had zero issues with sound guys so far. I had the same worry as you before venturing out. What I tend to do is when talking to sound engineer when we first go in, I initially say the guitar is a 'DI' rather than saying kemper, as it tends to make them click much faster, however honestly 9 out of 10 house sound engineers have seen/used one before, and 10 out of 10 sound engineers say its so much better for them and they wish that everybody used them. With regards to monitoring, again its down to the engineer but any of them worth their salt will know to how to put more of the guitar in the monitor for you. If in doubt though, take a cab out with you to start with until you get used to it. I am now totally cabless and am fine with it either through monitor wedges or IEM's. It is most definitely the future!
Like James said. Go D.I in. You can also use the thru from the D.I to go into an FRFR speaker. Ive been using the head rush 108 FRFR with mine. Hope that helps✌️
Thanks very muck :-) Will definitely fit fine in a 5u. Sometimes handy to have one extra slot just in case. You can buy vented or solid cover plates for cheap. You never know if you want to add something later down the line. Happy Kempering
Fantastic episode. I want to run stereo out from my powered Kemper. Is it true the Kemper is a mono out unit? Any tricks or thoughts on how to get a balanced stereo out? Thank you
Hi Jonathan - Many thanks for the kind words. Yes it is only mono as far as I am aware, however I have never had the need for stereo. Any front of house engineer worth his salt will be able to pan your sound properly using the pa system to create a stereo image, so for me personally it is not a worry. I think the only way to current get a different sound L to R would be to split your guitar signal into 2 kempers, which are running different profiles etc. A luxury option for sure. Thanks so much for watching.
@@james.pendle Hi James. Thanks for getting back to me. I don’t gig. This is for personal fun. I have to Boogie cabs which I want to run a stereo signal to. I’m guessing if I powered one of the cabs separately then sent the signal to it I may have a chance? The issue is where do I draw the second signal from? I’m going down a rabbit hole with this
So you monitor yourself to a cab? Therefore you’re hearing a different sound to the audience? You don’t have the main output with cab sim coming back to you via the monitors?
Its tricky to explain but the sound going to the cab has the cab sim disabled in the kemper. So its a sound specifically designed to go through guitar speakers. So the differences to what I hear on stage to what is coming out of the FOH speakers is minimal, probably even inaudible (if you use decent quality profiles of course). However by going direct to FOH with the main out (with cab sim), you are eliminating the potentially crappy house mic on a cab, and also more often the extremely crappy mic placement / eq settings. Taking all the chance out of it, and just sounding like you, every single night. Just as an update I recently took the plunge and played without the cab and it was just fine. Did not miss it there at all. Obviously this then depends on the type of venue and whether they have good monitors etc.
first of all: nice setup. one question tho.. is it completely safe to wire the speaker output to a feedthrough connector? I mean the Kemper automatically turns the power amp on or off. when there is a cable plugged in (to the feedthrough connector), but no cab (and therefore no load), I fear that it could damage or blow the power amp of the Kemper. do you have any Info on this or experience? :) greetings
Thanks for the kind words. Yes can confirm absolutely safe. Like many traditional amp heads these days, it can run without a load no problem. Ive toured extensively with it since this video and no issues. Its such an awesome machine honestly.
Thanks for the kind words. Yes can confirm absolutely safe. Like many traditional amp heads these days, it can run without a load no problem. Ive toured extensively with it since this video and no issues. Its such an awesome machine honestly.
It's all in there somewhere I think bud. But basically yes this is the powered version. I connect to cab (2x12 V30 loaded standard guitar cab) using the 'speaker out' connection, and then one of the main outs via XLR to front of house. Set your main out to 'master mono' in output settings, and turn off cab sim for speaker out (think it may be off by default). Hope that helps
Hi James, I'm going to build a similar Kemper Case like yours. How did you velcroed the wireless stompbox into the gator case floor? Did you glued a flat plate in it to get a solid basis? Cheers, Andreas
Thanks for the kind words and good luck with your build. Luckily for my wireless stomp pedal, there was just enough flat surface on the inside of the gator rack case to mount the pedal to. If you are mounting on the side wall rather than the bottom, maybe go for something stronger than velcro, like 3m command strips.
@@james.pendle Thanx for you helpful notes! Last night I've found a very short rack tray on ebay. I think I will go for it to get a stable solution. Cheers
Excellent video and info. That seems like a very affordable in ear system. How has it fared as far consistency and sound quality? Do you have a mixer that you send a mix to it from or do you take the FOH feed? Also, does everyone in your band use the same unit or just you? Sorry for all the questions but I’m trying to get an IEM set up going for my band. Cheers
Thanks for the kind words. It is a very good budget system. The sound is great (when paired with good earphones of course) and have never had any issues with dropouts or interference. Our singer uses the same unit and no problem with clashes etc. We take feeds from FOH. Quality of the mix definitely varies from venue to venue doing it this method, but it has never dropped below 'adequate'. our ultimate goal is to have our own mixer and split off all our feeds to foh. The trade-off with this unit is the wireless pack is plasticky, so you do have to look after the pack well when its in your gear case, protect the little antenna etc. You can use multiples of these units without issue, or if you are happy to share mixes, you can actually use multiple wireless packs with the same unit. Hope this helps.
Cool thanks for the rundown. Im new to Kemper and just bought a powered rack like yours,but I have a couple questions. The speaker out says “8-16 ohm”,does that mean i can use my 8 ohm cabs or my 16 ohm cabs and not worry, or is there a menu i need to toggle? Also, how would i go about setting it up like you have it, where i can run a cab on stage, but still use an output for FOH? (Wich output and menu settings?)I literally have no clue. Thanks! Btw- you look just like tony Kukoc from when he was with the Chicago bulls..lol
Congrats on the purchase mate. I don't think you will be disappointed. :-) I think in terms of speaker, it will select ohm automatically. To run cab as stage volume only, there is a setting in one of the menus where you unpair the master volume from the main output volume. Set the output to main out (left or right) at around -18db so its not too hot for FOH. Once you have set this and unpaired the master volume, this knob will then only change the cab volume and wont affect the volume of the main out xlr to FOH. You also need to turn off cab simulation for the speaker out. I run mostly cab-less these days as we are gradually playing better venues with decent monitoring. As for the likeness, its a shame I'm probably about 2ft too short to play in the NBA haha. :-) Thanks for watching, and if I can be of anymore help, please don't hesitate to ask.
Thanks! Great video. Compared to the varied abilities of engineers to mic up and EQ your front of house sound using a real amp, would you say that the audience tone is better / more consistent with the Kemper?
Thanks to covid I havent really had a chance to use it for a full 'block' tour. However just from the few shows I have used it (one of them live streamed with sound from the foh desk), I can already confidently say yes. The audience is getting high quality sound as if mic'ed up by high quality studio setup (as long as you use good quality profiles) rather than potentially a beaten up cab speaker mic'ed up (often poorly) by an equally beaten up 57 or E609. I would say the only challenges a psychological, in that you train yourself not to dwell on what is coming out of the cab, because thats not what the audience is hearing. Also the sound guy has to know the difference between a line level signal and a mic signal but you would like to hope that they would all know that haha.
@@james.pendle thanks man. Yeah I’ve recently tried some cab sim boxes and they just aren’t as good as people make out. My two notes captor x doesn’t have the right feel, which surprises me as its my tube amp in front, but the cab and speaker / mic simulation just doesn’t have the same compression, it feels like playing a super high headroom 200 watt amp.
@@gavinleyfield3195 I've not managed to try any sort of cab sims as of yet. Having the real cab on stage just not mic'ed up probably fills that void quite nicely. I think I could have managed without it but I run on in-ears so probably a bit easier. Haven't tried without the physical cab yet so cant say for sure though.
Great video, thank you! I have one question - what level do you normally put the master volume at? I've found that the Kemper signal runs *very* hot, so I've been struggling to find a volume level that 1) doesn't make my recording interface at home clip and 2) doesn't require FOH to ask me to adjust.
I had this same issue and found that the “secret” is in the output routing. I have the “green toaster model” so if you have the rack mount powered version your knob placement may be different but the same principles apply. Go to “output” and unlink the master volume from the rig volume. (It comes linked by default from factory) This basically separates one volume controller from affecting the other. Assign your outputs so that “monitor out “ is linked to Master volume knob and your “master out” is linked to Rig Volume knob. I know this seems counter intuitive but your “cab out” mirrors the monitor out settings. Use the upper “master volume knob” to control your cab volume and the lower “rig volume knob” to control the “send volume “ to either FOH or your DAW. Send the master output (either mono or stereo) to your DAW and set up a track with a stock VU meter on the track. Set the VU meter to read 0 at -18 db. Adjust the rig volume while playing hard to average out at 0 (-18 db). This is a perfect recording volume or FOH send level. Most importantly “save” the new performance. This will “save” the new rig volume setting. (Rig volume does not affect tone in the Kemper) Do this with all of your “performance rig” settings and you will never have to touch the rig volume again….. just adjust the master volume knob (which now controls the send to the cabinet) to your personal taste for stage volume . I’m sure there are other ways to do it but this is what’s worked for me. Good luck 🤙
@@RichieCranium Definitely agree on separating volume link and some great tips, however as long as you have your rig volumes set correctly (do this in studio and rehearsals), you can permanently set the output volume in output settings to -18db, and should never have to touch any volume controls on a gig. The only time I have ever touched volume knob on stage is when I used to use a cab for stage monitoring, tweaking the volume of this to personal taste and the room. Since going cabless I have never had to touch a volume control on the unit. There are many ways to skin a cat as they say (it is an awful saying) Hope this helps
Basically my IEM unit comes with a rack mounting 'ear' which has an external antenna connection on it. So an antenna wire connects from the back of the unit to the rack ear and to that plastic looking external antenna. Hope that makes sense. Hard to explain without showing pics.
@@james.pendle Thanks James, I sort of understand. It's just the antenna clearly isnt attached directly to the IEM box. I wondered if there was another patch type unit for the antenna.
@@iEddiez Correct yes there is an antenna wire behind there that links the main antenna to the back of the IEM unit. If you were not rack mounting the iem unit, the plastic antenna would just fit directly to the back of it without the wire.
What an informative video. So refreshing keeping to the 'set up' rather than playing. I took delivery of a Kemper Stage last week and am just finding my way around a Kemper unit. Well done for a great video.
Thanks so much for the kind words, and for watching 🙂
I had similar experiences with digital equipment before the kemper. But, I recently bought one. Its so good and easy to work with! I’m blown away by it. I can’t wait to gig again!
You definitely will not regret it. Love rocking up with my 4U rack case at 4kg, and sounding 20 times better than the guys hauling 200kg 4x12 stacks around giving them hernias :-)
Excellent video, thanks for sharing. I use a similar setup, 4u rack case with a vented grill at the front. Only difference is I put my grill underneath the Kemper as it vents from the bottom. I had a problem with it overheating at a gig once but haven’t had any issues since I moved it to below.
Thanks for the kind words, and that is a really great tip thanks! I have since moved mine into an on-wheels 6U with the space underneath (where I store the remote), as was on the road all the time, and of course everything is better on wheels! :-) I should do an update video at some point.
Thanks for vid. Felt like I really got a real person’s perspective on using in real life scenarios! Exactly what I was looking for.
Thanks so much. Glad to be of help. That makes it all worthwhile. :-)
First off awesome video, very informative. I just purchased my Kemper Stage now that we’re back on the road, and after fighting with it and getting comfortable I’m blown away with what it has to offer. My biggest two questions are these: Assuming the sound engineer will know what to do when I get there without an amp behind me to mic up things will go smoothly, but if not (considering it’s a dive bar) how do I need to go about having them connect it so I can hear my self on my floor monitor in the mix and bring me up or down volume wise while playing for both front of house and stage?
HI thanks so much for the great feedback. I am currently using it on a month long 'dive bar' tour of the UK and have had zero issues with sound guys so far. I had the same worry as you before venturing out.
What I tend to do is when talking to sound engineer when we first go in, I initially say the guitar is a 'DI' rather than saying kemper, as it tends to make them click much faster, however honestly 9 out of 10 house sound engineers have seen/used one before, and 10 out of 10 sound engineers say its so much better for them and they wish that everybody used them.
With regards to monitoring, again its down to the engineer but any of them worth their salt will know to how to put more of the guitar in the monitor for you.
If in doubt though, take a cab out with you to start with until you get used to it. I am now totally cabless and am fine with it either through monitor wedges or IEM's.
It is most definitely the future!
Like James said. Go D.I in. You can also use the thru from the D.I to go into an FRFR speaker. Ive been using the head rush 108 FRFR with mine. Hope that helps✌️
Cool video bro! Quick question, can i fit the kemper and a 2U drawer in a 5U case or do i need a 6U?
Thanks very muck :-) Will definitely fit fine in a 5u. Sometimes handy to have one extra slot just in case. You can buy vented or solid cover plates for cheap. You never know if you want to add something later down the line. Happy Kempering
Fantastic episode. I want to run stereo out from my powered Kemper. Is it true the Kemper is a mono out unit? Any tricks or thoughts on how to get a balanced stereo out? Thank you
Hi Jonathan - Many thanks for the kind words. Yes it is only mono as far as I am aware, however I have never had the need for stereo.
Any front of house engineer worth his salt will be able to pan your sound properly using the pa system to create a stereo image, so for me personally it is not a worry.
I think the only way to current get a different sound L to R would be to split your guitar signal into 2 kempers, which are running different profiles etc. A luxury option for sure.
Thanks so much for watching.
@@james.pendle Hi James. Thanks for getting back to me. I don’t gig. This is for personal fun. I have to Boogie cabs which I want to run a stereo signal to. I’m guessing if I powered one of the cabs separately then sent the signal to it I may have a chance? The issue is where do I draw the second signal from? I’m going down a rabbit hole with this
@James Pendle That’s a fantastic idea James. Thank you. Are there any interfaces you would recommend?
So you monitor yourself to a cab? Therefore you’re hearing a different sound to the audience? You don’t have the main output with cab sim coming back to you via the monitors?
Its tricky to explain but the sound going to the cab has the cab sim disabled in the kemper. So its a sound specifically designed to go through guitar speakers. So the differences to what I hear on stage to what is coming out of the FOH speakers is minimal, probably even inaudible (if you use decent quality profiles of course). However by going direct to FOH with the main out (with cab sim), you are eliminating the potentially crappy house mic on a cab, and also more often the extremely crappy mic placement / eq settings. Taking all the chance out of it, and just sounding like you, every single night.
Just as an update I recently took the plunge and played without the cab and it was just fine. Did not miss it there at all. Obviously this then depends on the type of venue and whether they have good monitors etc.
first of all: nice setup. one question tho..
is it completely safe to wire the speaker output to a feedthrough connector? I mean the Kemper automatically turns the power amp on or off. when there is a cable plugged in (to the feedthrough connector), but no cab (and therefore no load), I fear that it could damage or blow the power amp of the Kemper. do you have any Info on this or experience? :)
greetings
Thanks for the kind words. Yes can confirm absolutely safe. Like many traditional amp heads these days, it can run without a load no problem. Ive toured extensively with it since this video and no issues. Its such an awesome machine honestly.
Thanks for the kind words. Yes can confirm absolutely safe. Like many traditional amp heads these days, it can run without a load no problem. Ive toured extensively with it since this video and no issues. Its such an awesome machine honestly.
Did I miss how your running your stage cab? Is this a powered Kemper? Did you go out of the monitor our?
It's all in there somewhere I think bud. But basically yes this is the powered version. I connect to cab (2x12 V30 loaded standard guitar cab) using the 'speaker out' connection, and then one of the main outs via XLR to front of house. Set your main out to 'master mono' in output settings, and turn off cab sim for speaker out (think it may be off by default).
Hope that helps
Thank you, I appreciated this video
17:53 I can relate.
Hi James, I'm going to build a similar Kemper Case like yours. How did you velcroed the wireless stompbox into the gator case floor? Did you glued a flat plate in it to get a solid basis? Cheers, Andreas
Oh, I've forgot to thank you for this awesome video first!
Thanks for the kind words and good luck with your build. Luckily for my wireless stomp pedal, there was just enough flat surface on the inside of the gator rack case to mount the pedal to. If you are mounting on the side wall rather than the bottom, maybe go for something stronger than velcro, like 3m command strips.
@@james.pendle Thanx for you helpful notes! Last night I've found a very short rack tray on ebay. I think I will go for it to get a stable solution. Cheers
Excellent video and info. That seems like a very affordable in ear system. How has it fared as far consistency and sound quality? Do you have a mixer that you send a mix to it from or do you take the FOH feed? Also, does everyone in your band use the same unit or just you? Sorry for all the questions but I’m trying to get an IEM set up going for my band. Cheers
Thanks for the kind words. It is a very good budget system. The sound is great (when paired with good earphones of course) and have never had any issues with dropouts or interference. Our singer uses the same unit and no problem with clashes etc. We take feeds from FOH. Quality of the mix definitely varies from venue to venue doing it this method, but it has never dropped below 'adequate'. our ultimate goal is to have our own mixer and split off all our feeds to foh.
The trade-off with this unit is the wireless pack is plasticky, so you do have to look after the pack well when its in your gear case, protect the little antenna etc.
You can use multiples of these units without issue, or if you are happy to share mixes, you can actually use multiple wireless packs with the same unit.
Hope this helps.
Cool thanks for the rundown. Im new
to Kemper and just bought a powered rack like yours,but I have a couple questions. The speaker out says “8-16 ohm”,does that mean i can use my 8 ohm cabs or my 16 ohm cabs and not worry, or is there a menu i need to toggle?
Also, how would i go about setting it up like you have it, where i can run a cab on stage, but still use an output for FOH? (Wich output and menu settings?)I literally have no clue. Thanks!
Btw- you look just like tony Kukoc from when he was with the Chicago bulls..lol
Congrats on the purchase mate. I don't think you will be disappointed. :-)
I think in terms of speaker, it will select ohm automatically.
To run cab as stage volume only, there is a setting in one of the menus where you unpair the master volume from the main output volume. Set the output to main out (left or right) at around -18db so its not too hot for FOH. Once you have set this and unpaired the master volume, this knob will then only change the cab volume and wont affect the volume of the main out xlr to FOH.
You also need to turn off cab simulation for the speaker out.
I run mostly cab-less these days as we are gradually playing better venues with decent monitoring.
As for the likeness, its a shame I'm probably about 2ft too short to play in the NBA haha. :-)
Thanks for watching, and if I can be of anymore help, please don't hesitate to ask.
Thanks! Great video. Compared to the varied abilities of engineers to mic up and EQ your front of house sound using a real amp, would you say that the audience tone is better / more consistent with the Kemper?
Thanks to covid I havent really had a chance to use it for a full 'block' tour. However just from the few shows I have used it (one of them live streamed with sound from the foh desk), I can already confidently say yes.
The audience is getting high quality sound as if mic'ed up by high quality studio setup (as long as you use good quality profiles) rather than potentially a beaten up cab speaker mic'ed up (often poorly) by an equally beaten up 57 or E609.
I would say the only challenges a psychological, in that you train yourself not to dwell on what is coming out of the cab, because thats not what the audience is hearing.
Also the sound guy has to know the difference between a line level signal and a mic signal but you would like to hope that they would all know that haha.
And also thanks for the kind words :-)
@@james.pendle thanks man. Yeah I’ve recently tried some cab sim boxes and they just aren’t as good as people make out. My two notes captor x doesn’t have the right feel, which surprises me as its my tube amp in front, but the cab and speaker / mic simulation just doesn’t have the same compression, it feels like playing a super high headroom 200 watt amp.
@@gavinleyfield3195 I've not managed to try any sort of cab sims as of yet. Having the real cab on stage just not mic'ed up probably fills that void quite nicely. I think I could have managed without it but I run on in-ears so probably a bit easier. Haven't tried without the physical cab yet so cant say for sure though.
Great video, thank you! I have one question - what level do you normally put the master volume at? I've found that the Kemper signal runs *very* hot, so I've been struggling to find a volume level that 1) doesn't make my recording interface at home clip and 2) doesn't require FOH to ask me to adjust.
Thanks for the kind words. I believe mine is permanently set at -18db for front of house. It is like you say a very hot signal otherwise
I had this same issue and found that the “secret” is in the output routing.
I have the “green toaster model” so if you have the rack mount powered version your knob placement may be different but the same principles apply.
Go to “output” and unlink the master volume from the rig volume. (It comes linked by default from factory) This basically separates one volume controller from affecting the other.
Assign your outputs so that “monitor out “ is linked to Master volume knob and your “master out” is linked to Rig Volume knob.
I know this seems counter intuitive but your “cab out” mirrors the monitor out settings.
Use the upper “master volume knob” to control your cab volume and the lower “rig volume knob” to control the “send volume “ to either FOH or your DAW.
Send the master output (either mono or stereo) to your DAW and set up a track with a stock VU meter on the track.
Set the VU meter to read 0 at -18 db.
Adjust the rig volume while playing hard to average out at 0 (-18 db). This is a perfect recording volume or FOH send level.
Most importantly “save” the new performance.
This will “save” the new rig volume setting.
(Rig volume does not affect tone in the Kemper)
Do this with all of your “performance rig” settings and you will never have to touch the rig volume again….. just adjust the master volume knob (which now controls the send to the cabinet) to your personal taste for stage volume .
I’m sure there are other ways to do it but this is what’s worked for me.
Good luck 🤙
@@RichieCranium Definitely agree on separating volume link and some great tips, however as long as you have your rig volumes set correctly (do this in studio and rehearsals), you can permanently set the output volume in output settings to -18db, and should never have to touch any volume controls on a gig.
The only time I have ever touched volume knob on stage is when I used to use a cab for stage monitoring, tweaking the volume of this to personal taste and the room.
Since going cabless I have never had to touch a volume control on the unit.
There are many ways to skin a cat as they say (it is an awful saying)
Hope this helps
This seems like what I'm planning on building. One Question, the antenna for your IEM, what is that built into there?
Basically my IEM unit comes with a rack mounting 'ear' which has an external antenna connection on it. So an antenna wire connects from the back of the unit to the rack ear and to that plastic looking external antenna. Hope that makes sense. Hard to explain without showing pics.
@@james.pendle Thanks James, I sort of understand. It's just the antenna clearly isnt attached directly to the IEM box. I wondered if there was another patch type unit for the antenna.
@@iEddiez Correct yes there is an antenna wire behind there that links the main antenna to the back of the IEM unit. If you were not rack mounting the iem unit, the plastic antenna would just fit directly to the back of it without the wire.
@@james.pendle Cool, I'm looking to do an all in one solution like you've done so I think i'd need to do the same
Sorry to come back again
What did you use to mount the IEM and the antenna? Have you a link?
Thank you!
The LED strip should be green ;-).
Haha green was tempting, but I wanted it to be 'me' themed rather than 'kemper' themed :-)
Cool man…. ;-)