My Experience Gigging the Kemper Player

Hello Everyone,

I thought I would share my experience gigging the Kemper Player at some gigs this summer. As always, these are my thoughts and opinions only. I am a Kemper Stage user and am very much used to that interface especially with the display, tap tempo footswitch, etc. I also run though IEM's, not wedges.

Pedalboard Setup

Volume X Mini for Expression Pedal. Plug into Walrus Canvas Tuner - > Wah Pedal -> Talk Box -> Kemper Player -> Stereo to our X32 Board

Footswitch #1 - Green Screamer On/Off

Footswitch #2 - Chorus On/Off

Footswitch #3 - Delay On/Off

Volume X Mini Expression Pedal for Solo Boost

Powering the Player

I used a Cioks DC7 and Crux to power the Player and my other pedals. It was a bit pricey, but it works well and have had 0 power issues.

Tone & Feel

The tone and feel of the Player is as expected; fantastic. I use captures of my Friedman amp, as well as MBritt profiles. I'm very happy with the tone and feel of the Player vs. the Stage.

Effects

The effects sound great. Really wish they had the Kemper Drive available, but for $699 you can't get everything.

Foot Switching & Effects Blocks

This is where things get a bit messy for me. I like to have a Fender amp and a Marshall amp. I find myself struggling to find the best way to have all my effects, know what amp I'm on, and have an option for solo boosting around +3dB. For example; with our IEM's, I like to have delay and reverb on the Player. With only two effects blocks after the amp, I have to find another way to perform a solo volume boost (expression pedal, midi, bank change).

I have used an expression pedal as a volume boost during a show and it was fine; got the job done. I also tried a M-Vave midi footswitch and while it did function, there's not much to visually tell you what's happening. For example, I used it to engage a green scream drive in one of the FX blocks, but there was no indication whether or not the drive was on except my ears (unless you assign it to FX1 or FX2). I have also tried moving between rig banks - this works well, but you now give up two footswitches to accomplish this. I know you could grab an extension footswitch and do this as well.

For a cover band, I find I need a drive boost, chorus, delay, reverb and a way to boost volume for solos. In this situation, you run out of options quick using just the player. Either things will just stay on, or you assign footswitches and rely on the app to do the bank switching. The other option is use some of your guitar pedals with the Kemper (Duh-that's what it's meant for). I do try and keep my setup as minimal as possible but will give this a shot as well this summer.

Using Rig Manager Live

At the first show I played with this, I brought my iPad and ran rig manager since there is no display on the Player. It was....ok. It stayed connected, but I found myself fiddling with the app a lot. I do wonder what that looks like to the audience when I'm putting my attention towards the tablet and not them. Now, if I only used (1) amp profile, I wouldn't worry about rig manager. I am trying this at the next gig and using the volume on the guitar as the "drive" setting.

Tap Tempo

I never realized how much I use tap tempo. I know a lot of players set and forget, but I'm not usually one of them. In this case, I have had to become one because I'm out of footswitches. Also, I'm not sure why there's a tap tempo button on the Player; can't really use this during a show without bending over all the time. I recommend (in my position) using an external footswitch like the Source Audio Tap Tempo.

Running to a PA

The stereo monitor outs are TRS so you can run direct to the board without a DI Box. All good here.

Overall Experience

Overall, I love the tone and feel that the Player gives you; matches right up to the Stage. It provides a professional sound and experience for the audience. My request to Kemper: offer to purchase more effects blocks, or allow me to move the effect blocks to pre or post amp depending on my need. I only need one block pre amp, but three post amp would allow me to have delay, reverb, and a volume boost. This would fix most of my struggles. In general, I have found myself spending time trying to find setup solutions or thinking "what do I need and not need" versus the Stage which gives me everything right away.

Anyways, I will continue to tweak my setup, maybe just reduce to one amp profile for now. I'll check back later this summer after gigging for a while. Cheers -