Comedian Tim Hawkins Using Kemper

[JCW308]

We saw comedian Tim Hawkins again last night. He is a fantastic guitar player and singer, as well as our favorite comedian. Usually he would use what I think was a Helix for his live gigs (straight into the board). Last night, he had a Kemper Stage and Kemper expression pedal. His guitar tone was the best it's even been and boy can he play!

 

[Orvillain]

How appropriate, coz the Kemper is a joke!

 

[Karl Houseknecht]

in the videos I’ve seen from him, his acoustic tone is usually that pretty awful tinny piezo. You have a good example?

 

[JCW308]

in the videos I’ve seen from him, his acoustic tone is usually that pretty awful tinny piezo. You have a good example?

Sounds great live, I've seen him live at least 5 times and no issues at all. He plays Martins and McPhersons lately as far as acoustics. Could be the venue on whatever videos you are watching. I don't have time to go digging around for someone's bad tone, sorry. :-)

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

Even though Kemper doesn’t get a lot of halleluja on fora as been amongst the latest and greatest…afaict…still the most spotted unit on “major league stages”, at least in my country. 9/10 i spot a digital unit…it’s a Kemper.

Maybe it’s a residu of the periode where Kemper was clearly ahead of the game…but..left or right..Kemper still delivers, and when it comes to practical functionality for gigging…in some areas maybe still on top.

 

[JCW308]

Even though Kemper doesn’t get a lot of halleluja on fora as been amongst the latest and greatest…afaict…still the most spotted unit on “major league stages”, at least in my country. 9/10 i spot a digital unit…it’s a Kemper.

Maybe it’s a residu of the periode where Kemper was clearly ahead of the game…but..left or right..Kemper still delivers, and when it comes to practical functionality for gigging…in some areas maybe still on top.

I'm noticing the same, Kemper Stage units everywhere. Then Helix Floor.

 

[OneEng]

Even though Kemper doesn’t get a lot of halleluja on fora as been amongst the latest and greatest…afaict…still the most spotted unit on “major league stages”, at least in my country. 9/10 i spot a digital unit…it’s a Kemper.

Maybe it’s a residu of the periode where Kemper was clearly ahead of the game…but..left or right..Kemper still delivers, and when it comes to practical functionality for gigging…in some areas maybe still on top.

I have seen this as well.

My theory is that while the Kemper is aging, it still offers the best live interface of the available devices. I also think the Kemper has a reputation of pretty solid reliability in live environments that gives gigging musicians peace of mind. Updating the firmware on Kemper has no effect on the existing sounds you already have stored in performances and rigs. This provides stability in tone across the years you use it. Finally, I think there is the "I know someone else that gigs with it" going on a little too. It's been the #1 live digital amp, therefore it is most likely the pick of someone new moving to a digital amp for their setup.

I'll give it to you that Kemper is ugly. Looking at that glorious color LCD on the QC, you can't help but be envious as a Kemper player. Of course, there was nothing particularly "beautiful" with our old tube amps and cabs. Perhaps guitar players aren't the best judge of "beautiful" .

 

[EOengineer]

The truth is that live rigs are always a compromise between tone, durability, consistency, and a billion other factors. I bet we will see Kemper in touring rigs for AT LEAST another decade.

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

I have seen this as well.

My theory is that while the Kemper is aging, it still offers the best live interface of the available devices. I also think the Kemper has a reputation of pretty solid reliability in live environments that gives gigging musicians peace of mind. Updating the firmware on Kemper has no effect on the existing sounds you already have stored in performances and rigs. This provides stability in tone across the years you use it. Finally, I think there is the "I know someone else that gigs with it" going on a little too. It's been the #1 live digital amp, therefore it is most likely the pick of someone new moving to a digital amp for their setup.

I'll give it to you that Kemper is ugly. Looking at that glorious color LCD on the QC, you can't help but be envious as a Kemper player. Of course, there was nothing particularly "beautiful" with our old tube amps and cabs. Perhaps guitar players aren't the best judge of "beautiful" .

I switched to QC for live stuff…cause I was done with switching (platforms) between something that fits a gigbag, and something that has enough switches and IOs to cover scenarios where you need those. QC adresses both wants. If the kpp upgrades had been available at the time id probably done that.

In some ways I still prefer the UI of the Kemper over QC, physical knobs and smart global functions drive that.
But…I wouldn’t wanna miss the option of a kitchen sink preset and hybrid scenes/stomp switching the QC offers. I can’t see that happening with just an LCD

I intended to sell my toaster, but considering it doesn’t bring more then 700,- on the used market, I didn’t.
It has permanent residence in my studio now for recording, and is used to generate profiles of my stuff.. I use in the kpp (which I couldn’t resist after all).

 

[OneEng]

I switched to QC for live stuff…cause I was done with switching (platforms) between something that fits a gigbag, and something that has enough switches and IOs to cover scenarios where you need those. QC adresses both wants. If the kpp upgrades had been available at the time id probably done that.

In some ways I still prefer the UI of the Kemper over QC, physical knobs and smart global functions drive that.
But…I wouldn’t wanna miss the option of a kitchen sink preset and hybrid scenes/stomp switching the QC offers. I can’t see that happening with just an LCD

I intended to sell my toaster, but considering it doesn’t bring more then 700,- on the used market, I didn’t.
It has permanent residence in my studio now for recording, and is used to generate profiles of my stuff.. I use in the kpp (which I couldn’t resist after all).

Yea, the QC form factor is definitely unique. The size to feature ratio is unsurpassed IMO. The only issue I have heard is some complaints on the ergonomics of the foot switches being a bit close together. That may only be an issue for people with super wide feet like me .

In many cases, that used $700 Kemper is a silly good deal for someone starting out in digital IMO. Same for the stage version at ~ 1K used. I was hoping that the Kemper Player was more like a small Stage. Instead, it is more of a hybrid of a dumb stomp and a Kemper. Oh well.