Kemper Player - 1st [ Paid for ? ] Update coming very soon ?

[Ed DeGenaro]

During my prime teaching years GH3 and later Rock Band were at their peak and I will say those games brought in a ton of new students for me monthly. At one point, one of the stores I worked at had a waiting list. Definitely a lot of them only lasted a month or two once they realized guitar was a lot more than 4 buttons and a paddle, but I bet you there was a 1 in 4 success rate for those who stuck with it.

Both games had a huge impact on growing and expanding the industry, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was even larger than what Covid did. We can hold our noses up all we want (*cough* @Orvillain) and I get it, cause I used to also, but it was pretty cool watching kids minds be blown when they could finally play along with the songs on a guitar, after twiddling on a controller.

It certainly gave Rock Guitar a much needed infusion since it had been limping along for the prior decade.

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

Mate of mine, incredible player, used to play a CS Tele for ages. Even had it modified to suit him even better. Great Tele to be sure. Some years back, he accidentally tried a Harley Benton Tele (around €200 or so), exchanged the pickups and ever since the CS axe is serving as a backup.

We had this conversation before I think.

I’m now up to 4 HB electrics, 3 “Pro” Series strats and a wanna be 335.

I got them to keep at the branches of the school I teach at and ended up liking them as much as my 4 main guitars I’ve been using for over 20years, one of them going on 35.

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

#photo2…I thought my pedalboards where messy

Michael Thompson school of pedal boards…

 

[creative360]

Just for posterity (even though I’m famous for deleting posts after I write them), I thought that I would repost two things I wrote at the other place, so that I could delete them before that thread gets locked. For you guys who remember, that craziness we witnessed bubbling-up surrounding the QC launch, it seems like that’s the norm over there now. Anyway …

Repost 1:

Christoph Kemper subscribes to a somewhat unique, old school pro approach to creating gear.

If his stuff is attractive to professional musicians first—and every single product he’s ever produced is—then these products end-up on hit records and world tours, and then other professionals or serious amateurs who want to emulate the rigs that they see the high profile musicians who they admire using, then the products find an audience.

Over all these many years, Christoph Kemper has been resistant to giving the “people”—meaning the internet—what they/it want(s). Sometimes he eventually comes around to the utility of certain requested features, but ultimately he’s making these devices to be what he believes they should be, to his own standard, if you will. This is kind of the opposite of the typical approach, which is to design by committee and attempt to make each product release everything for everybody.

I wish more companies would do it the old school way.

This website has been the home of generation after generation of Kemper haters. All of those haters will be relieved to know that the Player was not intended for them.

Kemper has never claimed to be cheap. He doesn’t build his products in China, so that may be part of it, but, shrug, he enters strong, pricing things so it’s worth it to him. At least for the first ten years he offered a two-years longer fully transferable warranty than anyone else, which was cool. When I switched from racks to toasters, my minty devices sold with longer factory warranties than many new devices from other brands.

I’ve never read something where Kemper disparages anyone else’s product, because I don’t think he really cares. Kemper makes the product he wants to make.

And so on and so forth. The truth is that if one out of twenty-five devoted professional users of Kemper racks toasters and Stages decides the smaller, full featured Player is a good addition—for too many valid reasons to mention here, although smaller touring/cartage expenses is a big deal—then the Player becomes a quietly massive hit.

Maybe not like a $100 pedal that ends up in a million drawers of people who don’t really play their guitars anyway. But you’re definitely gonna start seeing Players all over the place.

There have always been people who aren’t squirrelly about spending what it takes to put a pro rig together. I guess that’s his customer. I fall in the middle. I appreciate a deal. I researched Japanese vintage replicas in the early 10’s when Fender and Gibson top of the line instruments had priced me out. On the other hand, I’ve always been happy to spend the money it takes to use the gear that best satisfies my pro creative needs. Computers, cameras, etc. Most any purchase, if you’re using it as intended, earns its keep within the first few gigs.

These websites are historically filled with doctors and lawyers and dentists and plumbers who all charge top dollar for what they do in the real world and then come in here telling these manufacturers that they should be giving their products away.

Don’t get me wrong, the companies that make $ accessibility a primary aspect of their ethos, like Ceriatone, are providing a noble service to the music community.

There’s something for everyone. This was an awkward rollout. I always felt that a $1200 box, out of the gate, with no compromises except the reality that size presents, would’ve been great. Expensive, but what it’s supposed to be.

It’s shaken out that way now, so here we go.

On the internet the loudest haters usually have way way more awkward stuff going on in their personal and business lives than we ever have to hear about (thank you!), and all that wreckage would probably make C Kemper seem like an angel from the heavens.

In decades on these forums, the TGP’rs offering him business advice are, in almost every case, folks who should instead be asking him for advice. You know, historically it’s a what’s wrong with this picture kind of dynamic.

So what. This is a social place, not a graduate program. If it’s still possible to have fun, despite wave after wave of misinformation about particular brands in a way that mirrors the world at large, then that’s probably good enough. The jury is still out.

ymmv
** Sorry for the novel length post. Have a good day.


Repost 2:

Of course I agree, there are always things that may have made any device, including this one, more appealing.

USB-C would’ve been nice. A second expression pedal jack. Etc. I’ve never shared the screen improvement fixation that is common on the Internet, but obviously a lot of people do care about that.

But yeah, I wouldn’t have minded a $1400 slightly more pro box. But as it stands, this thing does get it done.

Musicians have always made accommodations and workarounds for pieces of equipment that got them most of the way toward what they were after.

A 64 black panel Deluxe Reverb would ideally have had a mid knob installed in place of the electric jack that came stock on the back of the amplifier. Not to mention speaker swaps. It goes on. Instruments too, obviously.

I do mention in my post that I agree this was an awkward launch, but not because of transparency. They said from the outset that something like this was going to happen. I’m not convinced that they had even finalized the granular details of each separate feature path at the time of release.

And yes divvying up the features into what can seem like somewhat arbitrary price categories was never going to sit well with everybody. Again, I think the price is fine. The middle tier, I guess I would’ve lost that entirely for simplicity. But here’s the thing, a lot of people will live happily on Level 2.

I just think the launch opened up a lot of room for misinformation, misrepresentation, all that kind of stuff. A full-featured, subjectively too expensive product, not to me but maybe to the world, would’ve been a simpler thing to argue about.

And yes, connectivity, maybe how it’s powered, screen versus app, this is all valid discourse.

Looks like his mistake was to make a rare concession for the legions of folks who had been begging for a box that doesn’t profile since the beginning. He did it, and the haters piled-on with a tsunami of personal attacks and misinformation reminiscent of the vibe around here over a decade ago when I first bought a profiler.

People like to talk about which thing sounds better. But in the right hands all of this stuff sounds equally horrible. So, I don’t bother getting into those arguments.

Kemper sounds good enough for me.

 

[Orvillain]

Just for posterity (even though I’m famous for deleting posts after I write them), I thought that I would repost two things I wrote at the other place, so that I could delete them before that thread gets locked. For you guys who remember, that craziness we witnessed bubbling-up surrounding the QC launch, it seems like that’s the norm over there now. Anyway …

Repost 1:

Christoph Kemper subscribes to a somewhat unique, old school pro approach to creating gear.

If his stuff is attractive to professional musicians first—and every single product he’s ever produced is—then these products end-up on hit records and world tours, and then other professionals or serious amateurs who want to emulate the rigs that they see the high profile musicians who they admire using, then the products find an audience.

Over all these many years, Christoph Kemper has been resistant to giving the “people”—meaning the internet—what they/it want(s). Sometimes he eventually comes around to the utility of certain requested features, but ultimately he’s making these devices to be what he believes they should be, to his own standard, if you will. This is kind of the opposite of the typical approach, which is to design by committee and attempt to make each product release everything for everybody.

I wish more companies would do it the old school way.

This website has been the home of generation after generation of Kemper haters. All of those haters will be relieved to know that the Player was not intended for them.

Kemper has never claimed to be cheap. He doesn’t build his products in China, so that may be part of it, but, shrug, he enters strong, pricing things so it’s worth it to him. At least for the first ten years he offered a two-years longer fully transferable warranty than anyone else, which was cool. When I switched from racks to toasters, my minty devices sold with longer factory warranties than many new devices from other brands.

I’ve never read something where Kemper disparages anyone else’s product, because I don’t think he really cares. Kemper makes the product he wants to make.

And so on and so forth. The truth is that if one out of twenty-five devoted professional users of Kemper racks toasters and Stages decides the smaller, full featured Player is a good addition—for too many valid reasons to mention here, although smaller touring/cartage expenses is a big deal—then the Player becomes a quietly massive hit.

Maybe not like a $100 pedal that ends up in a million drawers of people who don’t really play their guitars anyway. But you’re definitely gonna start seeing Players all over the place.

There have always been people who aren’t squirrelly about spending what it takes to put a pro rig together. I guess that’s his customer. I fall in the middle. I appreciate a deal. I researched Japanese vintage replicas in the early 10’s when Fender and Gibson top of the line instruments had priced me out. On the other hand, I’ve always been happy to spend the money it takes to use the gear that best satisfies my pro creative needs. Computers, cameras, etc. Most any purchase, if you’re using it as intended, earns its keep within the first few gigs.

These websites are historically filled with doctors and lawyers and dentists and plumbers who all charge top dollar for what they do in the real world and then come in here telling these manufacturers that they should be giving their products away.

Don’t get me wrong, the companies that make $ accessibility a primary aspect of their ethos, like Ceriatone, are providing a noble service to the music community.

There’s something for everyone. This was an awkward rollout. I always felt that a $1200 box, out of the gate, with no compromises except the reality that size presents, would’ve been great. Expensive, but what it’s supposed to be.

It’s shaken out that way now, so here we go.

On the internet the loudest haters usually have way way more awkward stuff going on in their personal and business lives than we ever have to hear about (thank you!), and all that wreckage would probably make C Kemper seem like an angel from the heavens.

In decades on these forums, the TGP’rs offering him business advice are, in almost every case, folks who should instead be asking him for advice. You know, historically it’s a what’s wrong with this picture kind of dynamic.

So what. This is a social place, not a graduate program. If it’s still possible to have fun, despite wave after wave of misinformation about particular brands in a way that mirrors the world at large, then that’s probably good enough. The jury is still out.

ymmv


Repost 2:

Of course I agree, there are always things that may have made any device, including this one, more appealing.

USB-C would’ve been nice. A second expression pedal jack. Etc. I’ve never shared the screen improvement fixation that is common on the Internet, but obviously a lot of people do care about that.

But yeah, I wouldn’t have minded a $1400 slightly more pro box. But as it stands, this thing does get it done.

Musicians have always made accommodations and workarounds for pieces of equipment that got them most of the way toward what they were after.

A 64 black panel Deluxe Reverb would ideally have had a mid knob installed in place of the electric jack that came stock on the back of the amplifier. Not to mention speaker swaps. It goes on. Instruments too, obviously.

I do mention in my post that I agree this was an awkward launch, but not because of transparency. They said from the outset that something like this was going to happen. I’m not convinced that they had even finalized the granular details of each separate feature path at the time of release.

And yes divvying up the features into what can seem like somewhat arbitrary price categories was never going to sit well with everybody. Again, I think the price is fine. The middle tier, I guess I would’ve lost that entirely for simplicity. But here’s the thing, a lot of people will live happily on Level 2.

I just think the launch opened up a lot of room for misinformation, misrepresentation, all that kind of stuff. A full-featured, subjectively too expensive product, not to me but maybe to the world, would’ve been a simpler thing to argue about.

And yes, connectivity, maybe how it’s powered, screen versus app, this is all valid discourse.

Looks like his mistake was to make a rare concession for the legions of folks who had been begging for a box that doesn’t profile since the beginning. He did it, and the haters piled-on with a tsunami of personal attacks and misinformation reminiscent of the vibe around here over a decade ago when I first bought a profiler.

People like to talk about which thing sounds better. But in the right hands all of this stuff sounds equally horrible. So, I don’t bother getting into those arguments.

Kemper sounds good enough for me.

Cool story bro.

 

[ian_dissonance]

Just for posterity (even though I’m famous for deleting posts after I write them), I thought that I would repost two things I wrote at the other place, so that I could delete them before that thread gets locked. For you guys who remember, that craziness we witnessed bubbling-up surrounding the QC launch, it seems like that’s the norm over there now. Anyway …

Repost 1:

Christoph Kemper subscribes to a somewhat unique, old school pro approach to creating gear.

If his stuff is attractive to professional musicians first—and every single product he’s ever produced is—then these products end-up on hit records and world tours, and then other professionals or serious amateurs who want to emulate the rigs that they see the high profile musicians who they admire using, then the products find an audience.

Over all these many years, Christoph Kemper has been resistant to giving the “people”—meaning the internet—what they/it want(s). Sometimes he eventually comes around to the utility of certain requested features, but ultimately he’s making these devices to be what he believes they should be, to his own standard, if you will. This is kind of the opposite of the typical approach, which is to design by committee and attempt to make each product release everything for everybody.

I wish more companies would do it the old school way.

This website has been the home of generation after generation of Kemper haters. All of those haters will be relieved to know that the Player was not intended for them.

Kemper has never claimed to be cheap. He doesn’t build his products in China, so that may be part of it, but, shrug, he enters strong, pricing things so it’s worth it to him. At least for the first ten years he offered a two-years longer fully transferable warranty than anyone else, which was cool. When I switched from racks to toasters, my minty devices sold with longer factory warranties than many new devices from other brands.

I’ve never read something where Kemper disparages anyone else’s product, because I don’t think he really cares. Kemper makes the product he wants to make.

And so on and so forth. The truth is that if one out of twenty-five devoted professional users of Kemper racks toasters and Stages decides the smaller, full featured Player is a good addition—for too many valid reasons to mention here, although smaller touring/cartage expenses is a big deal—then the Player becomes a quietly massive hit.

Maybe not like a $100 pedal that ends up in a million drawers of people who don’t really play their guitars anyway. But you’re definitely gonna start seeing Players all over the place.

There have always been people who aren’t squirrelly about spending what it takes to put a pro rig together. I guess that’s his customer. I fall in the middle. I appreciate a deal. I researched Japanese vintage replicas in the early 10’s when Fender and Gibson top of the line instruments had priced me out. On the other hand, I’ve always been happy to spend the money it takes to use the gear that best satisfies my pro creative needs. Computers, cameras, etc. Most any purchase, if you’re using it as intended, earns its keep within the first few gigs.

These websites are historically filled with doctors and lawyers and dentists and plumbers who all charge top dollar for what they do in the real world and then come in here telling these manufacturers that they should be giving their products away.

Don’t get me wrong, the companies that make $ accessibility a primary aspect of their ethos, like Ceriatone, are providing a noble service to the music community.

There’s something for everyone. This was an awkward rollout. I always felt that a $1200 box, out of the gate, with no compromises except the reality that size presents, would’ve been great. Expensive, but what it’s supposed to be.

It’s shaken out that way now, so here we go.

On the internet the loudest haters usually have way way more awkward stuff going on in their personal and business lives than we ever have to hear about (thank you!), and all that wreckage would probably make C Kemper seem like an angel from the heavens.

In decades on these forums, the TGP’rs offering him business advice are, in almost every case, folks who should instead be asking him for advice. You know, historically it’s a what’s wrong with this picture kind of dynamic.

So what. This is a social place, not a graduate program. If it’s still possible to have fun, despite wave after wave of misinformation about particular brands in a way that mirrors the world at large, then that’s probably good enough. The jury is still out.

ymmv
** Sorry for the novel length post. Have a good day.


Repost 2:

Of course I agree, there are always things that may have made any device, including this one, more appealing.

USB-C would’ve been nice. A second expression pedal jack. Etc. I’ve never shared the screen improvement fixation that is common on the Internet, but obviously a lot of people do care about that.

But yeah, I wouldn’t have minded a $1400 slightly more pro box. But as it stands, this thing does get it done.

Musicians have always made accommodations and workarounds for pieces of equipment that got them most of the way toward what they were after.

A 64 black panel Deluxe Reverb would ideally have had a mid knob installed in place of the electric jack that came stock on the back of the amplifier. Not to mention speaker swaps. It goes on. Instruments too, obviously.

I do mention in my post that I agree this was an awkward launch, but not because of transparency. They said from the outset that something like this was going to happen. I’m not convinced that they had even finalized the granular details of each separate feature path at the time of release.

And yes divvying up the features into what can seem like somewhat arbitrary price categories was never going to sit well with everybody. Again, I think the price is fine. The middle tier, I guess I would’ve lost that entirely for simplicity. But here’s the thing, a lot of people will live happily on Level 2.

I just think the launch opened up a lot of room for misinformation, misrepresentation, all that kind of stuff. A full-featured, subjectively too expensive product, not to me but maybe to the world, would’ve been a simpler thing to argue about.

And yes, connectivity, maybe how it’s powered, screen versus app, this is all valid discourse.

Looks like his mistake was to make a rare concession for the legions of folks who had been begging for a box that doesn’t profile since the beginning. He did it, and the haters piled-on with a tsunami of personal attacks and misinformation reminiscent of the vibe around here over a decade ago when I first bought a profiler.

People like to talk about which thing sounds better. But in the right hands all of this stuff sounds equally horrible. So, I don’t bother getting into those arguments.

Kemper sounds good enough for me.

I hope he sees this.

 

[JCW308]

Did my first gig with it…paired with a midi controller…sounded great, I got everything I needed…love it that something this tiny delivers all that.
There’s all this “dated tech” and “paid upgrades” blabla…but in the end..I paid 1000,- for this unit, and I can’t think of anything in that price range, and of this size…that even comes close. Captures, full efx suite, split cabsimmed/noncabsimmed outputs, and mature in/output section controls/eco system.

Morphing alone is worth it IMO. It's a brilliant piece of gear, it really is. Can't wait to use mine for bass all tomorrow morning!

 

[OneEng]

Just for posterity (even though I’m famous for deleting posts after I write them), I thought that I would repost two things I wrote at the other place, so that I could delete them before that thread gets locked. For you guys who remember, that craziness we witnessed bubbling-up surrounding the QC launch, it seems like that’s the norm over there now. Anyway …

Repost 1:

Christoph Kemper subscribes to a somewhat unique, old school pro approach to creating gear.

If his stuff is attractive to professional musicians first—and every single product he’s ever produced is—then these products end-up on hit records and world tours, and then other professionals or serious amateurs who want to emulate the rigs that they see the high profile musicians who they admire using, then the products find an audience.

Over all these many years, Christoph Kemper has been resistant to giving the “people”—meaning the internet—what they/it want(s). Sometimes he eventually comes around to the utility of certain requested features, but ultimately he’s making these devices to be what he believes they should be, to his own standard, if you will. This is kind of the opposite of the typical approach, which is to design by committee and attempt to make each product release everything for everybody.

I wish more companies would do it the old school way.

This website has been the home of generation after generation of Kemper haters. All of those haters will be relieved to know that the Player was not intended for them.

Kemper has never claimed to be cheap. He doesn’t build his products in China, so that may be part of it, but, shrug, he enters strong, pricing things so it’s worth it to him. At least for the first ten years he offered a two-years longer fully transferable warranty than anyone else, which was cool. When I switched from racks to toasters, my minty devices sold with longer factory warranties than many new devices from other brands.

I’ve never read something where Kemper disparages anyone else’s product, because I don’t think he really cares. Kemper makes the product he wants to make.

And so on and so forth. The truth is that if one out of twenty-five devoted professional users of Kemper racks toasters and Stages decides the smaller, full featured Player is a good addition—for too many valid reasons to mention here, although smaller touring/cartage expenses is a big deal—then the Player becomes a quietly massive hit.

Maybe not like a $100 pedal that ends up in a million drawers of people who don’t really play their guitars anyway. But you’re definitely gonna start seeing Players all over the place.

There have always been people who aren’t squirrelly about spending what it takes to put a pro rig together. I guess that’s his customer. I fall in the middle. I appreciate a deal. I researched Japanese vintage replicas in the early 10’s when Fender and Gibson top of the line instruments had priced me out. On the other hand, I’ve always been happy to spend the money it takes to use the gear that best satisfies my pro creative needs. Computers, cameras, etc. Most any purchase, if you’re using it as intended, earns its keep within the first few gigs.

These websites are historically filled with doctors and lawyers and dentists and plumbers who all charge top dollar for what they do in the real world and then come in here telling these manufacturers that they should be giving their products away.

Don’t get me wrong, the companies that make $ accessibility a primary aspect of their ethos, like Ceriatone, are providing a noble service to the music community.

There’s something for everyone. This was an awkward rollout. I always felt that a $1200 box, out of the gate, with no compromises except the reality that size presents, would’ve been great. Expensive, but what it’s supposed to be.

It’s shaken out that way now, so here we go.

On the internet the loudest haters usually have way way more awkward stuff going on in their personal and business lives than we ever have to hear about (thank you!), and all that wreckage would probably make C Kemper seem like an angel from the heavens.

In decades on these forums, the TGP’rs offering him business advice are, in almost every case, folks who should instead be asking him for advice. You know, historically it’s a what’s wrong with this picture kind of dynamic.

So what. This is a social place, not a graduate program. If it’s still possible to have fun, despite wave after wave of misinformation about particular brands in a way that mirrors the world at large, then that’s probably good enough. The jury is still out.

ymmv
** Sorry for the novel length post. Have a good day.


Repost 2:

Of course I agree, there are always things that may have made any device, including this one, more appealing.

USB-C would’ve been nice. A second expression pedal jack. Etc. I’ve never shared the screen improvement fixation that is common on the Internet, but obviously a lot of people do care about that.

But yeah, I wouldn’t have minded a $1400 slightly more pro box. But as it stands, this thing does get it done.

Musicians have always made accommodations and workarounds for pieces of equipment that got them most of the way toward what they were after.

A 64 black panel Deluxe Reverb would ideally have had a mid knob installed in place of the electric jack that came stock on the back of the amplifier. Not to mention speaker swaps. It goes on. Instruments too, obviously.

I do mention in my post that I agree this was an awkward launch, but not because of transparency. They said from the outset that something like this was going to happen. I’m not convinced that they had even finalized the granular details of each separate feature path at the time of release.

And yes divvying up the features into what can seem like somewhat arbitrary price categories was never going to sit well with everybody. Again, I think the price is fine. The middle tier, I guess I would’ve lost that entirely for simplicity. But here’s the thing, a lot of people will live happily on Level 2.

I just think the launch opened up a lot of room for misinformation, misrepresentation, all that kind of stuff. A full-featured, subjectively too expensive product, not to me but maybe to the world, would’ve been a simpler thing to argue about.

And yes, connectivity, maybe how it’s powered, screen versus app, this is all valid discourse.

Looks like his mistake was to make a rare concession for the legions of folks who had been begging for a box that doesn’t profile since the beginning. He did it, and the haters piled-on with a tsunami of personal attacks and misinformation reminiscent of the vibe around here over a decade ago when I first bought a profiler.

People like to talk about which thing sounds better. But in the right hands all of this stuff sounds equally horrible. So, I don’t bother getting into those arguments.

Kemper sounds good enough for me.

Great post.

It reminds me that my expert recommendation to CK was to make a small device that was headless since a phone or tablet app could be so much more powerful than any screen that could reliably be placed in the unit .... and it saves cost and warranty problems.

When the Player was released, I too asked "where's the screen". I guess I assumed that some small screen would be included; however, as you point out, for a pro player or prosumer (like me), app controlled live products are not a new idea (except in digital guitar amps I guess).

Kemper has always appealed to me BECAUSE it is targeted at gigging touring pros and not bedroom musicians. You are also correct that the Player was asked for en-mass. My least complaint with the Player is the lack of profiling. In fact, I haven't profiled anything since shortly after I bought my Kemper Rack in 2013. I use purchased profiles and profiles I have found on rig manager in my gig setup.

I must admit though, I never saw the Kemper Player as a professional product (other than a backup for the full sized Kempers). I saw the player as a way for Kemper to appeal to a down-market segment (sub $500).

In hindsight, I may have been asking too much of Kemper. Making a smaller version of the KPA in the 1K range (vs $1600) for the same professional market as the bigger units is a very different story than Kemper trying to enter the budget pedal market to a general consumer.

The Player is what it is. A 3 button full Kemper (with Level 3 upgrade) without profiling. It holds the top spot for the most powerful 3 button form factor digital guitar amp on the planet in this upgrade level. Nothing else is even close IMO.

I still would have likely targeted the sub $500 market myself with something along the lines of the Level 2 upgrade. Perhaps in a couple of years the price will come down to this level.

 

[Sedaxel]

Well... A full kemper without profiling, without display and without a good amount of I/o options.

Regarding the "not even close" thing for 3-switchers... Ehem... I don't know, I think the hx stomp is more flexible, has a display, and it's way cheaper... If it's "not even close" or not, well, maybe it's a more objective matter than one could think. Personally, I absolutely think it's close. Hell... Let's be a little brave... I also think an Ampero II stomp is close (and even before knowing how its coming capture feature works).

But hey, opinions...

 

[Orvillain]

Great post.

It reminds me that my expert recommendation to CK was to make a small device that was headless since a phone or tablet app could be so much more powerful than any screen that could reliably be placed in the unit .... and it saves cost and warranty problems.

When the Player was released, I too asked "where's the screen". I guess I assumed that some small screen would be included; however, as you point out, for a pro player or prosumer (like me), app controlled live products are not a new idea (except in digital guitar amps I guess).

Kemper has always appealed to me BECAUSE it is targeted at gigging touring pros and not bedroom musicians. You are also correct that the Player was asked for en-mass. My least complaint with the Player is the lack of profiling. In fact, I haven't profiled anything since shortly after I bought my Kemper Rack in 2013. I use purchased profiles and profiles I have found on rig manager in my gig setup.

I must admit though, I never saw the Kemper Player as a professional product (other than a backup for the full sized Kempers). I saw the player as a way for Kemper to appeal to a down-market segment (sub $500).

In hindsight, I may have been asking too much of Kemper. Making a smaller version of the KPA in the 1K range (vs $1600) for the same professional market as the bigger units is a very different story than Kemper trying to enter the budget pedal market to a general consumer.

The Player is what it is. A 3 button full Kemper (with Level 3 upgrade) without profiling. It holds the top spot for the most powerful 3 button form factor digital guitar amp on the planet in this upgrade level. Nothing else is even close IMO.

I still would have likely targeted the sub $500 market myself with something along the lines of the Level 2 upgrade. Perhaps in a couple of years the price will come down to this level.

He won't fuck you bro

 

[Sascha Franck]

Fwiw, I can fully understand people already owning a Kemper going all in with this thing. Fully updated this has got to be *the* perfect backup. And in case you have your patches ready anyway, so they're tried and trusted, you likely don't need much onboard editing anymore, if at all.

For anyone else, I still think it's pretty meh-ish, at least compared to other offerings. Personally, if I needed a floor pedal solution, I would never get just the Player but always go for the full Stage. But then - see above -, in case I liked that a lot, I'd defenitely think of the Player as a backup.

 

[OneEng]

Fwiw, I can fully understand people already owning a Kemper going all in with this thing. Fully updated this has got to be *the* perfect backup. And in case you have your patches ready anyway, so they're tried and trusted, you likely don't need much onboard editing anymore, if at all.

For anyone else, I still think it's pretty meh-ish, at least compared to other offerings. Personally, if I needed a floor pedal solution, I would never get just the Player but always go for the full Stage. But then - see above -, in case I liked that a lot, I'd defenitely think of the Player as a backup.

Yep. I get it. I might even jump on board with one myself (after I finish getting my daughter through college and have that mythical "disposable income" again :) ).

I go even further for my gig rig though. The Stage, as good as it is for gigging, still has a butt ton of cables around my stage area. This stinks for live setups IMO. Conversely, using the KPA Rack and the Kemper Foot Controller, I have a single, durable Ethercon cable going out to my stage position and the rack sits back by the digital mixer. SUPER fast setup and tear down and practically nothing to go wrong from gig to gig.

time will tell…but tbh…I expect it to become my main gigging unit, and the big boys the back up…QC and Kemper toaster might get dusty.
I can get all the sounds I get out of my bigger units, and if I need more switching options, I add 1 small controller and a usb cable. The knobs on the unit give me 90% of what I need for quick adjustments…and honestly, the lack of screen is rather a blessing then a curse…more knobs on the unit…and editing via iPad is a breeze.Stereo out to my amps, and an xlr to the desk. What more could I desire?

Sure, together with my midi controller I get into the price range of stage/QC…but those aren’t as small, don’t fit the armrest of my couch or my gigbag

Offcourse the big kpa and the QC offer stuff this unit doesn’t…hell…every unit on the market will have a thing or 2(every brand has its own strengths) but to me, in a setup where I get everything out of the digital domain, don’t need efx loops/multiple inputs…this is “spot on what I need at a gig”.

I do consider it a duo with my toaster…cause I like to play profiles of my own…so maybe it’s not the most cost effective setup. On the other hand…1K for the player, 700 for a used toaster on your studio desk…not to bad right?

I could never go back to such a small pedalboard. I haven't had such restrictive pedal setup since the 80's when I first made my pedalboard with 4 individual pedals (Fuzz, Drive, and eq1 (shaped rhythm tone) and eq2 (Shaped lead tone and provided boost into tube amp for a bit more distortion for leads).

FWIW, I am amazed at people that can do a gig with a 3 button device. I am so babied :). Hard to imagine I could once gig with a guitar, a cable, and a 2 channel combo tube amp :). How did we ever survive? :)

 

[Sascha Franck]

FWIW, I am amazed at people that can do a gig with a 3 button device.

With my small HX Stomp based setup it goes like this:
- Switch 1 is clean/dirt.
- Switch 2 is rhythm/lead.
- Switch 3 depends on whether I have an external switch connected for tap/tuner. I case I don't, it's doing that, in case I do, I'm using it either for some additional dirt, some extra delay or modulation.

And yes, I'm playing entire gigs (of all sorts) with that setup. I do prefer a drive and a boost in the loop, though. Still an extremely compact setup, even if I add the Hotone Soulpress II (Wah/Vol).

 

[OneEng]

With my small HX Stomp based setup it goes like this:
- Switch 1 is clean/dirt.
- Switch 2 is rhythm/lead.
- Switch 3 depends on whether I have an external switch connected for tap/tuner. I case I don't, it's doing that, in case I do, I'm using it either for some additional dirt, some extra delay or modulation.

And yes, I'm playing entire gigs (of all sorts) with that setup. I do prefer a drive and a boost in the loop, though. Still an extremely compact setup, even if I add the Hotone Soulpress II (Wah/Vol).

I totally see how this would work.

Where things get more dicey is when you have something like "Streets have no name" in the middle of your set, then "Go your own way" and then "Enter Sandman" :). It is a lot easier when you have 5 rigs in a bank, and each rig has 4 effect switches that can be connected to multiple effects each!

FWIW, I almost always setup my banks with cleans on the left and heavy on the right. Last effect button on the right is always boost. The other 3 vary but are color coded on the FC, so it isn't hard to remember the kind of effect(s) that is in that slot.

 

[Orvillain]

FWIW, I am amazed at people that can do a gig with a 3 button device. I am so babied :). Hard to imagine I could once gig with a guitar, a cable, and a 2 channel combo tube amp :). How did we ever survive? :)

100000%

If I add up all my various switches, whatever gear I'm using, I can't manage any less than 4 amp channel selectors, 4 effects bypass switches, 2 expression/volume/wah style pedals !!

Even when I use scenes on my Helix, it is still the same count!

 

[Sascha Franck]

Where things get more dicey is when you have something like "Streets have no name" in the middle of your set, then "Go your own way" and then "Enter Sandman" :)

Ask Paul Gilbert. He'd play all of it with one single sound and nobody would miss a thing.

 

[Enchilada Jones]

Ask Paul Gilbert. He'd play all of it with one single sound and nobody would miss a thing.

Well, sometimes he might throw in a a little vibrato…

 

[OneEng]

Ask Paul Gilbert. He'd play all of it with one single sound and nobody would miss a thing.

Well, for mere mortals like me .... a bit more help is needed .