The Kemper profiling amplifier is William Wittman’s Hardware Product Of 2020, he explains why.

While it’s not brand new to me this year, this is the year that my Kemper Profiling Amplifier won its place at the top of my guitar and bass recording heap. For those of you unfamiliar with the KPA, what sets it apart from more typical “modeling” guitar amps and software is its ability to make a ‘profile’ from your own unique guitar amp, set, adjusted, and mic’ed the way you like it, and then have that profile instantly recalled any time you want it.

I was already using it live to be able to bring the sounds of my Ampeg, Hiwatt and Vox bass amps on the road in one small 3u rack and to recall any one of them on a song by song basis at the touch of a footswitch. But, in this crazy year, working largely from home and jumping between multiple projects at once, the Kemper has been a lifesaver, whether for recording guitars and bass or for reamping on projects sent to me from others. Its ability to store and recall sounds, plus its inboard effects (from distortion and delay and chorus and flange to pitch shift transpose, delay, and reverb) makes it an incredible all-in-one tool for all things guitar and bass guitar. And it should be said that the sound quality is superlative; better by miles, to my ears, than any other software guitar amp product.

It made making records in 2020 almost bearable.