San Francisco-based singer-songwriter Jeff Campbell has been playing hundreds of shows a year in dozens of cities and continues to build a loyal following through his energetic performances. Recently selected as the winner of Guitar Center’s National Singer Songwriter 2 Competition out of over 13,000 entrants, Campbell was given the chance to record a five-song EP with GRAMMY-winning producer John Shanks and perform on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
“I’ve been lucky, and I’m doing well,” states Campbell. “In between my larger gigs, a lot of my shows are smaller, more intimate affairs – cafes, coffee houses, house concerts, corporate events and the like. And I need to schlep a guitar and a sound system to these venues.”
For his P.A. needs, he has found the right solution in the L1 Model II system from Bose Professional Systems. Campbell has been all over the country with his L1 system, playing both solo and full-band shows to the delight of his growing fan base.
“I had been using P.A.’s that I was piecing together myself, but commonly had feedback problems,” he recalls. “I acquired a Bose L1 model II system with the ToneMatch audio engine and B2 bass module, and all of a sudden everything was different – I was performing more confidently, and things just sounded great.”
Campbell is a fan of the system’s small profile and portability. “In terms of touring, I’m able to fit all of the Bose components, plus my other gear, in my trunk,” he notes. “So now when I’m on the road I have my trusted sound system, for all of my smaller gigs. If I’m by myself, I can carry the whole thing in two trips, because it’s compact and super light.”
“And, of course, the sound,” he adds. “I’ve never had so much positive audience response than after I started using the L1 system. Often fans will come up after the show and say something like, ‘I could hear everything, but it wasn’t too loud,’ which I think is a great compliment. And the L1 system acts as my monitor too, so I’m hearing exactly what the audience is hearing.
“Every time I use it, I get somebody coming up to tell me how great it sounds, and my band notices that we don’t get any feedback issues happening. The other thing is the pre-amps in the ToneMatch engine are so good. I use passive pickups in my acoustic guitars, and I’m able to just plug in and go, with no outboard preamp, and it sounds incredible. It’s just seamless. It’s taken so much of the stress and pressure out of my smaller gigs, and added so much positivity. We can focus more on the performance. It’s a really brilliant machine. I’m lucky to have it.”
