Pedal Board setup - your experiences

  • I use a Roland FC300 with pedals 1-5 for patch changes, CTL 1 & 2 to turn stomps on or off (this varies depending on the patch), expression pedal 1 is always a volume pedal but with the toe switch as a boost for solos, expression 2 varies, it's either a Wah, Wammy pedal or I use it to add in gain for my crunch and clean patches. The toe switch turns the Wah on/off.


    I basically have each bank (1-5, 6-10, etc) set up with different amp profiles. 1st bank is a Masotti for most of our songs (hard rock, heavy blues), 2nd is some Mesa Boogies, 3rd is Fender for clean and Marshall JVM for heavy, etc. I have a couple of banks set for specific stuff like country twang, whammy effects for Rage against the Machine and the like, a drop tune for The Levee but I keep that to a minimum so the show can keep moving. I have most of them set up as bank one for clean w/ a gain pedal, two and three for heavier gain rythym each w/ different stomps assigned, 4th will be for solos dry and the 5th for solos wet.


    This seemed like the best way to get through shows for me. We're a cover band but we don't try to sound like the original. We do around 250 shows a year, both large and small venies, and will pick from well over 100 songs we know plus some on the fly, we don't use set lists and only practice we get is on stage, our singer will just call it out or ask us if he's drinking too much lol. I can quickly get in the ballpark by picking the right amp bank and then pick clean or dirty from there. I thought about naming rigs for songs but I'd hate to have to weed through lists especially since they can get outdated and require maintenance of their own. Hope this helps!

  • I use a U4K fcb1010 along with a Boss FS6 and FS5U (stuck together for mini 3 pedal board) to add extra controls for delay, reverb and boost. Might get another FS6 cause I do find the extra pedals for fx very useful in replicating my real fx board. Similar to others, top row fx stomps and bottom row for individual profiles. I use the kemper to replicate my real amp and fx board rig. As I only use 1 amp profile in band I find both browser and performance modes have their uses. Depends how simple I'm feeling hehe.

  • I got 4 patches for our set (50+ songs) : clean, crunch, drive and lead all based on same amp (Diezel Vh4 from TAF)


    Controled via midi with my Pod Hd500, 4upper switch programmed like this : C Slot (distorsion pedal), MOD , DLY and X slot (graph eq) as volume and mid boost for solos , expression pedal to control wah, 2nd expression as volume.


    I don't use performance mode, only on browser mode, I'm feeling ok like this!


    Lol, this is exactly my setup except I use a bank with the TAF 1987 Plexi or Soundside's VH4! I agree, seeing no reason to change.

  • Are you able to get the KPA stomp lights to automatically sync with those on your Roland?


    No, this is not possible as the FC-300 has 5 foot switches for sending PC# and only two additional for sending CC# (apart from the toe switches on the two pedals).

    I could have farted and it would have sounded good! (Brian Johnson)

  • Hello All,


    I have the following,working so far.


    Stomps locked, Wah, comp, dist, Eq, Boost, reverb always on , delay always on.
    I have also save Lead 1 and Lead 2 with the Boost on.
    So need need to activate the boost.


    Also I have the freedom to hit the boost and distortion on any of the others rigs.


    Each performance slot, named Live 1, 2, 3 ,4 5.


    Clean, Crunch, Heavy Crunch, Lead 1, Lead 2.


    I lean toward classic to hard rock, so Fender Cleans, Marshall Crunch, Messa Lead, ect.


    Thanks,


    Gezza

  • I have 2 Kempers, a Toaster for gigs, and a rack mount in the home recording setup. At home I use the FCB 1010 with uno for FCB chip, and on the Toaster I have Ground Control Pro on my pedal train, with a Boss Expression pedal and 12 outboard pedals.


    I figured out early on, that when playing live, a lot of the nuances get lost between similar profiles, so to keep my sanity, I reverted to the standard,.... Clean, Clean 2, Crunch, Lead amp tone setup. Boost, Dirt, EQ, Pitch, for 4 stomp slots, Mod, EQ, Delay, Reverb for Effects slots.


    I didn't like how Performance mode works with the GCP, so, I just play in Browse mode. I have the GCP set up with 4 patches, and 8 Instant Access/Stomps per bank, with an additional 8 Instant Access switches for my pedals, (via 2 Pedal Switcher from Voodoo Labs).


    Each Bank follows the same format of Clean, Clean2, Crunch, Lead, as mentioned above, with several options between banks.
    Bank 1 has AC 30 as my clean, and Clean 2, Boogie for Crunch, Bogner for Lead, whereas Bank 2 uses a Bassman, for the cleans, but the other amps are the same.


    STomp 1 is clean Boost, STomp 2 Fuzz Face model, EQ is used for single coil guitars only. Effect slot 1 is Univibe (in bank 1, Chorus Bank 2), Eq slot 2 as needed, Delay is Slap back( bank 1, 2, 3 long delay bank 4), and Reverb is Hall for all banks, about 7% mix.


    Banks 1, and 2 are used 90% of the time. All banks follow same format but with some special delays, and weirdness in the higher numbered banks.
    The GCP presets are matched so that the LEDs match the KPA effect STatus of each preset, ( it doesn't have 2 way communication so initially it must match, but then follows on/off status correctly), and I can modify to use an actual Tube SCreamer, Fuzz Face, from my pedal board, in the preset, or change anything on the fly.


    I bought some business card sized magnets, that I cut to fit on the Ground Control Pro, and the 2 Pedal Switchers, and made very basic labels on my printer that help a lot.


    I think its important to limit everything, (at least for me), or I get lost when performing.


    I need to give another try to performance mode, now that I have a better grasp of the system.

  • I use my Power KPA live with a 2x12" Cab ( like a real tube amp) in performance mode with a FCB with Uno4Kemper and two FS-6-Boss Pedals (with in-built powersupply). All this linked with a 10 meter self-built-cable (Midi-In, Midi-out, switch1/2 and switch 3/4, Power-line for FS 6's) which is really bulky to transport and laborious to connect but necessary to use all stomps. :thumbdown: (waiting for CK's pedalboard-solution :P )


    I have different bands, I#m gigging with for roundabout one year, and I use one individual performance for each band. All in the same manner. Slot 1: clean, 2-crunch, 3-lead1, 4-lead2, 5-super-lead


    Stomps are A-Wah (always on), B-Transpose-1, C-Leslie, D-free, X-EQ (always on), Mod-free, Delay, Reverb(always on).


    I make my stage-sound by myself with my Guitarcab and feed the P.A. with my main-Outputs (normally mono). Often I get a cool mix of stage an P.A. sound at smaller venues. (Also sometimes get positive feedback from other musicians in the audience, asking where my amp is :D )


    My experiences are that the KPA behaves most differently on stage than a normal amp when it come to different sound levels. The KPA is rather more complicate to tweak to the sound situation (large/small room, high walls, low-ceilings, tyle-floor, many windows, carpeted stage and so on). Sometimes I tweak via the Cabdriver-EQ which does effect all my presets but often with different impact to each sound. Sometimes I copy the performance on the fly and tweak each slot via the Amp-EQ during soundcheck.But this often leads to an overdriven output-section. Adjusting levels (to lower output volume) then leads to different soundlevels between slots. Sometimes I get into a mood of despair :pinch: , but I will work on that patiently.


    I never will use any OS-beta version any more. The bugs (f.e. sound changes during rig-change and other faults) during live-gigs drove me crazy several times. Please dear Kemper-Team check intensively before Update.


    In the studio the KPA is unbeatable. No idea at all where to improve it :thumbup:


    I've been making music for more than 30 years and I owned many (and still own some) guitar-amps and nearly all of the line6-stuff (but no Axe-FX), but since the KPA is on the market my paradigm changed. FUTURE HAS BEGUN.

  • I use 5 rigs and the upper bank for effects with the Behringer FCB. I will probably settle on a clean amp and variations of one or two dirty amps max. Comp, Dirt, Wah, Detune and Delay is about all I need that I would like to toggle within a particular patch.


    Never felt like I needed to change tones so much that I needed more than 5 rigs but YMMV. Keeping it simple and the sound guy happy.

  • Haven't even dived in performance mode yet !!! I use my Pod HD500 , use the top 4 for effect changes


    1 always wah or Whammy type fx controlled by Foot control


    Then I assign my fx switch on /off as I want for
    Usually 1 Overdrive or DistPedal or compressor on clean tones
    2 Delay
    3 Mod or whatever
    4 is always my Vol boost for solos as there's no soundman

    My basic rig setup but always interchangeable depending on sound

  • I am still trying to find a live dynamic that works for me. I have the FCB/Un04 but I always struggle with the ergonomics of it. I also HATE the pedals. I am thinking of using the FCB like this:


    Patches changes on the bottom in Browse Mode (still don't really get Performance)
    Top 5 patches being A/B/X/Mod/Delay
    Both pedals assigned to Volume (too many times I either hit the wrong one or BOTH accidentally) and use a Mission pedal for Wah (in the D effect slot). I would really like to find a 10 switch (5 top, 5 bottom) low profile Midi board to set up just like my FCB and have 2 mission pedals (one for volume and one for Wah). I haven't checked, but there's still no way to control delay MIX with a pedal, is there?

  • I am still trying to find a live dynamic that works for me. I have the FCB/Un04 but I always struggle with the ergonomics of it. I also HATE the pedals. I am thinking of using the FCB like this:


    Patches changes on the bottom in Browse Mode (still don't really get Performance)
    Top 5 patches being A/B/X/Mod/Delay
    Both pedals assigned to Volume (too many times I either hit the wrong one or BOTH accidentally) and use a Mission pedal for Wah (in the D effect slot). I would really like to find a 10 switch (5 top, 5 bottom) low profile Midi board to set up just like my FCB and have 2 mission pedals (one for volume and one for Wah). I haven't checked, but there's still no way to control delay MIX with a pedal, is there?


    If you can use a soldering iron, or have a friend that can, it's dirt simple to remove the pedals from the FCB and replace them with jacks for proper ones.

  • The way I have my KPA set up, each section (tone) in a song is a separate rig. I use a 2-button footswitch to navigate up/down through the rigs as the setlist progresses.


    That was my plan too, but I noticed a latency about 200ms in changing rigs (also in changing slots in peformance mode). any experiences with that?

  • Yes, the switching between presets is not immediate – as when you switch the channels of an tube amp (of course there are some exceptions).
    But my experience is, when you start to use midi switching and midi controlled (multi) fx, you will have some switching delay too.


    First time I experienced this switching delay 15-20 years ago and since this time I "learned" to switch between two strokes (some amps have strong popping noise when switching between channels).

  • I use the FCB1010 and the Uno for Kemper chip. Makes the KPA plug and play and the only decision you need to make is if you prefer the stops on the top or bottom row. I have no issues with delay is switching able to all that its suppose to. I use about 8 rigs and anywhere from 3 to 5 slots depending on the sound I need. Not to mention that this solution is the most bang for the buck. Some of the other pedals are pretty expensive.


  • That was my plan too, but I noticed a latency about 200ms in changing rigs (also in changing slots in peformance mode). any experiences with that?


    I don't believe it's really 200ms. You're using the latest firmware and navigating in Browse mode? My RP355 has a 38ms gap when patch switching, and the KPA feels faster than that. I don't have any problem with the minimal gap.

  • Are you able to get the KPA stomp lights to automatically sync with those on your Roland?

    You can't sync with the Roland or at least I haven't figure out how. The CC buttons stay lit when you change presets, kind of annoying but I got used to it. Would love a pedal with a bunch of CC buttons that give the correct current state (on/off) when I switch patches. Then I'd just use the FC300 for expression pedals and bank changes.


    Are you able to get the KPA stomp lights to automatically sync with those on your Roland?


  • I don't believe it's really 200ms. You're using the latest firmware and navigating in Browse mode? My RP355 has a 38ms gap when patch switching, and the KPA feels faster than that. I don't have any problem with the minimal gap.


    I don't believe it's really 200ms. You're using the latest firmware and navigating in Browse mode? My RP355 has a 38ms gap when patch switching, and the KPA feels faster than that. I don't have any problem with the minimal gap.

    I use the latest firmware but I was talking about switching the slots in performance mode. to avoid misunderstanding: I'm not talking about a sound gap. I'm talking about a delay in the switching process. My Kemper takes about 200ms after I hit the switch button to get to the new sound.
    even kemper is admitting, that there is a delay. They told me, that they are trying to reduce the delay in the next firmware.

  • I am using Set list mode with a liquid foot 12+, I have up to 4 patches set-up for each song using different rigs.. for example I really love a clean vox sound for clean parts but may like a Bogner for dirty parts and another amp for the solo etc..


    On the kemper I have created all of these different rigs per song, on the liquid foot I map presets to them using pc #'s, then I create a song and add the desired presets, then create set lists selecting the songs in the order I plan to play them.


    On the liquid foot I programmed a page that has the bottom four buttons available to launch the presets similar to performance mode, I have one button that is both song up and song down (hold for half a second to switch direction) and one button that is set up or down (same half second hold). I then have a button to take me to a page that has all of the Kemper effects buttons if I want to toggle something manually, I have a button to switch to song mode where I can cycle through all of the songs (in case a song was not included in a set but we want to play it).


    I used to have to tap dance, the liquid foot has solved that for me, it can do 20 midi command in each patch, another 10 in each song and every button can control 2 things so it is extremely flexible!

  • I use the latest firmware but I was talking about switching the slots in performance mode. to avoid misunderstanding: I'm not talking about a sound gap. I'm talking about a delay in the switching process. My Kemper takes about 200ms after I hit the switch button to get to the new sound.
    even kemper is admitting, that there is a delay. They told me, that they are trying to reduce the delay in the next firmware.


    Ah, OK, I only use Browse mode, and wow am I glad, because I agree 200ms is pretty bad.