Setting up performances - 3 EXP pedals, solo boost etc.

    Hi all,


    Bit of a strange question; I've now got three EXP pedals along with the Kemper remote, and I'm trying to work out the best way to setup the rigs in performance mode to meet my 'ideal' requirements:


    - Delay mix is adjustable with an EXP pedal
    - Solo boost can be used ideally with an EXP pedal to increase gain and raise rig volume 2dB
    - Gain mix can be adjusted so i don't need to use 5 slots per performance for different gain levels on a rig


    Currently, I use 1 pedal as a dedicated WAH, and one for the morph of delay mix. I use stomps 1 - 5 as different gain levels of the same rig, with 5 being the solo boost snapshot.


    However, I would love to be able to have all my 'main' rigs in one performance bank (i.e. JCM800 in 1, Plexi in 2, HBE in 3 etc.) and be able to adjust the gain on the fly, as well as delay. The issue I've found using the delay (or any morph parameter) is that with the current way I'm using it, when you jump back from the solo to the slot you were in for your rhythym sound, the morph value resets.


    Any ideas on how to set it all up? Can I use the same footswitch for two 'states' of a rig (i.e. main and solo)?

    I’m afraid I’m not an expert on EXP capability by any stretch of the imagination but in answer to you last question yes you can set the 5 rig buttons to have two states - base and solo. It uses the Morph function and so you could set the solo state to have more gain and a little volume boost , maybe even add in an OD or some delay. When you hit the button for a second time you get the solo setting. Hit it a third time back to base. However, as it uses the Morph function to achieve this you are basically overriding the morph expression pedal with a preset of the fully morphed rig. I don’t know of any way to have the footswitches to one thing AND have the EXP assigned to do something else.


    Maybe someone more knowledgeable can enlighten me though because it would be really useful to have real time control of something like Delay Mix on the EXP while having the other settings like Gain and Volume morph separately.

    Anyone else able to provide some ideas on this...?


    Just setup performance mode so that in one performance slot I have 5 different amps, and used the EXP pedal to control volume set pre-stack - but to me, that doesn't sound as good as increasing the gain. Ideally I don't want to have to have two patch slots for one amp (main sound and solo sound).

    Are you using the volume to increase level or to cut level?


    If the stack is set with the maximum amount of gain you will require i.e. the solo level and you simply reduce the volume pre stack for your cleaner sounds it should sound pretty acurate. You can set the range so that full heel down isn't OFF but your cleanest level.


    The Kemper does a good job of reducing gain but isn't so good at increasing it beyond the original profile level. If you think about it that should be quite logical as the profiling stage sends a signal at various levels so it has a fairly good idea of the gain structure up to the max level for the amp as set during profiling. However, increasing the gain beyond the profiled level means the KPA has to guess how the gain structure will react at higher levels. Therefore, using the volume pedal as a booster may not give the results you want.

    Quote from Wheresthedug

    Are you using the volume to increase level or to cut level?


    If the stack is set with the maximum amount of gain you will require i.e. the solo level and you simply reduce the volume pre stack for your cleaner sounds it should sound pretty acurate. You can set the range so that full heel down isn't OFF but your cleanest level.


    The Kemper does a good job of reducing gain but isn't so good at increasing it beyond the original profile level. If you think about it that should be quite logical as the profiling stage sends a signal at various levels so it has a fairly good idea of the gain structure up to the max level for the amp as set during profiling. However, increasing the gain beyond the profiled level means the KPA has to guess how the gain structure will react at higher levels. Therefore, using the volume pedal as a booster may not give the results you want.

    I was using it to increase the volume going in to the pre-stack, so using it to increase gain.


    So if I understand what you're saying - I set the gain for each profile at the max I would want, and use the EXP pedal as a volume control pre-stack, but reduce the volume to reduce the gain...?

    Yep, that's what I would do. It should react more like an old school single channel amp and guitar where you set the amp for max level/gain and roll back the volume pot on the guitar. Because you can set the negative range to something greater than zero you can effectively have a quick clean sound by going straight to hell and everything between there and solo by moving towards toe.


    You can obviously test this as described but another way to get a feel for it is to take two profiles of the same amp but done with different gain levels. I would bet that the higher gain one with the gain knob rolled back will sound more natural than the low gain one with the gain knob increased.

    Just an update to this.... I'm using the pedals now as follows:


    1 x Spring Loaded Mission EXP pedal as wah, heel off
    1 x Fractal (boooo) EXP pedal as volume control pre-stack, with toe-down being 0 volume, heel down being -2.6
    1 x Misison EXP pedal as a morph for solos. Toe down adds more delay and reverb mix, 2.2dB boost, cuts some bass and treble and adds some gain while also engaging a noisegate


    Seems to work well in practice!

    Personally I use:


    5 slots for different sounds, BUT 1 slot is dedicated for solo's. Increased volume and different rig for gain.


    I have all slots with morph for a bit extra volume and gain for additional riffs.


    I use my volume pedal ONLY to reduce volume for quieter patches or fading out. For me using the volume pedal to boost for solos is too slow, I like solo sound on, and then off ( so I can wander to the front for the power poses)!


    I have a converted crybaby for wah set at bypass stop. I don't use cocked wah sounds so this is good enough for me. so quick and reactive for a wah solo - click solo button and wah away...


    I have a few performances to cover other bands/guitars if I need further variation.