Kemper newbie needs help badly!

  • Hi all


    I've played about with a Kemper a few times now, both in music shops and at home - a friend has one. Just bit the bullet as my rig that I've used since 1992 just died and I really can't be arsed to buy old gear to replace what's broke, so I've jumped in feet first and bought a power rack, remote, Mission Engineering EP1 expression pedal and 2 x F12-X200 speakers which will go in my 1936 2x12. That'll have to do it for now at least.


    What I'd really like please is a bit of advice on setting the Kemper up as I have a show on Saturday and will be using it.


    Obviously I realise the Kemper is a super-flexible bit of kit but for now I will have to set it up to repeat what I had.


    BTW I play in a Jam/Paul Weller/Style Council tribute


    I use:


    1. A clean Fender twin type sound with reverb and chorus.

    2. A "Bluesy" just breaking up Marshall sound for most rhythm playing.

    3. A more strident lead sound - I heard a superb profile of an Orange for this but can't find it atm - Usually I just punch in a T Rex Moller and up the volume in the FX loop by 4dB.

    4. A slap-back delay / reverb sound for the Jam's "Down In The Tubestation" sound - Jam fans will know what I mean.

    5. A Tremoleo sound on the Marshall sound.

    6. A heavily flanged sound.


    Non of this rocket science for the Kemper I imagine?


    Just need to know the best way to go about this rather than the minute detail.


    Really like the M Britt profiles for paid ones.


    Also, do I need a cable for the rack/remote of is one supplied?


    Any help will be gratefully received.


    Cheer all

  • Welcome and have fun here in the forum and with your Kemper. You did the right thing - even when there is some time pressure for Saturday now. But I think we'll get you there. Indeed from what I read no rocket science in terms of your requirements I'd say.


    Most important I'd say is to figure out which buttons to press and which knobs to turn for the show. And which things to leave out.


    A few suggestions based on what you wrote:

    • Make yourself familiar with the "Performance" concept. Probably you will use one or maybe two performances on Saturday. You have 5-6 sounds you need. You can put those in one performance and switch Flanger, Tremolo etc. with the effect buttons on the remote.
    • Performances are based on rigs but rather independent from their parameters. So you can have more than one Marshall sound in the performance and you can tweak them differently (e.g. gain) and with different effects.
    • Effects are pretty straight forward. Once you have a performance with the basic rigs you can dial in the effects. Make yourself familiar with the Stomps and Effects section and how to select an effect (press button longer, dial Browse know, specify parameters).
    • Bluesy break up sound? A lot of the MBritt stuff comes already with the Kemper. You might find something already in the stock rigs. Alternatively go to the RigExchange and look out for rmpacheo's Morgan AC20 profile. That's a favorite of many people here. Nice breakup and very tweakable.
    • Personally I like JHL's "Fender Twin Reverb" profile on the RigExchange a lot. There are more out there in the RigExchange. One will certainly do it for Saturday.
    • Cable for the remote should come with it in the package.


    Hope that helps as a first advice. Others will surely help out with suggestions for the Orange and more stuff.

  • There's a LOT to learn, but it's a happy process. I'll try to help with a couple of things. ?


    For your speaker cab (I'm assuming it's not powered) just plug it into the red power amp output. Make sure you use speaker cables, not guitar cables as those can't handle speaker current.


    Since those speakers are the full range ones I'd leave the Cab active (you can disable it from that output if you use speakers that purposely colour the sound).


    For the effects, I would create a separate rig for each and put them all into the 5 slots of a performance. I'd probably have the flanger locked in the X slot and assigned to a button on the remote, so you can use that like a stomp box regardless of what else is going on.

  • The PA feed should be one or both of the Master Outputs. I'd suggest just one.


    In the Output section you can choose what comes out of each output. If you have one cable to the PA, then set it to Master Mono. If you're running both L/R set them to Master Stereo (can't remember the exact text).


    These are just guitar or mic cables.

  • at gig volume

    Sorry, what is "gig volume"? I think this is done at FOH and monitor level. Both are quite independent on profiles level. I understand, when using different profiles in performances, you must make them sound on an equal volume level.

  • Due to Fletcher-Munson (Google) the rigs that you dial in at a quieter level than gig/rehearsal level will sound different/worse. This has nothing to do with FOH and monitor level but with the sound source, in this case your Kemper.

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

  • Profiling and to dial in a sound for playing are two different things. You can use already existing rigs for playing and change parameters to your liking. This is what I'm referring to. Profiling means that you're making a sort of snapshot of a real amp.

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

  • My one classic piece of advice for Kemper newbies doing their first gig - disable the looper button on the remote! (You do this in the System menu) Otherwise I can guarantee that somewhere in the middle of the gig you will go to press the tuner button, accidentally hit the adjacent looper one and then you are in for a whole WORLD of pain - imagine having the verse of a song suddenly start playing when you're in the middle of the chorus! We've all been here!

  • My one classic piece of advice for Kemper newbies doing their first gig - disable the looper button on the remote! (You do this in the System menu) Otherwise I can guarantee that somewhere in the middle of the gig you will go to press the tuner button, accidentally hit the adjacent looper one and then you are in for a whole WORLD of pain - imagine having the verse of a song suddenly start playing when you're in the middle of the chorus! We've all been here!

    What a cracking piece of advice!!

  • Thanks for that advice re the looper. That happened once on my Line6, very confusing. No rehearsal time before Saturday's gig so its a fingers crossed job.


    It should arrive today so plenty of time to fettle it :)

  • Here's a specific question: -


    I have a Mission EP1 expression pedal - If I use the 2pole connection to turn on the pedal, can I activate a gain or volume boost on the Kemper by pressing the pedal switch? Does the Wah have a volume setting?


    Tx