The Kemper Foot Controller: A Proposal

    Wauw. Lots of great ideas..
    My strongest wish is for the unit to remain fairly priced though..


    The Kemper is truly worth the money, but I've still emptied my pockets, remember ;)

    Kemper made me proud to go digital.

    Quote from kilihahn

    btw, i'm all in for that looper !!! on "my" compact floorboard, just hold tap for like 1 sec, and instead of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 you have rec, play, undo, redo, stop... 8o

    Why would they integrate a simple looper in the KPA when the people who use loopers (myself included) want something more advanced anyway and the people who use it at home can just as well load a piece of looper software on their pc...would seem like a waste of time and money to me.

    i think there are plenty of users who would appreciate even a very basic built in looper, as well as a dedicated solo-boost without needing to "waste" one of them precious fx-slots. ain't rocket science either, just maybe a lack of memory not allowing exactly this, as well as longer delays, but no official comment so far...

    I agree, keep the costs down, and make it proprietary to the KPA.
    I also agree, no looper.
    I use a separate looper to capture other signal paths, along with the KPA.
    Plus, leave free as much memory as possible, inside the KPA, for more important functions, s/a harmonizer, pitch shifter, ring mod, etc.....


    If they pack everything into this controller, we will wind up with another MFC-101 at $749.

    Well, the foot controller is just a bunch of switches... All features (Rig memories, A/B Stack, ABCD/XMDR, Tuner and even the Looper) are features in the KPA. So there's no reason to have an important price increase between a model with 15 switches and a model, let say, with 20 switches.


    The Foot Controller would be expensive if it would have audio path I/O, etc... but that won't be the case (even not midi), so it shouldn't be a problem.

    Quote from Spid

    Well, the foot controller is just a bunch of switches... All features (Rig memories, A/B Stack, ABCD/XMDR, Tuner and even the Looper) are features in the KPA. So there's no reason to have an important price increase between a model with 15 switches and a model, let say, with 20 switches.


    The Foot Controller would be expensive if it would have audio path I/O, etc... but that won't be the case (even not midi), so it shouldn't be a problem.

    I agree.
    What I consider the most important is that nobody should feel like that something is missing... and it's worth even a bigger footprint, at least for me, to have everything that we might need.

    Use your ears, not your mathematical sense.

    Hi CK, Hi
    Forum!


    I like CKs
    layout, here what I think about and some additional idea


    -The TAP
    button has to be like in CKs version. When it isn’t in the first row you have
    to tap having the foot in the air. Quite hard to get the right tempo this way.
    And even worse while playing a song and try to perform.


    -tuner:
    need to see the note I tune, at least when changing tune. So would be great to
    have the note beside the 3 lights or the whole tuner in the display.


    -the buttons:
    Think the idea with the 4leds for the effect buttons is good. Maybe even more users would get more happy
    (at least not less) when the BankButtons and the 5 Buttons in the first row
    would be fully programmable. So you could use it for getting a special rig , or
    as additional effect buttons… a bit like the switch of the Marshall JVM410H,
    there you could assign any button of the amps front panel or any combination of
    channel selection/mastervolume/reverb etc. to any footswitchbutton.


    Personaly I will not need 50 sounds per gig. So I wouldn’t need the Bank Up/Down buttons
    for live use and would be happy to assign it with rigs or effects. But as we
    all know, each kemper user would need an other board…. But with free
    programmable buttons it would get a bit more the “Eierlegendewollmilchsau”.


    -Additional Switches/Pedals
    Some need them, some not and some of us need as many as they can get…
    Of course, you can’t build 50 different versions of the kemper switch, but why not a
    modular system?
    Build the “Main Footswitch” as in the layout, maybe even with 2 or 3 buttons less BUT
    also build extension that you can (mechanicaly) connect to the Main Footswitch,
    I mean in the way can combine several Boss FS-5U (and other) Switches.


    So the ones who don’t need many switches and no pedals would be happy as it is and all the
    others buy extensions that can be mounted easily, without any tools at the side.
    So you have ONE Floor Board with Pedal(s) or additional Switches. It must be
    build in a way that the connection between the “Main”Foot controller and the
    extensions is easy to do and the whole board is not “wobbly”on the floor. But
    hey, some people walked on the Moon 40 years ago, this is a forum for a unit
    that is able to profile Tube Amps and all what this is about is simple Mechanic…


    Another GREAT feature that would cause less cables, less signal quality loss and less
    problems would be an Guitar Input as well as Send/Return jacks. I don’t think
    that this will be realized cause it needs addition A/D and D/A technic but I got
    to write this cause this would be so great. The 9v Power Outlet for other
    pedals would make these features perfect.


    My dream is to go on stage, to studio, to rehearsal and so on with the Kemper, the Kemper
    Controler and as less cables and other gear as possible….


    The things I wrote are all possible, but what is realistic for the Kemper?

    Quote from Steeldom

    Buttons for boost and fx-loop would be really nice!


    +1 for them


    I like the boost button idea, we've been discussing it since a long time.


    Question is: what is the boost?
    1. Engaging a distortion stomp
    2. Amp gain increase
    3. Overall Volume boost
    4. A combination of 1, 2, 3, or even all


    How would you assign this to a boost button? Looks a bit complicated. We want easy solutions.

    4th option for me or at least the combination of 1 and 3, it shouldn't be too complicated in terms of programming I think.

    Use your ears, not your mathematical sense.

    In my first thought, the "Boost" was an overall configurable volume you can setup for each Bank/Song.


    For instance, you can have a +5 db for one Song, but for the other one you might need a +10 db boost.
    And the boost is acting regardless the "Presets/Memory/Channels" you are.


    Since it would have an option menu to adjust the value, why not having the other 2 options for the Amp Gain increase and/or Distortion pedal on.


    I haven't thought about it, but having the boost that could allow to switch from a 9 o'clock gain to a 12 o'clock gain on the Amp Profile, that could be very useful too, I can definitely see it. So now it more depends on "how hard would it be to implement these options".


    Note: Regarding the "edition", I was thinking we could use one of the external pedal as the "Value Pedal", which means you can adjust value of things you're selecting. For instance, if you select the Distortion, you could adjust the drive... Or, we could also have a foot switch/knob like the G-System. Nonetheless, the configuration of the Boost feature could be setup directly on the KPA and saved with the Song...


    Just thinking out loud :)


    Phil

    Whats about Delay by solo boosting? If I boost for soloing, I use more volume, more gain and switch on the delay.

    Yeah, thats a nice idea! The boost value could have a few parameters like


    - Volume boost (should be independent of the amp volume, in case someone has risen it to full)
    - Gain boost (you could e.g. invent a "solo-gain-boost" effect, which you could set up at this point (with gain/bass/mids/treble) and its automatically activated by every gain value above 0.0)
    - Delay boost (a smart combination of feedback and mix increase at the same time, i trust you, you'll do it very good :thumbup: . And every value above 0.0 automatically activates the delay.)
    - will affect: "each rig individually"/"each bank individually"/"global"


    That would still be pretty slim and easy to use, but still a lot of options for different users.
    Personally I think the most important part is the volume boost. If I still need more gain and delay ( or any delay at all) I don't have a problem, switching a few more buttons. But a global volume boost is something I would appreciate!


    And to make christmas perfect you could add one knob to your footcontroller, that controlls this solo-boost (only the volume, since its the most important). So if you're in the middle of a gig, in the middle of the heat, you step on the boost, it's terribly loud or you don't hear it at all. A quick kneeldown, quickly turn the knob, problem solved. :thumbup:


    I only wonder about one thing: should the boost stay activated if you switch to a different rig? I'm not sure, sometimes I'd say yes, sometimes no.
    Or should its status be saved within a rig, so you could make one rig your "solo" patch with it already activated?
    Any ideas?

    sounds perfect to me, more than i'd have needed, still easy and full powered!


    just add a "boost" page in the rig menu with a few parameters:


    pre-gain boost
    post-gain boost


    delay mix
    (delay feedback)
    reverb mix
    (reverb feedback)


    realtive values should work best ( + 5 % instead of 30 % fixed)


    since in the rig menu this would have to be done for every rig, but maybe you could (must!) be able to set some defaults globally.
    i perfectly see that this will be some lines of code to be written, but as i think it's gonna be a new and smart killer feature to be well respected by most users...



    edit: to answer the question ck, i'm pretty sure that by the solo-boost request we're talking about is a simple volume bump.
    this would do the trick for me easily, but as we're looking for smart solutions here, this superboost might be a go to feature...

    Edited 3 times, last by kilihahn ().


    This is where the concept of a "multi" control comes into play.


    Take a look at the Eleven Rack where they enable users to assign up to 4 controls per expression pedal input. In this case, where you're asking about choosing between 1, 2, 3, or 4... all of those combinations can be implemented by the user using a multi control setup. They can choose not only the parameter they want to implement, but the range of manipulation of each.


    This also enables you to map the boost function to either a button or an expression input. Discrete control for solos, or continuous control via pedal.


    I will also admit that while I find the multi-control concept interesting, I've yet to actually program it into my rigs. Primarily because I haven't setup an expression pedal to my midi controller yet, and secondly because the 11R's implementation of multi-control does not implement any type of thresholding for toggling a stomp box on/off - they only implement continuous control.

    Quote from ckemper

    This "super boost" is a classic case for a rig change, isn't it?

    If you play your own music and manly have one solo-sound, yes. If you play covermusic and have a wide variety of sounds, in which you also want to play a solo (you wouldn't want to play a ac/dc solo with a metallica solo sound, would you?), then you'd have to programm a solo-rig for each and every sound you have. "Super-boost" would allow you to take each sound into a solo.

    I know that keeping it simple is gospel @ Kemper, so I'll go for my view X)


    I'd love to have a pure volume boost, whose amount is saved per patch/rig. In the KPA a voice would be added to a rig: Boost, where you set a value in dB (nice that this can be negative as well, could be handy).


    I see three possible options here:


    • Simplest setup: a pedalboard button engages/disengages the option. A LED might be up to mean the current rig has a non-zero Boost value set up.


    • More elaborate setup: at each pressure, the pedaloard button sums the value stored in the Boost parameter. This makes incremental boosts possible. A longer pressure takes back to default.


    • Complete setup: with two dedicated buttons, you can both increment and decrement the boost at each pressure. Holding down any of the two takes back to default.

    The last two options could make a dedicated volume pedal less necessary for many (I for one don't use the volume pedal for violin-attack and stuff like that, and this layout would do the job for me), even tho the two options are not mutually exclusive.

    Even a "Boost" section in the stack module would be cool.
    Two parameters: Gain (pre stack) and Volume (post stack).
    This would save me by using two FX slots (both with the pure boost) for a solo boost, since i like to use almost the same eq on many crunch and lead sounds.


    This could be easly controlled by a "solo" button on the KFC.