Performing live with the footswitch

  • I searched high and low, so I apologize if this was addressed at length somewhere. Maybe I'm the only one who has this concern but I have my first acoustic gig this week with my new Kemper. I'm going to take the plunge and just go cold turkey. I'm leaving all my pedals at home, looper, everything. My question for you is how do you use it live, where do you place it, how do you protect it?


    I'm worried if I just put it on the floor that it's too exposed. I don't feel comfortable having it where some oblivious drunken patron could stomp on it. My pedals are on a big board I built (pic below) that sits between me and my mic stand. People would trip and fall before they would step on any of those. I was thinking about putting it on there, but will I ever use these pedals live again? I don't know. Probably. There are places I might not want to take the Kemper. Like 105 degree summer gigs?


    I am thinking maybe I would like to have a dedicated board for this and leave space for the wireless and two expression pedals?


    My other question/concern is that it sits very flat on the ground, making it problematic at times to hit the right switch. If I mounted it on a pedal board or not, I think I would like to rotate it towards me somehow, either with taller feet on the back than the front or blocks so I can be more accurate when hitting the switches. I can't be the only guy here with big feet that likes to play with boots on? I already hit bank 4 sometimes when trying to engage effect #2, etc.


    So I am a little nervous to just go cold turkey! I've been using the same rig for nearly 10 years. lol - I am not sure what to expect but at least it's an easy 2 hour gig, it can't go too far wrong.

  • I've gigged the footswitch a fair amount with zero issues or worries.

    That said every venue is different, so maybe you are playing in more "interesting" places than I am.

    It's built like a tank though.

  • Lol, I quit playing "interesting" places about the same time I quit drinking which was a long time ago. But people drink and get stupid everywhere we go.


    You've never accidentally switched to your boosted lead Marshall sound on channel 4 while you were trying to turn the chorus on your smooth, clean channel 1? That's the "oh crap" moment I'd like to avoid.

  • Excellent, thank you! I love that box with the foam padding around it. That's what I'm talking about! I am glad to hear it's not just me. I want that thing tilted at me more so I am going to put the feet off the bottom of my Boogie cabinet on there (it sits on a stand) - they're about an inch tall. I am also thinking some of these might help? I ordered them -

  • Excellent, thank you! I love that box with the foam padding around it. That's what I'm talking about! I am glad to hear it's not just me. I want that thing tilted at me more so I am going to put the feet off the bottom of my Boogie cabinet on there (it sits on a stand) - they're about an inch tall. I am also thinking some of these might help? I ordered them -

    I bought those as well. No regrets.

  • I have literally had a 300+ pound intoxicated woman fall on my remote during a gig. (she somehow hit my tuner before knocking the cable loose and pulling the power to the remote so my feed went dead for a little while....)


    Definitely recommend the buttons on the top row to separate layers more, and change your looper button if you don't need it


    All that considered, my remote took it like a champ has been used and abused for about 3 years now. Highly recommend (And it doesn't need external power , which is my biggest plus)

  • Ok, so I learned some stuff last night! While I was not pleased with my new acoustic rig sounds and functionality of the remote, the crowd probably never knew the difference. A lot of our duo gigs (me and my singer Jessica) are playing to the same crowd all night, rather than a bar or restaurant with folks coming and going. Regardless of how long someone stays, I feel like I need different sounds, vibes, styles, effects, etc to keep it interesting all night, even for me. I tend to not stick around when an act has one vocal sound and one guitar sound for 3 hours, unless they are amazing and named Doyle Dikes. Otherwise, it's like listening to Thomas the Train on a loop.


    Anyway, I did NOT do a dress rehearsal because I've done this gig 500+ times. I hooked it up to my little Bose compact before going out and dialed in a performance that sounded good in my house. Tried a few short loops and off I went!


    I learned the looper has a short memory and once it gets full, it just starts looping whether you're ready or not. That was disappointing. I'm singing and playing and suddenly my guitar part started over during the middle of a verse. One of the things I like to do is loop a section - chorus or verse, then go back and play lead, orchestrate fills and accents, etc. I don't know how long the looper goes, but it was about half of what I needed. That's a big negatory Ghost Rider. I can't use this looper again on this gig. The idea was to be self contained within the remote.


    The decays and loss of sound quality as you add layers was quite noticeable to me, even in a big room with concrete floors/reverb where it's hard to hear nuance.


    Twice I thought loops were cleared and they were not, I started new loops on old loops. Crazy mad stomping to get it to stop. I like the Ditto. You hold the button down, it stops. Keep holding it, it clears. You don't have to hit it, then dance on it to make it work.


    I am also disappointed that whichever amp setting you start with is the one you're stuck with once you turn on the looper. Ideally I could use a nice clean, then go over to a badass amp for a lead tone and back. But you can't. You can hit effects like distortion or delay or chorus or whatever, but it's still on that clean amp and the sound is not what I was looking for.


    I don't have the expression pedals yet and I won't ever go to a gig again without a volume pedal. The tuner button doesn't turn off the volume. You can't make the tuner work without volume, so everyone hears you tune unless you reach over and mute the PA or turn the amp volume down. Neither were convenient. Plus I like the control of being able to kill all the sound with my foot and know it's dead. Tuner in front of volume pedal, done.


    As to overall sounds, the acoustic rig I used sounded like my acoustic was going through an electric guitar amplifier, I have no taste for that - I don't even like the Fishman amp sounds. It did not sound organic at all and I was not happy with it. The distorted lead tones were AWESOME, but could not be used with the looper for reasons listed above.


    Apparently, I like it better when my acoustic goes straight into my pedal board, then into the PA. That being the case, there's absolutely no reason for me to carry this to an acoustic gig again. Studio and full band? Yes rock on. FWIW, my acoustic is a Martin custom GPA with F1 Aura (in my profile pic). Straight into the Bose it sounds heavenly and has tons of tweak-ability to dial in a good sound in any room and I never have to use a feedback buster.


    I had no expectations - other than hoped it would sound better than it did. The best thing I can say for the looper is it's "cute", not as functional for serious acoustic loopers.


    This thing's strength is badass electric tones. So that's what I'll use it for!

  • That sounds pretty negative, and I don't mean it that way. It's not what I'm used to hearing and I sure could have spent more time dialing in a different rig in a different room on my big PA. I could have gotten to the gig earlier and done the same thing. I also certainly could have read about the time limit on the looper, lol. Still, I don't think it's worth the risk to take it to acoustic shows when I love the sound I had and it was pretty simple. I'm sure it works great for different folks doing different things.

  • Hi, tz67strat.


    So many things come to mind.


    • You wrote, " I'm going to take the plunge and just go cold turkey." Every definition of the idiom I could find suggests that doing something cold turkey leads to an excruciating outcome.
    • The looper is 30 seconds - or 60 seconds if you hit button 5 before you record. That's the half-time button and if you hit it before you record your loop, you get 60 seconds
    • You can decide if the loop captures the signal at the input or output (System menu page 12/18, right-most soft button Looper Loc)
      • Looper Loc Input - when you playback the loop, it puts the loop signal at the beginning of the signal chain. If you change rigs, stomps, effects - the loop playback will change
      • Looper Loc Output - when you playback the loop, it puts the loop signal at the end of the signal chain. If you change rigs, stomps, effects - the loop playback will remain as you recorded it. This means you can play over the loop with a different rig and apply stomps and effects.
    • The looper is a multi-button looper, and like several other multi-button loopers, the stop/clear functions are separate from the record/play/overdub functions. To clear a loop tap button 2 (stop/clear button) three times, or press and hold it for 2-3 seconds.
    • Tuner mute is configurable (Turn the chicken head to Tuner, check the screen and first soft button). You can also change the tuner type and tuner volume if you prefer to hear it.

    Please take this as kindly as I intend it. I've been there (not with the PROFILER, but with other gear).
    Most if not all the issues you had while trying to use the PROFILER could have been avoided if you had read the manual, checked out some videos, and rehearsed your gear before getting to the gig.


    ? Kemper Manuals and Quick Start guides ?

    ? Rig Manager Download and Documentation ??

    ? Kemper Tutorials & Demos (videos) ?

    ? Before you buy Commercial Rigs and Profiles check out the Rig Manager for Rig Packs and Rig Exchange

    ? Kemper FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)



    Download Main Manual 8.5 English

  • I totally agree and understand. 100% on me. In the grand scheme, the gig was fine. The "disasters" lasted less than a second and we just keep on trucking. Even given those fixes above carrying it on an acoustic gig doesn't make my life any easier or better than it was. It just puts my amp at risk by hauling it around. I am very much looking forward to our next electric gig where I can use it as I intended when I bought it.

  • As ST pointed out, you can put the looper at the beginning or end of the signal path with vastly different outcomes. Your situation requires it at the Output but you had it at Input.


    the looper time is quite short but the functionality is much greater than you might realise. Hitting undo button once deletes the last pass hitting it again retrieves it. Hitting stop 3 times or holding itbor 2 seconds (like the Ditto) clears the loop. You can switch between full speed and half speed o the fly and even reverse loops on the fly. There should be plenty of scope to keep it interesting with those options.


    Tuner can automatically mute the signal if you tick the box tell it to do so. You can also set it to engage the tuner automatically when a volume pedal is moved to heel position.


    As for acoustic sounds if you bypass the Amp and Cab section you have a DI but can add any effects you wish such as Compression, EQ, modulation, delay and reverb. In fact you can also load profiles of acoustic amps or preamps/mixer channels into the amp section. A well known dutch profiler maker sells an acoustic pack which includes profiles or Aura and LR Baggs preamps, chandler and Focusrite channel strips etc.

  • I'm a little confused. I mean no disrespect at all and maybe I don't understand but my take from this is that you wanted it to do something but didn't put in the required time into understanding and configuring how the device functions and have decided to give up.


    Most of the points you raise in your first post are dead simple to rectify and are deliberate options in the Kemper.


    I honestly believe that the Kemper is way more capable of benefitting you than you think. However it's not for everyone and I understand why you may not want to.


    Whilst not aimed at you, I do see a number of posts lamenting the complexity of getting the best from a device such as a Kemper and comparisons are drawn with the simplicity of an amp and pedalboard. But I think that's overlooking the huge learning curve that we all went through with getting our first amp, then adding a pedal. Then adding a few more and resolving power supply issues. The problem with something so powerful as a modern digital device is that you get the full rig all at once, missing the slow growth and gradual learning curve.

  • I have absolutely admitted I am guilty of all those things above. I could have edited or deleted and I didn't, I take full responsibility for the derision and I deserve it! I did what I did because I didn't have time to do any of those things suggested and I wanted to try it on the gig. I was excited so I took it. I bought it to record our album of original songs and took a shot it would do what I wanted it to with my acoustic - which is 100% NOT why I bought it. I LOVE the sound of my acoustic guitar straight into the Bose PA through my pedal board. It's been with me and tweaked over 600 gigs. I love the simplicity of my setup and how easy it is to load in. The only reason I really even wanted to try the Kemper live was for distorted tones. I have never heard a purer clean tone than I already get. The gigs we do are not complex, nor are we winning any awards. We just do cover songs while people eat dinner and throw in a few originals. So I'm going today to get an expression pedal and hopefully some studio time later!