Considering KPA - specific simple questions about the FX though

Hello all. Dave here from The Bass Channel on youtube. So, I'm considering a Kemper because I can't seem to settle on one amp as the 'best' - love SVTs, acoustic 360, Orange, etc - and the channel boss has found having a KP rack indispensable in "keeping" amps in the studio that we have had to send back to their makers, as well as for recording album tracks and the whole 9 yards. But, if I'm going to drop that much coin on an amp that can do SO MUCH, then it's gonna have to be my whole-hog rig and I'll use it for effects, tuner, absolutely everything.

That said, I have a very specific use case, which I currently am just fine with on an HX FX plus a couple extra pedals, and it doesn't *sound* like it's possible with the Kemper, so I thought I'd ask here. Maybe a half dozen questions about the effects chain, so apologies for the length. I don't ever do the "whole new patch for this song or this set" thing, or what have you. Hell, I may only set up 2 or 3 rigs in the Kemper ever. But they'd all share the same effects chain.

1. With the 8 effects blocks, CAN the Kemper do these effects in one chain? As a bassist, I almost never use delay or reverb - but it looked like those last two blocks are dedicated to those effects?
- transpose (drop to Eb or D std)

- compressor

- octave down

- octave up

- pedal wah

- envelope filter

- modulation

- dirt (and 90% of the time I want my dirt AFTER modulation, not before)

2. I'd need to access 7 of the 8 above (everything but the compressor) directly using footswitches. Does the floor remote have the ability to dedicate all the switches to individual effects? I know the I-IIII buttons are there, but the 1-5 buttons I would never need to use for rig changes. If the floor remote can't specifically do that, is there a footswitch or midi pedal or something out there that can?

3. Parallel path: In my current setup, all my effects are on a parallel path in the HX, and the path split is on a frequency crossover. Everything under 300hz or so just goes straight through from the compressor to the output, and everything over goes through the rest of the blocks before summing back to the main path. But the KP looks like it can only split left/right and you can only put 2 things in the second path? Is that accurate? That would almost entirely screw the pooch for me, unless each individual effect has the ability to leave the bottom end alone (looking at you, overdrives...)

4. If you have a profile for a 2-channel amp, can you dedicate a button or switch to flipping the channel? does that take up an effect module?

4B: if it's a one-channel with gain and master volume, would a momentary switch or expression pedal work for the gain knob?

and 5. Any spring-loaded expression pedals work for wah in this guy?

Thanks in advance for any tips. I have read about half the KPA manual and just want to make sure my understanding is right or find out things I may have missed.

Quote from Wheresthedug

1 - The last two blocks are called Delay and Rev but this is a historic thing. You can put any FX you like in these blocks. However, these two blocks have special features which others don’t (rev/delay tail spillover, parallel/series routing etc).

Transpose can be done at Rig level without tying up an FX block but you would need to change rigs rather than engage an FX. If you want to tie up an FX Block you can still do so though.

The other FX are all possible but you can only have 4 in front of the amp and 4 after so if you want all 8 in front of the amp you are out of luck.

2 - no you can’t assign the 5 lower switches to FX on/off. However, you can plug in an additional 2 button footswitch (costs next to nothing) and assign these to Fx blocks. Alternatively, don’t buy the Remote and just use a regular midi pedal which can do everything thing you need.

3 - I don’t think Parallel path with do what you want. Basically it splits the signal bath in two right at the beginning. When active the first two Fx blocks are always dedicated to the Parallel signal path which only leaves 6 for the main path. The signal is not split using a crossover though. You could maybe achieve something similar by putting a high pass filter in Stomp A but it won’t be the same as your HX.

4 - there are several ways you could achieve this sort of thing with the Kemper.

5 - yes, a spring loaded expression pedal (for example Mission Engineering do one) would work for wah.

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Thank you for the clarifications!

Further for numbers...

1. Perhaps I could set up duplicate rigs to tune down with, if I run out of blocks. And using a transpose block probably wouldn't work at all with a split-path. Hmm.

2. I am not familiar at all with midi pedals so I'll have to seek out recommendations - I'm all ears! This entire digital world has been pretty new to me (the HX is the first effects unit I've successfully dealt with via PC, for instance) Back in the 90s I did some electronic stuff, but even then it was all hardware and no computer, so midi feeding sounds from one synth into another was as complex as I ever knew.

3. I see the analog octaver has a low cut that excludes lows from the effect, which is nice, and maybe some of the modulations too it seems? So I guess I can just hope things like the wah, od and fuzz can retain all the low-end. Any experience with that aspect?

Quote from V8guitar

I was thinking that duplicate rigs with different effects could help as I assume you don't have them all on at one time. You are limited to 8 effects at any one time but almost any number of rigs ( I think the limit is 999?) so you maybe able to work round it.

You other option is to use some outboard ( even the HX) if you are that effect heavy linked either by midi or manually.

Midi is "just" another route to switching which can be triggered by an external source or by a midi pedal. The restrictions on the KPA itself of course remain.

I can't advise you any further though as it sounds like you play the devils tool - the bass! Seriously I'm sure someone else on here could provide more insight on how they use it with the Bass.

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Ha! You're right, I don't use them all at one time, but I want to be able to access any of them at any time just because I don't trust myself to remember "oh, fuzz is in rig 3 but OD is in rig 2" in a playing moment, for instance. I'm definitely not usually all that effect heavy - one or two at a time - I just like to have everything always out in front of me at once. Things like compression would be always on, so I don't need a switch for that. If Transpose is available on the front panel of the head directly, I could just as easily wander over and hit that as well for however-many songs instead of having to make it a stomp switch.

One thing I have NOT found online at all, is any demos of how the effects in the Kemper work and sound with bass. I'm going to bug our head honcho to have us put together something like that. We just did the latest Darkglass e500 amp with the builtin effects, so it might make a good followup.

Just a quickie update here but I finally did get a Toaster last night. Today I've been messing around with it just on the front panel as I don't have a Remote or other controller for it as yet.

Right now I have it set up for Compressor on A, Transpose (down 1/2) on B, Analog Octaver on C and a Shaper on D. My buddy is sending me some rigs via Gdrive in a little bit, too, but I'm just using one of the default bass rigs for now.

Since one can't really do much by way of "keeping clean lows under a dirt pedal" like a xover split path would do, I'm going to have to experiment with the dirt options I think. Anybody know definitively which dirt effects retain all low end?

Quote from Wheresthedug

Use the parallel path option to have a clean signal blended with the dirty one.

EDIT :

Sorry, just reread your original post. There isn't a way to do exactly what you want but parallel path would be your best option. Another option would be to blend in some direct signal in the Amp Block. Again, it won't be frequency specific but will help with clarity.

Finally, you may be able to find a profile of and amp with a dirt pedal/crossover in front of it.

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Yeah, with the parallel path locked to only the first two blocks, then things like transposing wouldn't work and of course the B path effects wouldn't be sent through the A path effects. Strange decision by Kemper, but I'm sure it could be fixed with software if they decided to do that.

Quote from BayouTexan

Congrats on the purchase and welcome to the Party!

If you can't do a Parallel Path, try using the Direct Mix in the Amp section to bring in your clean raw signal to mix in with as Wheresthedug mentions. It might help.

You are going to need headphones or play seriously loud when using the Transpose so you don't hear the sound of the strings or you may get a bad harmonizing effect in your ear.

Quote from Finally

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That's the one. Direct Mix.

Yep - found Direct Mix, but I have to assume that too would screw up the transposing thing, no? (sometimes i play 90s stuff which is frequently either drop D (easy enough to kick down one string) or fully in Eb and I won't want to have to switch basses for just one or two songs, hence the questions about this feature) Does Transpose, either set at the amp/rig or as a Stomp, also effect the Direct Mix signal?

So far I'm navigating kind of slowly and built one Rig. It's rocket surgery compared to my Orange head and the analog pedals I had started going back to, to replace my HXFX. I like 3-knobs-and-a-switch-done, personally, and had only been toying with the KPA notion because all-in-one is attractive as a concept. But, it was a special circumstance by which I got the KPA and I don't want to shun it. I like the modulations in the KPA better than the HX at least!

Quote from Wheresthedug

Transpose is available in the Rig Menu without the need to use an FX Slot. Therefore you can get closer to what you want with Parallel path as you could use two worthwhile FX in blocks A and B rather than waste a block transposing.

Right, but does Transpose apply to the amped signal *and* the direct mix signal?

The other problem with Parallel pathing is that the two parallel blocks run straight to output and don't hit the rest of the effects at all.

Quote from Wheresthedug

Yes, just play with it and you will see what it can and cant do. Set Parallel Mix to -5 and you are hearing only the Parallel Path. Set to +5 and you are hearing only the Main Signal Chain.

It isn't a perfect solution for your needs but it will bring back the clarity you are seeking. As will using the Direct Mix in the Amp Block. There is no need to use Transpose in an FX block unless you want the ability to turn it On/Off instantly during songs.

Sorry it might have gotten a little confused there - The transpose question there was about the Direct Mix function - as in, if the Amp Block is Transposed, does the Direct Mix portion also get transposed or would both a dry E and 'amp-transposed' Eb come through together?

As for the Parallel Pathing, I simply meant that if, say, the Distortion block is on the B path, then that distortion won't hit the flanger or delay, for instance, later on down the A path, because of the way the KPA handles the routing. I'd get a distorted note and a flanged clean note together, if I read the parallel diagram correctly.