Need some tips for improving ease of use of the Kemper!

Quote from BigInJapanDan

I'm still learning guitar in general, and I would rather focus on that than all the settings. So any suggestions are very welcome .

keep it simple.

find a Profile you like, get rid of compressors and all effects except maybe a little bit of reverb to give it a little bit of room (Easy Reverb is great for that) and focus on your playing.

Just my two cents here... don't let the unlimited options and capabilities of the Kemper overwhelm you Dan. That's easily possible so as Don said try to keep it simple and adjust and add effects only step by step.

Quote from BigInJapanDan

around 6 ToneJunkie amps, which are awesome

For sure they are. How many of your favorite artists do have 6 different traditional amps on stage? Not so many I guess. It's super cool to have those capabilities and I'm guilty as well of trying a lot of amps which I will physically never ever get into my hands. Beautiful stuff out there. But that's a different stream than playing guitar and making music. I call it "tone chase". Better to limit that sometimes...

And sometimes (only sometimes!) even when jamming with others I do treat the Kemper as a "single channel one sound" amp, not changing the profile at all. Just with a few stomps (like an analog pedal board) and then with switching pickups, using volume knob, using different playing styles I change the sounds to fit to the songs. In rock/blues/funk that works pretty well... take a plexi amp and a boost... here you go

Quote from BigInJapanDan

What settings do you adjust within profiles? Do you test all of the effects or you have same effects that you use for all (or most) of your profiles (any recommendations)

Many. Definition parameter is key. Sometimes a little bit of the eq or compression parameter. But don't let this overwhelm you. I have a few go to profiles, a fixed combination of effects for all the slots (soft shaper, booster, green scream, phaser, two different delays and a reverb) and some performances set up to quickly deliver for songs or jams. Here and there (especially in the creative process with the band) I do add or change one of the effects. Haven't done that for some weeks now.

In studio work I always connect the Kemper to the computer and use RigManager to load from the library what I need. And by the way I rarely use the effects the profile makers have put in there. I immediately change this to my standard set described above after checking if there is something super inspiring which I'd like to save for myself.

You're on a good way with your thoughts Dan. You'll make it. Don't let the complexity make you fed up. So just reduce the complexity and enjoy!

Sure, welcome Dan.

One pedal attached, mostly for Wah and Pitch change. Old Roland/Boss EV5. Does the job. Nothing extra. I love my setup as lean as possible. On stage (and for jams as well) it's the Rack Kemper, Remote, Shure GLXD 16, Boss pedal. Monitor/cab depends on what is there and sometimes I bring 1x12 cab with Kone and/or FRFR monitor. Done. Works like a charm.

Quote from BigInJapanDan

I'd appreciate some insight on how you guys are using the Kemper to get the most out of the thing. What settings do you adjust within profiles? Do you test all of the effects or you have same effects that you use for all (or most) of your profiles (any recommendations)?

Adding to the excellent suggestions so far:

I try to use it as I would use an amp on stage:

• first, learn about the "typical" amps for your main playing style; listen to your "heroes" and their sounds, and find out what they use to create that sound
• then pick a general model that is a good match to your general repertoire - a Mesa Boogie Treadplate may not be the best amp to start your Country career with; and playing death-metal through a Fender Twin can also be difficult. I'm not saying it can't be done, but if you are a beginner, start with the obvious. Get a good set of profiles for this amp from a reputable source.
• For your selected amp, pick three or four profiles, from clean, through "dirty", "crunchy" to full high-gain (if that's your thing). These are essentially your "amp channels", and you should get used to thinking about them in terms of these categories - makes life a lot easier
• Don't worry too much about speakers - pick profiles with "typical" speakers, or use merged / studio profiles and combine them with a good "allround" speaker / mic combination that works for your genre
• Now focus on getting to know these four key tones (clean, dirty, crunch, high-gain) and what you can do with them - that should already give you a lot to play with
• For effects, I'd recommend you leave most of these off in the beginning (maybe except a bit of reverb, and a delay to switch on for soloing). Then start adding them to your basic patches and get a feeling for what they do to your sound.
• My recommendation when starting out: only add effects WITH AN INTENTION - don't just switch them on and off and fiddle with parameters. If you want to have longer sustain, use a compressor and learn what it does to your playing dynamics, and what the parameters do. If you want more grit to your clean or "dirty" tone, use a drive pedal and learn how to use its controls. If you want to create wide, "ballad-y" sounds, try adding a chorus or phaser, ...

In terms of organization, I've built a couple of generic performances for different musical styles: blues, classic rock, pop, ... Each of these has a set of standard sounds - typically clean, dirty, crunchy, high-gain rhythm, lead, from left to right - around one amp model selected for that style. Of course, some of this varies - not so much need for high-gain stuff in a blues performance, but maybe two different lead settings. Maybe more than one clean patch for the pop performance - with and without chorus, so you can select your "ballad" sound directly without having to switch on a chorus.

Then maybe a "morphed" variant for each of the five sounds - I usually have a "more effected" variant of my five basic sounds on morph. Also, I have a wah on most of my patches, set to bypass@stop. Doesn't get in the way, unless I step on it, so no fiddling, no need to switch it on or off. Just good to have in an "all-purpose" performance. So I usually have one or two expression pedals plugged into my Stage - one dedicated to the wah, the other for volume (usually post-amp).

Once you have these basic performances set up, you're all set to forget about "programming" the Kemper and just play - you definitely have enough colors on your palette with this. And don't worry about the sound not being "exactly" like the original in the song you are playing - in most cases, you can get close enough, as long as your playing is up to the task...

Now you may encounter a song that needs a custom-built variant of one of your performances, with a specific "signature" sound that defines the song. For this, I usually copy the "standard" performance that comes closest, and then start fine-tuning the amp and adding and customizing effects to get closer to the original. But that's a different discipline - we're talking "sound design" here, and you can spend hours down that rabbit hole...

Hope this helps!

Cheers,

Torsten

Quote from ToH2002

• My recommendation when starting out: only add effects WITH AN INTENTION - don't just switch them on and off and fiddle with parameters.

This is the est advice you will eve receive!!!

It not only goes for effects though. Take this approach with everything musical. When it comes to tweaking Amps, don’t just adjust things at random. Think carefully about what it missing from the current sound and what needs to change to make it work for you. That look for ways to achieve the desired end result.

If you play mainly Rock and Blues all you need to do is load a MBritt 69 Marshall rig from the free Factory content and start making music = job done

Quote from Wheresthedug

This is the est advice you will eve receive!!!

It not only goes for effects though. Take this approach with everything musical. When it comes to tweaking Amps, don’t just adjust things at random. Think carefully about what it missing from the current sound and what needs to change to make it work for you. That look for ways to achieve the desired end result.

If you play mainly Rock and Blues all you need to do is load a MBritt 69 Marshall rig from the free Factory content and start making music = job done

While I agree with the statement, I would also like to advocate the very opposite :

I think it is an imporant part of growing as a beginner to sometimes (!) simply try out effects, experiment and have fun.

The PROFiLER's effects come with many presets, so just picking an effect you don't know, check out a few fx presets and turn a few knobs can be very instructive and fun.

Guitar playing/tone searching has always been about simply trying things as well.

Save the sounds you find & like, you be surprised how hard it can be to recreate a tone.

Having gone down the rabbit hole of loading tons of profiles and trying / tweaking them (which is still fun when you are in the mood ) I pretty much switch on, go to performance mode and load an MBritt performance. You can still be amp specific eg. Fender collection or else load something from another pack eg. the amazing Brown Bag collection. They are very usable straight out the box, and made even better as the time based effects, stomps and morph parameters are already thoughtfully set ( buy a cheap expression pedal if you haven't already just for the morph features).

Good for lazy asses like me

My 3 simple suggestions...

1. Try out about 5 stock profiles of different flavor amps while adjusting your Global High Cut until they all sound good to you. You can even try a Kemper Bass Profile for guitar for clean tone.

2. Get off the forums.

3. Practice.

After practice, you can come back and reset the global high cut and add an EQ to cut/boost the profiles. Get a good sound from your profile first before adding effects. Then before bedtime, google about each effect you want to use and learn how to use it. Like this...

With the Kemper's extraordinary capbilities, it's easy to drift into FOMO - fear of missing out. As in, "there's probably an EVEN BETTER rig among the thousands and thousands out there." Ditto all the effects.

I use mine for "live" work only, no recording. That means practice, band rehearsal, and gigs. I started out by first thinking of what small number of amps I would go get if money were no object, based on the stuff I play. That ended up being a couple Marshalls (plexi, 800, etc.), a fender deluxe reverb, a vox, and some Dr. Z's (since I own several of those). Then I looked at a limited number of profiler company's offerings based on reviews I've read. Bought a few based on reviews and online samples (ended up with Michael Britt and Rick Beato being my two faves).

Then I created performances with those amps - focusing on a very good clean tone, an "edge of breakup" tone, a very crunchy tone, and then a couple lead tones. I did this for my single coil guitars and separate ones for humbuckers.

Then I added effects as indicated above -- only added what I needed, not any "gee whiz" stuff. So locked in a wah for all, some compression, reverb, delay, chorus for the clean tones, some boost and delay, and the odd phaser, for the lead tones. With that, I've ended up with 4 or 5 performances that I can easily navigate depending on the guitar and what I'm playing, and it covers 99% of everything I need to do. Then I can focus on practice.

From time to time, I sit down and just experiment, but that's when I'm specifically in the mood to see what the Kemper can do. I don't let that interfere with practice. There I play with new rigs, new effects, etc. Mainly to to learn more about how the Kemper works and what i can do.

And I backup like crazy via Rig Manager so I don't lose anything or can restore if I accidentally overwrite something (which has happened too many times).

Any of these devices can be 1,000 mile deep rabbit holes. You have to approach them with a clear idea of what you want, and push back against that FOMO feeling. Oh, and I'm 100% in the camp the believes most of your tone is in your fingers -- there's no rig on earth that will make me sound like EVH no matter how good I am. I will always sound like me. So my expectations of profiles is somewhat tempered - I look for them to sound like the amp, not the artist, because I'm not going to sound the artist no matter what.

All my $0.02

Quote from BigInJapanDan

when you switch to a high gain or lead tone, do you already have some stomps/ODs active, or is it just a high gain profile (maybe already profiled with an OD) ? I guess it depends?

Yup - it depends! If I have a high-gain profile from an amp that sounds good for soloing by itself, I leave it as it is - e.g. a decent Bogner Ecstasy profile will in most cases provide a pretty good high-gain sound that can be tuned for rhythm or lead work. If the amp doesn't provide enough gain for my taste, and there isn't a profile version with a drive already baked in, I'll try one of the Kemper's built in drives.

Same if the low end needs a bit of tightening up - putting a drive before the amp can clean that up quite a bit, depending on the type. Tube Screamers are mid-rangey beasts, so putting one in front of the amp can tame the low end nicely.

Quote from DonPetersen

I think it is an imporant part of growing as a beginner to sometimes (!) simply try out effects, experiment and have fun.

The PROFiLER's effects come with many presets, so just picking an effect you don't know, check out a few fx presets and turn a few knobs can be very instructive and fun.

Guitar playing/tone searching has always been about simply trying things as well.

Fully agree as well - but that's really a different mindset - I would very much encourage that approach when going for "sound design".

When spending some time simply wanting to play with sound and explore the possibilities, I'd generally put on a different "thinking hat" and give the crazyness and experimenting free reign - "wonder what I can do with a fuzz, a tremolo and a phaser..."

But I had the impression the OP was a bit overwhelmed by all the profiles, effects and options available on the Kempter and looking to have a set of "working" sounds and to focus more of his time on actually playing the guitar. That was the main intent of my recommendations.

Quote from GCNC8068

With the Kemper's extraordinary capbilities, it's easy to drift into FOMO - fear of missing out. As in, "there's probably an EVEN BETTER rig among the thousands and thousands out there." Ditto all the effects.

Ain’t that the truth! FOMO is a MOFO 😄

So much great advice from the others....

Having played for 35+ years, when I started I only had a single channel amp with limited options, so it forced you to focus on your playing.

I look at the KPA as a very fancy multi channel amp with extensive built in effects. So the basics are the same as a regular amp, but you have a very powerful, pro level tool so don't expect to fully exploit it overnight.

My advice is similar to that above - find sounds you like ( which it sounds like you have) and just play. When you get bored or a particular time when you want to experiment, then look wider. Don't try to fix problems you don't have because of FOMO.

I gig most weeks, I use a maximum of 5 sounds, I rarely tweak anything. I sometimes think ohh I wonder if there is a better sound and 99% go back to what I have!

If your are looking for a particular sound, use Rig Manager, look for Kemper Rig Packs and try all the Legend Tribute Packs, there is a lot of familiar tones covered on those Rigs. Pick your favorites and change the effects as you wish. Search Kemper Legends playlists on Spotify and check what tones are waiting for you.