Ultimate Newbie Help, Please?

  • Hi Kemperites -


    I bought a Kemper Profiler last year, just prior to having a stroke. It's sat underneath the desk for a year, as I worked through rehab.


    This morning, guitar in hand, I pulled it back up onto the desk, turned it on, and realized I had absolutely no idea how to navigate the interface. Turning knobs and pushing buttons changes the screen, but I have no idea what the screen is telling me, or why it's doing what it's doing. Or how to get it to select a specific patch. There's no "Enter" button.


    Please - could anyone steer me to a resource that explains "basic patch management" and "what the buttons do"? Nevermind how it "sounds", I can sort that on my own, later. All the YT's I've found are guys showing off their playing skills, but not telling me "if you push and hold this button, it will do this - because...". I've spent several hours discovering that pushing and holding buttons might do something other than one would expect.


    I need professional help. I'm not trying to do anything like changing the spin of individual quarks. I just want to play with the existing patches, and learn the machine.


    Please respond as if I were in kindergarten - as I effectively am, right now! :D


    Thanks, and my best!

  • Download the main manual here.

    Wish you all the best for your recovery and that you will be soon rocking again your guitar and the Kemper.

    If something is too complicated, then you need to learn it better

  • Hi all - thanks for the resources, above!


    I suppose, even after RTFM'ing, that I just contextualize information differently than most. I'm still looking for an explanation of some basic concepts - please. The Manual does not cover this, and I'm hesitant to watch more hours of YT's of people wincing with pleasure at their exquisite guitars chop as they fail to clarify what I seek. [Sure - "turning up the midrange" might in fact increase the midrange - but I don't need you to play for 45 seconds, make silly faces, and show me. It was a stroke, not a lobotomy!] 8o


    1. What, precisely, by definition, is a "Rig"? What is it not?

    2. If I find, by accident, a patch in the Kemper that I like, how do I document it and ever get back to that same patch again?

    3. Is there a numbering system in use? For example, I like the patch "Till's Recto Clean 2" as a baseline for editing. I'd like to be able to find that again, someday, edit it, and save the results.


    Forgive me for sounding whiney - I'm not. I come from a world of software (synthesizer) design, where the beginning of any manual describes the "architecture" of the sounds and patches. Kemper's manual does not - hence I'm lost. Their manual (and the several dozen YT's I've looked at today) drop right into "editing the sounds", not how they are organized in the system.


    On the bright side - after playing all day, I recognize why I bought the Kemper in the first place: to replace a stout arsenal of Modeling devices that could never provide a decent tone. ;) I simply choose to wince in pleasure at my own exquisite guitar chops alone, in the privacy of my own grisly cinder-block basement. Not that my chops are exquisite after the past year... you understand. They make me smile, but you weren't along for the ride. :D No sense in wincing.


    Thank you again!

  • I'm a toaster - got it cause it had all the knobs. I retired the Helix because it demanded a computer to use. Everytime I connect a computer to music stuff, I lose decades of my life: ain't that much left! ;(

  • Turn the chicken head knob to "Browser" and then use the Browse knob to scroll through the rigs. Each one is a complete rig, with effects, amp, cab, etc. Use the Store" button to save it as a different name.

  • If you find a rig ( in browser mode ) that you like / sounds good, press and hold "RIG" button 3 - 4 seconds, then a small asterix *

    appears to the left in the display ( use goggles ; D it's very small ) and that means you added that rig / sound to "FAVORITES" .

    To access "Favorites" press the button to the left over the display a few times ( stepping trough different "modes" ) till

    you see "Favorites" in the pop-down window in the display under that button to the left.


    Or is it "My favorites" .... Don't remember right now :/


    Cheers !

    The adjective for metal is metallic. But not so for iron ... which is ironic.

  • Thanks, Finally! So, a "rig" is a "patch"? The complete sound?


    By inference, then, a "Performance" is then a collection of "five Rigs"? Why? What's the logic there? How you you recall them at will?


    I saved my "patch" as a "performance", and have no idea how to get back to it. I love the unit, but the "Manual" is giving me a headache. I won't ask why Kemper can't just use standard terminology - that's a lawyer thing - but there MUST be an easier way?

  • Thanks, Finally! So, a "rig" is a "patch"? The complete sound?


    By inference, then, a "Performance" is then a collection of "five Rigs"? Why? What's the logic there? How you you recall them at will?


    I saved my "patch" as a "performance", and have no idea how to get back to it. I love the unit, but the "Manual" is giving me a headache. I won't ask why Kemper can't just use standard terminology - that's a lawyer thing - but there MUST be an easier way?

    Rig, Profile, Patch are used synomomously. If you add stomps or effects or both then it's still a "rig" etc.


    You can set up a Performance to have a collection of Rigs (Profiles, Patches) that will correspond to your song. So, Song 1 can have a Rig for Verse (clean Vox), a rig for Chorus (dirty Vox), and a Rig for the solo (screaming Marshall), and even have rigs for intro and outro if you want.


    It's much easier to navigate with Rig Manager to create and make Performances. When you save a rig into a Performance slot you will have to move the chicken knob from Browser to Performance to see and play it there. And you can label each slot respectively; Intro, Verse 1, Chorus, Verse 2, etc.


    Note my lack of experience with Performances because I only made one so far. Maybe because I only have one good song. ;)


    Best wishes on your recovery.

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

  • I use different types of performance for live use (chicken head knob on Performance).


    1) - by amp type (5 variations of Fender, for example)

    2) - by artist (5 variations of Andy Summer...)


    I don't usually have a whole performance dedicated to 1 song.

  • Thank you all for the assistance today!


    I've given up in disgust, put the guitar away, and the Kemper back under the desk. I started finding various "half-clues" through the course of poking around, but have concluded that Kemper's Manual is beyond wretched. Events concluded when I discovered a failure in the Bus 2 cable leading from the mixer to the MOTU, distorting the beautiful clean amp sound the Kemper created (and that I might never locate again). This entails yanking the racks and cable tracing from the board to the Limiter to the 828 - far more than I have the patience to undertake after dealing with the Profiler all day, attempting the simplest possible task, and failing.


    On the bright side: my liver still works, and does not require software. Nunc est bibendum! Thank you all again! ^^

  • Thank you all for the assistance today!


    I've given up in disgust, put the guitar away, and the Kemper back under the desk. I started finding various "half-clues" through the course of poking around, but have concluded that Kemper's Manual is beyond wretched. Events concluded when I discovered a failure in the Bus 2 cable leading from the mixer to the MOTU, distorting the beautiful clean amp sound the Kemper created (and that I might never locate again). This entails yanking the racks and cable tracing from the board to the Limiter to the 828 - far more than I have the patience to undertake after dealing with the Profiler all day, attempting the simplest possible task, and failing.


    On the bright side: my liver still works, and does not require software. Nunc est bibendum! Thank you all again! ^^

    The manual does require I think some basic understanding but it is pretty intuitive. I know you have put it to one side for now but let me try to give you really basic stuff to get you started when you try again:

    1) A rig is a combination of a profile ( the amp snapshot) and any effects added. Its the collective term for a patch

    2) There are 2 main modes, browse and Performance. Performance is really for live work so you and organise your patches of 5 and then bank up and down between performances.

    3) Use browse to find rigs - select browse and scroll up and down using the up and down buttons on the front.

    4) The front panel is laid out in the same way as the signal chain ( I don't notice that for years). Pre amp effects, Amp, Cabinet, post amp effects.

    5) To add effects press one of the effects button, twist browse or scroll to scroll through. It will auto load each effect. Fiddle with the effect and if happy, press save. You will lose any changes if you select another rig without saving. When saving it will ask for a new name as you are saving a new patch.


    Whilst its a pain, connecting through RM is far easier to navigate and search for rigs and make changes.


    Stay well..

  • Quote: “far more than I have the patience to undertake”



    I completely understand.


    With respect, recovering from a serious illness, often takes rather longer than we ever anticipate.


    For sure we may seem to be completely well on the outside, but our inner resources, reserves of patience and willingness to deal with devices that obligate us to a demanding learning curve, are probably somewhat depleted.


    In short, we are not yet up to the task.



    How I know this, is because I was carried off by paramedics and after a head to toe medical had a life-saving emergency operation. Afterward, I bought the Kemper as it seemed a logical alterative to dealing with fifteen very heavy amplifiers.


    I soon realised that rather than being the simple straightforward device I could quickly master. That it was far better conceptualised, carefully thought through and by virtue of imaginative design, capable of a great deal more than any other product.


    At that point, I felt completely out of my depth, I guess pretty much as you do now. So, I accepted the fact that for an older analogue man in a digital world it would take time and effort. That a gradual familiarisation would be the best way to inwardly absorb the capabilities of this device.


    Each time I use it I feel a bit out of my depth, but am finding I can replicate better sounds, more ideal and to my liking as familiarity develops. I also note things I do not grasp at all, but then refer to the instruction manual and find the answer as well as asking questions of the brilliantly helpful people that inhabit this forum.


    Anyone that has experience of music fora knows that this is one of the best moderated and helpful forums out there!



    In short, I am giving myself time, not pushing things too quickly, not demanding too much of myself and that seems to be working ok for me.


    My latest dilemma was when changing profiles with the remote the device would skip lots of them instead of moving to the next in the browser.


    Reading the manual soon explained that the remote could be adjusted to work in a variety of ways, and thus a simple selection in “settings” could enable it to work in my preferred manner.


    So rather than simply reading the entire manual which I did do at the start and being a little overwhelmed. I’m playing about familiarising myself, gradually questioning this and that and discovering in the manual the answers I seek.



    In certain respects, the Kemper reminds me of the Reaper Sequencer.


    Because different professionals have varying approaches and workflow systems, rather than there being a singular way to achieve a particular result.


    There might a number of different alternatives available, and much more individual adjustment possible, so the product can be set to meet the demands of the user.


    Rather than the user make do with limited options available.



    There is a cost to this approach, and it simply means there is more to learn than we at first, ever anticipate.


    But it means that if we persevere, the eventual rewards proffered more than outweigh the cost.


    The main thing is to take one’s time, not expect too much or place too many demands.


    Especially where blood pressure levels require calmness.

  • Well said!!!


    I think the KPA is daunting for anyone who is coming from the Valve world. Arguably its worse coming from the digital world because you spend so long understanding a device only to be faced with a different interface, terminology and fundamental approach. Try moving from Apple to Samsung :)


    I don't know everything about the KPA, far from it, but I can navigate it now pretty well. Its a bit like a mixing desk....you see all the buttons and knobs and it looks complicated but once to know how its constructed, it becomes much easier.


    And health takes priority!!

  • Hi all - thanks for the resources, above!

    I'm hesitant to watch more hours of YT's of people wincing with pleasure at their exquisite guitars chop as they fail to clarify what I seek. [Sure - "turning up the midrange" might in fact increase the midrange - but I don't need you to play for 45 seconds, make silly faces, and show me. It was a stroke, not a lobotomy!] 8o

    I Heater what you are saying but the link that Hoki Toki gave you earlier is for Kemper's own video tutorial series which covers everything you need to get to grips with the KPA in a very short and direct manner. No hours of widdling making funny faces in them fortunately.