Top 5 things to do when you get the Kemper

    So I've read a lot of posts here (great community!)...and I'm trying to piece together what I need to do (and should do) when I get the Kemper, which arrives in 2 days (aside from try and actually play guitar of course).
    Here are my top 5 so far:
    1) Upgrade to 1.1.1
    2) Download Rig Pack 2.0
    3) Download Juanma Blanco profiles (the higher the gain the better!)
    4) Download And44 profiles (and of-course check out the Amp Factory as well...I already have a short list of.....pretty much all of them)
    5) Download Tills cabs
    Anybody care to weigh in?
    Cheers!
    Jim

    Quote from Guitartone

    I'm in a rush, I'll reply later on...lots to add.


    Meanwhile, here's a bundle of cabinets including all the Tills cabs.
    https://dl.dropbox.com/u/55111…inets%20August%202012.zip


    It seems like the Greenback Cabs from the Siggi Mehl amp are missing, no?


    Also Pete Turleys 1972 Marshall 1960 is missing, which is an great example of a good vintage Marshall cab. There are also great Boogie Mark V cabs which are needed to make the various Mesa Boogie MK profiles actually sound like one. The nashville Boogie cab (1x12" Jensen) sounds godawful to me for crunch and above.


    There are so many great cabs in Rig Pack 1 and 2 and also in profiles from the exchange I really think everybody has to listen themselves and save the cabs he/she needed.


    For example being no high-gain player and more of a vintage type guy, the Tills cabs are plain useless for me. I don't like any of them. But that doesn't take anything away from Till, his cabs are great if you are into that genre. But that just goes to say that everybody has his own preferences and with so many profiles you just have to do the work yourself.

    Quote from Garrincha

    more of a vintage type guy, the Tills cabs are plain useless for me. I don't like any of them.

    Not even the 006 and the 013? I use them a lot for some creamy lead tones...

    "Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" Serghei Rachmaninoff


    Not everyone agrees, but the first things I would do:


    1) Install the latest (beta) OS 1.1.1
    2) Restore with Maurizio's backup file: A METHOD for ordering and naming KPA sounds (useful also to compare Amps and Rigs)


    Until you start to get a handle on which profiles you dig, sensible naming is invaluable. If you're anything like me, you're going to want to spend a while listening to what the KPA can do in the way of familiar benchmark amps, e.g. Fenders, Voxes, Marshalls, et al. With Maurizio's backup you can do this without having magical knowledge as to who named them what, and why.


    (A personal "step 3" preference" is to turn off Quick Edit in the system menu. Maurizio uses it, apparently, but I like to be able to turn stomps on and off without automtically drilling down.)

    It's impossible for all of us to have the same cabs.
    We might have almost the same cabs, we might even have identical cabs saved with different names.


    The variety of cabs & Profiles is simply astonishing.
    Yes, everyone has his own preferences, but I'm confident I could send my "Favourite" Profiles to any guitarist/engineer and he'd be blown away by the tones....yes, he'd tweak them, or change cabs, etc, to his preference, but mine would still sound incredible, and so would his.


    That's the magic of the Kemper, that's why it's the "game changer". :thumbup:

    Yes, you're on the right track.


    But, many essential names missing...search these on rig exchange.


    Erik Stam (Legacy)
    r u sirius
    Tills rigs (besides his brilliant cabs check his rigs as well)
    Feck (Bogner Shiva & other amps)
    FastRedPonyCar (Splawn & others)
    Dirk Gooding
    Baldi
    Manfred Franzkowiak
    okstrat
    Ballantine
    Andy Mitchell
    M.Stock
    G.Leleve
    ZAP (JTM30)
    Marko (Golub)
    M.Weinstroer
    Pete Turley
    Ola Englund
    Xpenno
    Ruppert
    Tony Mckenzie (a few great amp including Dumble HRM)
    Mats Newmark
    Gene &Eddy
    Gila (SigX)
    Stranded on a planet
    Of course, And44 and Armins Profiles, both excellent as well.


    And that doesn't include stock Kemper Profiles by Peter Fischer (try different cabs), Uwe Bossert (try different cabs), all the Alan Litten Nashville amps, etc, etc.


    It never ends. :D

    Even while I sell profiles I would not recommend to buy a lot of profiles on day one - and of course not to fill the KPA up with thousands of downloaded profiles.


    My list would be:
    1) Install the latest firmware - (incl. Rig packs 1&2 from Kemper)
    2) Use the stock profiles only - they are great
    3) Learn all you need about the KPA
    4) Play a lot and enjoy - don't spend your time to search for profiles (you are a player not a collector)
    5) Optimize the way you amplify your KPA (monitors, studio monitors, ...)

    (All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or affiliated with soundside.de)


    Great Profiles --> soundside.de

    Edited 2 times, last by Armin ().

    Very good advice. :thumbup:

    Thx for all of the replies - it is very helpful! I have been thinking about this a lot and I think I will first follow Armin's suggestion with the addition of adding some cabs. My objective is to first make sure the system is up-to-date and to second understand how the system works. What tweeks yield what results. I want to get more cabs so that I can understand the affect a cab has on a profile.
    I think I'll then delete the stock ones I don't like (might do this after Backup if it is easier), do a Backup and look into creating some sort of a naming convention.
    Finally, I will start importing new rigs with naming convention. I like the manufacturer/model/type methodology (where type is clean, drive, crunch etc.). I will definitely look at the ones recommended above and I'm sure I'll find many others. I love HIgh Gain as I mentioned above, so I'll be checking out various recommendations on the forum. I doubt I'll go through the whole rig community and download everything that looks High Gain. Probably just too much. I'd rather go off some recommendations.
    My objective is to find the tone in my head or maybe one that I didn't even know was in my head. Who knows, it might be in the stock profiles - wouldn't that be nice!

    Quote from Guitartone

    I'm in a rush, I'll reply later on...lots to add.


    Meanwhile, here's a bundle of cabinets including all the Tills cabs.
    https://dl.dropbox.com/u/55111…inets%20August%202012.zip


    You know the drill.
    Format a USB stick in your Kemper.
    Create a "Cabinets" folder in the "Shared" folder, copy and paste all these files into the Cabinets folder...Import into Kemper..


    Is the s-Mehl cab in this collection? I'm interested in it but deleted the S-Mehl rig...
    :S

    Alright, I'll take a stab at this top 5:


    1) Plug in and turn on


    2) Load a profile and play your ass off


    3) Load another profile and play your ass off


    4) Load another profile, toy with some effects settings and play your ass off


    5) Take a break to get a snack and a drink of water then go back and play your ass off


    I could probably list a few more but you get the picture 8o

    Quote from stompman

    I love HIgh Gain as I mentioned above, so I'll be checking out various
    recommendations on the forum. I doubt I'll go through the whole rig
    community and download everything that looks High Gain. Probably just
    too much. I'd rather go off some recommendations.

    It's taken me 11 months to put together this collection of High Gain Profiles.
    These are Profiles from all the best recommended users.
    Download them and check out the Profile names, see which ones look interesting and try them out.
    Trust me, I'm saving you months of work. :thumbup:


    https://dl.dropbox.com/u/55111…n%20Kemper%20Profiles.zip