Posts by chu

Sampler is an Akai MPX8 and footswitch is a Boss FS6. A beautifully simple set up that is so close to working together, but just not quite.

Using a laptop/tablet is not an option. It's just not going to happen in this band so the only options I have right now are revert to using my Line 6 HD500 as a foot controller (which does send midi notes) or trigger the samples by hand. The HD500 approach loses me the wonderful simplicity of using the Boss whilst singing, I never need to look down at all with that and the triggering them by hand is obviously not great.

I know that I'm probably the only one that will ever use this but it would be a god send to me!

I know I can get the KPA to send MIDI messages when selecting performances but it won't send MIDI notes. My band uses a small number of samples, for song intros, endings and such. We're not talking full on backing and click tracks, just a little fun.

It would be great if I could trigger those samples from my Kemper footswitch; change patch and it's playing but I'd need the aforementioned MIDI note.

Anyway, if I don't ask, I won't get!

Thanks for listening.

I've got a G&L ASAT (Telecaster shape in my profile picture) that has a Variax system retrofitted. I used to use it for No One Knows by Queens of the Stone Age which is in C standard. It felt quite laggy and annoying for the most part. The guitar part is very choppy and needs to be quite tight and although it sounded good to everyone else in the band, it didn't feel right. I still stuck with it though.

On the whole, the Variax stuff sounds really good and a lot better than many people will want you to think but the tuning feature is only so good. The 12 string always sounded pretty bad to my ears.

My apologies, I've not got anything to help the OP but I just want to add that that my absolute favourite, go-to profile is SinMix's Marshall 6100. I use it for all my crunch tones in my band. I don't even play metal but this thing is stunning for all my rock tones, it even cleans up beautifully for some Morphing. Definitely not thin at all.

Sinmix's efforts on this thread make me feel even more guilty that I got it free on Rig Manager! Top man, top profile! Thanks!

That's a known issue, fixed in 4.02

Pretty sure it affects everything.

Quote from Ingolf

I see the value in your approach @chu.
What I don't get is the distraction thing.
I mean, you are using lyrics sheets as a singer?
Now that's a distraction to me.
(Lead singer and guitarist here as well BTW, doing it all from memory still... )

Maybe 'distraction' wasn't the correct word. I just like the simplicity of a one click solution.

At band practice I'll use lyrics sheets with the relevant Performance info on so if we decide to revisit a song that we didn't play so well it doesn't take any effort to find the correct profiles. It's on the set list for gigs. I often use the same profile throughout several songs, so it doesn't make sense to have a Performance for each song. YMMV of course.

As for remembering lyrics, I'm always going to be cursed by that issue. I've tried everything over the years and yet still randomly draw a blank every now and then. Singing along to a song without lyrics is easy-peasy (as is being the backing singer). With the lyric sheets I'll barely glance at them but them take away completely and every now and then I'll forget the first word of a line and it throws me right off. I've never been good with reciting anything verbatim but unfortunately I'm not quick enough to cover it sometimes at gigs so have come up with another solution.

I now use a LCD monitor housed in a wedge monitor to help me out. I know, some people think it's a horrible idea as I should be able to remember the lyrics! I've seen plenty of footage of the professionals doing it though, from Stereophonics, Elton John, Axl Rose (and not even the current washed up Axl but the early '90s one), Deborah Harry.... We don't beat on classical musicians for needing sheet music and a conductor......

Works fine for me!

No, as I said we stick to a fixed set list therefore I only ever step up one performance slot, never back. If the song goes Crunch, Clean, Lead, Crunch; that's also the order the Performance is programmed including duplicating the Performance slots. It's no big deal once you're used to it.

I use this at band practice too, so that's why I also add the details to the lyrics sheet. If we want to go back and retry a song, I can easily see that I need to be on Song 3, Performance Slot 3 for example. Sure, I don't get much spontaneity with my tones but the trade off is the freedom to get on with my vocals without distraction.

I'm also the lead vocalist and have completely given up using midi live. I just use a Boss FS-7 and an expression pedal for morph/wah. Obviously, the performances have to be built around a fixed set list but I also have the lyrics sheet with the relevant Performance info at the top should we decide to to mix it around. 1 Trs cable, no batteries or power supply needed.

Quote from ShadowJumper

Not sure if its been covered (no time to scroll) but with the upgrade I need to unplug my guitar and plug it back into the Kemper before it will work... just turning the unit on like before won't do it. Not really a biggie, but lemme know if this hasn't been addressed and I will dig deeper and submit a support ticket.

Yep, mine does this too. Submit a ticket dude.

I've owned 100 watt Marshalls and understand where you're coming from. Part of the issue is comparing 100 watts of valve power which compresses and distorts the transient peaks pleasantly, at quite reasonable levels. In comparison, a 300 watt D-Class amp doesn't and the headroom required is much greater to stop the amp compromising tone. I was initially disappointed only to stop caring once I realised that it was loud enough for every scenario I require it to; I've never run out of volume in my band but I have gotten used to running it at a few dbs from flat out (without boost) which isn't something I've ever done with valve amps. Also, most valve amps I've owned show most volume up to 50% on the master, the final 50% does comparatively little; again, unlike with the Kemper.

It's much like with a bass amp. Ever wondered why the bass player needs 800 watts and 4x10s to keep pace with a 100 watt guitar amp?

Have you tried increasing the volume in the stack section? Maybe the profile is already a little conservative.

As for chucking a db meter in front of it, I can't crank it at home and next band practice is in a few weeks....

Installed FW4.0
Created some nice morphed patches.
Changed my performances to suit.
Went to band practice.
Came back home and played with the hidden delay profiles on Rig Manager.

I use a custom expression pedal and simple Boss FS7 for switching and other than the Kemper forgetting the Morph to Wah settings on shut down, it's been flawless. Not a sausage of unwanted behaviour at all. For my needs, FW4.0 is awesome.

Have you tried the power amp boost? I've got a Powerhead into a 16ohm cab. I definitely have to run it louder than in my old 4ohm 2x12 but don't have any trouble in a band. The only issue is the psychological 'it's almost at full volume' thoughts!

Quote

You know it just dawned on me. Could morphing technology eventually be used to combine 'static' profiles of an amp or drive pedal profiled at different knob positions to make changes on the Kemper tone/gain more accurate to the original equipment?

Maybe for Kemper II.... As the others say, you'd need to morph between multiple different profiles, something unlikely to be possible with the Kemper. Maybe that's asking profiling to do something beyond it's means and is more in the grounds of modelling.

As I mentioned previously, Line 6 aim to model the gear they model very legitimately (is that the correct word?). Allegedly, everything in the signal path is analysed and modelled so that when complete, the modelled amp/effect behaves just like the original. That's why their AC30 has the tone cut control and the Divided by 13 has dual gain controls for example. Line 6 claim that by doing so, their products will sound and behave just like the original.

For my own use and having come from a Line 6 background, I'm entirely happy with the way the Kemper does it. I don't need to have the Kemper behave like a Vox AC30 if it can sound like one. With different profiles, I can find settings that suit my needs and I can leave the knob fiddling to others and get on and play.

Quote from Dean_R

I don't have the data, but my guess is that the majority of those who bough the KPA bought mainly for the amp modeling and weren't focused on effects.

If you think of it the other way, you might know what I mean. If the KPA had all these slots for effects and had great effects,but didn't have the profiling capability, as much as I hate to say it, I really doubt that it would have been a viable product. Meaning without profiling the KPA, wouldn't even exist. Again, not because the effects aren't good, but because the effect market is so saturated with very many and good enough contenders.

The last thing that guitarists need are more companies making effects, but no one has good profiling. BIAS are trying and they can catch up soon, so why not focus more on maybe the ability to use Stomp Drives and Distortions profiles at the same time as Amp profile. I know many say it can't be done but I don't believe that. Drive boxes shouldn't require the same horse power as Amp Profiles. How would you like a KPA that let's you play any tube amp, and put any profile of any drive box ever made? I'd like a lot better than getting all the additional reverbs and delays.

I'm not saying it won't work, nor would it be welcome but the issue I foresee here is the way that a real drive box interplays with a real amp. I'm not overly fond of the phrase 'snapshot' used to describe profiling but there's something in it that rings true. Profiling a drive pedal won't likely capture the way the knobs on it function individually nor collectively and I'm not entirely sure that it will lead to the results we'd all expect.

In comparison, Line 6 aim to make their models behave entirely like the device being modelled (and I'm not going to go into whether they achieve that or not) with all the inherent quirks and I think that it would be incredibly interesting to see if a profiled drive pedal will be that usable given that it will have been set to sound good into the amp it's feeding. Change the settings on the amp or put the same pedal with the same settings into another amp and it won't be such a tale. So with that profiled drive pedal, you're likely to have to significantly change the settings on it to suit the amp profile being used, moving quickly away from the tones that the real article might be able to produce.

Would that still satisfy Kemper users?

Quote from DanielRigler

Guys, the fact that 4.0 is not released yet means that there are probably some things that the developer team needs to address first. After these things are fixed, you will be able to download the firmware. Don't think that the KPA team is evil and holds it back on purpose. They simply want to give you something usable.

Not sure who that's aimed at, has anyone been anything other than a little overexcited in the last few pages?

Quote from viabcroce

I really can't understand these sufferings... my Profiler sounds as good as it used to before 4.0 was announced. Why not enjoying the present moment instead of always putting off living a greater life tomorrow?

Yes, there will be a day when the lamb lays along with the wolf. It will be beautiful... But I also want to fully enjoy my life now.

Being impatient and excited about what's coming doesn't imply that my enjoyment of my Kemper has diminished in any way, or that I've stopped enjoying the moment. Some of us are more patient and some of us cope with delays better than others. I'm not annoyed or angry about the wait, I still love my Kemper but I'm just excited and am being impatient. Good for you that you're not feeling exactly the same, but we're all different and deal with things in different ways.

Oh, this is starting to hurt me now!!

Don't get me wrong, we should all wait until it's good and ready and that as a free update, I have no reason to grumble.... But....

I kind of wish they'd never announced a date for it. I guess that was mostly down to Namm and needing to sound like it was more than a pipe dream but I'm starting to hurt a little inside! I think my wife is getting suspicious that I'm having an affair due to how much I'm checking my phone. "Honestly, I'm just checking for 4.0 from Kemper....."

One thing that I will add, auditioning profile after profile is never rewarding for me. Each one's sonic difference sounds odd to my ear, like a weird comb filter/fakeness that I dislike. Even now, if I go back to one of my favourite profiles after something else (but similar) it happens. After a few moments, I'm back into it again.

I also never really settled on anything until I tried some stuff from RM. It's much easier to try stuff out and move on than with commercial profiles. I found myself coming back to a certain style of amp, over and over again. 80% of my favourited profiles are now of the same amp manufacturer's products. Not naming names, but this make of amp hasn't been on my shopping list (although I owned one years ago and loved it) as my heart has always pulled me towards Mesas, Friedmans or high gain boutique type amps. None of which I terribly enjoyed on the Kemper for long.