Posts by MKB

    I leave PureCab on all the time, on 2 or so. It works very well with my current rig, which is the Kemper direct into the FOH mixer, and I'm using open air in ears (very low volume gig). The other day I was tweaking before a performance and had a very strange thing happen; I hit a chord and it sounded like someone cranked the PA up full volume and my guitar was blasting everyone's ears. It was such a strong sensation that I even asked several people if they could hear my guitar; I was in fact muted in everything but my ears. But the ambience in the Kemper, along with PureCab, really made my mind think that the tone was pressurizing the room when in fact it wasn't. It was that reaction where you are turned up too loud, making too much sound in the room, and you instinctively grab the master volume to quickly turn down. I've never had this happen before with any other modeler, not even close.


    When an amp modeler sounds so real it makes your gut think you are too loud in the room and not just your ears, you are really on to something.

    Another suggestion if you want to improve projection with a modeler; lower the gain as much as you can stand, and perhaps a bit more (if you have a high gain patch). Depending on the style of music you play, sometimes lots of gain can kill the punch and dynamics of a guitar tone that make it stand out and project in the mix.


    But OTOH the Kemper has lots of settings that can help with definition and punch, but lowering gain is a good place to start.

    I use a Kemper for worship quite a bit, and after listening to the OP's video in the link, a Kemper should be able to get close to the majority of those tones except for the complicated shimmer-type reverbs. In the past when I needed that sound, I just plugged in a cheap Behringer Reverb Machine pedal into the loop and got the sound from that.


    The guitar pickups are super important to these tones, most players go with a single coil or Gretsch filtertron tone. I'm using a modified Epiphone Casino Coupe with vintage Gibson mini humbuckers that does these brighter tones well.


    It also helps to have a Vox leaning profile that is set up for a little grit at full volume but cleans/brightens up as the guitar volume is turned down. I find the dynamics of the profile to be very important. My main tone is a profile of my homemade Dumble clone (Robben Ford #102) in overdrive mode with a third party IR (Ownhammer EVM12L). It just works extremely well, it gets nice and thick with smooth overdrive at full guitar volume, but cleans up with a bright tone when lightly picking.


    One of the things I like the most about the Kemper is how well it handles playing and guitar volume dynamics. Nothing comes close IME.

    I've been using the FCB1010/Uno4Kemper since I bought a Kemper, and from what I've read it has no capability to control the looper functions of the Kemper through NRPN midi messages.


    In order to use the looper, I put together a homemade 8 button footswitch using an Arduino Uno. It is placed in series with the midi out of the FCB1010/Uno4Kemper, and it merges the looper commands with the FCB1010/Uno4Kemper commands. It works very well. Unfortunately I'm not aware of any commercial device that will do such a thing.

    If a device has a power supply that will automatically switch between input voltages, like a laptop computer and most other electronic devices these days, it will have what is known as a switching power supply. These supplies also have the benefit of being lighter, smaller and more efficient than linear power supplies (that are used in most tube guitar amps).


    One parameter taken into consideration with a switching power supply is called hold up time, which is basically how long a supply can output its rated voltage when the input power is removed. I'd suspect that the designers of the Kemper paid close attention to the supply design so that it would continue to operate for a short period if the input power is removed, as this would help tremendously with reliable operation with the flaky power you often see on stages (especially outdoors powered by generators). These power cutouts can be under a second, but some products will lock up and stop working with such issues.


    Many digital products will freak out when they are powered by generators, as they may not be able to handle the unstable voltages and intermittent cutouts. Analog amps and effects often work much better in such situations as their supplies by design hold a reservoir of power that will smooth out the variations. It is very gratifying to hear that the Kemper has a supply that will work under intermittent power cutoffs and brownouts.

    I'm afraid you can't use the alternate input and front panel input with an AB box, as the front panel input overrides the alt input. I did this trick with my old HD500 as you could choose which input was routed to each patch, but unfortunately the Kemper won't do this. This is maybe my only disappointment with the Kemper.


    If you just want to route the acoustic directly into the XLR out of the Kemper, you can do that by routing the alt input to the output. But you would need all of your acoustic processing in a separate unit plugged into the alt input.


    I don't think there is any way to have multiple profiles active in the Kemper at this time, so having one profile with acoustic going to say the left out and another with guitar going to the right is not possible right now.


    I use a Gibson J-45 with a K+K pickup, a mandolin with a LR Baggs Radius, and a Taylor 214CE-N with the Kemper (along with all the electrics) and it does a great job. I just add compressors and EQs as needed pre amp, disable the amp and cab, and add reverb/delay as needed. I plug and unplug the instruments into the same cable in the front input.

    Just a suggestion; if anybody wants unusual control over the Kemper but cannot find a footswitch, and the user has some technical chops, he should investigate using a small hobbyist microcontroller such as the Arduino to build a footswitch to provide this functionality. I built a small footswitch with an Arduino to control the Kemper's looper over midi, and was very surprised at how easy it was and how well it works.


    If the user has some programming chops, and can build electronic projects (or has a friend that can help with either), the sky is the limit with what you can control. A simple footswitch that does what the OP wants could be done with just a few lines of code (there are some excellent midi libraries for the Arduino that takes most of the work out of the coding).


    It would be great if someone would produce a midi footswitch kit that has an Arduino mounted inside an enclosure with say 8-10 momentary switches and an LED for each. This would eliminate most of the hardware construction, which is really the hard part. Unfortunately I don't think anyone makes such a thing now.


    After trying to implement simple footswitching using a FCB1010 and an iPad with JamUp Pro, it was far easier to program an Arduino to control the Kemper looper. You don't have the constraints in the Arduino that are there with many footswitches.

    The last profile I made was of my Marshall 100w Vintage Modern head/4X12 cab. That particular amp doesn't sound very good until it is fairly loud, but it then hits an incredible sweet spot. I was able to profile it in that sweet spot and can now use that tone in any volume situation. In a sense the amp's tone gets far more use now as I do not have any gigs where I can use the VM in the sweet spot as the volume is too high.


    So if your amp sounds the way you want it to at a specific volume, it should be profiled at that volume.

    +100 on this suggestion. In every performance I have to reach over and twiddle the mix knob, would be great to have that on the floor.


    Also please add a max/min setting to the pedal travel for this function.

    I'm really excited that the AX8 is out, in that it makes several statements. One is that the Axe FX II has great tones, but is too expensive for many players. Fractal has determined that there are sales to be made at this price point, much as Line 6 has done.


    It also shows that Fractal is interested in other markets beside the pro level one. I could see how the AX8 will not at all cannibalize the Axe FX II sales, that still has an obvious niche with pro rack players. But a dedicated modeler user that can't swing an Axe FX II or Kemper can now get top notch tones at a lower price.


    I think it is fascinating that all of a sudden Line 6 and Fractal have created a new competitive price point for modelers. It will be much fun to see them duke it out in the marketplace. Both the AX8 and Helix have advantages over each other (AX8 has better tonal DNA and reputation; Helix has a better UI and will be available in local stores such as GC).

    Today I was setting my gear up for a church gig, and decided to use an excellent TAF profile of a '63 Vibroverb (a free sample IIRC). I am using a pair of Bose open ear earbuds. The Kemper is set with the PureCab on around 1.7, and the Space parameter was set to 5 (has v3.1.4 installed). In order to set up the profile correctly in Performance mode, I muted the Kemper in the mains and plugged the ear buds directly into the headphone output of the Kemper. I then hit a big chord..


    ... and had a huge fright as the Kemper's tone was filling the room, sounded like a loud amp reverberating the walls. I thought it wasn't muted in the mains after all; but indeed it was. I asked someone on stage if they could hear me, and they said they couldn't. So I pulled the ear buds out and hit the same chord, could hear nothing but the strings on the guitar. Put the ear buds back in, and the room seemed to be shaking again.


    It was such a weird visceral sensation; apparently a combination of the reverb on the profile, along with the Space parameter and PureCab, made the tone sound and react through the in ear monitors exactly like there was a loud amp in the room. Even though I knew I wasn't making any sound, I still had to fight the urge to turn it down as it sounded like it would disturb someone in the room with the volume.


    I've never had this reaction with a modeler before. When it gets so close in tonal results that you have a nearly uncontrollable urge to cut down the volume as it sounds like it is too loud in the room, but it's not even audible except through your ear buds, maybe you are on to something.

    I did not watch any specific videos that convinced me to buy a Kemper. In fact for years I was extremely skeptical of the entire idea of profiling. But the time came when I grew tired of the Line6 gear and wanted to invest in one of the better modelers, and at that time the choices were the Axe FX II and the Kemper. I then attended a concert where Dave Cleveland was performing, and he was using a Kemper, and it sounded great. After the concert he was kind enough to discuss the Kemper at length with me, and mainly due to his recommendation I was convinced to buy one. He not only convinced me about the accuracy of profiling and how well it worked, along with the wonderful dynamics and smoothness of his tones in his performance, he mentioned how reliable his toaster had been after taking around the world a few times over several years.


    After about 6 months of use the Kemper has turned out to be one of the best purchases I have ever made.


    If Dave reads this, I'd like to thank him for his recommendation. I'm the guy at the Steve Green/Twila Paris concert in Tennessee that mentioned Midget Sloatman.


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    If you quickly rub your finger across the window (do not push on it, just rub it), does the problem get worse? If so, you might be getting static buildup on the LCD. This is not damaging or really a problem, and if left long enough the static should dissipate.

    I had the issue with the cab sims not being on like others, and was instructed by Kemper tech support that the new Beta releases are for test only and not for gigging. They suggested that I reload the last release firmware version, which I have done with the standard upgrade procedure, with no issues whatsoever. However there are warnings that profiles and performances saved with the newer firmware will not be backwards compatible (but I did not have any issues in this regard).


    BTW I used a FCB1010/Uno4Kemper with the Beta firmware and had no issues with it. What problems did you see in your setup?

    When I plugged in and powered up my toaster this evening at practice (3.1.2 public beta) the profile in Performance mode sounded like the cab sim was off. Cycling the cab button did no make any sonic difference even though the LED toggled. I then switched to a different profile and it sounded right. I then switched back to the faulty patch and it sounded correct this time. So there is something going on here.

    Tonight I worked with the footswitch after checking its operation with an ohmmeter (it works fine). I then plugged in a volume pedal to pedal input 2 and after setup and calibration it worked correctly. I then plugged in the footswitch again, set it up, and it is now working correctly as well. Problem solved.


    Maybe the Kemper needs to be in Calibrate mode before it will recognize a footswitch?

    Hi all, last night I was trying to get an external TRS NO dual footswitch to work with my toaster with 3.1.2 installed. I set footswitch 2 to Dual, with tip switch as Delay On/Off, and ring as Tap Tempo. The footswitch would not change any of the effects. I tried 3 different footswitches of the same type, and none of them worked. However, when they were plugged in, in the Footswitch setup page, the Kemper recognized that a footswitch was plugged in. Setting up footswitch 2 input had the same behavior. Anyone seen anything like this? Did I have a brain lapse and forget to switch something else? Thanks.

    The Pure Cab feature, as well as many other features of the Kemper, proves that Kemper is taking the guitar amp simulator in a unique direction. They are rethinking it and bringing in a large amount of imagination, not being content to do what the rest of the pack have been doing for decades. When it comes to amp emulation, most everyone else is trying to recreate the amp design in DSP, where Kemper is emulating the response of the amp instead. Many of the Kemper parameters are completely different from what the other makers offer.


    Looking at it from this perspective, you can lump Fractal in with Line 6 and Zoom and the others. So although it is disappointing in the case of Fractal, it is not a surprise to see the rest of the pack copying features in the Kemper, as the Kemper is unique. If you innovate and succeed, you are bound to be copied by others in the marketplace. I would be very surprised if Amplifire and Helix do not come up with their own Pure Cab type feature in the future.


    It is great fun to be a member of the Kemper community right now, being on the cutting edge with a company with terrific original ideas.

    Not unexpected. It was said to have been just a debugging tool for the KFC implementation.


    It wouldn't take much work to morph it into a very useful status display though. A bit more work would be a full blown editor, but if it had been done using html5 then it could have become a common interface for network-connected browsers and for the rig-manager. Both the IP and USB communications infrastructure code is already there. Look at the HTML5-based user-interface for the new small digital mixers from Soundcraft for an example of what is possible to get working in any HTML5-compliant browser today.


    I got to spend quite a bit of quality time with a Soundcraft mixer with the HTML based UI last weekend, it worked extremely well with multiple devices (smartphones of various makes, tablets, laptops). After using other digital mixers, mainly the Behringer units, I am convinced the HTML based route that Soundcraft uses is the way to go. It worked perfectly and you don't need to monkey around with apps, you just need a browser.