Am I in over my head?

    Happy New Year all!


    Brand new Kemper owner here. I'm a recreational guitar abuser who has reached a point in my life where I can buy nice toys.


    I have been playing through a rack-mounted system I compiled in the early 90s consisting of a GSP-21 Legend, a BBE 422A Sonic Maximizer, Digitech stereo EQ all through a Tube Works MosValve MV-962 with a 4x12 cabinet full of Peavy Scorpions. I've started noodling with Garageband and have been finally recording some of the musical ideas that have been bouncing through my head. The old setup wasn't cutting it for DI recording so I used it as a perfect excuse to get a Kemper.


    What the hell have I gotten myself into? Somebody convince me that I shouldn't box it back up and return it.


    The "Basics" instruction book that comes with the Kemper is crap. I thought the Youtube videos were good until I actually needed to figure something out. The "Deeper View and Reference Manual" is better but woefully lacking. I knew there would be a learning curve, but this is far more difficult than I thought it would be.


    How the hell do you learn to use this thing? Can anyone offer a reference to get up and running?


    Here's what I've figured out to do:
    -Setup. It's plugged in, hooked into the Presonus iTwo, out through the powered studio monitor speakers.
    -Rig manager. Installed, hooked up to the Kemper. Can browse everything, preview from Mac onto Kemper. I've figured out how to make rigs favorites.
    -Browser. I've figured out how to turn the chicken head to "Browser" and then use the "BROWSE" knob to go through different rigs
    -Remote. It is plugged in, I figured out how to use the looper pedal (thanks to the Youtube video), I can use the tuner, and sometimes move up and down between rigs


    What I can't do:
    -Make my own rig. Is it possible to take an amp profile, add some stomps in my desired arrangement with my desired settings and then save that as a preset? If so how!?


    Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. I'm willing to Skype, Facetime, phone, text, email, fly to Antarctica, anything it takes. The sounds of the Kemper are AMAZING--I just can't figure out how to manipulate the infernal thing.


    Thanks in advance.
    -Bryan

    Hi Bryan and welcome.


    What you're experiencing is normal for any complex endeavour. It seems like an unscalable mountain at first and the wins are few. Many people quit after a couple of weeks.


    I've been a guitarist for 35 years and am generally tech savvy, but it took me at least 3 weeks to start making big obvious gains. Now after a few months it's like an extention of me and I can make it do almost anything.


    Keep rocking amigo! :)

    If you're in Browse mode on the Kemper, press the Store button to save what you've changed.


    The tricky thing is that you can save the Rig you're using (replace), OR save it as a new one, OR just save the effect you've been tweaking (BryanBigDelay).


    Don't even bother with Performance mode yet.

    Quote from BryanC1775

    What I can't do:
    -Make my own rig. Is it possible to take an amp profile, add some stomps in my desired arrangement with my desired settings and then save that as a preset? If so how!?

    Hi @BryanC1775, welcome to the community!


    Let's suppose, you have picked nice amp profile, added some effects and tuned it to you liking. To save it as NEW RIG you have to speak to the microphone, which is in the back cavity of your Kemper - "SAVE THIS RIG". And clap twice.


    But seriously, Kemper hasn't implemented yet voice commands. So after you have picked nice amp profile, added some effects and tuned it to you liking, press STORE button (left to LCD screen) and choose appropriate option.


    Enjoy your new toy and Happy New Year.

    Well Happy New Year!! You summed up something very important "AMAZING" as far as the tone goes. That is by far the most important part of the equation, the rest will come and only make it better. Welcome also.

    Hey Bryan,
    It takes time bro, I am five months into it and I am still feeling like a beginner, but I have come a long ways… Just be patient and take a little bit at a time, you will discover the tweakability of this thing is unbelievable, enjoy!
    Keith

    Welcome!


    You're not in over your head and most of us felt a little overwhelmed when we first started with the KPA.


    Watch the vids first and then be prepared to dig a little into the manual once you understand the basics.


    There are a lot of very helpful people here who will fill in any gaps and pass on the shared wisdom.


    Si

    Thanks for the welcome from everyone.


    So, no good reference like a "So you just bought a Kemper and you would like to use it" book or video? I've watched all of the videos. What is missing is one titled "How to take a rig and make it your own."


    I'll keep plugging on. If anyone is looking to make a mint on Youtube, they should make a Kemper How-To channel.

    From the reference manual:


    Press and hold any STOMP button to bring it into focus. If the stomp is active the display will change its color tomatch the effect. The soft knobs will display the parameters available to edit.
    There are two ways to choose a new effect: either turn the BROWSE knob to select a new local effect Preset, or turnTYPE, to change the basic algorithm of the Module.

    - First thing to do is stay out of rig manager.
    - read the manual that came with the Kemper
    - watch the online (YouTube) tutorials


    Then you can begin to have fun and get back to the using the rig manager.

    Welcome to the forums, Brian! The manual isn't really that bad, sit with it when using the Kemper and follow the instructions.


    To get you sorted out, I've written these mini guides for you. Glad to have you aboard!


    How to add an Effect:
    1) Identify the various buttons marked A, B, C, D, X, Mod, Delay and reverb. They are right at the top of the unit.
    2) To add an effect to a slot, press the button once. It will come into focus in the display.
    3) You may turn the browse knob if you want to look at preset effects
    4) If you want to build an effect from the ground up, turn the "type knob" (which is to the left of the browse knob).
    5) Once you have selected an effect, hold on for a second till the effect parameters come into focus.
    6) Turn the knob beneath each parameter to make changes. Remember that if you press the < or >, you can navigate to the previous or next page of parameters.
    7) Once you are done making changes to an effect in a slot, press the exit button to return to the main screen. Repeat for any other slots.



    How to store a rig:
    1) Press the store button
    2) Choose replace, or new, or (I forget the third option)
    3) If you choose new, you can change the name of the profile. Use the left most and right most knobs under the screen to change characters. Use the directional buttons to move to the next or previous character. Use the soft buttons above the display to insert or delete a character (what knob does what is always displayed below the soft button)
    4) When done, hit store again.


    Happy New Year!

    I was a technician with some IT-experience and needed about 3 months to ride the Kemper.
    A little patience can't hurt. ;)
    I can spare you the flight to Antarctica.
    A member of the forum for many years and unfortunately visite the forum not any more wrote a turorial for newbies.


    It doesn't take into account the latest developments but still helps a lot.
    Good luck, welcome and a cup of baldrian :)

    @BryanC1775 Hi Bryan, ill tell you what you got your self into Brother, the best gear on the planet that will keep surprising you after some basic and progressive experimentation and the most important the nicest people in the world on this forum. :)


    You will kick your self how easy it is to do what you listed there when you get it man.
    Really good advice from these guys and i thank them.


    Ash

    Have a beer and don't sneer. -CJ. Two non powered Kempers -Two mission stereo FRFR Cabs - Ditto X4 -TC electronic Mimiq.

    Like 3

    Hi,


    I played a gsp 21 too, and a rocktron intellyflex, eventide harmonizer, sev. reverb 19" units and all this crazy 80th and 90 th rack stuff. All routed by midi and endless tweak sessions and midi program session.
    Believe me, the kpa is not a plug and play unit, but it's much more comfortable as this old stuff when you take time with it. Check out the manuals and the vids, as recommended.
    The simplest things, like storing a rig ans setting fx are described perfectly and the manual is far away from crap. Set the unit up as it should ( input- outputs) and start your journey into fantastic sounds. Use the search function in his forum, many questions where already answered in comments here.


    If you have a special question, please post it in this forum. I am shure you get quick answers.
    Welcome!!


    Cheers
    Frank

    The manuals I think are good BUT it tells you how to do things but not the basics of how it works. I found the terminology the most confusing


    Some basics which might help:


    The KPA has no sounds itself, they all come from profiles. There are some profiles already in the KPA to get you started so have a play.


    A rig is made up of the map, cab and effects. You can add whatever you want then store it as whatever name you want. Effects on the left ( A, B, C, D ) are as if they are direct into the front of your amp and X, Mod, Delay and reverb are post pre-amp (like your effects loop).


    Scroll dial is on the front. Press and hold an effects slot and scroll through the effects (there are plenty). If you want an effect enabled when you select the rig, save with it on. If not save with it off and its then switchable.


    In browse mode its good for just scrolling through rigs, performance mode is good for live settings where you assign rigs to slots ( patches) which you can switch between.


    It looks complex to start but that's only for the detailed features ( e.g. morphing). Most of it is like a regular amp, its only complex because of the options.


    Just ask any basic questions and we can help, I promise you'll get the basics up and running quickly.


    Hang in there...