Posts by Guitarjazzman

@Ingolf: Did you compare the DVP3 to the EP1-KP? They seem to be the two main contenders if I am to go for the Remote. Also, did you find using the remote to be a worthwhile step up from the FCB1010? @Raoul23: Are you still happy with the DVP3?

Thanks @dougc84. I do have the Uno4Kemper chip already. I recalibrated the volume pedal a couple of times so that the tuner would be active when the volume pedal was set to minimum, although this feature has let me down when I needed it. It would work fine for most of the gig, but when I needed to silently tune to drop D during a medley, it wouldn't work. I have now assigned footswitch 10 to toggle the tuner on and off. This works fine, but I am really not keen on the FCB1010 expression pedals!

I have a DXR10 behind me, on its side angled to point at my head. I also have the DXR10 on an Auralex GRAMMA which probably helps. I have the DSP controls both set to 'off' on the DXR10 and couldn't be happier!

On a different topic, I am wondering whether to buy the Profiler Remote. I am now used to using the FCB1010 although not sure if much would be gained with the upgrade. If I did buy the Remote, are you guys still using the Dunlop DVP3 as an expression pedal? I have been researching and I think I remember that you both recommended this particular expression pedal. I am hoping that one expression pedal will be sufficient using the volume to wah setting.

The venue in which I played this evening is a terrible sounding room and any amp I have used there in the past has sounded terrible. I used my KPA tonight and couldn't believe the improvement. The room hadn't changed, but my KPA was a joy to play through and I had a great sound. The KPA continues to surprise me. Just thought I would pass that on!

I can definitely see the potential. Just need calibrate my feet!

I am having the same problem of getting used to a different floor unit. Gradually building a pedal board over a period of time, adding pedals as you go and getting used to one variable at a time is not so bad, but suddenly having a completely different way of thinking under your feet is quite a challenge!

I will probably order the Kemper Remote soon and will need one or two expression pedals. The Mission KP-1 sounds like a good choice.

@Section8 - Good to hear the first KPA outing was a success from song 2!

I have used my KPA on a few band gigs now and am still working on my sounds. I occasionally play a duo gig with a female vocalist using my 7 string archtop through a Polytone. The set is a mix of styles from classic jazz to modern pop songs. A last minute decision (again!) had me using my KPA in the duo last night. I quickly set up 5 slots in performance mode with various clean sounds and added a few effects. This way I could quickly change to a different rig if one wasn't working for me. As my gear wasn't set up in my studio, I did the setting up through headphones so was very worried that the sounds would not work for the gig.

The vocalist sent me a text asking what gear I would be using and when I told her that I was going to try the KPA, she asked if she could sing through my DXR10 and not bring her speakers. The resulting set up was Guitar - KPA - DXR10 and vocals - small mixer (for effects) - a second DXR10 input. It was a small venue, so I figured this could work.

The result was that I preferred playing through this rig than my Polytone. Apart from a reverb pedal, I don't use any effects in the duo. As I had my FCB1010 on the floor, I found myself breaking this rule last night. I couldn't remember what effects I had stored in which slots, so I randomly engaged some sounds. Great fun! This has opened up a whole new world of possibilities. Everything went much better than expected apart from when I decided to stomp on a sound from a different bank thinking it was an alternative clean sound. It was hilarious when during the subtle ballad, I engaged a huge, overdriven lead sound. I then panicked and frantically stomped on FCB1010 buttons to try and get back to where I was. Oops!!

@Section8 - Good luck with the first KPA outing. I hope it goes as well for you as it did for me.

I haven't got my KPA close by so can't check, but I think volume position was an option in the rig menu. Options were off, pre-stomps, post-stomps, pre-effects and post-effects I think.

@jessefildes - Yes, I purchased a second hand FCB1010 and installed the UNO4KEMPER chip. It works well, but Im sure the Profiler Remote will have many advantages.

Thanks for the recommendation @SwAn1.

Quote from mightypudge

It can be very overwhelming at first. I spent an entire day auditioning profiles the day before my gig, and I barely scratched the surface as to what is available. Luckily using Rig Manager you can really narrow down your search if you have an idea of the tone you're after.

Rig manager certainly does help with organisation, although I do have problems using it to organise performances. Most of the edits I made in Rig Manager would not transfer to the KPA so I ended up creating performances actually on the KPA.

Quote from Ingolf

Yes you can. Use the Volume to Wah function.
The pedal will work as a Wah whenever one is present in a rig. Else it works as a Volume pedal.

This is good news and a function I think will come in handy for me.

Thanks for the recommendations on profiles, I will check them out. I have read quite a few positive comments regarding the Michael Britt profiles. There are so many profiles and variations available for the Kemper that I could do with a week off to get to grips with it. Unfortunately that isn't possible, so I will continue to chip away at it.

Good luck with selling the Vox. I hope you get a good price as it is a great amp. I never use mine at home either so will no doubt get it on Ebay at some point too.

Can you use the DVP3 for wah on some profiles and volume on others? The way I use my AC30 is with a volume pedal after my drive pedal but not on the same signal chain as my clean sound (I use a looper strip). If I could have one expression pedal and have it as a wah option on clean sounds, then have it operating as a volume on some lead channels. that would suit me perfectly. Saying that, I will probably totally change the way I control things with the Kemper as I learn to use it anyway.

Thanks @mightypudge. It must have been strange to read someone else in your exact same situation. So you are selling the Vox? I don't want to sell mine as I still love the sound of it and like to have a real amp around, but the Kemper is so good that I will probably sell the Vox at some point.

I haven't got any specific favourite profiles yet. Saturday's gig was a real last minute decision so I sorted profiles by gain structure in Rig Manager, randomly chose some and tried to find sounds that would work for me and were familiar. I haven't purchased any profiles yet as I am going to wait and see what works over the next few gigs. I have already set up various banks in performance mode with similar profiles to what I used on the first gig so that I can quickly try variations out. I didn't have time on Saturday to get into stomps and effects and I also wanted to keep things simple for the first attempt. Once I find sounds that are working for me, I will probably look into purchasing some profiles.

Have you got any favourite profiles that are working well for you? Also, what foot controller are you using? I am wondering whether to order the Kemper Remote although I would also have to purchase two expression pedals if I am to have the same functionality as the FCB1010, so that will wait for a while I think.

Thanks everyone. I thought a summary might be helpful to other new users.

I'm now wondering if the Profiler Remote would be a better choice than the FCB1010. I didn't order one originally as they are quite expensive and I didn't know if the KPA would work for me. I presume I would also need to purchase two expression pedals to have the same functionality as the FCB1010?

So far, I have only used my profiler at home and due to limited time, have not learnt as much as I would have liked in how to get the best out of it. I made a last minute decision to use the Profiler at a gig last night as I figured I needed to start somewhere. I took my regular gear to the gig too just in case!

The gig was with a six piece band playing a range of styles from classic disco hits to modern pop songs with potential to let rip on a few more rock type songs, so it was a good test for the Profiler. I had no idea if the Profiler set up would work for me as I love the sound of my existing gear which is Strat into Vox AC30HW and quite a large pedal board with some cool sounding toys. Last night, I used Profiler main outs into the PA and monitor out into a Yamaha DXR10. I recently purchased a second hand Behringer fcb1010 via Gumtree and have added the Uno4kemper chip.

About an hour before the gig, I set up the Profiler by choosing two clean sounds and three dirty sounds that suited my playing and thought I would be comfortable with. I used the performance mode and used one bank of 5 sounds to keep things simple. I also calibrated the volume pedal so the tuner would work on the FCB1010 display as I need to silently detune to drop D tuning during a medley. The sounds in my studio were a bit boomy, so I was a bit concerned, but the Vox would be there as a backup plan, so I left for the gig.

Arriving at the venue, I positioned the DXR10 behind me, on an Auralex Gramma, pointing up to my head. I switched input 2 to 'monitor' which I thought would kill any boominess that I was experiencing at home. Firstly, I decided to get a sound through the PA. I needed to adjust the main output volume from the Profiler as the level hitting the PA was way too hot. After getting the level through the PA, I then set the volume level on the DXR10. The clean sound seemed much quieter than the dirty sounds, so I cranked up the input sensitivity to balance out the sounds. I also noticed that the volume pedal on the FCB1010 reduced the drive level on the dirty sounds. When using my Vox and pedal board, I have a volume pedal after my drive pedal so that I can ride the guitars volume pot to achieve a variety of sounds. I might have guitar volume very low through drive pedal and volume high on the volume pedal to get big fat clean sound. After a bit of searching, I set the volume on the Profiler to post effects which suited me better.

We then started to play...

Any concerns that I had of not liking the sound of my Profiler compared to my usual setup quickly disappeared. I have read many threads on Kemper vs real amp and the 'in the room' sound so I wasn't sure what to expect. The result was that I much preferred the Kemper! The band much preferred the sound too. Most of the band use in ear monitoring and for once, they could have a balanced mix of guitar through their headphones. I heard nothing but good comments all night! It was certainly different to the power and fatness of my Vox setup, although that is only really satisfying for me. I don't usually go through the PA at smaller gigs, so the Kemper will give a much better mix for everyone else which is really the most important thing to consider. I found that I could hear myself much clearer and even though I need to do some tweaking to perfect the sounds, the guitar fitted in the mix much better and it was easier to play.

So do I have any negative points? Not really, as they are things that I can rectify. My biggest problem was that when it came time to drop tune, the FCB1010 tuner display didn't work when I moved the volume pedal to zero. I quickly bent down and moved the knob on the Kemper to the tuner setting (luckily not too far to turn it off!) to silently drop tune. I presume that I simply need to re-calibrte the FCB1010 as it was working at the start of the gig. The issue with rig volumes not matching didn't seem to be a problem at gig level and I set the clean sensitivity back to 0. I turned off the 'monitor' setting on the DXR10 as if anything, the sound was a bit thin. Setting the switch to the centre position resolved this problem.

To summarise, my first gig with the Profiler was a resounding success! It went much better than I had hoped for. Now I have a setting that works for me, I am so looking forward to all the fun I can have with the virtually unlimited possibilities this box can offer. I will be backing up my Profiler today so my settings are safe. I thought I would share my experience with the Profiler on here in case there are other users out there who have not yet used it live as I was very apprehensive. Does it replace a real amp live? Oh yes!! And it has so much more to offer.

Thanks for the recommendations of output levels. Some of the profiles I have tried are fine, but others result in the output LED going into the red, even when I turn the level (on bottom row) down quite low. This is with a Strat, so it's not as though I am using high output pickups. My DXR10 has made a popping sound a couple of times when playing hard at home so I obviously need to fiddle with the settings.

I have recently purchased a Yamaha DXR10 and I am looking for some tips on how to set up my Profiler for live use. There is so much information online that I am spending too much time reading and not enough time tweaking!

My main two current setups for live use are:

Band - Strat into Vox AC30HW and various pedals (main drive is Wampler Dual Fusion).
Jazz gigs - 7 string archtop into Polytone Minibrute.

One band that I play in goes in ear... although not with an ideal setup. The option of individual mixes for each band member is not possible as the desk allows for two separate in ear mixes. I am thinking of going in ear and having the DXR10 pointing up at me to add more guitar to the mix if required (guitar being the most important part of the mix obviously ).

One problem I have been having is with the output clipping. I have read a few posts on this topic and it seems some users experience this problem and others don't.

Any tips on how to get up and running successfully, good live profiles, effects settings and links to existing articles that will help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

After reinstalling Rig Manager a few more times, it finally recognises my profiler. Phew!

I am on Yosemite version 10.10.4 and can't get Rig Manager to recognise my Kemper. I have reinstalled a few times with no luck. I was going to try my Kemper at a gig for the first time tonight, but have now wasted a ton of time trying to get it talking to my Mac. I don't have time to get it set up for the gig now!

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I use on frfr on the left main out its placed in front of me as a monitor. On my back, for the real boom i use a mesa boogie rectifyer 2x12 V 30 real cab powered by a linear 800 Watt power am. Its the t. Amp e 800 from Thoman Germany. I use this one at the monitor out with sim cab off. For the rcf i fixed a boogie recty V30 cab sim, so i have nearly the same sound in front and in the back of me. At studio level, the frfr sounds a little more hifi and the real cab muffeld a little bit. When i crank the system up there is a big smile on my face.awesome pressure and a lot of power becauce the rsf have 400 watts.

That sounds like an amazing setup!

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It's quite difficult to evaluate a cab's boominess in a closed environment, unless you know the room's acoustic modes by heart. These cabs are usually quite linear (the CLR being the most linear of all in the price tange), but even placing them on the ground or raised up on a pole makes them sound differently, because the floor enforces some frequencies.

I borrowed the DXR12 last night and found a switch that I changed from 'FOH' to 'Monitor'. That helped a great deal with boominess. I use an Auralex Gramma under my Vox cab usually and that helps on some problematic stages. I will try that out with whatever solution I buy as it will probably help with FRFR on the floor too.