Posts by Wheresthedug

  • Expression Pedals Compatible With Kemper

    i use the Mission for Wah only (I find it crap for anything else). I use the Boss FV500 for morphing. It works great, has a long travel and is build like the proverbial brick outhouse. The downside is it is huge and weighs a ton. I also have a a cheap as chips Zoom which also works well. Certainly better than the Mission but it’s plastic so isn’t as road worthy if that matters.

  • Which is a good value for Master volume parameter?

    it shouldn’t make much difference whether you increase Kemper and lower FRFR or the other way about. As long as you aren’t clipping the speaker input you should get fairly similar results.


    sustain tends to suffer as you decrease volume. Also our ears experience tone differently at lower volumes. In simple terms we hear more mids and less bass and treble. Therefore, you may want to try the following:


    increase gain higher than you would use live or recording


    perhaps add a compressor to increase sustain


    tweak the EQ (either by adding an EQ to the FX blocks which you can turn off when playing louder or by making an output EQ preset that you can apply for low volume bedroom practice)

  • Which DAW are you using with the Kemper?

    Quote from Monkey_Man

    If you don't mind the blank faces when folks hear what you use, go for Digital Performer.

    I’ve never used it myself but one of my mates does major Hollywood films and high end video game soundtracks. He has been using Performer since the ‘90’s when I was doing Radio Jangles with him. He still swears by it and wouldn’t use anything else. He sends hi projects to his mix engineer in Pro Tools but works in Performer himself.


    i think the best advice is “pick one and stick with it”. Most DAWs can do more than most of us will ever need but trying to learn to work multiple systems takes time and effort that could be used playing and creating.

  • Onkelz - Auf Gute Freunde need help to get this effect!

    you can’t get that sound with the tremolo. The on/off transition isn’t a hard square wave.


    i think the Tom Morello one is done with a kill switch. Interestingly, Tom doesn’t do that effect live on Bombtrack though.

    The Onkelz link has been removed but I looked it up and it also sounds like it could have been a kill switch. The other way to achieve something similar is to side chain a gate from an other instrument or an LFO sending a square wave but neither if those are possible in the KPA at the moment.

  • Updates information function when updating Via RM - aka RTFM mode

    There is usually a ReadMe file which contains the change log etc when updating using the USB stick. However, there is nothing which prompts you to read it other than the “Read Me” name.


    When you update via RM you can select the help tab and open the manual and an Addendum document which contains information on changes introduced in each update as well as operating instructions. This is fine but it takes a lot of effort to do and is easily missed.


    There is no way to make sure that we all read these at the moment so the Facebook Groups and Forums are filled with people asking the same questions or even worse complaining that things don’t work or the KPA can’t do X, Y or Z. I remember someone complaining on Facebook that it was ridiculous that you can have a Volume Pedal before AND after the amp block in the same rig. I explained that it is really easy to do and there are actually several ways to achieve the desired result. They argued that it isn’t possible and Kemper need to fix it immediately. I offered to to a video call on Facetime and show them exactly how to do it but the declined and continued complaining about if for at least another year.


    So here is my feature suggestion - RTFM mode.


    The first time you open RM after updating, instead of being taken to the Local Library, RM opens in the addendum document. You can’t get into passed this and into RM until you have read and understood every single word in the document. This would need to be confirmed by clicking the checkbox (like the “yes off course I read the licence agreement” button when installing). This confirmation then gets saved against your profile and Kemper support staff can see it. The forum software would also scan for this information on your profile when posting.

    As a result, if we try to post a question, or reply to a thread, and the profile hasn’t recorded the documentation acknowledgment field, you get a RTFM error message which stops you posting.


    I realise this is quite draconian and would be deemed unacceptable under normal circumstances. But these aren’t normal times. As a result of the global Corona Virus pandemic, governments around the world are enforcing totalitarian restrictions on the population and we are accepting this for the greater good of society. Maybe now is the time to slip something like this when compulsion is the new norm.


    Just think how mich time this would save Kemper staff.



    for the avoidance of doubt i am only joking. Boredom has really set in now with the Covid lockdown.

    Have fun with your guitar and Kemper and above all stay safe.

  • Show your latest guitar

    I would love to do an archtop with Mark but I don’t see it happening in the foreseeable future.


    i’ve just finished 1st year (early due to Covid 19) on my 3 year college course on stringed instrument making. Years 2 and 3 are an HND. I’m planning on doing 2 more acoustics next year possible another OM style and a classical or maybe 2 OMs to experiment with the differences between 12 and 14 fret joints.


    in 3rd year I’m thinking of doing an ergonomic fanned fret acoustic and an archtop.


    in the meantime I’m just butchering electrics at home. You should see my latest Tele; the CockUpCaster ????

  • Kone & Kabinet Q&A

    as far as I know it works along these lines (bear in mind I’m only a guitar player not a software expert)


    the Kone is a reasonably flat speaker but not totally flat


    to make it flat the signal goes through some digital signal processing (DSP) to apply eq which compensates for the inaccuracies in the speaker itself.


    to male it behave like a totally different speaker (Imprints) the signal goes through so magic process that only CK and the other boffins at Kemper understand but this is done with software too.


    The signal from the guitar is converted to digital to allow it to be processed as desired.


    the signal from the Aux in is processed independently of the guitar signal.

    The two signals can then be mixed together before being output or sent out separately.


    as the speaker characteristics are determined by the DSP applied to the signal rather than changing the speaker itself - both signals can behave totally different.



    that’s my layman’s explanation. I am sure it is probably wrong on some technical points but I reckon I won’t be too far off the general idea.


    hope that helps

  • Kabinet Kone - 2x12 loud enough for band?

    Quote from OneEng1

    Just my opinion .... but any 1x12 is "loud enough" for any band .... for several reasons:


    1. The cab should be mic'ed through the PA so that most of what the audience hears comes from the mains, not the guitar speaker.
    2. The volume on the guitar cab should only be up enough to get good action on the strings and let the guitarist hear themselves play. In fact, the cab should be put on a stand and tilted up toward the guitarist's head to that effect.
    3. If at all possible, the cab should be shielded away from the audience to keep it from beaming from the back (you really don't want any of the cab sound getting out in front any more than you have to IMHO.

    Now .... having said that, I know that there are LOTS of people out there gigging without having their guitar go through the PA in small to medium clubs. I just think that most of us graduate from that form of garage band style playing and up to making the band sound good at some point in our lives.


    No offence to those who play with just a cab. There really isn't anything like playing with a dimed amp for a guitar player. I am certain all of us here have experienced it. I just don't think that is a good way to make the band sound great.

    two words spring to my mind “Alan Murphy” ?


    he never seemed to have any problem being loud enough on stages like Wembley Arena with a 12w Fender Champ. Apparently people used to laugh when he turned up at gigs with the Champ until he turned on and they heard to tone he got.

  • Kemper automatically assigns profile a midi number?

    performance mode has a fixed number of performances which are always there. You fill them or leave them empty but they don’t get removed. If you don’t use performance mode the mnumbers don’t matter and don’t need to be removed.


    in browser mode you can remove midi numbers or reassign a new number of your choosing


    Rig Change in Browser Mode

    You can assign up to 128 MIDI program change numbers to Rigs in your browse pool. These assignments are set in the System Settings on page “Browser Mode PrgChg”.

    To assign a program change number to a Rig, first load the Rig in the Browser Mode. Then press the SYSTEM button. Navigate to the page “Browser Mode PrgChg” using the PAGE buttons.

    Select a desired program change number using soft knob “MIDI PrgChg#” and then press the soft button “Assign”. Use the soft button labeled “Unassign” to erase assignments.

    Without leaving this page you can use the RIG navigation cross to load other Rigs from your browse pool and perform more assignments.

    Received MIDI program changes are indicated by a small “#” icon and control changes by a small knob icon on the home screens in both Browser and Performance Mode. If bi-directional MIDI communication is established, this is reflected by a “two arrows” icon.

    Instead of using MIDI program changes, you can use control changes (#48-54) to load Slots in Performance Mode and Rigs in Browser Mode. Please refer to the tables in the previous paragraph.

  • Browse in groups of 5

    This may seem a bit strange and I'm sorry if I'm being OCD but here goes. ^^


    I still like the KPA physical interface as much as, if not more than, RM for most things. However, RM is much better for browsing rigs. Often I want to build a perfomance or audition rigs on the fly such as in rehearsals etc.


    I would like the ability to browse and audition rigs on the KPA screen in a more intuitive systematic fashion using the remote.


    While this method does work it is a little less user friendly than I would like. At the moment the browser list on the KPA groups the rigs in 2 columns of 4 rigs. The Remote, on the other hand, has the option for single rig browsing (using just the page up down foostswitches) or "group of 5" which browses banks of five rigs (using the 1 - 5 rig footswitches then stepping up or down a bank with the up/down arrows). It would be more logical to view and intuitive to navigate when browsing rigs if the columns on the list were also grouped in 5's so that each up/down arrow press moved you to the start of a new group of 5 rigs available from the footswitches.


    At the moment rig 5 is at the top of the second column then rig 6 ( rig 1 of the second bank) is the second position of the second column and you can't see what is in slots 4 or 5 of the bank. In the next bank bank up and we are at slot 3 of the first column for the first rig in the bank. For bank 4 we can see rigs 1 and 2 but not 3, 4 or 5.


    I know this is a minor thing and the screen space is limited on the KPA, but it would be much more intuitive if a way could be found to make this workable (a slightly smaller font or move the "Browse Rigs X of Y" banner to the side menu where the rig info is.