Probably Really Dumb Kemper Questions

[Melodeath]

I've just started considering getting a Kemper, because I've realized I'm never going to have enough money to purchase/check out all the real amps I'm interested in, and I think it would inspiring as a cool new "toy" for my guitar rig, which literally hasn't changed in 10 years. So, here are my probably very dumb questions about the Kemper.

1) I understand that when you profile your own amps, you go through an initial profile step, and then a "refinement" step if you wish. I'm not sure exactly what refinement does - measure the dynamics of your playing? If you download someone else's profiles, are you supposed to run the refinement step with your own guitar/pickups/hands, even though you don't own the profiled amp, or does it not work that way? Can refinement only be done when you initially profile the amp and have it connected?

2) Can you save different presets of the same profiled amp, but with different delay settings/tap tempos on each patch? I'd assume this is a basic function, but I want to be sure.

3) If I'm using the Kemper live, do I need the Kemper Footswitch, or is there some cheaper footswitch I could use to swap presets/patches? My main need is just to switch to a tuner mode (not sure if that's possible with the Kemper Footswitch), and to turn on delay/boost for leads.

4) I understand that before firmware 3.0, the amp/cab/mic were profiled together as one unit. If you profile your amp and cab, and then run the Kemper through your real cab, but turn the kemper Cab off, how close does it sound to the real amp through the real cab?

Thanks

 

[Jormyn]

1. When you profile an amp, the Kemper plays a bunch of crazy UFO noises through your rig, listens to the output, and does some math to figure out how to recreate that amp/cab/mic in its software. Refining lets you play through your rig - big ringing chords are recommended - the Kemper compares your dry input to what it gets back from the mic, and uses that to refine (hence the name) the math it did the first time in order to get even closer. I think the idea is that it's getting a better look at how the amp responds to multiple notes.

You can't refine a downloaded profile, since you don't have the original rig.

2. Absolutely. There are a few different ways to organize stuff, but the easiest method is to use Browse mode as a library of amps, patches, tones, and then Performance mode for actually setting up a bank of patches. Performance mode also lets you make tweaks to your rigs that are kept completely separate from the originals in Browse.

3. Pretty much any MIDI board will work. You can also use normal footswitches (momentary, I think, not sure) for a few functions if you don't need to do too much. The most popular option seems to be a Behringer FCB1010 with the custom Uno4Kemper chip installed - you just calibrate the expression pedals and it's good to go. Additionally, the Kemper will automatically switch to tuner mode if you have a volume pedal and turn it to 0 for a few seconds.

4. Before 3.0, turning the cab off and playing the amp module through the same real cab was... maybe 90% there? I never spent much time on it, but it was more than good enough for most people. Some people also profiled amps by themselves with a load box, in which case you would leave the Cab button on the Kemper turned on and get an even more realistic result.

 

[Melodeath]

3. Pretty much any MIDI board will work. You can also use normal footswitches (momentary, I think, not sure) for a few functions if you don't need to do too much. The most popular option seems to be a Behringer FCB1010 with the custom Uno4Kemper chip installed - you just calibrate the expression pedals and it's good to go. Additionally, the Kemper will automatically switch to tuner mode if you have a volume pedal and turn it to 0 for a few seconds.

4. Before 3.0, turning the cab off and playing the amp module through the same real cab was... maybe 90% there? I never spent much time on it, but it was more than good enough for most people. Some people also profiled amps by themselves with a load box, in which case you would leave the Cab button on the Kemper turned on and get an even more realistic result.

Thanks! That helps a ton

3) Interesting feature regarding the Kemper switching automatically to Tuner mode. I guess the issue is I'd have to turn around on stage and look at the Kemper, or is there a footswitch with a display that would link up with Kemper's tuner? I guess I could just use a separate tuner pedal in front of the Kemper

4) Sweet. So with the loadbox, they would go Speaker output into the Kemper Mic In?

 

[Trevoire520]

For the new Merged profiles in 3.0 you basically make 2 profiles and merge them together.

So you make a "studio" profile using the signal coming from the mic, capturing the amp/cab/mic, then you make a "direct" profile by using a DI box that is able to handle speaker level signals and plugging the XLR out of the DI into the Kemper to capture the sound of the amp before it hits the cabinet.

You then merge these two profiles together, and the Kemper will run the studio profile when the cab is on, and the direct profile when the cab is off. (at least that's my understanding of it)

 

[Jormyn]

3) Depends on the floorboard. The Kemper Remote has a display, and a FCB1010 + U4K chip will use the FCB's number display to show you the tuner. Not sure about any others.

4) Amp's speaker out --> Load box speaker in, Load box line out --> Kemper return. Or something like that.