Kemper KPA Basic Controls
The KPA has a lot of buttons on its front, and it can be a bit intimidating at first. However, I believe the design is amazing, offering quick and intuitive control over lots of different things.
Contents
- 1 Mode Select Switch
- 2 Input/Output Buttons
- 3 Signal Chain Buttons
- 4 Quick Edit Knobs
- 5 Type/Browse Knobs
- 6 Big Knobs
- 7 Rig D-Pad Buttons
- 8 Page Left/Right (</>) and Soft Buttons above Display
- 9 Store and Exit
- 10 Lock
- 11 Copy, Paste, Undo, and Redo Buttons
- 12 System and Rig Buttons
- 13 Tap Tempo Button
- 14 Quick Button
- 15 On/Off Button
Mode Select Switch
The chickenhead knob in the lower left corner is used to turn the unit on/off, as well as select what mode the KPA is using. It has the following choices:
- Off
- Tuner - Just displays a simple tuner for tuning up. Note: the tuner is active in other modes, displayed via the Tuner LED circle on the front of the unit.
- Browser - View, sort, filter, and load the rigs stored in your KPA. Displays the rig name and other relevant rig information.
- Perform - Used for live performances, where rigs can be stored in banks/slots that mirror a floorboard. Displays bank/slot and rig name in large text so you can read from on stage.
- Profiler - Create new profiles.
Input/Output Buttons
Tap the Input or Output buttons to access Input/Output parameters, such as selecting the active input and changing the output mode of each available physical output. For more, see Inputs and Outputs.
I recommend locking input, so that it is the same for every rig. The only exception is where you have a more-complicated-than-usual setup and need to vary what inputs or noise gate settings are used per rig. Output is always global.
Signal Chain Buttons
The KPA's virtual signal chain mirrors the layout of the top row of buttons.
- A > B > C > D > Amp > EQ > Cabinet > X > Mod > Delay > Reverb
Note: This is not always 100% accurate. There are parallel path options for the rig and alternate placement options available for certain blocks.
Each of these buttons corresponds to a block, which is a discrete form of processing for the signal chain. For instance, a block might hold a particular effect or the simulation of an amplifier. Tapping any of these buttons will disable/enable that block in the signal chain. (Disabling is equivalent to removing it from the chain.) Holding a button will bring up the edit mode for that block. Once a block is selected (edit mode), you can use the Type and Browse knobs (discussed more below) to select the desired effect type, profile, or preset. You can return to the home view by pressing the Exit button to the right of the display.
Below the block buttons for each piece of the signal chain are the 3 buttons Stomps, Stack, and Effects. These buttons control the entire sections that encompass the blocks above them. Tapping a section button will disable/enable the entire section. Holding it will bring up its respective edit mode. Each section is covered below:
Stomps
The blocks labeled A, B, C, D represent assignable effects. Since they are processed before the virtual amp (profile), they are called "Stomps", similar to how most effects used in front of a real amp have a stomp box form factor. The common effects you'd place here include dirt pedals and wah; however, you are free to assign virtually any effect type to these blocks. Note: certain stereo effects may operate in mono when placed in one of these blocks.
By holding the "Stomps" button, you enter the Stomps edit mode, which has the useful feature of allowing you to reorder the stomps. You use the buttons above the display to move left and right to highlight a stomp, select it, then move it left and right.
Stack
The Stack section contains the Amp, EQ (sometimes called ToneStack), and Cabinet blocks. When the KPA creates a profile, it actually creates two profiles - one for the amp (feel/response and distortion tone) and one for the cab (frequency balance, resonance, and speaker characteristics). These blocks are different from all the rest, as most of their data is created through the profiling process and cannot be accessed or changed from the onboard controls.
The EQ block contains the standard Bass, Midrange, Treble, and Presence controls (BMTP) found on a real amp. These can be directly manipulted through the large bass, midrange, treble, and presence knobs rather than having to enter edit mode for the block. Their settings are displayed via the LED ring around them, as well as being displayed numerically when adjusted. The settings can be stored as a preset like every other block.
Note: the EQ block is the same for every rig - it does not adjust to match the profile of the actual amplifier as modelers typically do. This can be good and bad - good in that you have consistency and know exactly what to expect from the ToneStack, but bad in that it takes more profiles of real amp settings to accurately match its actual operation.
In edit mode, the EQ block has a checkbox for pre/post operation. This determines if the EQ is applied before or after the amp block. When used as pre, it will have a greater impact on the distortion tone, rather than in post, where it only controls how loud certain frequencies are vs. others, which is how amplifiers are usually designed in regards to these controls.
Effects
The Effects section contains 4 blocks just like the Stomps section; however, Delay and Reverb are special - they are limited only to delay and reverb types of effects, while all other blocks are incapable of loading such effects. X and Mod function much like the Stomps, but they made have additional parameters for stereo separation that are not available when used as a Stomp.
Quick Edit Knobs
Below the signal chain buttons are 6 quick edit knobs. These can be used to tweak parameters of the Mod, Delay, and Reverb blocks without having to hold those buttons to enter their edit modes.
Type/Browse Knobs
Turning the Type or Browse wheels will enter a browser view mode for whatever block was selected. Using Browse looks for presets, profiles, or rigs depending on which block if any is highlighted. Presets can be used to store the effect type and its settings, individually or multiple blocks together as a whole stomps/stack/effects section.
Changing Type will show a list of all the built-in effect algorithms inside the KPA - a much smaller list than the list of all presets. Unlike Browse, it will only load effects with default settings. If no blocks are selected, then the browser will show you the available rigs (patches containing full signal chains) inside your KPA.
Be sure not to mix these up, as it can be quite confusing. Also be sure to give good names to effects presets when you store them to be able to quickly find them, yet know what each one does.
Big Knobs
The big knobs at the bottom of the KPA include Bass, Mid, Treb, and Pres (BMTP), as well Gain and Volume. These are rig level settings. While Gain is varied because each profile is matching the real amp's gain, the other settings are set to neutral (12 o'clock), displayed in the KPA as <0.0>. BMTP are connected to the ToneStack block when no blocks are in edit mode. Otherwise, they can be used to control parameters of the block selected (referred to as soft knobs).
There are also the Noise Gate and Master Volume knobs. The Noise Gate controls the Input block's Noise Gate. The Master Volume control is not part of any block and can control any of the outputs that have been linked to it via the Output Settings.
Rig D-Pad Buttons
The D-Pad arrangement of buttons on the right side is used to select rigs, or effect types/presets after turning the Type/Browse knobs to enter a browser view. The buttons can be held down to navigate more quickly. When no blocks are selected, it changes the rig that is loaded. Left/Right pick the previous/next rig, while Up/Down are like page up or page down, jumping based on the sort order. For instance, when sorted by author, up/down will jump between authors.
Page Left/Right (</>) and Soft Buttons above Display
The Page < and > buttons move through "pages" for whatever particular block you have selected. Each page has up to 4 range-based parameters connected to the BMTP knobs and 4 checkbox parameters controlled by the soft buttons above the display.
Store and Exit
To the left and right of the display are the Store and Exit buttons. Store starts the dialog to save whatever block/section you have open or the rig you have loaded. You will go through a couple menu choices, then get to the rig/preset name. Once setting the name, press Store again to save the rig/preset. You have the option to Replace or Store As for rigs. For presets, there is no replace option and you can save multiple presets with the same name, which can be confusing.
Exit is essentially a cancel or back button. If you are editing an effect, it will exit the edit view and return to the rig overview. If you start a Store dialog and want to cancel, Exit will back out without storing.
Lock
The Lock button can be used to "lock" any particular block (including whole sections and input/output but excluding System and Rig). This prevents the block/section from changing in any way when changing rigs or section presets. The only way to change a locked block/section is to manually edit it. This is great if you want to use the same effects settings or to use one awesome cab profile on possibly any rig or profile, including ones loaded directly from the Rig Exchange using Rig Manager.
Locking can be engaged by pressing lock when in edit mode for the particular block. You should see a small lock icon appear on the right side of the display. When no blocks are selected, holding Lock will display all the blocks that are locked by lighting up their buttons. Tapping any button while holding Lock will lock/unlock it.
Copy, Paste, Undo, and Redo Buttons
Effect type/settings can be copied and recalled using the Copy and Paste buttons. Sections and profiles work as well. When editing a block, press Copy, then hold another block to edit it and press Paste. If you make a mistake editing, you can press Undo, or use Undo/Redo to A/B a particular tweak.
System and Rig Buttons
These buttons are used to access System (global) and Rig level settings.
Tap Tempo Button
The Tap Tempo button is used to set the tempo for tempo-controllable effects such as Delay. Just tap it on each beat for a few beats. This will override any manual setting in the Rig block. It can also be held to activate beat scanner for tempo auto-detection based on the pick attack of your playing.
Quick Button
This is quick access to a particular system/rig menu page or to enter/exit edit view for the last selected effect/profile/section, which is set in the system menu.
On/Off Button
This simply turns the currently selected effect or section on/off. It's pretty useless, since you can just as easily tap the appropriate signal chain button (A, B, C, D, Amp, EQ, Cab, X, Mod, Delay, Reverb, Stomps, Stack, or Effects).