My Player first-world problem

I've got my Kemper Profiler Player Level III (KPP III) working with the Airstep and Airstep Lite. That gives me up to 17 foot switches and the option to use a couple of expression pedals**.

I'm getting along well with Rig Manager on a 9-inch Android tablet (5 years old and it's fine for this application). I can take just the KPP III or bring along some or all of the other stuff to scale up when necessary.

I'm as happy to use this rig as my Stage - maybe happier.

My problem is - What to do with the Mk I Profilers* around here? I don't want to give up using the fixed effects in the KPP III, and I don't want to have two sets of rigs (KPP III and MK I Profilers) to manage.

When the new profiling is released, I'll have to make some decisions.

The Mk I Profilers don't owe me anything. I've gotten more value out of them than pretty much anything else around here except the guitars.

* Mk I Profilers
2014 Original White-Face Profiler with Remote
2020 Stage
2021 Power Rack with Remote and Kab

** 17 foot switches

• 5 foot switches on the KPP III (includes two combo switch options 1+2 and 2+3)
• 2-foot switches using a 2-button switch connected to the KPP III
• 10 foot switches on the Airsteps (5 on each Airstep)
• 2 expression pedals connected to the Airstep

I can't imagine needing all this stuff at the same time, but I can use different combinations to scale up/down as necessary.

Quote from Grooguit

For you, owning the MK1 stage is the ideal backup for your set up. While the details aren't available yet, it's been said the MK1s will play the new profiles at a lower resolution. Perhaps certain parameters you can adjust on MK2 are fixed in their saved state if loaded on MK1? Time will tell once firmware is announced, but I suspect Kemper will make this process seamless, so that loading an MK2 Rig or Profile into MK1 doesn't require any additional steps (other than lacking any active fixed effects) At current resale, a used MK1 stage will not net you enough to buy a second Player and upgrade it to level three. Further, one of the things that can go wonky in your setup is failure of a midi controller, accidental reset, etc. With a Stage, you have a full backup of most, if not all of your switching needs with zero programing. *Just make sure you set your midi controller to toggle the four effect nodes, not specific effect blocks, like A, Delay, or Reverb. Using the four nodes gives you to option to have unique toggles in each Rig as well as perfect compatibility with the four effect toggles on your Stage.

Thanks for your thoughts. I appreciate your weighing in.

Quote from Grooguit

Remember that the fixed effects are just trimmed down versions of effects already available in MK1. So there's really two approaches to using them

1. err on using the fixed effects when their simplicity will do the job, so that you have as many of the original 8 effects slots available for other things should you desire more complexity later. This keeps things on the Player itself more organized, since it's easier to keep similar effects in the same slot in every Rig.

I was really excited (in principle) about using the fixed effects and freeing up some effects blocks. But I have never felt constrained by having *only* four effects blocks on either side of the Amp & Cab.

It also made sense to me to keep similar effects in the same slot on every Rig and this seemed simpler if I used the fixed effects.

Quote from Grooguit

2. Err on not using the fixed effects unless you run out of room for all the simultaneous things you need active at the same time. This option ensures that as many Rigs as possible on your Player will be a seamless transfer to your MK1 Stage.

Unless I’m missing something, I can ignore the fixed effects on the Player, then I could keep one of the my Mk I Profilers as the main unit for creating Rigs and Performances (the source) and transfer those rigs to the Player in banks from Performances. This will probably goof up the way I assign effects to the Effects buttons, and assign Effects to the Footswitches on the Player.

Over recent years, I have spent far less time tweaking rigs and experimenting with effects. Perhaps, when the excitement of the new Player wanes, I’ll get the setup to a stable place and just play it.

Being able to swap backups around is an operational ideal, but not essential.

I’ve never had a catastrophic failure with my Kemper Profilers.

At some point I may roll up to the local music store and see what they’ll give me for Mk1 Profilers against a Stage Mk2.

As I get more familiar with Rig Manager (instead of the screen and knobs on Profilers), I could probably let the original Toaster and Powered Rack go.

Quote from Steve5478

I'm in the same boat.

I bought a Stage in 2019 and really love it. (it's only 6 years old). It's my main unit and one Kemper's flagship....

I had thought about buying a second Stage (mark I) as a backup and having two units ; one at home to do my settings and one at rehearsal room. For me it was a too much important investment as a backup.

When the Player was launched and it was announced that it will have the same possibilities in the future (slots FX, etc (with fee)), i bought it.

The price for level II and III was a bad surprise. At the end, i've spend more than a used Stage for my backup and the ergonomic is not as good as my Stage.

It's tempting to compare the Player (III) to the Stage, but there can be situations where they are not interchangeable. Situations where only one of them will do the job.

Tonight, I was invited to play a couple of guest sets with a buddy's band. It was in a crowded pub where the stage area was just a corner where they had removed some tables. There was barely enough floor space for the Player and my battery pack. It would have been a problem if I had brought the Stage.

I had created a Bank of Rigs for precisely this situation, and it worked brilliantly. Because I run off a battery pack, I was set up and ready to go in less time than it took for the sound guy to run an XLR cable from the stage box digital mixer.

The bassist (also a guitarist) was surprised and impressed by the size and the sound. He muttered something about his new Quad Cortex. But I'll leave it that he was impressed with the Player.

Back to the ergonomics.

Screen:
I rarely look at the screen on my Stage except to confirm that I'm in the correct Performance. I'm' getting to know the colours on the Player for the banks, and it's easier for me to see them than to read the screen on the Stage

I set up Rigs and Performances in advance, mostly using Rig Manager. For me, the absence of a screen isn't a problem.

Knobs and buttons
These are the things I'm most likely to change on the fly:
1. Master Volume
2. Gain
3. Bass Middle Treble
4. Reverb (time/mix)
5. Delay (feedback/mix)

Because I started with the Profiler (toaster), I got used to having physical knobs for Reverb and Delay. I missed them on the Stage. But I can have them back on the Player by assigning them to FX1 and FX2.

For me, this is an improvement over the Stage.

Footswitches
I was sure that having only three footswitches (actually five if you use combinations) was going to be a problem. The Stage has twelve.
For what I did tonight, the three footswitches worked well. When I need more functionality underfoot, I use an Airstep+Airstep Lite, giving me ten more footswitches. So, I'm okay with the footswitch situation, especially since I scale up or down depending on the gig.

Quote from Steve5478

Mark II, is annoying, it drives me exactly where i didn't want to go ;

- Two units that goes a separate way

While we can't know what the future will bring, right now, I think the Mk II has more in common with the Mk I than it has differences.

Quote from Steve5478

- My Stage start being obsolete too only after 6 years (don't understand why it can't have fixed effects, i have been bored by some that the limits were far from being reached). I would have preferred that Kemper would have launched a totally new "geeky" device (touchscreen, parallel path, etc....) and let the previous units live and evolve the same way....

I'm just waiting to see what happens next...

We live in exciting times.

A couple of weeks have gone by, and I have used the KPP III for everything. However, the other day, I set it up beside the Stage I, with both connected to Rig Manager (on Windows). Where the KPP III can feel a little cramped, the Stage felt spacious.

For compatibility, I've decided not to use the Fixed Effects in the KPP III. I don't use a lot of effects, and having four slots on either side of the Amp is plenty for me. Over the course of eleven years, I've never felt constrained by that configuration.

So now, the KPP III and Stage I are functionally the same (absent the screen, effects loop, and better state feedback from the LEDs when using the looper). I'm happier with the portability of the KPP III.

I got the KPP III a month ago, and if only for an incentive to take a deep dive into the Kemperverse, it's been worth it. I had grown too familiar with my three or four go-to Performances, and long ago stopped exploring. I suppose that's appropriate. I shouldn't buy gear as a diversion from playing. And once the gear is working, the effort should go into the music, right? But for the last month, it's been great fun to explore things I had long forgotten, or newer features I had never discovered.

I just got a call, and I have to go out of town for a few days. I'm going to dust off my Steinberger.

I've got the KPP III all set to do everything I'll need with just the footswitches on the unit. I'll take a battery pack and my compact wireless kit. Done.