Kemper Amps Forum

Quoted from "guitarman149"

Wow thanks for the great response peeps.

I haven't had that long to play with it, but I've updated my kemper to the latest firmware, got a few cabs off of the net and installed these via USB and recorded a song with pretty much stock settings.

I play in lots of different styles but something I've never really done is ambient music, I got so inspired by some of the tones in the Kemper that I had to push the record button, namely "Tabla Delay", "Surf's Up", "CK Rotary Speaker" & "Use Your V. Knob"...

Superb for amp profiling, but also great for those weird effects too. I have many a nice valve amp (some of which I will try putting up) but the effects are just great outta this thing and a hell of a lot more portable than my current 'gig rig pro 14' rig with rare pedals and flightcase.


Here's a link to the song I got inspired to record http://soundcloud.com/chrisoleary/kemper-test-dance-domino

Enjoy

I really expected to hear Madonna start singing ... - and I liked it

Hey, regarding your new poll - there are some of us who didn't own a modeler at the time we bought our KPA ...

I can't speak to midi control via the GR-55....use the search function for midi and CC codes to get more specifics for tap tempo, etc.

In my experience when you want gain, choose a profile with gain. When you want crunch, choose a profile with crunch. Or, add a stomp in front of the rig section or, add eq in the X-block to tame the top-end a bit. Usually, just adding gain (via the gain control) to an existing clean profile is sub-optimum...you can add a bit, but more than a bit can get gritty/fizzy. On the other hand, cleaning up a distorted profile works much better.

Make sure your "Clean Sense" and "Distortion Sense" are dialed-in to your guitar. Visit the cab controls section, where a good bit of difference can be made just by changing the cab eq.

Plan on spending some time auditioning the MANY existing profiles on the exchange. You can pretty quickly find profiles that match what your ear wants to hear.

BTW, what were you using for stage monitoring?

I find the crunch tones to be the most difficult to tame as well. However, I will say that I've had much better luck using single coils (my strat) for those. In general, everything but the most beastly overdrive seems to sound better to my ears with my strat when using the KPA. It just loves single coils!

Quoted from "Dlaut"

Make sure your "Clean Sense" and "Distortion Sense" are dialed-in to your guitar. Visit the cab controls section, where a good bit of difference can be made just by changing the cab eq.

+1 on the Clean and Distortion Sense controls. These can make a big difference in your tone. I personally don't fool with cab eq, as I find that too dramatic. I stick with eq in the stomps and effects sections, and adjust the overall stack eq as the final adjustment. I'm sure the next guy will have a totally different approach though ...

Quoted from "guitarman149"

crunch = not good at all, very harsh edges, very digital sounding (any tips anyone to smooth this out?)

I found the factory rigs lackluster in the crunch departement as well. But that is due to the amps and the cab selection. Many amps are profiled with a cab I wouldn't choose for that specific amp or it was profiled with a mic I wouldn't use.

Better than tweaking a profile that just doesn't have what you are looking for, I'd choose a different profile or use a different cab. If you are on FW 1.1 you should have profiles of a S. Mehl and Siggi Mehl amp. Try those for a start and save off all cabs of the various profiles. It's a Greenback cab you will definitely want for crunch sounds. Try that cab with the various Marshalls from the rig exchange. There is a Golub Marshall profile that is the godfather of crunch when you pair it with that Siggi Mehl Greenback cab. I just recorded a song with a Green Day vibe and that Golub Marshall was just THE sound.

There are also many other great crunch profiles. Try Pete Turleys Marshalls, they sound fantastic and save off his cabs either. They are vintage Marshall cabs with original Pulsonic cones, you can't get much better than that.

Also try the various free packs of the user And44 (can be found here in the forum). He has a great WEM Dominator profile that can be paired with the Greenback as well for a great 18-Watt-Marshall-like crunch. Andy also has a commercial rigs that I would highly recommend, but they are not free and you might want to see how far you get with free profiles first.

If you can tell us a bit about the sound you are after I could walk you through some profiles that would be suitable. The Kemper can do a lot better than the factory rigs suggest. That goes for the clean sounds as well. The best Fender clean I've found so far is the '64 Vibroverb from Alexis Boyer. It just kills with a strat.

Quoted from "guitarman149"

regarding the new poll, well i guess you can't of sold a modeller since buying the Kemper if you didnt own a modeler first

LOL

I guess what Zappledan meant was that some members might respond with a "No" just because they did not own a modeller. Nerds' stuff, ya know

(such as: "John, please, go to the store and buy 6 eggs. If they have milk bottles, buy two" The nerd came back with two eggs)

Quoted from "viabcroce"

Quoted from "guitarman149"

regarding the new poll, well i guess you can't of sold a modeller since buying the Kemper if you didnt own a modeler first

LOL

I guess what Zappledan meant was that some members might respond with a "No" just because they did not own a modeller. Nerds' stuff, ya know

(such as: "John, please, go to the store and buy 6 eggs. If they have milk bottles, buy two" The nerd came back with two eggs)

Correct. In my case I didn't do the poll because I couldn't really answer yes or no and have it fit the intent of the poll. Others might answer no. I figured a third option of "n/a" would have solved that ...

Quoted from "guitarman149"

Zappledan I've now added N/A for ya

And I've used it