Learned a new trick to get better tone

  • Well, I am about 2 months into my ownership of the Kemper. The honeymoon is definitely NOT over ;)


    I had a really busy gig schedule for the last month while using my Kemper with a set of rigs I picked out and put into performances, so I haven't really messed with the tone of the rigs yet.


    I found some really nice sounding rigs up on the rig exchange and put them into my favorites to try out.


    I setup a few sets of performances to specifically trial the new rigs against the current set of rigs I am using for various purposes (clean, pushed, crunch, heavy).


    After equalizing the volumes of each rig, I tweaked the eq on the tone stack to get a pleasing sound with my single coil Lindy Fralin strat pickups.


    Then I started playing around in an area I read about here on the forums, but never really tried; clarity and direct mix in the amplifier section.


    Wow! What a difference this makes! I have heard some people say that some profiles sounded like the KPA had a pillow over the speaker. While I never quite felt that it was that bad, there were several patches that I felt were just a bit muddy and covered up the wonderful natural tone of my custom pickups.


    For those of you that haven't messed with these parameters, I highly recommend it. By increasing the clarity a bit and raising the direct mix a bit, I was able to get more bite and a more natural sounding tone from many of the rigs that I already had as favorites. I was also able to improve the sound of many of the rigs I got off of the rig exchange.


    Disclaimer ....


    I tend to like a "clean" distortion where the natural sound of the guitar can still be heard. So my new found technique may not be for everyone ;)


    Still really lovin on my Kemper after 2 months. It just keeps getting better!

  • +1


    I have very high output pickups and add clarity (usually around 4.5) to every mid to high gain patch I have and everything I do seems to come through no matter how much gain I use (mistakes especially!!). I'm not particularly fond of my current pickups I just don't like a distorted mess that hides the dynamics of my right hand.

  • +1


    I have very high output pickups and add clarity (usually around 4.5) to every mid to high gain patch I have and everything I do seems to come through no matter how much gain I use (mistakes especially!!). I'm not particularly fond of my current pickups I just don't like a distorted mess that hides the dynamics of my right hand.

    Yea, I notice that as well ;) My VHT tube amp was like this as well though. Unlike a high gain tripple rect, the VHT really highlights your mistakes ...... or punches out through the mix your inspiration. I guess all roses have thorns!


    The thing I find is that when you are playing with another guitar player and the entire band is going, it is easy for a guitar rig that sounded so great when you were plunking around by yourself .... to get kind of buried in the mix. Adding a bit of clarity and mixing in some of the natural tone of the guitar helps keep your presence within the mix without having to resort to raising your volume.

  • Just wanted to say thanks for this tip as well! I really have one of the presets that I use to the point that it is identical to the amp in the profile!


    Great stuff!


    :)

  • Just wanted to say thanks for this tip as well! I really have one of the presets that I use to the point that it is identical to the amp in the profile!


    Great stuff!


    :)

    No problem. I am glad to have contributed to the greater understanding of the Kemper product ;)


    Such great tone bliss!

  • I agree. The clarity control is, IMO, possibly the greatest feature in the Kemper! For me, it's essential in terms of finding "my" tones.


    It really lets the sound of the strings come through...if that makes any sense!


    It's really amazing how a lot of profiles can be improved 100% by just a few small tweaks (clarity, definition, power sag, and small adjustments to the main EQ controls are my "go-to" parameters).

  • Yep, Clarity and Definition are some of my most used parameters. I stay far away from Direct Mix though!

    What does Direct Mix do that keeps you away from it?


    I'll have to play around some more with the power sag and definition parameters.

    Quote

    It really lets the sound of the strings come through...if that makes any sense!


    It makes perfect sense to those of us who really know what good tone sounds like ;)

  • What does Direct Mix do that keeps you away from it?


    I don't like the sound of a pure DI'd signal in there 8) Honky, flat and overly dynamic. "Clarity" does it like an amp, like a parallell path in there with clean spank coming through, giving string definition. A parallell path with the DI signal sounds like the audio engineer forgot to turn off the reamp track, to me :D

  • I don't like the sound of a pure DI'd signal in there 8) Honky, flat and overly dynamic. "Clarity" does it like an amp, like a parallell path in there with clean spank coming through, giving string definition. A parallell path with the DI signal sounds like the audio engineer forgot to turn off the reamp track, to me :D

    Thanks for that!

  • I don't like the sound of a pure DI'd signal in there 8) Honky, flat and overly dynamic. "Clarity" does it like an amp, like a parallell path in there with clean spank coming through, giving string definition. A parallell path with the DI signal sounds like the audio engineer forgot to turn off the reamp track, to me :D



    Check out the Parallel Path feature (RIG menu page 4). You can add a compressor and EQ to tame the direct signal. Adds a good amount of punch and clarity to the tone.