Distortion Sense Strategy

    I can't remember, nor can I seem to find a post that I thought was from this summer where someone preferred turning down distortion sense and (I believe) locking it this way. At first I thought, this is odd. The only "sense" controls that I've used are on Clean Sense and that was to try and level the volume between clean and distorted rigs and then saving a setting for each of my guitars so that they are all relatively close to one another in terms of perceived volume.


    I "primarily" gravitate towards low gain profiles that are very dynamic. I certainly like cleans and mid gain as well but really like profiles that can reach into both clean and dirty just by how I play. Just for the heck of it I gave turning down distortion sense a try. I experimented with locking it in place anywhere from -2 to -8. When you play with this, some profiles seem to get the life sucked out of them as you take the setting further negative from 0 but overall... I sort of like it in the -2 to -4 range. On one hand I think it is sort of like lowering your pickups a little away from the strings but not exactly - and in a good way. The effect I've found is that many profiles leaning away from clean and more towards mid gain end up getting a little more dynamics to them, which as I explained is a plus for me. You do have to be careful because some profiles do get a little sterile because their EQ's were set based on a certain level of distortion but what I'm learning as I experiment is that there are certain guitars - single coil strats, my Gretsch w/ TV's, my Jazzmaster, etc. that I tend to play different kinds of music anyway than I would with my solid body humbucker equipped guitars so leaving distortion sense alone on the guitars that I tend to rock out more on is fine and coming down into around -2.5 or so with my single coil guitars has been a very nice combination. Having this unique setting on the profiler allows me to have a customized little tool to apply to all rigs that better suites specific guitars and the type of music and tones that I go after with those specific guitars. Furthermore, I don't feel one single bit like I'm not getting enough crunch when I play those guitars with the clean sense lowered and I have a higher gain rig loaded up so I don't feel like I can't reach anything on rigs that are meant to reach high gain.


    I sort of doubt that applying this sort of concept across your guitar stable/input setting presets is what was in mind for this distortion sense parameter but it certainly is an effective usage to consider if you fit a similar mold.


    Just wanted to share.


    Peace,


    Buckeye

    "Tone is in the fingers" is not a necessary response to anything that I might type on any internet forum threads. Thank you.

    That may have been me -


    My '80s and '90s stage guitars have pickups in them that are hotter than current retro-modern guitars.


    I globally turned my distortion sense down a little bit, so factory and downloaded rigs would sound more like the sound clips I was hearing, That was much more simple than having to edit every single rig I download.


    Lowering the pickups would do pretty much the same thing. But, my pickups are set to sound right with my Marshall and Fender amps, so I would rather leave the guitars alone, and adjust and lock the Kemper's input :)

    I think it was you my friend - thanks for mentioning this. I actually remember the comment about sounding more like the clips with the distortion sense decreased and I agree.


    I use to/still do wonder if some of TAF profiles we done using guitars with the volume backed off a little - especially ones with a treble bleed circuit where you wouldn't hear the treble decrease when lowering the volume. This would certainly add to the confusion if you feel, like I that the clips sound like lower gain. Obviously if my pickups are higher or hotter then the clips would have less gain. Andy, if you see this - please comment re: whether your clips ever using guitars with the volume backed off or at they full volume on the guitar? Thank you.

    "Tone is in the fingers" is not a necessary response to anything that I might type on any internet forum threads. Thank you.

    Edited once, last by BuckeyeBrown ().

    A vintage output strat gets darker when the volume is turned down, too - but, it is really bright in the first place.

    As far as "low gain guitar" profiles go: The knob settings on the amp to be profiled are what defines the tone and gain of the profile.The Kemper's analysis of tone changes in the amp is based on the test signals, and is independent of the guitar later used to refine, but IS dependent on the way the amp's knobs were set to sound good with guitar.


    So, setting the amp for a low output, bright guitar (like a vintage style strat), refining the profile with the same guitar (to fine tune the dynamics of the profile), and making a Kemper clip with that guitar, will produce a sound just like the amp's settings.


    Plug in a medium or high output, darker sounding guitar, and the profile will have more gain, and will get noticeably darker when the guitar volume gets turned down.


    Like you, I use a variety of pickups for different styles. Dropping Distortion sense just a little gets the high output guitars under control, but barely (if at all) affects the lower output guitars - I typically use them for cleaner sounds, or vintage gain sounds, anyway.

    Distortion sense has an effect equivalent to reducing the gain on a profile. It's like turning the gain down on all your high gain profiles simultaneously, so yes, probably a bit like moving your pickups lower, since what it does is reduce the amount of dirt by a set amount for each profile.


    It's a handy tool if you find your guitar is hitting the Kemper too hard, better than adjusting each profile individually.

    Quote from viabcroce

    It's more versatile actually: when you turn the guitar volume down, your cleans (can) still sound loud :thumbup:


    I'm very familiar with turning down volume to get more versatility but the level of volume you get in doing this is very dependent on the pickups and, more specifically the wiring. My 335 (copy) - awesome for this. LP - great. Old deluxe strat with bleed circuit - worked great. Vintage styled strat (no bleed) - big loss of tone/drop in perceived volume. I'm not trying to solve this from happening at all or suggest that distortion sense would even help in that regard. What I'm doing is aiming specific guitars that I tend to play at low gain (primarily) in a way that I'm dropping the distortion floor across the board a little which I feel allows a little more dynamics. I don't want to do this on my SE Santana or my LP because I rock more with them but I don't find myself dialing up high gain for my Strat or Gretsch and lowering everything gives me more enjoyment. Just a suggestion to consider.

    "Tone is in the fingers" is not a necessary response to anything that I might type on any internet forum threads. Thank you.

    I only use the Distortion Sense (lowering it) on my LP to approximate certain classic sounds I'm trying to replicate as I think the Humbucker on that LP is a "57 Classic Plus" so it's a tad hotter. Somehow going full blast on the guitar but playing with the KPA's parameters sounds better than the other way around.


    The effect is the Distortion becomes clearer and less messy but still has the character of a good distortion. To my ears, on that guitar.


    But for other guitars I never touch the thing, leaving it at 0

    Quote from BuckeyeBrown

    I'm very familiar with turning down volume to get more versatility but the level of volume you get in doing this is very dependent on the pickups and, more specifically the wiring.


    Well, certainly true. What I was pointing out is that with the Profiler we have further tools to "fine tune" this aspect. You can basically get the same sound level while passing from a distorted to a clean sound by lowering the guitar volume.
    Of course, different guitars will tend to respond differently.


    :)