Anyone ever pay to take their Kemper into a studio to profile?

    Just curious. I don't have a ton of experience mic'ing amps to get them the way I want to sound. Mostly I've recorded direct or a studio mic'd things up for me on a few occasions. I've got an Orange OR50 coming and at a minimum, I think I can profile it directly without mic'ing. But...It'd be cool to mic up my whole rig and make a studio profile. I was thinking of maybe going to a local studio where I could get the benefit of their mics and space and do it that way. But...I'm not sure about the time it might take and whether it'd be efficient or worth the cost when I'm on the clock. I guess for those who have taken the time to do profiles and perfect them, what's the process if you're doing one amp. How many hours would I be looking at to set up, mic and properly profile one amp? All I'd really need from the studio person is the space, the mics, and the time to position and set up the mics. From there, it's a Kemper profiling and refining exercise which they'll likely not have any experience with and I won't either.

    I did it and honestly don't know if it was worth it. Well, let me say, I don't know that they did anything I couldn't do at home AFTER having seen it done. I had a 4 hour block and it cost me about $250.


    The studio profiles I got don't sound too different than the ones I did with Tim Owens at his house.


    Both sessions are available for free on the Rig Exchange. It was good to see how they set everything up. I am pretty convinced I can do as a good a job at home and will be trying soon.


    We we are building a new house and it'll be finished mid October. I'll have a dedicated studio spot from there on out and plan on doing what Tim did with the Have Amp Will Profile project with both my Splawn and VHT Deliverance.


    Thanks for this. Very helpful info. I have a spot that can do it for $50/hour...maybe a little less since there is no mixing. But...your comment makes me think I could bug my friend to try it at his house. He has a studio/soundproofed room to get loud in. I don't have any line of sight to that anytime soon with my house. I live in the city and didn't dedicate space to this when I finished the basement.


    For reference, was that 4 hour block for one amp and did you end up needing it? I've looked at those profiles and noticed you guys took a lot of cuts so if I limited my profiles and went for 2 hours, maybe I could fit that in. Still...I think my friends knows enough bout mic'ing and we can learn together to do it.

    Quote from mtmartin71

    Thanks for this. Very helpful info. I have a spot that can do it for $50/hour...maybe a little less since there is no mixing. But...your comment makes me think I could bug my friend to try it at his house. He has a studio/soundproofed room to get loud in. I don't have any line of sight to that anytime soon with my house. I live in the city and didn't dedicate space to this when I finished the basement.


    For reference, was that 4 hour block for one amp and did you end up needing it? I've looked at those profiles and noticed you guys took a lot of cuts so if I limited my profiles and went for 2 hours, maybe I could fit that in. Still...I think my friends knows enough bout mic'ing and we can learn together to do it.


    It was one amp and WAY not enough time. Especially if they re not familiar with the Kemper. I think it's better to learn it personally but that's just me...

    I was actually thinking about renting some time to tweak my main rigs in a 'pristine environment' - get them as close to perfect in a controlled environment as I could since my house sucks.

    I was thinking about doing it again for a minute but the ROI wasn't there for me. I am instead going to invest in a couple more mic's and some better sound dampening for my cab/amp closet.


    the biggest challenge I have at home is cab bleed. Should be better in the new house though...

    Quote from Michael_dk

    I think what you get for the money is mainly expertise, experience and taste of the engineer, apart from possibly a better room. And this is dependent on the caliber of engineer also (in addition to his/her taste).


    Basically this, yes, expertise and perhaps better outboard gear (i.e. more mic choices than only the inevitable SM57).

    It feels like for me that the only thing I'll be able to do from my house in an effective way would be to profile the amp only. I can fire the cab at the floor and cover it in dense blankets to absorb...I think. It's just never going to be an environment I can really play at volume to get the right tones and then transfer those to great studio profiles. So...I'd have to rent space to open up a 50W Orange to the settings I want to hear, "save" those settings, and then rent time to go into the studio to capture a profile that way. I think for studio profiles, I'll have to stick with the ones that people are making which is OK too. I can totally cover every live tone I'd need with MBritt's stuff.


    Or...is there another way to get high quality studio profiles without playing the amp full bore at the settings I want?

    Hi!
    My 2 cents…
    I feel that having the right environment to properly turn up the amp, get it to it's sweet spot, and let the speakers push air and breath throughout the room…without the stress of disturbing neighbors, or having to compromise the sound by excessive blanketing/isolating…is probably about the single most important component IMO. Although..yes you can get the benefit of a pro studio session with it's tuned rooms, variety of mice/pre's, skilled engineers, etc…but you can also achieve and learn a ton just by having a single mic or two, and just experiment with the luxury of time to try different mic techniques, blends, amp settings, profile refinements, etc… all without the stress or expense of a studio clock running up the bill. So…if you can find a space, basement, empty room, barn, whatever…that allows you to turn up and play and experiment, then that might be a good starting and eye opening place. Just keep in mind that if the space has too many reverberant reflections, or odd slap back, standing waves that you might need to creatively find a way to reduce these, especially if you are using omni condenser mics. But…To summarize..I say just find a space with a friend and go for it!!! Ya never know what you can come up with and it's fun to learn :)

    As an update, I received the Orange OR50 amp. This is the first tube amp I've had probably since 2000, and that was a little modded Epiphone Valve Jr. Prior. I think I may have also had a Marshall 2061x/cx mini stack that didn't get used much.


    Anyhoo...playing a real amp again was interesting. Besides the Orange having it's own sound, there was a certain "girth" and immediacy to the sound that was noticeable. Also, it was very loud and I could only get it around 25-30% on the master. I'll have to see if I can A-B better with a Rockerverb head Kemper profile into the Matrix to try to approach that and see if it was all in my head. For what it's worth too, the OR50 is almost like a fuzz pedal amp once you get up around 7 on the gain. It does clean up though. I could easily see just bringing that amp with no effects and using the guitar volume at 5 to do my rhythm and then going into full bore for a volume kick and a fuzzy lead tone. I don't know that I'd need any pedals.


    The thing I like about the Kemper, besides volume control, is that I can set up multiple profiles of each ideal setting, clean through lead, and have them at the touch of a footswitch. And...I'd get access to time based effects in the right spot if I wanted them. I do think what I'll want to do is rent a space to go in and make my own profiles. Not a studio...just space where I can play loud without worry.

    Further update. I used the Kemper DI box today to capture two amp-only profiles of an Orange OR50. It was less than ideal because I couldn't really wind it up and dial as I had to point the cab into the ground to muffle it. But, I think my settings held up pretty good. I threw a couple of profiles up on Rig Exchange. I used a Tele (Bare Knuckle Brown Sugar bridge) to create em. It wasn't that hard to do so now I'm a little more inspired! I do have the benefit of a friend who had a studio complete with control room...all in his basement. I'm trying to see if I can now go for a full studio profile. You definitely need some separation from your amp/cab and how you're monitoring. Even trying to do the amp only, you get the sounds mixing and it's not ideal. But...I did up the profiles. Refined them a few times, and it sounds nice and...Orangey! The OR50 is more of a vintage fuzz amp. It's not a Rockerverb.