Kemper + distortion pedals

  • I have been a long time user of OD pedals with my tube amps and have about fifteen of them in my collection. For the last few years I have tried to use them with my Kemper without success in getting them to work and sound like they do with my tube amps. So after playing with the built in OD and EQ settings I was able to get close to the kind of OD sound I wanted without using pedals. So now those pedals are for use with my tube amps and during profiling.


    Being that I am a pedal junkie :D Or just need a reason to buy things, I have turned my attention to distortion pedals. I have found that the distortion pedals work incredibly well with the Kemper and I get fantastic results. So I will document any pedals I get here and the pros and cons I find. I hope others will add their favorite pedals too.

  • Here is my review of three distortion pedals. Fulltone PlimSoul, Diamond Cornerstone, MXR '78 Custom Badass.
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    These are three really nice pedals that work really well with my tube amps, so how will they do with the Kemper.
    First up: MXR Custom Badass
    This pedal dials in classic rock crunch, will have you playing classic '70's and '80's Rock. The pedal works best without using too much gain and taking a more neutral tone adjustment. I found a hidden gem with how you can clean up your playing just by picking softer. The responsiveness is impressive. The crunch button adds in a nice bit of low end but it never gets mushy. This pedal is instant Thin Lizzy, AC/DC in a box.


    2nd: Diamond Cornerstone
    Another classic rock pedal but with a nice compression to the sound. It's like you are pushing a fine tube amp. The fun thing with this pedal is the two gain stages, allowing you more control on how you want the pedal to break up. The mid control gives you a nice scooped sound, you can dial in some '80's sounds instantly. The bright switch is nice when going from single coils to humbuckers.


    3rd: Fulltone PlimSoul
    This pedal can sing. It offers a soft clipping stage and stage 2 hard clipping. You can go from blues to a roaring Marshall. Pushing the stage 2 enough and we can start to get into the Rat territory. This pedal really shines for those singing rock leads. Think of a JCM800 with a tube screamer. It rocks!


    All three of these pedals work really well with the Kemper and are a must have for the players of 70's & 80's rock. I played rigs from clean to dirty and Marshall to Fender and it was easy to get a great sound from all of these pedals.


    Classic rock is alive and well..."The boys are back!"

    Edited once, last by drog ().

  • I got a brand new french boutique pedal, Nitrogen21 color fuzz by JMB experience ,


    it's a killer tool in front of my KPA , I use it as a boost , band pass, fuzz, dist. , drive and so on ...


    very cool to build some great tones. This pedal has 8 knobs/parameters , including a great IN knob that set the % of dry signal VS wet, killer feature like the %mix on the KPA.


    It also features some drastic boost in the 'colors' with some major beautiful bass enhancements on pos 1 & 2

  • I have been a long time user of OD pedals with my tube amps and have about fifteen of them in my collection. For the last few years I have tried to use them with my Kemper without success in getting them to work and sound like they do with my tube amps. So after playing with the built in OD and EQ settings I was able to get close to the kind of OD sound I wanted without using pedals. So now those pedals are for use with my tube amps and during profiling.


    Being that I am a pedal junkie :D Or just need a reason to buy things, I have turned my attention to distortion pedals. I have found that the distortion pedals work incredibly well with the Kemper and I get fantastic results. So I will document any pedals I get here and the pros and cons I find. I hope others will add their favorite pedals too.

    Why do you think the OD pedals don't work well in front but the DIST pedals do? What OD and EQ settings are you using in the Kemper?

  • I use a old Klon( silver) , a DUDE,( best boost/drive pedal ever) A Zen drive and a Carpe Diem in front of my Kemper,, all with great results,
    I still have not found a software distortion that works for me,Just cant take the fizz and square wave noise they all make on the high end and,,,that digital " cough" on the low end,,
    also picked up a helix, still no useable distortions there but their Klon clone is getting close,,
    After years of stepping on a pedal for a little extra, I am trying to find amp tones for the job, instead of pedals ..
    M Brits marshalls, are working so far,,for leads,
    LOVE this Kemper,