Drive pedals in front of kemper

    I’ve been lookIng lately at drive pedals - keeley phat mod, klon type, Bognor burley etc. Now I’ve never really used drive pedals with the kemper much but was messing about with my TS clone today and it didn’t really sound any better to my ears than the in built Green scream.


    Also you obviously can’t actually push the front end like a tube amp by having the pedal before the amp as you just boost the input and then have to worry about input clipping.


    So I guess I’m wondering if you guys and gals use your drive pedals in a loop in front of the amp block or in front of the amp like you normally would and also what are your favourite drive pedals you use even though you have a kemper.

    Cheers guys


    Just read through the linked posts and it’s much as I thought. Some use the loop, some go in front. In front there’s the possible issue of clipping depending on the boost lvl you use.


    I still use a decent tube amp still too (genz Benz black pearl 30) so May well invest in a couple of other pedals anyway but I think for simplicity and as I have a kemper remote I’ll probably stick to just using that live.

    Silly question, why do you need to run a boost pedal?


    I've never run front end distortion, always just used the amp gain.Balancing the gain, adding more noise etc, just never understood it. I see less of a need with the sounds, switchability, e.q. control in the Kemper.


    BTW I know so many people do so its not meant to be any kind of criticism, genuinely curious as to what is missing that these pedals add?

    They can add different characteristics and harmonic content but many use them to push the tubes harder for solos etc.


    I know you’re going to already know that many guitarists from Hendrix to SRV to Satriani use(d) a variety of different drive pedals to get certain sounds they like.


    Sometimes I guess people use them as a kind of second channel on the amp or sometimes just to achieve a sound they like which can’t be got with their amp alone.


    Also it’s fun just to use different pedals :)

    I was really pleasantly surprised when I tried my OCD clone and my Bogner Uberschall pedals in front of the KPA with a Fender amp profile just about to breakup. Reacted exactly as I'd expect with a tube amp, even pushing the amp a bit.


    I use the built in distortions though, as I think they're really good, but I use the OCD to help my low output Tele play better with my gain rigs without creating a whole set just for that guitar.

    @Finally
    my experience exactly.
    as a bit of a pedal junkie, I own way, way more than makes good sense :D
    They all work nicely with the Profiler.


    I'd also like to point out, that the effect people get from stompboxes with 'minimal drive & volume boost' settings can in principle be recreated with an EQ stomp before the STACK. Usually it's a bit of low & high cut and a very low Q mid boost (and probably a volume boost).
    There are actually very few unique OD designs out there, sometimes it feels like it's all modified Tube Screamers (an exaggeration, but you get the point), so a stomp setup like this: EQ-Dirt-EQ will go a long way if you trust your ears and have an idea of what you're doing/after. :)


    hth

    Of course I know many do, but its usually to get around issues, e.g. single channel valve amp boost etc. With the KPA this isn't needed so much.


    The KPA helped fix my GAS issue ( that should definitely be on a tee shirt) so perhaps I'm in denial...its a self protection to avoid trying new pedals!!


    I get wanting to boost for different pickup outputs, makes so sense although I use different performances.


    The "fun" bit makes most sense :)