M Britt Profiles what am i doing wrong?

  • I'm going to try it at one other building and if no improvement, I'm going to have to buy me a new one. The noise (hum) is increasing quickly, can barely hear the guitar. And I have gigs this weekend.


    I've submitted a support ticket. I think the Kemper toaster is toast...

    Gary ô¿ô

  • Yeah Gary, I researched it 15 years ago when I foolishly thought I'd be able to "afford" one, and I remember that some models supposedly reconstruct the AC-power waveform. Some probably just filter it, but I distinctly remember the claim of "reconstruction".


    I was referring to your thought that nobody listened to you of late, BTW, not the effects thing. I'm sure we all know that feeling all-too well, and I sensed it played a part in your post. At least you know you've been heard in this thread, mate. <3

  • Gary -


    First thing.... does the Kemper still hum when you use headphones plugged straight in (I.e. eliminate the anp?). If you disconnnect and unplug the amplifier you’re using and this icures it, you’re onto something. At that point plug the amp back in make sure that the Kemper and the amplification system (power amp / powered monitors or whatever) are plugged in to the same wall point. If you have a difference in the earth potential between connected devices, this can cause hum. Look up ‘ground loop’ for more details. But that’s the first thing to ensure.


    Next, if it even hums on headphones when the amp system is out of the equation...... is the hum there all the time when the Kemper is on? What I’m getting at is, with your guitar plugged in, is the hum still there when you turn the volume on the guitar all the way down?


    If the hum goes when you turn the volume down, this is airborne interference. So you’re picking something up via the air..... this doesn’t mean it’s *not* dirty mains. What it means is that it’s your guitar picking it up, not the amp (Kemper in this case).


    Then, without playing, start moving your guitar around the room to find what could be transmitting this into the air. Until I replaced my audio interface, I still had to choose which way I faced when I played! I’d be sat there on a revolving chair like a lighthouse. My P90 loaded Tokai needed me to angle my body slightly differently to my humbucker loaded PRS to ensure minimal hum :)


    If nothing stupidly obvious in the room is causing it, the likely cause is going to be another appliance is the house that is putting crap onto the wiring. The wiring somewhere in the room you’re playing in then acts like a transmitter and guitar pickups do just that - they pick up.


    For fault finding..... kill the circuit breaker for the lights in your house. Unplug every single appliance / computer / phone charger / the central heating boiler. Everything. If your humbucking guitar with a decent connection cable to your Kemper still hums just as badly through headphones and you’ve got no other devices in the house working whatsoever you can stop looking - it’s either a faulty guitar (unless they all do it), a faulty guitar cable, a faulty Kemper (does an amp do it?). If you’ve eliminated every device in the house, are playing in the dark and it’s not the Kemper, the cable or the guitar then unfortunately it’s electrician time - not what you want to hear but at least you can stop looking. If the humming has stopped or is much better, plug in each appliance in the house one at a time until you find what is causing it. If it’s still ok try the lighting circuit.


    As mentioned before, fluorescents can cause massive problems and not necessarily where they are!! They can put all kinds of crap on the rest of the wires that then act as transmitters. I had an ‘energy saving lightbulb’ in the room next to the one I played in which gave issues. Replaced it with LED and saved electricity and my sanity. The other culprit is old style (or even some of the newer) dimmer switches which, even when they are off, can cause bad problems. There were several of these around the house and, when I replaced with good old fashioned switches, it made a massive difference.


    Hope you find it!


  • Hey Micheal,


    i appreciate that you took the time to take part in this.
    Please know that this never was intended to get personal or anything i apologized earlier in the thread for my initial pissed of statements.
    It had a lot to do with my frustration more with myself then with your profiles.


    Today i know that your profiles like others have a lot to do with personal taste. before that i thought that kemper profiles would be more
    universal. i tried the 800 and AC30 pack but even with alot of tweaking i couldn't quite reach the point of satisfaction.
    I was just a bit confused why i couldn't get the results others had. And i guess its just depend on the whole setup and purpose.


    I don't play live or anything so i might miss the point where your profiles really shine.
    Don't take this personally as you said you just can't satisfy everybody and someone will always come and bitch about stuff.


    When i'm in the rehearsal room next time i will try you profiles on a real amp and see how they might sound on a live setup at
    full volume and how much of a difference that alone makes.

  • unfortunately it’s electrician time

    I can't thank you enough for the time and energy you, and MM and others have given to try to help me.


    Yes, it still hummed through headphones but went away when turning guitar volume off. Aha... I then took my rig to my wife's fixer upper which had electricity and nothing else. It ran quiet as a mouse with no noise gate!!! Even bigger Aha!! And I found it's clean in my bedroom.
    I then did the circuit breaker dance back at my house and absolutely nothing (except the music room itself) changed the hum in my music room, even all breakers off. I guess my next call is indeed to an electrician.

    Gary ô¿ô

    Edited once, last by prsgary ().

  • I guess my next call is indeed to an electrician.

    I know that's not the outcome you were hoping for but at least it is progress and you should be able to be confident that you can take your Kemper to gigs and rehearsals without worrying about the Kemper being the problem.


    Good luck with the next stage. It sounds like you are going to get this sorted and be able to enjoy all your profiles in their full glory soon :)

  • I can't thank you enough for the time and energy you, and MM and others have given to try to help me.
    Yes, it still hummed through headphones but went away when turning guitar volume off. Aha... I then took my rig to my wife's fixer upper which had electricity and nothing else. It ran quiet as a mouse with no noise gate!!! Even bigger Aha!! And I found it's clean in my bedroom.
    I then did the circuit breaker dance back at my house and absolutely nothing (except the music room itself) changed the hum in my music room, even all breakers off. I guess my next call is indeed to an electrician.


    Told you so ;)

  • I´m using Michael Britt´s Profiles exclusively! All FOHs I worked with gave me a 100% positive feedback about my sound.
    And btw I just finished a quite long tour and just needed some tonal inspiration to survive the last 7 gigs. So I bought the D-Pack of Michael that includes
    Dumble ODS profiles and Dumble-inspired amp profiles. And I was blown away by the Dumble profiles! Great amp, great profiles!! Thanks for that Mike!


    Greetings from Germany


    Nik

  • needed some tonal inspiration to survive the last 7 gigs. So I bought the D-Pack of Michael that includes
    Dumble ODS profiles and Dumble-inspired amp profiles. And I was blown away by the Dumble profiles! Great amp, great profiles!! Thanks for that Mike!

    I am trying to get some sounds together for a Steely Dan tribute so I bought some D-Style profiles over the weekend. Michael's, Tone Junkie and ReampZone. They all sound fantastic in their own way. I think it will almost certainly be the MBritt versions I end up using though.

  • I am trying to get some sounds together for a Steely Dan tribute so I bought some D-Style profiles over the weekend

    I actually have a really cool profile with effects for "Haitian Divorce" by Steely Dan. If that would be of use to you, pm me your regular email address.

    Gary ô¿ô

  • One important thing that one should never overlook regarding profiles vs. expectations, is the cab. MBritt uses Celestion Classic Lead 80 speakers with almost every profile, which are not what I’d personally consider to be a “classic pairing” with most of the bread and butter amps. For example, when I think of vintage Marshall, I think of G12M or G12H speakers, or for Dumble tones, I think of EV12s or G12-65s.


    I’ve only had the Kemper for a little over a week, and after my initial profile orgy, I’m finding myself looking more at the speakers used while profiling rather than just the amp. Generally speaking, if I know I don’t care for a certain speaker, I’ll usually avoid profiles made with it.


    Honestly, the Classic Lead 80 is not my favorite speaker, but I like so many aspects of the MBritt profiles that I don’t mind taking the time to experiment with other IRs or playing with the EQ.

  • Personal taste is the key..... besides the fact that Michael is using his profiles mainly live with cabs and his treble-settings maybe are lower than other ones, it's very simple in the end: either you like a profile or you don't like it.


    I kept most of Bert Meulendijk's profiles, especially a lot from pack 1, the rest is almost evrything, Michael, Guido, Andy, Armin, my own ones ect. Bert's profiles I'm using out of the box, Michael's profiles I'm tweaking a little bit (more treble, presence and sometimes bass) and then they work fine for me.


    But my purpose is very simple: Kemper straight into the desk (studio or tours with in ears), I have never used the KPA with FRFR-cabs or guitar-cabs. I know that many guitarists are using Kemper + cab and they love it, I still don't like it at all and I've tried a lot off different FRFR- and guitar-cabs. In clubs and smaller venues I'm still using tube-amps/combos, the pure sound of the Kemper + cab directly into my ears really turns me off (compared to my "real" amps"). But as soon as I'm playing the Kemper straight into the desk using high-end monitors (Klein + Hummel) or excellent in ears (UE Pro 11), I'm loving the Kemper.


    So everything is very subjective, but of course the monitor-situation is VERY important, too, if you don't have linear monitors and a close-to-linear-as-possible-room, the same profile will sound totally different in different environments. Even a decent headphone like the Beyer DT990 Pro (I'm using one, too) will influence the sound drastically.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    first name: Guenter / family name: Haas / www.guenterhaas.de

    Edited 6 times, last by guenterhaas ().

  • “if you don't have linear monitors and a close-to-linear-as-possible-room, the same profile will sound totally different in different environments.“


    Yep, it’s amazing how many people overlook just how dramatic a difference the room acoustics make. In many cases people are tricked by marketing hype into spending a fortune on higher quality gear but never get any meaningful benefit because of the room. Often they would get a significantly better return on investment spending time and money putting appropriate acoustic trestment in the room itself.

  • We have to consider that the profiles sound change totally when we change the guitar in front of the Kemper. So if a demo sounds terrific and you buy the profiles and it sounds bad and different... the problem can be the guitar you use... You see you bought the profiles yes for 30$ but you didnt bought the $3000 guitar that is is used on the demo...


    Maybe you got a $3000 guitar too but then its about the style of the guitar... My Gibson on a profile sounds TOTALLY different than my Fender Squier... sometimes better for some profiles sometimes worse


    Its important to consider that aspect before we judge a profile

  • We have to consider that the profiles sound change totally when we change the guitar in front of the Kemper. So if a demo sounds terrific and you buy the profiles and it sounds bad and different... the problem can be the guitar you use... You see you bought the profiles yes for 30$ but you didnt bought the $3000 guitar that is is used on the demo...


    Maybe you got a $3000 guitar too but then its about the style of the guitar... My Gibson on a profile sounds TOTALLY different than my Fender Squier... sometimes better for some profiles sometimes worse


    Its important to consider that aspect before we judge a profile

    Another thing that should be mentioned is a well set up guitar!!! That makes a huge difference. I don't know how many guitarists in the past I've met with guitar(s) that wasn't set up correctly and therefore didn't sound the best it could have done. A 3000$ guitar or a 1500$ guitar, honestly doesn't matter. No one can hear the difference if no one tells which one is which. Different pickups matters too.

    Think for yourself, or others will think for you wihout thinking of you

    Henry David Thoreau