Help on profile adjustment for beginners

  • Spotted this great vid that may help one or two newbies....


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  • This is cool; easy to understand and very clearly demonstrated.


    Really more a exploration of two factors in detail: Definition in AMP and Low Shift in CAB. He also has a good ear for achieving what he wants.


    Probably different players with different sound goals tend to go for different things first. It would be interesting to see different users demonstrate the first-instinct "go-to" tweaks that they tend to make when approaching personalizing a profile.


    For example, in searching for fat clean sounds for single note melody playing that needs to hang with the other instruments in the mix, my "go-to" is the STACK/AMPLIFIER section's compressor which works much better for me in creating less obtrusive sustain/fatness than just using the compressors offered in the STOMPS section. Different guys doing different things are going to go for different things first, but it is very cool to see what people see as their "go-to" first step for profile modification.


    I also find myself generally mixing and matching cab profiles with different amp profiles as an earlier step in modifying a sound if a profile is not getting me there.


    One thing I don't agree with is this Kemper user's statement, "I rarely find myself using more than, like, a half a db. Except the bass...". I guess the thought is that "if you have to modify it much it probably isn't the right profile for you."? I don't think that newby's should be discouraged from getting adventurous with the EQ section in the same way they would with any conventional amp (although more drastic changes are possible). My buddy gets a killer sound out of his Bogner but in setting his amp for myself, I would have to modify his bass/mids/treble/presence settings significantly in order to get "my sound" out of the amp. I think the same goes for profiles. Most profiles seem to survive significant EQ adjustment and still sound musical.


    I have had less success with increasing the gain section by much on an amp. I remember watching this video and when Mr. Kemper turns up the gain on the profile, the guitarist states "Now, that sounds like th amp turned up." - which I have found to be rarely the case. Profiling a PrincetonTurning down gain seems to work better than turning up gain in my experience. I usually would use effects in the STOMP section to add gain to a sound rather than tweaking the gain knob significantly.


    Perhaps others might share some of their most often used approaches to tweaking an existing profile?

  • Hi Don:

    I respect your perspective and I am sure superior knowledge (most people are more tech savvy than myself) ...but I was always under the impression that what we were getting was more like a photograph of the amp as the exact setting we profile it. If not, why do multiple profiles of an amp with different levels of gain? (That is a real question and not an attempt to be a 'smart' guy.)


    The gain seems like a generic gain effect which is applied in the same way to all profiles. It isn't modeling the gain structure across the dial


    But having said that, I have never actually tried upping the gain significantly while turning the definition down as a particular strategy ... and that is a strategy that I will certainly give a shot! Thanks Don.


    Tone Junkie also has a video about modifying the EQ of existing profiles that is pretty cool: Thoughts On Kemper EQ


    The fellow on the video advocates not minusing much more than 3 to 4 clicks of GAIN or adding more than 2 clicks before it "starts getting away from the amp" (14:00 minutes in). This seems more consistent with my own experience ... but like I said, I am eager to experiment with dialing down definition in direct relation to the gain and see if good things happen! :thumbup:

  • The Profiler's GAIN knob is tonally completely transparent, which let's you use a profiled sweet spot of an amp over the whole gain range.


    Have you tried turning down "Definition", when turning up GAIN?

    Don't know why it took me about a year to discover this, but I eventually learnt to trust the kemper.


    Now I choose the profile that has the best tone, then adjust the gain to what I want.

    Sterling Musicman JP150, Fender USA Strat
    Kemper Powerhead & Remote > ElectroVoice ZLX12-P | Palmer 1x12 Cab(G12M) | Sennheiser HD558
    Audient iD14 > Reaper

  • I often wonder if people who say they bought all profiles from A-Z and dont like them have tried this with their packs.

    Enough said? Some are great out of the box, MOST become great after these adjustments.


    Great posts and thank you to all


    Ash

    Have a beer and don't sneer. -CJ. Two non powered Kempers -Two mission stereo FRFR Cabs - Ditto X4 -TC electronic Mimiq.