Is there a way to decrease the attack?

  • Ok here's a bold statement: I felt that I got a much better sound out of AmpliTube 3 than I ever got from the Marshall amps over at my practice place. Reason was that there was so much attack when I tried to play sweeps and fast solos. It's like the sound was popping even before I was playing the note, and it was very annoying.. That's when I first started hating Marshall amps.. I felt that my old Peavey Classic 30 had better way of handling this..


    Yesterday I got my Kemper. I love it to bits already, except I noticed the same problem when I plugged in my flat-eq monitor headset. There was the attack problem again.. Almost as if "Presence" was tuned to 110%.. It doesn't matter wether I have compressor active or not, the problem is still there.. I want the soft mellowed transition, and I want to play the notes before they play themselves!

  • Thanks. Will try when I get home.. Any takes/comments on the issue I am describing? Because I have never seen anyone else ever complaining about such a thing.. I feel like I am the only one reacting to that.

  • If I am readings your post correctly you are saying you don’t like real Marshallks because they have so much pick attack. Some other modelling amps/software doesn’t capture that as well as the Kemper so you orefered the sound of the models to the real amp. That makes perfect sense to me. I used to hate Marshalls too. i still do with real Marshalls because I can’t get them cranked enough to get the power amp compressing without completely deafening myself and the rst of the band. However, I have now discovered that I actually love profiles of old Marshalls which were captured in their sweet spot.

  • What a time to be alive :) To be able to capture amps in their sweet spot and never have to think about mic them up again. Gonna try your initial tip. Can't wait until I get home from work.. I have like 100 Kemper tabs on Chrome here :D

  • Have a look at the tutorials:

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    Also try to add some DirectMix to your sound - this could also help to got more fundument - special on high gain sounds.
    Have a look here:

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  • like Wheresthedug said, the Pick parameter is the first choice here.

    also be aware that a compressor will actually accentuate the attack, unless it is set as a super fast limiter. usually the transient (the attack portion of the sound) comes through the compressor's attack phase (where it doesn't do anything) and the it compresses the following decay stage of your sound, making the difference between attack and decay even more obvious and while it in reality will compress the decay, it will sound like it accentuates the attack.


    also, you can always try profiling the modeling software you like ;) it works unless the software/modeler operates differently from analog reality.

  • Thanks for all the good advice folks.. Any idea how guitarists remedied this problem with real amps? For example the horrible Marshalls?

    They cranked those monsters to the point where the power amp and speakers were compressing and the rectifier and output transformers weren’t able to operate efficiently enough to respond instantly. The down side is that the amps were so loud that they were almost impossible get a decent stage balance and they made it impossible for FOH engineers to make the guitar sit in the mix properly. The other major problem with that effect is that the guitarist all ended up deaf and/or suffer from serious tinnitus now. That ringing at about 9khz NEVER stops in my head from too many years with a Dual Rectifier. I only wish solutions like the Kemper had been around when I was a teenager and in my 20’s X(

  • Ahh that sucks. For some reason I don't like loud amps.. Glad I went for the Kemper. There was many attack-heavy presets already installed in the Kemper when I got it, pre-installed.. Is it safe to delete all of the rig presets there without permanently losing them? I just want to fill up my Kemper with soft JM and Mbritt tones for now.

  • I also prefer a softer attack and I have struggled to find profiles that capture that. I am not sure if it’s a Kemper thing or a profile thing, but one of my band mates noticed it right away when we were doing some recording a few years back. I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it or not but that confirmed to me that I was not.


    The ‘pick’ control is helpful but if pushed too far it sounds unnatural to me.


    I think a big part of it is that fact that we are hearing a close mic’d guitar sound and we’re not used to that. I also think that most people making commercial profiles tend to prefer a heavy pick attack sound.


    I’m an old fart. All I care about is making my Kemper sound like amps from the late 60’s to early 70’s. Modern guitar tones just don’t do it for me. The Kemper pretty much gets me there in a recording setting. Live I’d say it’s about 60%.


    I'm absolutely CERTAIN that much of that is user error and the DXR10 I’ve been using. But I also tried a Mission cabinet that I didn’t like very much, so I’m guessing it’s user error.


    Maybe the new Kemper Kab will fix the issue.


    I’m still happy with my KPA for the most part, I just find it more satisfying in a recording setting than a live setting.


    But too much off topic blah blah blah! Try the definition and pick settings as stated above.

  • Oh, there is a new Kemper coming up? Maybe I purchased mine at the very wrong time :( Well, I'm happy with it so far anyways!

    No, not a new Kemper. A new cabinet is coming from them.


    Changing the Microphone placement when the profile is created can very effectively change the pick attack. You may prefer “mid cone” mic’ed Profiles, but, I don’t know how many of them are available. There may be some on the Rig Exchange.

  • The pick parameter in the amp section is your best bet. Mine lives on +3 with the amp compressor on 6 for my 'clean but just broken up if you hit it hard enough' tone. I love a percussive guitar tone.