Is it Kemper or is it just me? Seeking for ultimate help.

Try these ..I can't promise you'll like them ..or that they are better than others..you'll see/hear

Bruno Rigs

Quote from skoczy

How do I upload them? Any manual?

Put them on the stick you used for the FW update ..into the shared folder ..then plug the stick in the kemper and follow screen instructions (import etc)

Have you downloaded both manuals from the Kemper website? Importing profiles into the Kemper is very easy via a USB stick (see page 36 of the Basic manual). Also search for tills cabs and download them into the same folder. The two manuals are pretty straight forward but I wish they had just given me one printed manual combining both sections.

Don't just take the factory presets as they are. Editing the amp and cab settings, adding some light boost and eq, setting the input parameters right (very important) opens the windows on a she new world. Once you get that feel for what those things do for the sound then you're golden

There are several factors at work here.

Firstly you may just be used to modellers and their sounds. Most modelers really hype up treble and bass and suck the mids, this gives you a very exciting and punchy tone, but it's also nothing like a real amp (without some studio magic). If that's the situation for you then your best bet is to slap a Studio EQ effect in the X slot of your profiles, then use this to boost your treble and bass and diall down the mids.

The next issue may be that your unit may need to be properly set up, first task on that way is to do a System Reset, this is dont simply by holding down the System button while you boot up until it tells you it's doing a System start. This sometimes clears settings on the output channels that may be affecting things.

After that you should look at your input and output settings. Unless you have beautiful studio monitors then chances are you will need to adjust the output EQ to counterbalance the natural tone curve of your output system, if your speakers are naturally muddy then you will need to reduce the mids and bass a little and possibly push the treble very so slightly. I don't know anything about your Tannoy speakers, but if they emulate an amp cab then you may even want to disable cabinets on the Kemper and let them do their job.

On the input side you're going to want to adjust that noise gate, probably all the way to off (my personal preference), and then adjust your Input Clean and Distortino Sens settings until the amps start to feel "right" and react as they should.

Next you may want to adjust your amps to be brighter if your guitar has particularly dark pickups. You can do this with the usual amp EQ settings, particularly the Presence control, but also in the cabinet settings and in the Amp itself by manipulating the Clarity and Definition controls. This is an area that's well worth exploring to begin with. Once you have somethigns et up how you want then just store the preset.

Finally different Cabinets may prove better for some folk. Many people seem to get a sound much closer to what they were personally after by changing out the cabs using Tills cabinets, they're not for everyone, but they might suit you down to the ground, so they're definitely worth checking out at the very least.

Bear in mind that the Mr Nice Guy patch is a very strongly effected patch which to me sounds much more like an old school sim, this may just be more what you're after. In which case your first port of call is going to be compression and after that some modulation and delay/verb. The kinds of amps you'll want to work with are Mesa's as they have a very smooth gain structure, and you should tryt hem out with one of Till's Recto cabs. Working with the KPA is more like working with real amps, warts and all.

Very informative post by Per,i think he is right that people coming to the kemper from modellers could be a bit dissapointed at first by the slightly dull nature of untreated raw amp tones.

Come on you have to do a little work and search the profile database for what you want. You can't just judge this device on the factory presets. In fact I just cleaned my device and I think I deleted all the factory presets. This device is so easy that if it sounds muffled you just turn up the treble and presence. I like the raw amp sound, but I do see where you could get a "mastered" sound as well. Download the bogner xtacy profile or the marshall golub or the 5150 profiles. Get the tills cabinets etc etc. Do some due diligence!

I must admit I think the presets are extremely good, even without downloading any user presets there is so much tweak ability available it is hard not to make any of the factory presets sound great.

It is worth getting the cabs zip (do a search) and swapping cabs around, this can make a huge difference.

Quote from jeddie

Come on you have to do a little work and search the profile database for what you want. You can't just judge this device on the factory presets. In fact I just cleaned my device and I think I deleted all the factory presets. This device is so easy that if it sounds muffled you just turn up the treble and presence. I like the raw amp sound, but I do see where you could get a "mastered" sound as well. Download the bogner xtacy profile or the marshall golub or the 5150 profiles. Get the tills cabinets etc etc. Do some due diligence!

Interesting comments on this thread.. just one problem really The presets on the Kemper are probably the best in the world against ANY of those emulator/simulator things mentioned and not mentioned too. They certainly dont sound like a real amp as some have said, but the Kemper sounds and feels like a real tube amp especialy with a completely direct comparison. I got a load of friends round and watched their jaws drop as the comparisons were made in my studio.

I never found one of those simulators/emulators with any real substance in the sound department where it matters.. the sounds are always disguised with more effects than you can handle as compensation to bad sounds. But those are emulators and this is Kemper.

I dont relate to the Kemper being a simulator/emulator... but rather a product using the DNA of real tube amps. Indeed the first and only one in the world right now.

BTW I respect your comments and its not a dig at anyone - everyone has a right to their views... but try that other emulator/simulator stuff and you might well sell it all (I did) - unless you like sounds with the kings new clothes cloaking the real tones of those things.
King Kemper... perfect (well it will be once they complete the OS )

I rather likes some of the presets for something's, helps to turn up the cab volume. But I didn't love the high gain sounds out of the box. That problem has been solved for me in user profiles.

I sent u a pm.

That being said, some might just be used to digital sounding moddellers and not yet appreciate some of the sounds in the Kemper yet. But certainly te stock sounds won't appeal to everyone. I will gladly send u stuff I think works great.

Getting a "straty" sound is a combination of three things.

1) The guitar (and it's pickups), unless you have the right pickups then nothing you can do will ever give you this sound, strat pickups are very honky which sound great clean, most superstrats have very flat and even pickups that sound dead on cleans because they're more tailored to be used with distorted or highly processed (chorus etc) tones, they need to be neutral. If you want strat tones you may need to get (or borrow) a strat.

2) The way you play, classic strat riffs make use of the strats natural advantages, it's tremelo, the scale length, the slides, use of vibrato and hammer/pulloffs. The way that you dig the pick into the strings to really bring out an almost slap like sound. Get a good hendrix riff and it's all about the timing and attitude. Having access to Dave Gilmours rig wont let you sound like him unless you can nail the way he plays.

3) The amp (and spring verb), the blackface is a great amp but it's damn loud. The Kemper is still a modeler so it will allow you to play quieter and get close results, but honestly you need to raise the volume on your speakers to approach the volumes you'd use on the real amp in order to get the right instrument/air/amp interplay, not to mention as your speakers get louder their frequency response is going to change. Next you need to add that touch of reverb, it's a fundamental part of the whole tone that a lot of people forget about. A final touch is a little vibro, it's up to you on this but it's a part of many classic strat tones.

It's a lot of work. I know for a fact that even with a real Fender Twin and Strat I have difficulty getting those classic tones because of my technique (and self preservation for my ears).

Oh and one final thing, bear in mind that what you hear while playing isn't necessarily what everyone else hears or what you'll hear if you were to record and play back, at lower volumes especially you'll hear so much room and guitar that it can overwhelm the amp sound. Record what you play and then put it up for everyone here to listen to (along with the rig/patch) and that way we can give you good constructive criticism that's not so much stabbing around in the dark.

Some good info there from Per, nice post!

It is obviously just you... (I'm jiving, of course!) It is never easy finding your way & sound with a new machine - in many ways, it's 'back to square one'.

Quote from Per

Oh and one final thing, bear in mind that what you hear while playing isn't necessarily what everyone else hears or what you'll hear if you were to record and play back, at lower volumes especially you'll hear so much room and guitar that it can overwhelm the amp sound. Record what you play and then put it up for everyone here to listen to (along with the rig/patch) and that way we can give you good constructive criticism that's not so much stabbing around in the dark.

So true.
While playing I often think my sound is trebly and shrill and usually overcompensate by turning down the treble. When playing back its usually way too dark and muffled.
To get a good sound (to everyone else's ears) I have to play with a sound that to me is often quite thin.

Quote from skoczy

What guitar are you talking about, the Ibanez in your Avatar...or another single coil Strat that you have?

It's not the basswood, basswood is great wood for a Strat.

In the video it appears as though Alex is using a very "vintagy" Strat with vintage sounding pickups, unlike 95% of modern Fender Strats.
Are you using the single coil in your Ibanez and aiming for these type of tones?

Quote from skoczy

Yes, I am talking about Ibanez PGM301 (in my avatar). HSH Dimarzio pickups. Full specs here . And yes, I was trying to get anything close in terms of sound and feel to the fender twang using single coil or 2nd and 4th position. Well I am trying to get anything thats close soundwise to any of published Kemper samples. Anyhow I have seen no samples recorded on Ibanez.

Well I just got home and will try to noodle on profile UWE JCM C 335 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QgcyHGVwGc and upload what was recorded soon.

Sorry, but forget about single coil Fender Strat or Tele twang with your Ibanez.

When you mess around with the UWE JCM C 335 Profile, try changing the cab to one of the Till's 1960 Marshall cabs...006 is a good one to start with.