KPA vs Tube amp (Picking weight)

  • Greetings all,


    A question for those with loads of experience recording with tube amps (ideally metal). Since I have very little experience with tube amps, got me wondering about something regarding the pick attack after a recording session I had.


    I know that most guitarists in big bands would absolutely pound on their strings while recording with tube amps to get that aggressive tone. How have your experiences been with the Kemper in this regard? Do you notice you have to put in less effort when recording to achieve the same sound i.e. the Kemper being more compressed? Or is the picking weight the same as you would have with a tube amp?


    Would love to hear your experiences.


    Thanks!

  • Different amps have different levels of compression, so it’s pretty amp dependent. I have to dig into the strings a lot more when I play through my VHT Ultra Lead vs my Uberschall. The Kemper isn’t exactly the same as the real amps in this area. I can get the “high effort” sound from my VHT profiles without having to work for it as much. It does respond to pick attack and heavy handedness; just not as much as the real amp.


    It’s nice for recording because I can control the peaks during palm muting better than with my actual amps. Nothing sucks worse than scrapping a great take because the signal started clipping.

  • That's very interesting. Thanks for sharing! I would personally prefer to track with the profiler, but the person I am recording for does not want to even give it a try claiming it sounds too digital. I guess practicing on the kemper with a low gain profile will help me get used to picking harder when its time for tracking. I'd be recording with a Mesa Mark IV btw.

  • I would personally prefer to track with the profiler, but the person I am recording for does not want to even give it a try claiming it sounds too digital.

    I can guarantee that if you profile their amp and record both the profile and the real amp they won't be able to tell which is which in a blind test.


    As for picking dynamics, I find it incredibly close to my real amps.

  • I can guarantee that if you profile their amp and record both the profile and the real amp they won't be able to tell which is which in a blind test.

    Thanks for sharing Alan. I'm sure this is the case. But what can one do if they are not even open to trying the Kemper :wacko: Would make life so much easier for me actually :D

  • Thanks for sharing Alan. I'm sure this is the case. But what can one do if they are not even open to trying the Kemper :wacko: Would make life so much easier for me actually :D

    set up his amp, mic it.

    when he's happy with the sound, make a Profile.
    refine if necessary, let him play and switch between the amp and the Profile (without announcing it).


    if it's all about sound and feel this is the best way to demonstrate the PROFILER.

    If it's about a creed, analog/digital misconceptions ("sounds digital" kinda is a give away) or whatever, there's not much you can do.

    But if super-heavyweights like Michael Wagener, Ace (from Skunk Anasie) and Andy Sneap are very, very happy, one should maybe reconsider one's own preconceptions.


    If that's too much to ask it's his loss, really.

  • I would love to do this, but the way he has everything setup doesn't allow me to do so (it's a small home studio). Plus he just doesn't even wanna try. And also getting him to play guitar would be an issue cuz he plays bass lol.

    As for the misconceptions, I couldn't agree more. This is why I even went the Kemper route. If it's good enough for big names to put it on their records, who am I to argue otherwise. They all sound great to my ears. Good tube amps aren't very common around here. I guess it's a way of justifying having one (and a very good one at that). :/