Michael Britt's Vintage Pack - profiling approach with only one speaker/cab

  • Hi guys!


    I'm quite new Kemper user, so possibly I don't understand something yet. So here's the story. I wanted to find some good quality profiles of good vintage amps to use it with my overdrive pedals. The intention was to get as close as possible to real things in terms of sound and feel. There are a lot of extremely positive reviews on the internet about Michael's profiles and every other says that they are just like real deal if not better. So I pulled the trigger and when I was reading additional product details after my purchase I had found this:


    "Speakers and mics – I like to profile amps using the same speaker cab and mic setup.

    While some amps might benefit from using their built-in speakers/cabs, I find that I get the

    best and most-usable results from this setup. My Classic Lead 80 is an even, smooth

    speaker with tight bottom that doesn’t impart too much speaker character onto the

    profile."


    As far as I know cab and mic have great impact on the final sound (actually much bigger than the actual amp), they have even influence on the feel to some extent. So the decision to use the same speaker/cab for all profiles is quite strange to me to say the least.


    Any thoughts about this are much appreciated.


    Do you know any other good profiles of Fender vintage amps with more authentic approach of making them, preferably Silverface, it seems almost nobody likes them, simply impossible to find profiles of that series? :)


    Cheers,

    Vitalii

  • look at Rig Exchange, many Silverface Rigs from diff amps

    search for Fender or the amp name you look for

    i have lots of Fender Rigs from commercial sellers

    and Michael Britts ones are one of the best Packs you can have

  • You can also switch cabs on the rig, which I've done on several to get more of the tone I'm seeking. Celestion sells Kemper cabs of their speakers, and there are many other sources, along with the cabs in all the various rigs on Rig Exchange.

    Go for it now. The future is promised to no one. - Wayne Dyer

  • You might consider changing the title of this thread...

    Yes! I totally agree. Not proper and/or fair to say "authenticity suck" that's simply not fair. Michael is a top profiler in this game and more importantly, he's a great human being, salt of the earth type of guy. So yeah. The title to this so-called thread is incorrect.

    Rik


    Kemper toaster >Kemper remote> 2 x Alto TS310 powered speakers Furman M-8XAR

  • I suppose there are many ways to look at this.


    Do you want a great sound for many situations? If so Michael’s approach certainly works. His profiles all sound amazing and instantly useable straight away. I pretty much never tweak any of them.


    Do you want “authentic” recreations of specific amps with “authenticity being more important than usability? If so Michael’s packs aren’t the way to go. When we talk “authenticity” though we get into a whole rabbit hole of what is authentic? Is it the amp Direct Profile with a real cab? Is it a studio profile of the amp and cab? But then what about mic choice? For vintage amps should it be vintage “authentic” mics only or a re modern mics acceptable?


    I don’t believe any of these are right or wrong. Music and tone are all about personal taste and context of use. I originally bought the KPA was hinkommen ng that I would have access to “authentic” profiles of any amp I ever wanted to try. However, i qickly realised that there are so many different ways to profile the same amp that now I only see the amp name as a rough indicator of the general ball park of sound to start my search. After that, it either sounds good or it doesn’t. I no longer get hung up on how the sound was actually created.


    Just my tuppenceworth all other opinions are no more or less valid ;)

  • I'm quite new Kemper user, so possibly I don't understand something yet.

    Perfectly understandable since there's always a learning curve with new gear. Here are a few thoughts that will help you get the most out of your Kemper experience.

    1. Like many others, Michael has done his best to create profiles that sound good. That is, of course, a matter of personal taste, but I point it out because "this is a 100% accurate depiction of the xyz amp" is different than "here's a great sound coming from an xyz amp." It's possible to take a perfectly authentic amp and make it sound very, very bad (trust me, I'm an expert at this). With the mic and cabinet decisions he's made, his focus has been on the end result rather than from an amp collector's perspective. They're different approaches.
    2. Whether from a commercial profiler or the free ones on Rig Exchange, context is everything. If someone dials in an absolutely killer tone for searing death metal using the xyz amp, it will sound great for that application. It may also sound terrible for a country or classic rock gig that also uses the xyz amp. By understanding the style of music the profilers are targeting, you'll be able to make a better assessment of what profiles are "good." Remember, a profile isn't "here's everything this amp can do." It's a very specific snapshot of one tone out of the millions the amp can give you.
    3. While I realize that courtesy is not a high priority on the Internet, where rude and insulting comments are common, you'll personally benefit more from the community (and the vendors) if you treat them like they're, you know, actual humans. As has been mentioned by others, it turns out Michael is a particularly nice one, as are the overwhelming majority of others you'll encounter here. If you approach the forums with that perspective, you'll find that the people here will trip over each other in their efforts to help you. It's unlike any forum I've ever seen in that regard.

    If you are looking for vintage amps that were profiled to be a pedal platform, try the free offerings from Tone Junkie and Brian Carl, to get an idea of of their styles of profiling. The Amp Factory also offers many, many vintage amps.

    Michael told a story recently on his vendor thread about doing a gig with all his custom profiles, but sharing the stage with a friend who also used his profiles. However, his friend was just using a single 3rd power amp and a pedal board (and, to Michael's ears sounded better than he did). So, maybe the low gain 3rd power stuff would also serve well as a pedal platform. I find them to offer some of the best aspects of Fender amps, but that's just me. However, I think they lean more toward the vibe of brown and black face, so perhaps not the best fit for the OP.

    Do you know any other good profiles of Fender vintage amps with more authentic approach of making them, preferably Silverface, it seems almost nobody likes them, simply impossible to find profiles of that series? :)

    I started playing guitar in 1973 so I was surrounded by that stuff. We called the silver face amps "post-CBS," i.e. after Fender got bought out, and it was spoken in the tone of an insult. Back then, the pre-CBS stuff (brown and black face) weren't so old that they were getting ridiculous collector's prices. They were just "used amps," so we always ended up playing a mixture of the two.


    Of course, now a 60s / 70s silver face Fender amp is all, "ooooh, Vintage!" Back then, they were just really harsh and tinny sounding amps that nobody liked. So, it's not surprising that there are fewer profiles of them. Still, if that's the sound you're going for, I'm sure you can find people who have done a good job capturing them.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

    Edited 4 times, last by Chris Duncan ().

  • Thank you so much guys for your helpful responses! Didn't expect so much feedback in a short period of time, Kemper community is definitely different in a good way from many other places on the internet nowadays. Thanks again!


    P.S. Sorry for the title, it has been changed.

  • I am a big fan of Michael's profiles and own them all. That said, I agree w original poster and their should be an option to use the original stock cabinet in a vintage Fender amp rather than what Michael is using (ie 3rd power speaker for consistency ).

  • I really like one of MIke's Champ profiles (one of the packs; don't remember which). He profiled it with the his usual amp cab and also with the original Champ speaker. I prefer the profiles with his usual amp cab.

    The key to everything is patience.
    You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.
    -- Arnold H. Glasow


    If it doesn't produce results, don't do it.

    -- Me

  • Hi everyone,


    I also use MBritt exclusively.

    For me, the major advantage of his strategy to use only one cab/speaker for the majority of profiles is:

    As most of us use (at least) a few/several if not many profiles throughout a gig/song/rehearsal/whatever, it is important to have an overall tonal balance throughout different sounds.

    In this regard, profiling through only one speaker/cab model is a major advantage, and of course having it profiled by only one person (with very good equipment, and quite constant tonal preferences), as this one cab/profiling strategy in a way "imprints" a very consistent sound signature on top of the amp, even if switching between quite different amps.

    That being said, I still clearly recognize the amp type very clearly, regarding its gain structure, ability to clean up if picked light, "old-school" or modern sound, etc. - I would still say I could blindly identify marshalleque, fenderesque, modern etc. amps out of these profiles, although being profiled using the same cab.


    For me, every attempt to "mix in" a profile from anybody else feels a bit like switching to a different guitar player (even if the other profile sounds killer in its own regard, just by being completely different regarding its overall sound "signature").


    Therefore, I completely adore Michaels approach, and enjoy having very versatile and distinct amp models available, but still not loosing an overall sound signature that glues everything together.


    Best,

    Sebastian