One last discussion on ethics of Profiling: Amp manufacturers using tech to block profiling?

  • While I am all for the profiling technology, the instance that they mention of "buying and amp, profiling it and then returning it" is wrong. While I have thought about doing this with used amps at GC, I could never actually bring myself to do it. Profiling is great but it has never been meant to "steal" an amp like that.

  • I wonder what percentage of guitarists make full use of their amps?


    I've been in a number of conversations where someone new to Kemper was unhappy with, say, a Marshall profile because it wasn't intuitive to them that a profile is just a single snapshot of one tone, out of the gazillion possible tones you can get from a real amp. When they got a Marshall Plexi profile, they thought they were getting a Plexi, not just one set of knobs. Or they got a profile dialed in for metal and wanted to return the Kemper because they played classic rock and just assumed a Marshall was a Marshall (embarrassingly, that would be me).


    This is an area where there's no substitute for the real thing. It's not at all realistic to profile the entire matrix of every sound you can possibly get out of an amp. Only the physical amp does that for you. If you're a funk player, all the metal profiles in the world aren't going to give you what you want out of that amp. And even if there are a lot of funk profiles, you may still not find the sound you're looking for. With a real amp, you just turn the knobs.


    I myself am a very simple creature and I have never really worked an amp (real or imagined) to get a wide variety of tones. It's typically been clean, crunch or melt your face. I wonder how many others are like me, and how many truly value what a real amp brings to the party. If I was a manufacturer and was worried about competition from the Kemper, that would be what I leaned on in my marketing materials.

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

  • Good thoughts as always Chris :thumbup:8)

    When they got a Marshall Plexi profile, they thought they were getting a Plexi, not just one set of knobs.

    Intelligence and general understanding helps. For some it is not clear what it is and what it is not. Okay that's the same with other more complex technological gadgets, right? Sometimes people are trapped by information which is not comprehensive or for some (maybe with a lower level of technical understanding) is not easy to get. Agree that I have seen a lot of those conversations as well...

    I wonder how many others are like me, and how many truly value what a real amp brings to the party.

    I have used a lot of valve amps over time and actually I was never looking for great versatility but rather for the sweet spot(s) of the amp. And for me it is the same with the Kemper. I appreciate profilers who deliver a spectrum of different profiles of an amp. Usually when I go through it I find the few sweet spot ones for me. I love the versatility of the Kemper overall but nevertheless I use it like a one channel amp during rehearsals sometimes. Volume know in the guitar rules 8o


    Despite the great spectrum of different profiles I limit myself to a handful of profiles for gigs in order to keep the sound consistent and easy to manage for the sound guys... enough for me :)