STL Tones... I'm disappointed

    Hello everybody,
    I have hesitated a long time before creating this thread...
    I bought a lot of STL tones kemper bundles (Howard Benson, David Bendeth, Dan Korneff, Andrew Wade, Lee Malia, Erik Ron and Kris Crummett 2.0 ).
    Buying bundle from famous producers goal was to make my guitar and bass tracking easier.
    When I compare to website demos, it sounds fuzzy, muddy, and lifeless.

    It didn't sound really bad but each times I'm desapointed.

    Maybe I didn't record in a good way.


    I know it may depends of the guitar/bass and how I record it.

    I own a Les Pauls with 500T and I record with SPDIF output.


    I don't know why I didn't reach to have a tone close to the professionnal guitar sound of demos.

    Am I the only one to have this feeling ?

    Do you have some good advices on how to reach this great big and fat american guitar and bass sound at tracking step ? ?

    Many thanks in advance for all your advices.


    All the best.


    Pierre

    Hi GearJocke ,
    thank for taking time to answer.
    You're absolutely right, I have to listen to them in context and not alone.

    In a mix they sound either too harsh/aggressive or drowned and blurry (I'm not a professionnal mixer ;-)).

    Maybe I have not the right approach, I would like to have the right sound at tracking so as to not tweak too much after.

    I think I may have to tweak settings to be close to the original sound.
    To be honest, I don't know how.
    Something strange too, on David Bendeth bundle, bass profiles Amp and DI seems not to be in phase.

    Edited 2 times, last by Trint33 ().

    I'm not a technician, and I don't know all kemper settings and subtleties.
    Maybe there are tips to get better sound from it.
    Here is a clip with Howard Benson profile#01 and profile#33, each time original VS mine : Howard Benson A/B
    Original sounds awesome, mine sounds...hummm.

    Same settings on guitar and no proceed tracks in my DAW.
    That's strange with profile#01 mine is brighter and on the profile#33 one mine is darker/dull.
    Any help appreciated.
    Best.
    Pierre

    Maybe something here will help you


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    In my mind your perception of tone greatly depends on the playing style. If you by any means can find a free rig, where you can't make it sound like the demo, then we are happy to try with our playing style and compare the results.

    Kemper PowerRack |Kemper Stage| Rivera 4x12 V30 cab | Yamaha DXR10 pair | UA Apollo Twin Duo | Adam A7X | Cubase DAW
    Fender Telecaster 62 re-issue chambered mahogany | Kramer! (1988 or so...) | Gibson Les Paul R7 | Fender Stratocaster HBS-1 Classic Relic Custom Shop | LTD EC-1000 Evertune | 1988 Desert Yellow JEM

    Quote from Trint33

    Hi GearJocke ,
    thank for taking time to answer.
    You're absolutely right, I have to listen to them in context and not alone.

    In a mix they sound either too harsh/aggressive or drowned and blurry (I'm not a professionnal mixer ;-)).

    Maybe I have not the right approach, I would like to have the right sound at tracking so as to not tweak too much after.

    I think I may have to tweak settings to be close to the original sound.
    To be honest, I don't know how.
    Something strange too, on David Bendeth bundle, bass profiles Amp and DI seems not to be in phase.

    Guitar, pickups and playing style matter alot. A vendor here did a test a couple of years ago with 4-5 different guitarists that used the same guitar, pick, kemper and profile. If the vendor had said nothing I would believed they all used either different guitars or profiles. So again how you play matter much. Many metal profiles are made with down tuned guitars and down tuned guitars with heavier string gauge, e g. 12-60, need clarity to cut thru a mix. So sometimes using that kind of profiles with a guitar tuned in E standard with 10-46 strings will sound harsh and too bright. But even well known producers have guitar tracks that are harsh and or have a whistle sound on the guitar tracks. Not uncommon. EQ in you DAW is your friend there and Soothe is a another great plugin for taking care of that.


    Bass amp track, no matter if a kemper, other products or real amp has been used, will many times lead to phase issues together with a DI track. Flipp the phase on one of the tracks and compare.

    Think for yourself, or others will think for you wihout thinking of you

    Henry David Thoreau

    Like 1

    Very interesting video.
    I'll try working tomorow on :
    1. definition

    2. eq

    3. high / low shift
    I'll post an update tomorow.
    He has a killer marshall tone !! ;-).
    @MuddySludge, yes it sound the same on headphones.
    @musicmad, I agree with you, playing style, fingers and pick attack have an huge importance on how it sounds.
    I'm used to dual rectifer, I use it since 15 years.
    Actually, I really like tones from the bundles or guitar sounds on records made by these producers like Howard Benson, David Bendeth, Dan Korneff.
    None of them use dual rectifier for tracking.
    I also like Lee Malia tone, but tones from the bundle sounds harsh (with me).
    Am I the only one who have these profiles and have issues ?
    I also bought The Amp Factory's JCM800 profiles for this powerfull marshall tone and I have better results with it.
    If someone have others ideas, feel free to comment.
    I'll keep you in touch.

    @GearJocke,
    I agree with you, each guitar player has his tone.
    Maybe it's my playing which is crappy ;-).
    Yeah I took care to be tuned like examples to compare with heavy string gauge (12-56 for drop C on my Les Paul and 14-68 on my baryton for drop B).

    I'm not good at eqing ;-), I have to work on that, I know.
    Yes I flip the phase but I found it strange to buy professional profiles and discover that it was out of phase.
    From all your answers it seems I'm the only one to have issues with STL Tones kemper profiles, so I conclude it comes from me.
    Thanks all you for your ideas.
    I'll have some tests tomorrow.
    Keep you posted.
    Best.

    500T are ceramic PU with a Very High outpuy level... Usually pair with 496R in bridge position

    I have a LP with those PU and it's very HOT.

    I would Also a try to roll down the distorsion sense in the Input section

    And don't forget most metal songs have less distortion than you might think. With less it will force you to pick harder and also will sound thicker. Oh and another important factor is a well set up guitar.

    Think for yourself, or others will think for you wihout thinking of you

    Henry David Thoreau

    If you blend amp and DI tracks together you will phase issue many times. Even those producers will face the phase issue in their studios occasionally when they are sent tracks to mix, e.g. drum tracks.

    Think for yourself, or others will think for you wihout thinking of you

    Henry David Thoreau

    Like 1
    Quote from Trint33

    GearJocke,

    Thanks for your advices.

    In my example you think I should level down gain ?

    Best

    Pierre

    I don't know how much gain you have. :)But record a couple of tracks and then record another couple of tracks with less gain and compare.

    Think for yourself, or others will think for you wihout thinking of you

    Henry David Thoreau

    Like 1