I didn't know if this should go in the "other gear" section but I just wanted to share an observation. My kemper loves most all my guitars inc. Single coils, P90.s, Pickups some guitar amps don't always play friendly with. It seems to like low output clear pickups the best. With an exception..... I have had a love/hate thing with Duncan 59s. Very "gingy", splashy and almost single coil like sometimes and can excel in some guitars for that bright clear AC/DC sound IMO. In my Les paul custom the 498T seemed a bit dark for the amps I was using at the time, so I switched to the 59 and was very happy through a EVH5153. Played that Custom through the kemper and it was just total crap. Wirery and toneless-weird sounding G&B strings disappeared in splashyness.. I was upset I couldn't use my beloved Custom. Taking a risk, I put the 498T back in I didn't like before and it sounded great!! Fixed! There went my theory on clear pickups but I think it was the "EQ" of the 59 that the Kemper rejected because single coils and P90s work great. My Les paul goldtop with Dimarzio PAF Pro was good on my other amps but great with the Kemper. I am very surprised the way the Kemper completely rejected the 59 in that custom. Pickups matter! It must be the way that Kemper "reads" the guitar differently than a "normal" amp. With the 498T back it that les paul drips tone. After trying 59s in many guitars and positions, I think I am done with them. They have a role for sure and a sound much removed from many pickups. I wonder if anyone else had the same prob with those popular pickups & Kemper.
Kemper and Guitar pickups.
- Dynochrome
- Thread is marked as Resolved.
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I haven;t experienced the same problem but.....I think like any high end amp, the KPA isn;t very forgiving and will show up the true nature of your guitar, cabs etc.
I ran ENGL's before and they are also not very forgiving and i had similar problems. I suspect (but don't know) that the Axe and Helix are the same....
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I know exactly what you mean. The '59's must be matched right with the proper amp and settings to get the most out of it tone wise, either for clean or to get that hi-gain "woman" tone. I can split mine so I have way more options. But when taking about clean tone, nothing beats Fender and SD SSL singles. They are heavenly!
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I haven;t experienced the same problem but.....I think like any high end amp, the KPA isn;t very forgiving and will show up the true nature of your guitar, cabs etc.
I ran ENGL's before and they are also not very forgiving and i had similar problems. I suspect (but don't know) that the Axe and Helix are the same....
I just sold my ENGL Morse and it liked most everything, just a great amp but too much to lug around and now with my Kemper, I won't miss it. And I LOVED that amp. ENGL in general really. But I'm pretty much getting rid of everything non vintage except my 5153 MKII 50 watt. (As of now). The POD/Flextone stuff, you could play about any pickup through it and it would sound about the same. Sounded good at the time but if you wanted a clean tone you had to switch presets. Rolling down the volume control turned distortions into gritty junk. My 1101 was the first thing I had that would actually clean up and the Kemper does it even better!
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I don't know anyone else's situation, but my experience is that if a particular guitar won't 'work' with the Kemper.....it means I haven't found the correct profile for it. It's the Keith Richards' method:
The right guitar through the right amp through the right speaker.
There's a combination that works. Finding it is the difficulty. -
I don't know anyone else's situation, but my experience is that if a particular guitar won't 'work' with the Kemper.....it means I haven't found the correct profile for it. It's the Keith Richards' method:
The right guitar through the right amp through the right speaker.
There's a combination that works. Finding it is the difficulty.I'm sure that is true. But that guitar sounded bad on all 20 rigs I have set up. I wasn't about to make a special set of rigs for a guitar I could remedy with a pickup change and make everybody get along. It isn't that I couldn't do it, but that I wouldn't.
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I'm sure that is true. But that guitar sounded bad on all 20 rigs I have set up. I wasn't about to make a special set of rigs for a guitar I could remedy with a pickup change and make everybody get along. It isn't that I couldn't do it, but that I wouldn't.
Understood. I have one guitar that will *not* work with what's generally fine elsewhere. Its extremely dark.
I can put a band-aid on it by using a treble booster with a very low mix to bring up the mid/high content. But when I get it right......OoLala.....
I've really only got one profile that seems to work for cleans with everything. For anything even remotely considered low-gain or more.....not so much.
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Understood. I have one guitar that will *not* work with what's generally fine elsewhere. Its extremely dark.
I can put a band-aid on it by using a treble booster with a very low mix to bring up the mid/high content. But when I get it right......OoLala.....
I've really only got one profile that seems to work for cleans with everything. For anything even remotely considered low-gain or more.....not so much.Same here. There are many types of "clean" and it's hard to make me happy. There's strumming type cleans and "punchy" type cleans, funk cleans, blues cleans etc. For a model I will play RUSH "fly by night" to sample a "punchy" clean sound. If it does that well, I'm 90% there to what I like. That tone is harder to nail than you'd think, its cleaner than you think but has kick. Another is to go for a sound like Romantics In Heat. I LOVE that kicking punchy clean tone they use on that album. I think he used Ricks and Hiwatts and sounds like Teles too. That sound/tone is a hell of a lot harder to achieve than a lot of djent/detuned metal tones you can do with a cheap pedal and a noise gate. It's tough to get it that punchy and still be clean yet compressed just right so it stays even on the track. I wish I had that studio amp profile!
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I haven;t experienced the same problem but.....I think like any high end amp, the KPA isn;t very forgiving and will show up the true nature of your guitar, cabs etc.
I ran ENGL's before and they are also not very forgiving and i had similar problems. I suspect (but don't know) that the Axe and Helix are the same....
The Axe does bring out discrepancies in your pickups/signal chain, but not the same way in which the Kemper does. At least in my experience. With the Axe it's more about whether you have an optimized signal to make the best use out of rather than whether your signal "sounds good" in a traditional sense. It also has so many parameters that a less-optimized signal chain is easier to work around. But aside from that I did feel that the Axe was much more forgiving to sloppy playing, in my opinion. The Kemper is the opposite; you hear your mistakes loud and clear, much more like a real amp.
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I just sold my ENGL Morse and it liked most everything, just a great amp but too much to lug around and now with my Kemper, I won't miss it. And I LOVED that amp. ENGL in general really. But I'm pretty much getting rid of everything non vintage except my 5153 MKII 50 watt. (As of now). The POD/Flextone stuff, you could play about any pickup through it and it would sound about the same. Sounded good at the time but if you wanted a clean tone you had to switch presets. Rolling down the volume control turned distortions into gritty junk. My 1101 was the first thing I had that would actually clean up and the Kemper does it even better!
Ironically, perhaps unsurprisingly, one of my main profiles is an ENGL but like you they were replaced with the KPA. Never looked back. I keep a Laney GH100L as I loved that amp, but not switched it on since I had the KPA.
I ran a Powerball and then an Invader for about 8 years...loved them.
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I keep a Laney GH100L as I loved that amp, but not switched it on since I had the KPA.
loved recording with that amp!
we DO need more Laney GH100L dirty rhythm (but not stupidly gainy) Profiles! -
loved recording with that amp!
we DO need more Laney GH100L dirty rhythm (but not stupidly gainy) Profiles!Best amp I ever owned. I did a couple of profiles which are on the exchange although not sure they are any good/capture it well.. Look for Laney Gainy by Guy...
When I get time I'll have to do some others...
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Best amp I ever owned. I did a couple of profiles which are on the exchange although not sure they are any good/capture it well.. Look for Laney Gainy by Guy...
When I get time I'll have to do some others...
sweet!
Thanks! -
Same here. There are many types of "clean" and it's hard to make me happy. There's strumming type cleans and "punchy" type cleans, funk cleans, blues cleans etc. For a model I will play RUSH "fly by night" to sample a "punchy" clean sound. If it does that well, I'm 90% there to what I like. That tone is harder to nail than you'd think, its cleaner than you think but has kick. Another is to go for a sound like Romantics In Heat. I LOVE that kicking punchy clean tone they use on that album. I think he used Ricks and Hiwatts and sounds like Teles too. That sound/tone is a hell of a lot harder to achieve than a lot of djent/detuned metal tones you can do with a cheap pedal and a noise gate. It's tough to get it that punchy and still be clean yet compressed just right so it stays even on the track. I wish I had that studio amp profile!
You had me at "Rush". Alex Lifeson is one of the reasons I started to play. He gets a lot of props, but is still massively underappreciated in numerous ways. Not the least of which is being able to write radio-worthy hits with odd time signature all over them....Tom Sawyer, Limelight, Frewill, Distant Early Warning......
You could make a career with ONE of the core tones he used. I can think of at least 4 and barely make it to the 80s. -
sweet!
Thanks!Just reloaded them ( the ones already on rig exchange - there are 3, a clean, a mid gain and a higher gain ) and I quite like them! Seems to be a bit of phaseyness on the higher gain one but I'm quite pleased with the sound through my rig/guitar.
Not tried at volume but at low volume quite pleasing....but let me know what you think ( be honest as not an issue if you don;t).
Fro some reason they have a rotary speaker and other effects in place....not sure why, I never use those!!!
