2 Guitars 1 Kemper

  • Hello everyone!


    As you probably know, there could be massive differences in the way different guitars "digest" your profiles...

    For example, I build a performance with my Strat and I absolutely love it, but then when I play with a Les Paul It sounds pretty bad...


    I imagine most people here have more than 1 guitar, so what is your way of using your KP with couple different guitars?


    Cheers:evil:

  • I have different presets for my input section.

    The Input section is stored with the rig.

    So if i like to use a RIG with a other guitar i can chose a other input section preset as starting point. If you have a real amp you must also tweak your gain and input if you swap to a other guitar.


    You have to differentiate between a amp-profile and a RIG. The rig includes the entire signal chain guitar, effects, amp profile, room simulation. Only the output section is set globally for routing and room adaptation. But you can also save presets for this. I save e.g. after each sound check the output settings with location and FOH and band information. So i can restore my output setting and the Soundman is happy.

    Be the force with you ;)

  • As much as I want you to have a great tone, I don’t get this question. Of course different guitars sound different. As they should: why would you buy different guitars anyway?


    A Strat sounds different through a Plexi then an LP would. And this should be the case. This is not sounding ‘good’ or ‘bad’, just different. I am glad I’m hearing the difference, that the KPA let’s my guitars shine through.


    So, I don’t want to adjust the input section. I want a humbucker equipped guitar to be hotter than a single coil guitar. I want a Tele to be brighter than an ES. I use different profiles with different guitars for different purposes. As I would, when using a ‘real’ tube amp. If I would adjust the input section to make the guitars sound the same, why switch guitars?

  • What parameters do you change on the input section?

    There aren't any eq of sound controls in there...

    Mostly I change the clean sense and distortion sense.
    I do not change the EQ so much. If I would do this than I have a different RIG.
    But you can also store the Amp-Section with EQ as Preset if you like.
    Some guitar player are working with RIGs like with an amp. But a RIG is more a Sound.

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    So I'm naming my rigs sound wise.
    e.g.:

    HBB-DarkMetal (Humbucker Bridge Metal Sound)
    SCC-Tel-Twang (Single-Neck-Tele)
    SCB-StratEggCutter
    Check out some tips from Tone Junkie

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    Be the force with you ;)

    Edited once, last by Yoda Guitar ().

  • I think the issue is that Les Pauls are awful full stop.....JOKE! Actually I don;t like strats much either ha!


    For me I tend to play certain songs with certain guitars and therefore the rig tends to go with the guitar. I rarely change that. Also most of the rigs seem to work with different types reasonably well, the main difference is starts not having enough "power" so many ways round this...


    The only variation I have is in my band ( Cult tribute) I play a Les Paul and White Falcon...massively different. So I have 2 performances based around those 2 guitars.


    Not sure that helps :)

  • Hey V8,

    What’s your go to rig for ‘fire woman’? Thinking about covering it with my band.

    Spooky...as we are lockdown, I've just started revisiting my rigs and I was messing with Firewomen last night!!!


    Just to start, I am useless with tone matching so I'm not going to profess I've got Billys sound nailed.


    So Billy is infamous for using a Roland JC120 and Marshall's along with boss OD's. More laterly he's used Freidmans and Matchless live. He uses a White falcon and various Les Paul " woodies", but on Firewoman the majority is on the Les Paul.


    For Firewomen I was using an ENGL rig for rhythm, boosted via morph for the riff and mesa dual rec for the solo. For the Intro I was using a Deizel Herbert...I'm changing all that out now for Soldano ( Mbritt rigs) but the BM rigs in the last Kemper pack are also cracking!


    At which point you are thinking why not use Marshall rigs? Just never been happy with any Marshall rigs, but if you can find a JCM800 rig that you like ( loads out there), you'll be 90% there. I do use too much gain for The Cult but I can't help it!


    For the intro, I keep it relatively clean with some delay


    Its a great track to play and a crowd pleaser! The pre-chorus is the most complicated but most interesting part, relatively speaking ( "T-t-t-twistin' like a flame in a slow dance, baby") but the rest is dead easy.


    Hope you like it as much as I do!

  • I just use different profiles to be honest. 99% of the time I play profiles I made of my own amps. My Ceriatone for instance; when using the Strat I have the bright switch OFF but when using a humbucker guitar I have it ON. I profiled both settings and just switch between the profiles in the KPA. More satisfying to my ears than adjustments (EQ, input sense etc) on the KPA itself.

  • Just like with real amps. You need different sounds for different guitars. Big difference between sc and hb. You can't tweak a sound for a strat and expect it to sound killer too with a les paul.

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

    Henry David Thoreau

  • what is your way of using your KP with couple different guitars?

    My gig guitars have similar enough output levels that I can use most of the same rigs for all of them.


    The single coil guitars aren't quite as hot, and have different tonal balances than the humbucker-only guitars, but, that is the musical reason for changing guitars. And, the tone controls on those single coil guitars offer a surprisingly wide range of sounds.

  • Just like with real amps. You need different sounds for different guitars. Big difference between sc and hb. You can't tweak a sound for a strat and expect it to sound killer too with a les paul.

    Sure it's like a real amp - different guitars and pickups are good for different settings

    My question is how do you go about using the Kemper with different guitars?

    Make different performances for each guitar? Adjust the Output eq? use totally different profiles etc...

  • So, I don’t want to adjust the input section. I want a humbucker equipped guitar to be hotter than a single coil guitar.

    I agree with nearly ever you said. I personally rarely touch the input settings either but I can understand why it may be necessary to do so with the Kemper even though you wouldn’t do it with a “real” amp.


    the difference is that the Kemper has a built in automtic level match for clean and dirty sounds. I believe CK said this was a by product of the way the KPA was designed to get maximum performance from signal to noise ratio. Therefore, hitting the front end with a hotter or cooler signal can adversely affect the balance between clean and dirty rigs (or simply riding the volume control as you would on something like a Plexi). The Clean Sense and Distortion Sense can be used to compensate for this and allow the KPA to perform like the real amp would.

  • I usually use a strat tele and an acoustic! make different presets for all my guitars! The Kemper also is nice for my electric Mandolin oand Dobro with inbuilt mic!