Different guitars

  • I guess I come from a different school of thought. I can care less if it's an antique. I either make it sound right for me or get rid of it.

    This.

    Plus changing the pot is completely reversible.

    Just keep the original.

    Same goes for capacitors etc.

  • I have a Tele and a strat - no surprise, one is brighter than the other. I want to make use of all of my rigs regardless of which guitar I am playing, without having to endlessly tweak the eq's. I dont want to get into categorizing my rigs per each guitar either. I wonder how you guys handle this? I'd love if there was some global switch that allowed me to apply an eq tweak as necessary, kind of as a global approach?

    I suppose I could throw an EQ stomp in with the preset I need to tame things a bit, then just hit the pedal to engage as necessary - just wondering if there isn't slicker way to go? I know you guys... there must be a slicker way!

    Thanks!

    I actually use various guitars specifically BECAUSE they sound differently. That said, some of the guitars are fine tuned (pickups and wiring) to be not really that far apart. I prefer slightly hotter strat pickups so I don't have any "ice pick" issues, while for example my Les Paul is clearly on the brighter side. Still looking to add a Tele at some point soon to add another flavor.

  • I actually use various guitars specifically BECAUSE they sound differently. That said, some of the guitars are fine tuned (pickups and wiring) to be not really that far apart. I prefer slightly hotter strat pickups so I don't have any "ice pick" issues, while for example my Les Paul is clearly on the brighter side. Still looking to add a Tele at some point soon to add another flavor.

    Bet you would like a Dimarzio Twang King in a Tele. Inexpensive and excellent. Probably the only pickup I ever changed to that I nailed it the first time and gave me just what I wanted. Not real hot so still bright, but not icepicky for sure. IMO Just a bit sharper and more focused than a P90 with 500K pots. Does Malcom's AC/DC sound excellent and works great with high gain as well as clean.

  • I really appreciate everyone's input! I now have a new task for this different guitars thing I am tackling...


    I know I can create different input presets and save/name them. This is great for guitars with different output levels - I have 2 input presets that cover just about all the guitars quite well. I'd like to assign these two input presets to a specific, single switch on the remote, to act globally, independent of any specific rig. Is this possible?


    Appreciate!

  • When I was taking my 335 and Strat out with me (using a line 6) I had presets that were for the Strat and others for humbucker guitar. I may have a rig or two in a performance (I use performance mode like "banks") just for single coils (something twangy or funky) but for the most part I use amps on the Kemper like a 74 marshall that sound good on Strats or Les pauls just different, and that's my purpose of having different guitars.

    I find the Kemper excellent at bringing out the good in different guitars. My old line 6, you could plug in a Danelectro or a 58 les paul and the distortion would sound the same. If I was doing single coils I might use MB's JJ matchless or a 67 blackface model I found and posted in free favorites but probably not a 5153. You end up finding rigs that work good with certain guitars and I keep that in mind if I need a sound in particular, I got an idea where to start.

  • When I was taking my 335 and Strat out with me (using a line 6) I had presets that were for the Strat and others for humbucker guitar. I may have a rig or two in a performance (I use performance mode like "banks") just for single coils (something twangy or funky) but for the most part I use amps on the Kemper like a 74 marshall that sound good on Strats or Les pauls just different, and that's my purpose of having different guitars.

    I find the Kemper excellent at bringing out the good in different guitars. My old line 6, you could plug in a Danelectro or a 58 les paul and the distortion would sound the same. If I was doing single coils I might use MB's JJ matchless or a 67 blackface model I found and posted in free favorites but probably not a 5153. You end up finding rigs that work good with certain guitars and I keep that in mind if I need a sound in particular, I got an idea where to start.

    Does the volume of the rig go up when you switch from a guitar with single coils to a guitar with humbuckers on the same rig? I haven't really played with this yet. For me it depends on the band I am in at the time. I tend to stick with one or the other based on the band and not really switch between them.

  • tis all very true.

    Different tones work with different guitars.

    Its a good excuse to but more guitars ;)

    I hated strats for years and years until I got curious one day and tried one again, and I love it. I've never tried a tele .... must put it on my yo do list

  • Does the volume of the rig go up when you switch from a guitar with single coils to a guitar with humbuckers on the same rig? I haven't really played with this yet. For me it depends on the band I am in at the time. I tend to stick with one or the other based on the band and not really switch between them.

    One of my favorite things about the Kemper are it's almost automatic ability to go between clean and distortion sounds with out a bunch of back and forth tweeking. volume wise. I'm not adjusting clean sense at all. I normalize all my presets by using the volume in the Amp module and save the hard knob volume on front to set solo morph volumes. I've said this before, that it's seemingly compressed output wise, but not playing and dynamic wise if that makes any sense. It's really summed up best by saying the Kemper is more mix ready than just an amp and a mic, and stage or recording is a big head start over Amp,cab mic and preamp. That "compression" lets me grab almost any guitar and not have drastic volume drops but allows for the dynamics and character of each guitar to shine through. Tube amps are fun, but a Kemper really serves it on a plate.

  • It's really summed up best by saying the Kemper is more mix ready than just an amp and a mic, and stage or recording is a big head start over Amp,cab mic and preamp. That "compression" lets me grab almost any guitar and not have drastic volume drops but allows for the dynamics and character of each guitar to shine through. Tube amps are fun, but a Kemper really serves it on a plate.

    Couldn't agree more. And while I know it's not the same as plugging in two different guitars, I just spent the evening getting familiar with a PRS that has very impressive coil splitting. I've had humbuckers with coil splitters for a long time but I was going back and forth between Green Day humbuckers and Blackmore / Purple single coil Strat stuff and not feeling like I was faking it on either front.


    I was impressed not only with how Strat-like the coil splits were (very believable Blackmore), but also the fact that I could get away with both of those using the same profile, a Freidman on full rock and roll. No volume issues between humbucker and single coil, and it was stilly very dynamic. No loss of articulation, was responsive to light or heavy touch.


    Yeah, definitely serves it on a plate, and I don't even feel the need for dessert.

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

  • I will nod to the prs coil splitting too. Even though I've only got the cheaper se. Its still great.

    I dont tend to match pick ups in guitars.

    I've got a fair few with Seymour, dimarzio, bare knuckle emg etc

    Believe it or not I've got a prestige ibanez rg. The koa top one with the floyd and its sounds amazing . I dont want it to be my best sounding guitar but it is. I cant work it out.

    Almost an acoustic sound to it even when driven hard. Kind of like a delicate subtle ness to it. Really really responsive to dynamics and stuff when it shouldnt be.

    I guess my point is the same as what every one else has said. The kemper doesnt squash each guitars character, and the tonal differences are still there. Alot of previous gear I've had made all my guitars sound the same

  • That "compression" lets me grab almost any guitar and not have drastic volume drops but allows for the dynamics and character of each guitar to shine through. Tube amps are fun, but a Kemper really serves it on a plate.

    This is what I have put together from reading posts on here. I will definitely be testing this out some when I get a few more things squared away and get back to doing some music. To me the Stage is a perfect gigging unit. That is why I bought it. The fact that I could go from humbuckers to single coils and not have a huge volume drop like I do now with my tube amp and pedals is definitely a plus. I actually have a clean boost pedal on my board just for this purpose. I thought I may have to program in something similar on the Kemper to keep them at a consistent volume.


    I just spent the evening getting familiar with a PRS that has very impressive coil splitting.

    The coil splitting on PRS guitars is very impressive. The split sounds got a lot better when they started putting resistors in line that are engaged when the switch is flipped. It makes a huge difference in the volume. Suhr does a great job with it as well. I don't know how Suhr does it but I know PRS started putting the resistors in around 2008 or 2009.

  • I just bought a new beautiful and great sounding Charvel pro mod. It sounds great clean and dirty with the Kemper but the middle positions really drop the volume. I knew that before I bought one and makes those positions less usable no matter what amp. If you were to switch between these live it would either be to drop the volume a bit or you would have to boost those positions. The middle position sounds super good but the drop is drastic.