De-harsh-ify my powerkab situation

  • I have been loving my Kemper Stage for teaching remote guitar lessons, running straight to a p.a. for acoustic shows and recording direct to a Tascam Model 24.


    I'm using some top jimi zeppelin profiles along with blackface fender rigs from the exchange at home. I sometimes find these profiles to be slightly harsh when recording but I just cut some treble at the mixer.

    I am now trying to get the powerkab going for live electric gigs. I play in a band with 2 drummers that is loud on stage (by todays standards anyway). I usually run a deluxe reverb on vol. 4-6 with pedals in front. I put the amp up on a chair or road case angled off-stage a bit. The p.a. is typically pushing kick drums, keys and vox only.


    I just got the powerkab this week and so far I just can't get comfortable with it. These same profiles I have been using are going over the line to an ear fatiguing shrill hi-fi sound when cranked up through the kab regardless of setting frfr/imprint mode/speaker choice. I am just not getting the soft squishy musicality of a pedal pushed tube amp that I am used to. I have tried using the monitor eq, definition, pure cab, high cut, sweetening etc. I'm not sure if maybe I should just re-eq the rigs at the amplifier stage specifically for live use while listening cranked through frfr mode or what.


    Any tips on how an old school/too loud rock and roller can best dial in a couple of natural feeling rigs for live usage through this kab would be most appreciated.

  • I have tried it at various levels but it wasn't really doing the trick. I feel like there is something somewhere in all of these pages of options that will unlock the juice but I just haven'y found it yet. lol

  • Maybe try cutting back the Mids in the amp EQ some. You can also try to load the Graphics EQ and cut the 2.5hz and 5hz knobs then add a very sight boost to the 80hz knob. I have that EQ in the effects block after the amp/cab and seems to work pretty well. Then you can adjust in the mix during band practice.

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

  • Thank you for the tip! I'm going to try that eq block. Do you lock that across all your rigs? I usually like the sound I'm hearing in the phones and on recordings so I was reluctant to change the amp settings too drastically but live is a different thing.

  • No, because some of my profiles don't need that specific EQ setting. BTW, I never EQ using headphones unless I use a profile specifically for their use. I always EQ using my studios monitors and Kab.

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

  • Maybe try cutting back the Mids in the amp EQ some. You can also try to load the Graphics EQ and cut the 2.5hz and 5hz knobs then add a very sight boost to the 80hz knob. I have that EQ in the effects block after the amp/cab and seems to work pretty well. Then you can adjust in the mix during band practice.

    I guess you mean kHz there ..... 2,5Hz - 5Hz isnt even audible , just feel like a soft breeze 8o


    Cheers !

    The adjective for metal is metallic. But not so for iron ... which is ironic.

  • I left my usual profiles and listened to various random low/med -gain rigs stored on my Stage today at loud volumes. There is a Hendrix preset from the legends pack that has an eq preset n the x slot as BT described. That sounded a lot more natural to me cranked through the Kab whether I used the ir speakers or frfr. The mpacheco AC20 had me thinking things might just work out. There is no question about volume. The cab cranks.


    The way I'm used to working live with my DR is that the amp is set to break up and everything is controlled by the gtr vol. The higher the gtr volume goes the more the amp gives in to a soft break up. So far in Kemperkab week 1 , my gainy sounds on the kemper through the Kab are basically more harsh the louder you go. I still have to try individually tweaking the eq's for each rig.


    I got up and running for acoustic shows last year in about an hour. Been happy with those settings over many gigs and haven't changed a thing. This is much more involved.

  • I left my usual profiles and listened to various random low/med -gain rigs stored on my Stage today at loud volumes. There is a Hendrix preset from the legends pack that has an eq preset n the x slot as BT described. That sounded a lot more natural to me cranked through the Kab whether I used the ir speakers or frfr. The mpacheco AC20 had me thinking things might just work out. There is no question about volume. The cab cranks.


    The way I'm used to working live with my DR is that the amp is set to break up and everything is controlled by the gtr vol. The higher the gtr volume goes the more the amp gives in to a soft break up. So far in Kemperkab week 1 , my gainy sounds on the kemper through the Kab are basically more harsh the louder you go. I still have to try individually tweaking the eq's for each rig.


    I got up and running for acoustic shows last year in about an hour. Been happy with those settings over many gigs and haven't changed a thing. This is much more involved.

    Are you sure you’re using the right profile? When you talk about controlling a breakup guitar tone with the vol control that’s exactly what I do all the time.

    BTW: That’s why I love the rmpacheco AC20 because it excels at this.

  • Any tips on how an old school/too loud rock and roller can best dial in a couple of natural feeling rigs for live usage through this kab would be most appreciated.

    Kenny, I'm having the same issue, I put the Kone back in my cabinet and spent a few more hours today tweaking different settings. The settings below are working pretty good so far on clean, edge of breakup, over driven and heavier profiles at different volume levels, though it still isn't what I suspect others are experiencing when they say they are getting really good sound. It most certainly is not as good at least to me as some of the video demonstrations that I've seen and to many people are having good luck, I have with my Kemper but not with the Kone so far. I used these same changes on multiple profiles of different amps with very similar results, each profile I changed I would "save as" and add a b to the end so I could compare the original with it back to back. I did try the graphic eq that's been suggested also but found leaving it out worked better with these changes. Give it a try and see what you think.


    Under Cabinet Soft Key

    High Shift: -0.5 down from current setting

    Low Shift: -0.5 down from current setting

    Character: set at +5.0

    Pure Cabinet: set at 7.5


    Under Amplifier Soft Key

    Clarity: +1.0 up from current setting

    Bass: -1.0 down from current setting

    Treble: +1.0 up from current setting

    Presence: -1.5 down from current setting

  • Are you sure you’re using the right profile? When you talk about controlling a breakup guitar tone with the vol control that’s exactly what I do all the time.

    BTW: That’s why I love the rmpacheco AC20 because it excels at this.

    The AC20 is the best profile I have tried through the Kab so far. With my single coil guitars the AC20 as-profiled is still on the cleaner side, where the Kemper Kab is sounding/feeling good to me at stage volume. The profiles clean up with the gtr. volume . It's just that when I try a profile that has enough gain for my max gtr. volume sound it doesn't sound nearly as good to me through the Kab at stage volume as it does compared to the headphone or recording tones I have been getting. Turning up the gain on the AC-20 was a better but similar result. I haven't had much luck with the drive pedals yet but maybe a drive in front of the AC would work better than gaining up the profile?


    Being a volume rider, have you experienced the sound getting strange as you get farther down the pot? Like 1- 3? I am wondering if I am having an input setting issue.

    Howard,


    Thank you for the detailed settings specs. I am in the middle of a bunch of gigs but I will be trying this on Tuesday and I will lyk how it goes.