1st rehearsal with the Kemper

In the output section there are Low Cut and High Cut filters you can set, they affect all outputs. Rather than eq blocks on each profile you could tweak the Monitor Output 4 band eq to taste in each environment you are in, it will only affect the monitor out to your 212 cabinet and not main outputs to front of house.

I might not be that adventurous or maybe a little lazy but I try different profiles (dry, no effects) until I find one that sounds good through my setup and very seldom touch the eq section of the profile, if I do it's very small adjustments, then add effects back in to taste. If its good at the start you have a foundation to build on, if it takes a lot of tweaking and still isn't cutting it skip that profile and move on, there are to many decent ones out there to choose from.

Couple of random thoughts:

• You shouldn't need to cut low and high if you're running the Kemper into a guitar cab. Guitar speakers already have natural low and high cut. This is really only relevant for going straight into a PA or an FRFR.
• Why keep the tone of the amp flat? This is some weird advice I keep seeing on this forum that makes no sense to me. Don't be afraid to adjust it. It wouldn't be there if it wasn't meant to be used. ?

Boost your mids if you need to be heard over bass and drums.

I just trust my ears and EQ the what sounds I like. I don't care too much about to how it sounds compared to the real amp because there are just too many variables. My starting point, as you say, is how it sounds right there to my ears. With all due respect, it seems like you're overcomplicating it. Turn it on. Pick a profile that sounds good to you. EQ it more to taste, add boosts, effects, etc. If it sounds good, it sounds good.

I find myself starting with a good profile I like or profile set and then tweak it with the effects on the Kemper pre and post. I have tons of profiles and keep trying more but I keep going back to my tweaked favorites. I mainly use the Michael Brit Dumble pack profiles. I generally will take them and add boosts, drives or EQ pedal in front of or after the amp/cab block. I play things from Zep and VH to Tool and AIC. I have been able to get good tones that I can make do what ever I want it to do. I tend to avoid turning the bass, mid and treble knobs since they wont react exactly like the amp would have. If I dont like the tone when I first listen to the profile I move on to a different one. No point in tweaking a profile that you dont like from the start.

If you use an EQ pedal to boost the frequencies to cut through it will have a more predictable reaction then changing the amp tone stack. Combining the morph feature with boosted and EQs will go a LONG way towards getting a tone you want that is heard in the mix.

Hi, Gezza.

Check this out.

Yes, you can change a Profile - The Biggest Myth About the Kemper

Might have been mentioned already but I don't see it: Tweak at as close to correct volume as possible. The sound you dial in at low volume before the rehearsal is very unlikely to be useful at full volume.

It would help if you explained how the profiles you are using dont sound like your amp. And explain what you want them to sound like.

The Kemper is the most powerful tool ever made for creating tone. You can take almost any profile and modify it to the point it sounds like something completely different. I just spent a day tweaking a Bognar high gain amp profile for metal, then I changed the AMP MIX value to include a lot of the clean guitar signal and now it sounds like the most up front and present blues tone I have ever heard.

Many profiles are setup for a specific scenario like playing thru a 4x12 cab or FRFR. I play thru studio monitors so most sound dark to me. So my process is:
- Set the AMP EQ to get close.

- If the sound is too woofy/loose adjust the AMP DEFINITION higher until the low end booms clean up.
- If it still sounds dark and like its being played thru a tunnel/tube turn down the CABINET CHARACTER. Sometimes up helps also.

- If too bright add some PURE CABINET.

- If it still sounds like a dark tunnel its time to swap out the cabinet (Rig Manager usually). Start all over.
- Adding an EQ as the first pedal lets you tweak your pickups, decrease noise(Hi cut 2500), and select which sounds get the most gain. Setting the low cut to 80-100 will stop the low end muddiness and boom also.
- Adding a TREBLE BOOSTER right after the AMP will smooth things out. Tone:1.0-2.5 Mix: 10-30% brings the guitar more up front and controlled. May lose high gain low end thump and need more bass after adding.
- If it still sounds dead you will want a STUDIO EQ after the Booster with Low:200(+3) Mid 1:500(-2) Mid 2:1200(+3) High:2500(to taste)
- Some profiles feel too compressed to me like there is not enough volume change so adding some AMP CLARITY helps.
- If it sounds good but a little thin in the low mids adding some clean signal from AMP MIX can thicken things up. Adds back some liveliness also. Really helps death metal and breakup tones. You may want to back off some AMP GAIN and add a pedal so you dont have a pure clean signal being mixed. OC or Treble Booster works good usually.
- Sometimes I tweak the CAB Low/Hi settings if needed. Usually HIGH: .1-.3 LOW: -1.5 Seems to get a 4x12 sound from a 1x12 profile.

With these adjustments you can get pretty much anywhere you want with a profile.

You didn't forgot to turn off the cab section in the monitor menue, right?

Quote from jfischer518

I have been able to get good tones that I can make do what ever I want it to do. I tend to avoid turning the bass, mid and treble knobs since they wont react exactly like the amp would have. If I dont like the tone when I first listen to the profile I move on to a different one. No point in tweaking a profile that you dont like from the start.

Yeah, this doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Yeah, if the rig immediately sounds bad, then it's probably not a good rig, or not a speaker or mic combo that I like. But what does it matter if the EQ doesn't respond exactly like the amp would? If I just need a little less mids and a little more high end, why wouldn't I adjust the EQ accordingly, instead of looking for the perfect rig (doesn't exist) or adding an additional EQ block. The settings on the reverb block that imitates a Strymon Big Sky don't react like a real Big Sky. The drive knob on the Green Scream doesn't react just like the drive knob on one of the 8000 Tube Screamers out there. But they generally do their job and sound good if you tweak them to your liking.

Again, this isn't a personal attack against you, so sorry if it comes off this way. I just think this is weirdly bad advice.

Quote from joshriggs

what does it matter if the EQ doesn't respond exactly like the amp would? If I just need a little less mids and a little more high end, why wouldn't I adjust the EQ accordingly,

Again, this isn't a personal attack against you, so sorry if it comes off this way. I just think this is weirdly bad advice.

I put it out that way because he is coming from the world of a tube amps and has specifically mentioned two amps, JVM 410 and a Victory V30 MK11. That small amount of knowledge will help prevent the moments of frustration when attempting to make comparisons between the real thing and a profile. I too have profiles of my real tube amps that stay at home and find it much more intuitive to match tones I am attempting to match with boosts or EQ. While adjusting the amp block EQ to taste will get you to where you want to be but can be the source of frustration when turning up the mids doesn't react the same way when you are trying to match tones post refinement. One of his issues was being heard and cutting through the mix and using an EQ or boost will make the process a bit simpler on the spot to tweak, especially if you have a laptop there. There are alway more then one way to do thing and this is what has worked for me and might be a good option for Gezza as well.

Quote from Gezza

I'm just hearing some unwanted frequencies that shouldn't be there.

Gezza, if those freqs are coming from the cabinet IR, you will want to reduce the CAB CHARACTER to clear them up. Once the cab IR colors your sound with those freqs, they are not real easy to get rid of. It is best to get rid of them in the cab ir BEFORE they get applied to your waveform.

Reducing the CHARACTER will balance out the freqs to become a flatter/even response. Which can sound almost like a DI. Usually something like -3 to -4 is where I settle. This tends to make the sound a little bright. So post EQ may be needed to tone down that. I also play with the PURE CABINET setting, to see if can settle them down without getting too muddy.

I agree it is hard to understand what is going on usually. Your guitar has a freq response. Then the amp has peaks at each filter. Then the mic that was used has peaks and dips. And you have to sit and guess what freqs are not playing well together.

THE HUNT

One trick is to use the STUDIO EQ and set the gain high and the Q to like 1 or so. Then tweak the freq until you hear the sound that is bugging you. Then reduce the gain until it goes away. May be able to increase the Q (decrease the filter width) to not impact the frequencies around the problem freq. Or we could get a 32 band EQ on the Kemper

Have you tried the "MW - Rand L. Bogus" profile frome the Michael Wagener rig pack?

Fantastic Marshall crunch sound!

A friend of mine, professional guitarist who also builds his own pedals, bought the Kemper and immediately used it to record an album after he borrowed my Kemper and found that sound.

Are you tweaking with the eq in the output section?

One of the things I like to do is to create a direct profile. I can then add an IR that I already like. This removes the whole mic and cab from the equation.

Makes it simpler and these days, most have a stash of IRs that they can use.