Recommendations for high quality, high gain profiles/profilers?

  • Hi everyone.


    Ever since I got my Kemper I've been using primarily high gain profiles from ChopTones. Recently I've noticed that their profiles are very "compressed" and very bassy. I can get away with it on a 6 string but not on a 7, let alone an 8.


    Are there any EQ settings I can fiddle with to get a more lively, amp-in-the-room sound? And does anyone have recommendations for other high gain and quality and well captured profilers out there?


    I'm a big fan of Mesa Boogies and Friedmans as that's the tone I usually shoot for, if that helps at all.


    Thanks!

  • I would start here with the profiles already available to you:

    5 best Metal Profiles already in your Kemper


    I dont play much 7 string, but here is what I have found from playing around on the Kemper and reinforced from YouTube vids.


    When dialing in a metal tone you should:

    - Adjust the AMP DEFINTION. This adjusts the input curve to reduce(10) or add bass(0). It also tweaks the mids and articulation. So you want to roll it around and listen as you play. There is often a sweet spot where mids start to shine. For metal, this will be around 6-10.


    You do not want any low freq stuff hitting before the amplifier. This is what makes the sound muddy. You want the amp to focus its gain on the mids and highs.


    - I like to use a Graphic EQ as my 1st stomp. This lets you custom tailor your input to the sound you want. Think of it as a custom DEFINITION control. Most 7-8 string players actually remove a ton of bass. So You will want to roll the 80Hz down like -6dB. Then 150Hz to -2dB. Then you can really start tweaking your sound by boosting the upper mids like 1K, etc.


    - Adding an EQ after the amp. This helps you put back some of the low freq stuff you removed to get a less muddy sound. The STUDIO EQ (cut the mix) is a good place to start. The METAL EQ is great but has been buggy from patch to patch, so its MID GAIN may not work. Adding an EQ after the amp will kill some articulation. You need to decide if a better tone is worth the loss.


    - Add some AMP DIRECT MIX. This adds in some clean guitar signal to the amps output. This helps thicken your tones mids and adds some dynamics that get smashed by super high gain amps. Since it shares its EQ with the AMP, it can be a balancing act getting the mids right.


    - In some cases adding a TREBLE BOOSTER after the amp helps tighten the bottom end and add some high sparkle. You want the mix very low, like 5-15%. It will kill some high freqs so check your pinch harmonics on E string above 12th fret. This works best for Marshall type sounds, not as good for Recto type stuff since it lowers the high freqs.


    Adding In-the-room sound depends on how you are playing. I would assume you are recording (since an amp is already going to have the sound).


    You can add one of the many different stereo options such as reverb SPACE, EQ/Phase wideners, Double tracker, etc.


    Coming from a Line6 background, I like to add some reverb ambience. This is built in to the microphone/cab setting on Line6 modelers. The Kemper LEGACY REVERB has an Ambience and Matchbox size. Set the decay and delay times as short as possible then tweak the mix to your liking. Sometimes adding a bigger room or a little decay sounds good too. Sometimes I use the Natural Reverb and really tweak the reverb Hi/Low freq knobs to make the sound fill in a spot I think is missing.


    Good luck and let us know what worked for you!