Posts by joshriggs

Quote from SeanChristopher

This is some really great insight V8guitar !

Focusing on the tones that the audience hears, ensures the audience gets the best representation of your sound. I think that aspect is really important as well, and it's another thing the Kemper excels at and it makes a lot of sense to utilize that. Kemper allows for consistency that wasn't easily attainable before. So, why not take advantage of one of the Kemper's strengths?

And pointing out that both backline and FOH both get focused on, but FOH gets your primary focus, was a great way to explain the importance of both while still emphasizing FOH to ensure getting the best sound for your audience

Cos you're right, I love the amp in the room sound as much as every other guitarist. But I can agree that the sound that the audience hears is the most important when playing live. Your backline can sound great but if that doesn't carry to FOH and the audience, and FOH sounds bad, then what the audience hears is going to be sh*t and that can/will ruin the percieved performance.

V8guitar has shined a light on some important concepts to consider

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You can do both. Assuming you have access to a rehearsal room and a PA system, start by getting some rigs together with virtual cabs that are similar to your real cab. Next, tweak your tone to sound good on the PA. Once you're close, start A/B'ing the PA with your real cab, and use the monitor EQ or power amp EQ to fine tune the sound coming out of your cab. Doesn't have to be perfect, but you're aiming for a sound you're happy with out of both. The real cab is used just for you on stage to have that real amp feel, and the FOH gets the virtual cab signal. Everyone wins. I played several shows with this setup when I had a Helix (and bands still played live?).

This is my perspective as a "serious" hobbiest musician with a day job who doesn't aim to make any money from music. If you send your friends a Bandcamp link, you'll be lucky if they listen to it once all the way through. If you send them a Spotify link, they think you're special (they don't realize it just takes $40 or so for a Distrokid account) and add the song to their playlists. Then maybe you get lucky and other playlists add one of your songs, and you get a lot more exposure.

Also, if my music is on Spotify, I can listen to it along with other music that isn't mine.

Finally, it's kind of a fun thing to see your own band recommended to you in a playlist.

Quote from SeanChristopher

BERNARDIJ Another important thing to note, that I had left out of my post, was explaining the Definition parameter in the Amp Menu, and elaborating on the importance of the Definition parameter. It's a really powerful parameter and it basically sets where the harmonic content of the profile sits. When an amp is profiled, the Definition gets set to match where the harmonic content of the amp sits and that is an integral part of an amps sonic fingerprint.

When you take a high gain amp or profile that's set almost to full saturation, and then Boost it into full on tight saturation, the harmonic content that's focused on in your tone shifts up a little bit. So the Definition parameter can help get that harmonic content in your tone, exactly where you want it. But also keep in mind, where the harmonic content sits for an amp is an important part of its sonic fingerprint. So for me personally, I typically will only adjust definition if it's set really low, so I won't need such an extreme Boost to get it where I want it. I don't often adjust Definition past 1-2 more higher than it was originally set, to maintain the general harmonic content of the amp used for the profile.

Also, Clarity is a really powerful parameter and can add some clarity when needed. It does it by scooping out mids, and pushes some clean signal into the mid frequencies while maintaining the distortion across all frequencies. It can help add some Clarity when used at mild settings for high gain situations. So I'd advise using low levels of Clarity for modern metal tones unless you're going for the scooped mids sound.

But, knowing what these controls are doing can help you get to whatever tone you're after, with much less work and much less trial and error. I hope this info can help you out!

Edit: Also, the Attack parameter in the Amp menu can help add a lot of that transient attack without too much compression. Idk how they do it exactly but, I really like bumping it up to 1 or 2 if I'm wanting a really percussive tone. That's a really handy parameter to get familiar with as well! Especially for aggressive and tight metal tones with a lot of "Attack" lol

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For "attack," are you referring to the Pick parameter? I just went looking for a control labeled "Attack" and didn't find anything. ?

Quote from SeanChristopher

joshriggs aside from you and a few others posting, I'm surprised more people don't have opinions regarding this stuff! I always thought boosting high gain with an OD, and using low Drive and high Level was kind of a standard in modern metal. And then a recent conversation with a friend that's from a different musical background(this is a friend I jam with and he isn't a part of the forum unfortunately), led me to question whether or not it's actually commonly done.

Their opinion included the thinking that using higher Drive than Level would tighten up high gain more than higher Level than Drive. And that there's not a reason to use more Level instead of Drive.

Since my experience is the opposite, it sparked my interest in getting more opinions and perspectives from others to gain a better understanding of tightening up and properly boosting high gain tones. I know tone is subjective so I figured hearing people's opinions and experiences and thoughts might give me some insight into how differently high Level and high Drive truly affect the signal.

It's just surprising and kind of a bummer that so few people posted in the thread. Of course, I'm glad you and a few others posted and it's nice to have another brother in Metal chiming in But I was hoping for some involvement from more of the metal and high gain using-Kemper Community. It makes me wonder... Should I post this in the Public section instead or something ? Lol Ahh I'm just venting my disappointment lol But you don't let me down, my friend. And I appreciate your input!

On another note, Congrats on getting your solo stuff out joshriggs! That's awesome and I'm definitely gonna be checking that out today Did you double track with one profile on each side? Or did you quad track and layer both on each side? Or were the different profiles used for different parts in the track? I'll bet a Diezel profile and Mesa profile sound beastly in a mix together!

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Frankly, I don't think metal players make up a lot of Kemper users, like, say, Fractal. Which makes sense to me because where I think Kemper really kills the competition is in clean and edge-of-breakup tones.

Thanks for the kind words! For this song, I quad tracked with the Diezel panned hard left and 75% left, and the Recto panned hard right and 75% right.

The stage is blazing fast to me. It takes about 20 seconds to start up, which is typical for a processor of this caliber (Helix and Fractal FM3 also take this long to start). Patch changes are instant, which is very unusual for processors. In fact, one of the reasons why I sold my Fractal FM3 was because of the lag when changing scenes which are supposed to be fast. I don't think you'd be disappointed with the Stage.

Thanks! This song was recorded with a 6 string Music Man Sub 1 tuned to drop B. I quad tracked the heavy rhythm guitars. I tried a bunch of paid and stock profiles, and ended up going with Lars Luettge Diesel Hagen 1960AV for one side, and Guidorist MeBo Sing Text 808 for the other. Both are stock profiles.

Hey all. Just released this first song of an upcoming solo EP. All guitar and bass tones come from my Kemper Stage. Very minimal EQing in logic, so you're hearing lots of Kemper here. https://empiresoflight.bandcamp.com/releases

Enjoy.

Speaking of Kemper high gain tones, I just released the first single off my upcoming solo post metal / rock EP. All guitar and bass tones come from the Kemper Stage. IIRC, I used stock Diezel Hagen and boosted Mesa Dual Recto profiles for the heavy rhythm tones. https://empiresoflight.bandcamp.com/releases

I heavily considered getting a Kabinet, but I wanted something a little beefier, and also something I could use if I ever decide to get another modeler (cough Neural DSP Quad Cortex cough if it ever comes out). Hopefully I won't regret that decision.

Quote from SeanChristopher

I can't wait to hear how it is! I hear great things about the Laney FRFRs as well. I didnt know those were some of more affordable options, that's awesome!

Well, affordable compared to Matrix, Mission Engineering, and Friedman. ? I guess it's mid-range if you consider the PA speaker options like the Alto and Headrush.

I just ordered a Laney FR-112. I had a Friedman ASC-12 for my Helix about a year ago, and I absolutely hated it. Only used it for one show before going with the traditional guitar cab approach. The Laney had good reviews, looks great, and isn't too expensive. I get it next week.

Oh, sorry. I misunderstood and thought you were looking for advice instead of discussion. Sorry for mansplaining!

I don't like too much gain for my overall tone. In real life or on a modeler, it's 0 for drive, 5-7 for tone, and 10 for level. On the Kemper, the I usually set the level at 3.5 or so, and depending on the tightness of the profile, put the mix around 90%.

Here's a similar thread where I responded and attached some of the stock profiles that I've tweaked to be tight. Not sure how djenty you're after - my patches might be a little mid-heavy for super djenty 7-8 string brootal riffz, but maybe it'll help.

Advice dialing in metal tones, understanding parameters?

I actually recorded some quick scratch tracks with Neural DSP Omega Granophyre last night after strictly using my Kemper for the last few months, and the first thing I thought was "damn, this plugin sounds loose and flubby." ?

This might not be the answer you're looking for, but if I'm looking for a boosted high gain riff tone, I usually do 1 of 3 things.

1. Simply turn up the gain. I'm not being pedantic here. A lot of my favorite high gain profiles keep their tightness when the gain goes up.

2. Look for a profile that was recorded with a boost. ReampZone usually included boosted profiles in their metal amp packs.

3. Adjust the Clarity and Definition controls. I discovered this recently, and messing with these usually give me the tightness I'm looking for.

I tried the typical process of adding the Green Screen (Tubescreamer) in front with gain at 0 and volume at 9-10, but that just didn't have the same affect as it does with other modelers (Helix, Fractal, Neural DSP in my experience). Maybe because Kemper isn't actually a modeler. ?‍♂️

+1 for this. And also the option to keep morph status when switching between rigs in a performance.

I also came from a Helix, then Fractal FM3, and now Kemper Stage. My typical process for setting up a metal patch on the Helix and Fractal was to 1. pick a high gain amp, 2. put a boost in front, and 3. add an EQ after the amp and get the mids where I want them. This process works for most modelers.

Well, turns out Kemper isn't a modeler, so that process didn't give me good results. Think of it as an IR for a whole amp chain. Here are a few tips for getting good heavy tones that work for me:

1. For me, the best stock metal tones on the Kemper are in the Lars Luettge pack. Guidorista also has some good ones. Start with those. Also look for Jevo's 5150III rigs on the Rig Exchange

2. If you're up for paid profiles, ReampZone has some great high quality packs

3. Look for rigs that were actually recorded with a boost

4. Instead of adding a boost/drive, adjust the Definition and Clarity. To my ears, cranking the clarity sounds like adding a boost. The two settings are pretty interactive with eachother

5. Try using different cabs with the rigs. I've found 4-5 cabs that I really love that sound really thicc. If I find a rig that I like the gain and character, but maybe it doesn't sound big and thick, I'll change the cab. That usually gives me what I want.

I've attached some of my metal / heavy profiles based on free rigs. Maybe they'll work for you. metal-rigs.zip

...and wouldn't you know, pretty much all the merged and direct high gain profiles I tried sounded the same. I guess I got a lesson in how much of a difference the cab makes in the overall sound.

And yes, I was running cab monitor off.

Looks like I'll be looking at some FRFR options after all.

Bought a used one from Pitbull Audio on Reverb for $1500, and it's been great. Also might as well have been brand new. This thing is built like a tank, so I can't imagine it having issues. I would imagine that most of the used ones on the market now are from people who bought it, didn't really understand it or jive with it, and then sold it shortly after. Of course, YMMV, but I personally had concern buying a used one from a reputable dealer with a return policy.

Quote from musicmad

It's not supported on the stage unfortunately.

Unless I'm misunderstanding, that's not true. Hold down an effect block, and the tap the Store button. You'll get a prompt asking you if you want to save the whole rig, or just the effect as a preset.

I might be in the minority here, but I honestly don't care that much about 100% accuracy. There are so many variables - mics, cabs, rooms, tube brands, biasing, manufacturing variations, etc - that going for exact accuracy seems a little pointless. I certainly don't care if the profile / model I use is 100% accurate to an actual version as long as it sounds great.

"Man, I love the way this Kemper Stage sounds, and it's so easy to use. But I'm returning it because I can't adjust the brightness cap on the 1968 bandmaster by 2 jiggavolts."

For me personally, it's about 1. Good tones (amps and effects), and 2. A great user interface. And this Kemper Stage has some gorgeous industrial design going on. Anyone else feel this way?