Posts by lbieber

I'm not playing straight FOH generally.

I have played the Bert profiles. They are thin to me all the time - medium or high volume. I like the Britt 69 profiles for the most part. I find that they are a bit fizzy, but full bodied. My main complaint is that the Britt doesn't clean up well with the guitar volume knob. Gets a bit muddy for me in that situation. I recently started using the TJ 45/100. I have to tame the treble and presence by a dB or so, but less than the Bert and Britt profiles. The 45/100 cleans up nicely from the guitar. I really like this a lot as I am working the volumes from the guitar frequently. YMMV, good luck.

It seems we probably use sounds that are in similar gain ranges. Coincidentally, I brushed the cobwebs off my very old ew100G2 for my last gig. I made no changes. It worked and sounded great. I'll have to experiment with the input senses a bit more to see if there is anything better for me. Thanks for the info.

I find that recording and mixing in the box can be a big distraction. I suffered with this for a bit before I decided to approach recording and mixing more as an analog flow. I don't do reamping, detailed editing, don't put off decisions for later, etc... It is easy to suffer from paralysis by analysis. Too many choices for me. I commit and get on with it. This has helped me a lot.

Glad to hear your enjoying the fruits of your labor, BT. Music can be a bit of a roller coaster. Enjoy the ride.

Quote from Kim_Olesen

Playing single coil strats i’ve always had both the clean and dist sense at 6

That's interesting! I always have clean and dist sense at 0 for humbuckers. For single coils, clean sense 0 and dist sense at 3 to match. What kind of music do you mainly play? I play country, blues, jazz, 60s/70s rock, no metal. It seems there are a wide variety of KPA settings that are in use. I love the tone of all the profiles that I use, but I had to sort through a lot to find them. I find Kemper's description of the sense inputs lacking in detail. A block diagram along with a description would be instructive for me. I've read the manual and watched the input settings video quite a few times. I am able to get settings I that I like, but the description would further my understanding.

Other forums I have been on have a feature for sticky threads that stay at the top of individual categories. It helps users to efficiently find information related to common questions without browsing through multiple pages in a category. I could argue that the search function is enough. A couple items that come to mind are removing fizz or profiler not booting. I am aware of Kemper videos that address some common issues/features. These are helpful, but there are 'holes' that could be filled. Is this possible and is it worth it?

That's an interesting, yet worrying set of circumstances. I'm guess I'm a pessimist because I would not be nearly as positive as you seem to be. You don't know what caused the fizz and you don't know why it's gone. If you're lucky, it'll stay gone. If not, the fizz will return and you will be back where you started. Curious if the fizz returns if you remove the remote from the equation? I typically use the high cut for fizz reduction, but I have found profiles that don't need nearly as much cut as others.

I use a powered toaster with a 2x12 Darkglass cabinet. I typically am playing in small clubs and not feeding the PA. The volumes tend to get too damn loud, but the unit keeps up quite well. I use the B15 and SVT(CLN and DRT for both) profiles with a Fender Jazz and Precision. I play finger style blues, jazz, rock, funk... Those profiles get me into the right territory for what I prefer. I'm very happy with that setup. BTW, I use and rely on the low cut and high cut filters. For me, these are mandatory for bass and guitar.

I briefly looked at the patents that I could find. I see a description of a method that employs two linear transfer functions and a non-linearity to create a 'profile'. It seems to me that a post processing algorithm is possible to create an improvement in the gain function across the full range of a set of profiles, but I have not seen mention of this in the patents that I ran across.

Modeling methods directly account for non-linearities in the amplifier stages. This is one big difference between modelling and profiling. I'm a Kemper owner and use, so I know which method I prefer. The side-effect of these differences might be the behaviour of the gain knob in question.

TJ released a JTM45/100 pack recently. I got it a few weeks ago and have been very impressed with these profiles. I generally find Marshall profiles to be to fizzy for my taste. Not to knock others, but I've tried many on the exchange and from commercial profilers - always high endy, tweaky fizz. This pack is really different IMO. Cleans up really well too.

Not associated with Tone Junie in any way.

I'm really sorry to hear the trigger finger came back. That totally sucks! I hope you and/or the docs can find a remedy. Best of luck.

Quote from ckemper

The gain stage of most tube amps are about as neutral as the Profiler, with little coloration.

So they act as a booster as well.

Therefore your perceptions are not exactly right.

Exceptions are the Marshall JCM800 and Plexi.

There is too much talk behind this aspect and no real evidence.

Never heard of any Profiler user making the easy test while profiling to check for different colors of the gain controls.

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Gain stages of most tube amps are neutral? That's not even close to accurate. But I suppose neutral could mean different things to different people. First, THE gain stage is not an accurate concept in terms of almost all guitar amps. There are multiple stages where coloration can and does occur in almost every guitar amp. A Fender Super Reverb has two(normal and vibrato) channels with different gains in the path as an example. There is the amplitude related distortion in several stages in that amp as well as in the phase inverter and output section. Compare a Super with volume at two to the same amp at ten. It sounds like coloration to me. In fact, isn't that the whole point of profiling an amp with different gain settings? If the gain of the profiler was about as neutral as most tube amps then there wouldn't be a need to profile across the full gain range. I must be missing something here.

I made a similar complaint. It went nowhere. Good luck.

Rig Manager no longer recognizes the profiler (after RM update?) - Profiler related issues and trouble shooting help - Kemper Profiler Forum (kemper-amps.com)

I'm glad you got it fixed. And thank you for responding so that others can benefit from your experience!!!

Quote from AndySchick

...

Having a sub for every band member is not really feasible, I think.

It's feasible, at least for me. Booking gigs takes a level of effort that I am not ever willing to waste just because someone can't work. Having a substitute isn't completely transparent in my case. I quite often remove 'complicated' songs from the night and replace them with others. The complication is usually related to specific starts, stops, and hits that will sound bad if not done right. I avoid those.

Quote from Dynochrome

For me, it's not as easy as just liking the sound. I like the sound of a cab and studio monitors. I'm looking for the best way to be able to edit sounds at home, and have them be very close to the same thing FOH. When you use a cab and cabdriver, What you hear and what goes FOH or to desk can be very different.

I edit sounds at home for both as you mention. I have the luxury of having a PA in my music room. I connect the toaster mains to the mixer/PA and the powered toaster output to a guitar cab. I can listen to either one separately or both together. I try to tweak for the best balance so that the FOH channel at the gig can be setup flat. This reduces my reliance on the sound guy to do something 'special' to my FOH. Yes, PAs are different but this is the best that I've been able to come up with. I also choose the cab model to be consistent with the guitar cab that I am using in order to minmize the difference.

Yup, the show must go on by any and all means possible. In truth, I've always been able to work through it for myself. I've had issues with band members not making a show for various reasons - some related to health and some not. This has lead me to being able to sing all songs so that I am never without a singer. Then I have a list of backup musicians that I can call on when needed.

Follow up on Kemper support in response to another email from me:

Marc @ Kemper Amps Support

I don't have more than this response for you. The log you've sent over doesn't show anything special that needs further analysis.

With best regards, Marc

Kemper Amps Support Team

Looks like Kemper is done as far as "supporting" my issue. This is my first interaction with the support team and I have heard good things about them from posts on this forum. I have also seen posts where users were frustrated with the the level of support they received. So, count me in the frustrated group.

The following 2 sentence word salad from support has me baffled: We've introduced the error message you're seeing as a result of frequent support inquiries which indicated USB related issues. The issue itself was present all the time. Perhaps this is a sentence constructed by a non-native English writer? It makes zero sense. The overall message is that I'm on my own to figure it out. Maybe this will motivate me to hang a scope on the lines and attach the USB protocol analyzer at my work to figure out what is going on. Not how I want to spend my time.

This has made me curious as to whether Kemper units have achieved USB compliance certification. I haven't seen Kemper use the USB compliance logo in any of their material.

Referring to the original post and my specific experience. I had a Godin Freeway SA with dual humbuckers. Always sounded thin and trebly. The mids were never right on that guitar. I have a 58 Reissue Les Paul that sounds fantastic - burstbuckers. I had a set of Fralin Humbuckers(pure PAFs if memory serves). I swapped those pickups in all possible combinations between those two guitars. The LP sounded great and essentially the same with all 3 pickup sets. The Godin sounded thin and trebly with all 3 sets. I acknowledge that this is one specific example, but I have had very similar experiences with many other guitars over the years. I am fully aware that my results may be considered anecdotal as I have not conducted an exhaustive experiment. My experience is based on a limited set of guitars and pickups. All of the pickups I have experience with are based on 'vintage' type humbucker and single coil designs. Nothing high gain or what I would call experimental. I realize that my opinion is not popular as there is a huge aftermarket pickup industry and plenty of guitarists willing to support it. YMMV

Quote from DonPetersen

Mudchild
before changing pickups, I'd try changing the distance to strings and the angle of the pickup.
Usually PUs are set too close and aren't angled away from the lower strings (more mass -> more output) - try this first.
If you still find your pickups are lacking, try to define what the issue is, like too scooped, too bassy etc.
Once you know what you're looking for, don't disregard small-ish pickup makers - SD makes good stuff, but it is by no means the only route to go.
Smaller businesses will often be accessible and easier to talk to, figuring out what you need and even be able to make a somewhat custom pickup (for example a hotter wind) without much upcharge.

After years and years of SD pickups I went the local/smaller builder route and I couldn't be happier - also there are cheaper pickups like Roswell that are really, really good, one of those replaced a Calvalier and a complete custom shop PU in my Tele.

hth

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Adjusting the pickups is great advice. It can make a significant difference.

I'll offer a different opinion regarding pickups after spending a few decades swapping them. I came to the conclusion that pickup swaps aren't really worth it unless the pickup is broken or poorly made. For the most part, the majority of replacement pickups are a waste of money IMO. That being said, there are some specialized pickups with targeted qualities that will offer some significant tonal differences and noise advantages. But my view is that the most significant aspect of a guitar's tone is the scale length and wood. I have swapped a multitude of pickups through guitars that never sounded 'right' and not once has a pickup solved the problem. I'll get some popcorn...

The low cut frequency isn't absolute. Mine changes from night to night depending on the other instruments and how the mix is sounding. I find 100Hz is where either the kick or bass should live. I don't want to be down there creating mud. I am still surprised at how high I can set the low cut and still be happy with the tone in context with the band. And the tone that I dial in for a gig will sound pathetic when auditioned at home by itself.

I should mention that none of this will actually be very effective if the other guitarist is hogging the low-end.