Posts by Tritium

Quote from Chris Duncan

I have a different question on the locking stuff. Back in ancient times I had the Kahler locking nut system, which was a mixed blessing when you break a string. However, the PRS I just got is my first foray into guitars with locking tuners.

If you have locking tuners, would you still need a locking nut? Seems like they cover the same ground, and fewer hassles when you break a string, but I'm just guessing here to be honest.

Hi Chris,

Locking tuners are fine and helpful if one is conservatively using a tremolo, say, for simple vibrato effects. However, if you doing more extreme whammy actions, major pitch effects, etc., and have a fully floating tremolo, such as a Floyd Rose (or Kahler) which is neutrally set floating (so as to be able to both dive as well pull up)...one of the main sources/culprits for the guitar not returning to tune is string binding at the nut. This is eliminated with a locking nut.

Quote from CrazyShred

Indeed it has the best neck I've ever played on a guitar. The combination of scale,neck,pickups, fret access because of the heel and LOOKS, rocks hard. What do you think of the pickups? If you can't find an official floyd rose, buy the schaller lockmeister. Same thing as the OFR but with schaller's stamp on it (schaller makes the OFR). Be sure to order it with R3 nut and 32mm block

Agreed. I don’t have Paul Gilbert size paws, and the HM Strat’s 25.1” scale, combined with the flat, thin (but rock solid) neck, as well as full access to 24 jumbo frets, makes this a joy and inspiration to play.

I have been considering the Schaller Floyd (Lockmeister) as well.

Question on the locking nut. Not sure if this is available from Schaller, but wouldn’t we need an R10 locking nut, due to the radius? The R10 is 15” radius, which is closest to the neck’s 17”. I will have to measure the width of existing nut/shelf.

Quote from drkato

I love mine. It is an original model from 1990. I replaced the neck humbucker with a Bill Lawrence way back when. I didn't want to ditch the original Kahler Spyder, but it broke in an unfixable way, so I had to put on an FR, which is not stock on these first models.

Not sure if the image will show. I see it in the preview, but then see "blocked" text in the actual post with a link to the pic, so sorry if that happens again. Maybe it is because I am new, but I assure it is a safe link on well known image hosting site (imgbb). Regardless, here is mine in black, the one color they decided not to do in the reissues.

[Blocked Image: https://i.ibb.co/8KMhQyr/Black-HM-Strat.jpg]

Beautiful guitar, drkato .

Cool to see there are a few fans, here, of the Fender HM Strat.

Quote from CrazyShred

2020 Fender HM Strat. Effortless playability and VERY light. Will replace the floyd special with a german one soon

Awesome, CrazyShred. These are amazing guitars, with the most comfortable, thin, flat and fast necks I have ever played. I absolutely love the 25.1" scale length with 24 frets. I had my Flash Yellow HM Strat PLEK'd by Sweetwater. Plays like a dream.

I guess I also will eventually replace the stock FR Special with an Original Floyd Rose, whenever these can be found in the wild, again.

By the way, I loved it so much, I ran to Guitar Center and picked up a second HM Strat. Grabbed the Ice Blue with Rosewood.

Now, I just have to sell some of my other guitars.

Quote from whippinpost91850

I talked to Jarrod (ToneWars) a little while ago about his new video do over. He’s pretty humbled by the explanations he received about refining and pure cab.

I watched his video and their is a big difference

Jarrod is a class act. His humble and honest explanation, as well as mature openness to constructive criticism is a gosh darn breath of fresh air in this otherwise toxic wasteland of social media narcissists and "influencers" . Where does he get off, acting so adult, humble and charitable.

Quote from dB Cooper

I requested a feature which received some traction awhile back. It'd be nice if we could reject the refining process and start back at the captured profile, to either refine again or save the original. I've gotten gun-shy about refining because I tend to be disappointed with the results.

That makes so much practical sense, that, to be honest, I am not sure why this feature has not been already implemented. In fact, it seems like such a “no-brainer” that I have to wonder if there is some constraint or limitation pertaining to the specific amount/address/pool of non-volatile memory that the KPA has access to, when operating in Profiler Mode. Of course, this is pure speculation on my part. The more likely explanation is that this feature request either slipped the cracks, or is not considered a useful option.

Can you profile a signal that already contains a non-defeatable cab sim? I mean, I suppose you can, but just be aware that it won’t result in a “normal” DI or Direct Amp profile, as it has already lost a bunch of high frequencies do to the cab/EQ filter and roll-off. At least, that is my thinking on the matter.

Quote from Terrapin

Hey all, I’d like to share an experience I had last night using the new Kemper Drive and Full OCD settings…

Everything was going well at the gig as usual, UNTILL I kicked in the Kemper Drive for a solo. Alas, the audience turned their backs on me. Some covered their ears in horror while others ran screaming from the venue. Thinking quickly, I switched to the Full OCD setting. No good. The lights were turned off, the venue was closed and our band was refused payment.

That is when a family of four threw up on my pedal board.

Whilst packing up my equipment in an effort to hide my shame, I was met with a man who explained the problem… He told me that usual patrons of the venue are particularly sensitive to the overdrives and distortions used and have little tolerance for guitar players that cannot readily distinguish between the two.

He went on to explain the intricacies of distortion and overdrive and then,

He pulled out a FREQUENCY GRAPH. It was an epiphany.

All at once, I realized the errors of my ways.

Joking and sarcasm aside, The new overdrives are amazing! Well done CK and Kemper team!

Display More

Lmao. Brilliant!

Quote from sambrox

I guess it depends on what you have you Master set to in the Output menu; Master mono or Master stereo

Hi Sam,

Did you mean the Monitor Output? In other words, ensure that "Monitor Stereo" has not accidentally been selected in the Ouput / Monitor settings. The default setting on all the classic KPA models (not sure about the Stage) is Monitor Mono..

I don't think the Master Output settings have any effect, or are relevant to how the Kemper Kone (which is always connected to the Monitor/Speaker Output) reproduces a stereo playback signal connected to the Aux In.

Cheers,

John

Also, try increasing the dedicated Compressor parameter that is found in the Amp Menu. This compressor does not act like typical stomp compressors. It should liven up your clean signal as you turn down the volume on your guitar. Check the KPA Reference Manual for more details on the function and advantages of the Amp-section Compressor.

Quote from vtgearhead

It's too bad the BAM200 has no loop jacks. Has anyone run a frequency response sweep to see if there's a control setup that yields a flat response?

Hello vtgearhead,

I may have misunderstood...but, I do not think you will find many dedicated poweramps that feature an FX Loop.

Quote from Ruefus

What you get from current FRFR solutions is the sound of a mic'd cabinet. IRs always include the response from the microphone along with the speaker. A speaker with a SM57 alone will sound different than one mic'd with a 57 and a ribbon mic, which will sound different if you add a room mic. They're all the same speaker, but you will get *wildly* different results.

The Kone is meant to give you the sound of *just* the speaker in a cabinet. The same as you would with a regular amp and speaker.

To me, the Kone makes direct profiles more valuable. You can remove the cabinet from a merged profile and it'll work great. But having an amp-only profile coupled with the Kone? That should be epic.

Hello Ruefus,

Assuming the Merged profile was properly made...i.e., the original author followed the correct procedure of making a Direct Amp profile as well as a Studio profile (with mic'd cabinet), and then initiated the "Merge" function...well, then turning off the Cabinet section on a Merged profile gives you an "amp-only" profile. That is exactly what a Merged Profile is intended for.

We can assume all the top commercial profilers have done their due diligence, in this regards, when selling profile packs featuring Merged Profiles.

Quote from mcuz51

« blanket over the speaker » is exactly what I’m hearing. Someone could please help us?

I have a weird suspicion that somehow the Cab Sim has been enabled (even though you both have confirmed that you have enabled-checked Monitor Cab/Off). Sounds like two EQ filters in series, i.e., processing amp audio signal through a Cab Sim and then playing through a non-linear guitar speaker, presuming the KPA is also displaying that Kone mode is active. Possible software bug? Just spit-balling, here.

Quote from V8guitar

Any SS amp is fine. Generally one with good headroom and transparent sound.

Many people like the Matrix amps but they can be expensive.

Someone else can comment on the Seymour power stage as I have no experience although it looks relatively low power for an SS amp...the amp in Kempers are 600 watt ( as a comparison).

While the Seymour Duncan 170 Powerstage is a lower power rating then the amp module in the Kemper, they are both high quality modules designed and built by IcePower.

With that said, the SD170 is crazy loud, and should be more than enough to power a guitar speaker or FRFR monitor to physically dangerous sound levels...including in a band context with a mutant drummer.

Quote from Derik Roblin

Wheresthedug , I am using my Powered Kemper (Built in Power Amp) with the Interface. Would this not work in this case? I am still playing around with the settings to try and figure this out.

Derek, the powered (amplified) signal on the powered Kempers only exists on the Kemper’s Speaker Out connection. You need to connect your Scarlett audio interface to your monitors. As the Scarlett is not an amplifier, you need powered (active) monitors. Or, you need to have an external amp to amplify output signals from the Scarlett, prior to going into a passive monitor.

Quote from CelticGibson

I got it from the video I just posted...

Hello CelticGibson.

Understood.

My main point, in reply to RobT, was that one shouldn't jump to any timeframe conclusions, based upon OS version numbering.

Cheers,

John

Quote from RobT

Wow 7.5!, Why the h@ll are they allowing demos at this time. I'm looking forward to this feature.

Hello RobT,

I am not sure where CelticGibson got that piece of info. (i.e., Acoustic Sim will be released in "OS 7.5"). However, please keep in mind that this has absolutely no bearing to the future release date of a notional "OS 7.5"...nor, should one presume there will be multiple OS updates between the current OS and "OS 7.5". In other words, there might be multiple OS updates between current OS 7.1.19 and OS 7.5, or none at all. That is to say, it is possible that Kemper could deem the next update to have enough new features (rather than just bug fixes) to warrant a jump to a "7.5" designation.

See attached history of KPA OS updates from the latest Addendum manual. Note the jump from 5.1 to 5.5, as one specific example of what I am talking about:

[Blocked Image: https://i.imgur.com/uMb9WB8.png]

Quote from guitarguy316

Hello guys, new to Kemper and was understanding these profiles. If i understand the differences correctly, I would want to push the "CAB" button so it's off when using an external cab (right now an evh 5150 cab)? I am waiting for the Kemper Kabinet to come out and when I get that one, I would leave the "CAB" light/simulation on at all times right?

So for now using the 5150 cab as a guitar cab, I would want to use a Merged profile, but Studio is also possible but the KPA has to run cab function to remove the simulation aspect?

Hello guitarguy316 ,

I assume you are using a powered KPA and connected to the Speaker/Monitor Output (or, using an unpowered KPA, and using Monitor Output connected to external power amp, then to EVH cabinet). In either event, there is a "Global" setting/parameter that you can toggle, so that the Cabinet profile (Cab sim) is always disabled on the Speaker/Monitor Output.

Please refer to page 87 of the KPA Reference Manual:

-------------------------

Running a Guitar Speaker Cabinet from a Power Amplifier, “Monitor Cab Off”

For the perfect on-stage setup, the PROFILER allows you to run a guitar cabinet through a power amp, and - at the same time - send a complete studio sound (amplifier plus cabinet and microphone) from the MAIN OUTPUT to the front-of-house mixing desk. Since your guitar cabinet doesn’t need to be picked up via microphone any more, it becomes your personal monitor on stage. The MONITOR OUTPUT features an independent volume control, as well as a dedicated Monitor Output Equalizer in the Output Section. These allow you to tailor the sound to your guitar cabinet, while the sound on the other outputs remains unaffected.

For this setup, you need to bypass the Cabinet PROFILE for the MONITOR OUTPUT, to avoid running a guitar cabinet simulation through a physical guitar cabinet. The soft button labeled "Monitor Cab Off" in the Output Section will bypass the Cabinet PROFILE for the MONITOR OUTPUT, as well as for the built-in power amp of PowerHead and PowerRack. The Cabinet PROFILE stays active for the other outputs, including the MAIN OUTPUT. This is a global setting and is therefore applied to all Rigs. However, the signal from the MONITOR OUTPUT is processed according to the kind of PROFILE included in the Rig: for regular Studio PROFILEs, the CabDriver algorithm is activated, whereas Merged PROFILEs feed the direct amp sound to the MONITOR OUTPUT and built-in power amp.

Use the optional built-in class D power amp of PowerHead/PowerRack or a separate solid-state power amp to drive your guitar cabinet. If the PROFILE you play is a Direct Amp PROFILE, the sound will be identical to the reference tube-amplifier! It is not necessary, and would be somewhat contradictory, to use a tube power amp, because you would have the effect of a tube power amp twice. This might add some pleasing low and high frequencies to the

picture, but it won't be an authentic tone.

---------------------------

Cheers,

John

Quote from aftec1570

Well, none of the other players (Fractal, Line6) have ever announced an editor, or charged for it. It was evident 7-8 years ago to have something to easily manage presets and "performances" or edit effects parameters without scrolling and page shifting. Although all of them provided the possibility to do that from the unit itself.

It's a shrinking market, kemper needs to step up and widen it's possible consumer market by releasing an editor.

The stage is 5-6 years late, but the company is catching up, but I still believe releasing the stage without the editor was a misfire.

Kemper cone? Couldn't care less. Way too much resources wasted into a product, for a very narrow possible market and profit.

Hello aftec1570,

The Axe-FX and the Helix were designed and supplied, from the very beginning, with a computer-based Editor as part of the product's ecosystem.

By contrast, one of the main features highlighted by the KPA, was its intuitive amp-like interface...with deeper editing parameters locally accessible through the amp-like physical knobs and tactile buttons. This was a source of pride for Kemper -- i.e., no complicated UI, nor any perceived need for a separate PC-based editor. It is difficult to shift attitudes and beliefs on points of pride, and in particular something that strikes at the foundational core of the Kemper "experience", at least as it was originally conceived and marketed.

However, with that said, there is no question (at least in my mind, and in my opinion) that there has been a slow, evolutionary change in Kemper's attitude, in regards to an Editor. I believe this is due in part to the following factors:

• Kemper GmbH's reaction and response to continued customer demands
• The adoption and employment of the KPA system within both professional and home studio production/recording/engineering environments
• The ongoing life-cycle feature upgrades, and in particular the introduction of advanced Delay and Reverb algorithms, as well as increased flexibility of routing/signal chain FX assignments/slots -- these enhanced features, functions and capabilities bring along increasing parameter complexity, making the need for a dedicated PC-based Editor all the more necessary and desirable.

Quote from Jwironmaiden

Tritium im a gear junkie that likes new equipment, i dont mean to sound rude or anything, but finally found a product i love, after many years of buying a lot of rack gear i came across the kemper which sounded amazing and my broother bought it me on finance, for me helping him over the years.

im not saying anything disappointing about the kemper at all (or dont mean to sound like i am)

im self taught at everything and honestly struggle with a lot of fine tweaking, im just asking advise on the toast me program because im struggling to get anything to work with my shit focusrite

Hi Jwironmaiden,

My post wasn't directed at you, Your comments are cordial, respectful and reasonable.

Cheers,

John