Posts by jamesnorth
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Thanks for this thread guys - bought an FS-6 based on the info provided by @paults. Works perfectly.
Playing my first gig for almost a decade with a client from the studio.
I think I should start doing some stretches ... I'm quite used to sitting in a very comfortable chair playing the guitar.
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^^^
Proves that the Kemper is exactly as good as the person setting up the amp for recording (or the emulator it is profiling ;)).
Anyone suggesting the Axe has a 'better' tone when comparing like amps would probably also think that the variation in Kemper profiles of the same amp done by various people are 'better' or 'worse' than each other too.
The Kemper is at the mercy of those capturing the amp - the Axe is completely controlled. Easier to get to a good tone with a controlled environment ... but that doesn't mean it's better.
There is no ceiling on the Kemper, I don't think.
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Decide what you want tonally and play a bunch of guitars to see what floats your boat. Buy used at a fair price and you can recover your cash if you select incorrectly. If you buy new, you'll eat all that retail value. Just my 0.02.
This is a great suggestion. Don't think I've ever bought a new guitar.
A used guitar has also been played in already!
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It's possible that you just haven't played a really good $1000 guitar, @nightlight!
I'm very aware of all 3 points you raise, but a fourth point I'd throw your way is that every single guitar is different and I've had some $3000-4000 guitars through the studio over the years that are horrible in the 3 areas you mention.
If the OP searches, he'll find a nicely made guitar with great wood and well soldered points, well made pickups and good shielding for $1000.
The $2000 difference does not buy you 'better' electronics and wood, it generally buys highly desirable finishes or rarely made bits and pieces.
If they were worth it, every great player on the planet would play one. Most big guys just play pretty standard Strats, LPs, Teles, etc etc.
To showcase the Kemper - play really well.
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I don't agree on the idea of buying three $1000 guitars. A $1000 guitar and a $3000 are vastly different imo, the build quality and sound are just leagues apart.
There are lots of reasons to buy a $3000 guitar over 3 $1000 ones, but sound and build quality are not really valid ones. I totally get it if you want a specific wood or finish or pickup style or whatever that isn't offered in the $1000 range of whatever brand you're after.
I don't own a guitar over $1500 and I make records every day with them.
Prince plays live with a $1000 Honer and a $800 Vox piece of rubbish and they both sound incredible - because he is incredible.
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Buy three $1000 guitars that feel and sound good - they're all different!
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Have been using TAF Evil Robot on the last few albums here in the studio - very versatile on a lot of different guitars.
Love it with a Gretsch!
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To change a guitar sound, in order:
1. Change the player
2. Change the guitar
3. Change the ampAndy can only influence number 3!
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KRKs are occasionally fatiguing and fairly "American Rock" focused in their internal EQ. I owned some KRK V6 monitors quite a few years ago and in that 1k-3k range they are quite hyped.
4 inch speakers would also be a bit gutless in terms of the bottom end balancing out your brain's perception of the sound as well. Bigger speakers or a cabinet will give a better picture of what the guitar/amp combo sounds like.
In addition to this, SM57s are often talked about as great guitar cab mics, but they are also pretty fizzy when it comes to high gain stuff unless you really know what you are doing when making the profile. (Consistent to what others are saying here in that you really need to know what you are doing when making a profile!)
I can guarantee it won't be the Kemper!
Try out some of Andy's (The Amp Factory) @and44 profiles in the high gain realm.
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Had a play with BIAS myself and the amp matching stuff as well.
I reckon it's great for iOS etc and is an extremely useful tool for writing, practising and jamming - even live work I can see a good use for it ...
I'm usually very diplomatic, but I must say that it falls very short of the delicious tones (clean and gain) delivered by the Kemper. There is no way I'd ever use it in a recording.
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I might be one of the few having some issues with 2.7.
I find that switching to "Tuner" only works about half the time - I have to switch back and forward a couple of times to get it to lock on the tuner. If I downgrade to 2.6 it works perfectly, so it's not the physical knob.
I also find that double clicking on a rig in Rig Manager 1.22 for Mac has the same effect. It often loads the amp with minimum gain rather than the gain included in the profile.
If I double click on the rig a second time, it loads fine.
Minor issues - but the rest is awesome!
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I prefer to use a regulated power supply to make sure my Kemper gets 239V instead of 240V.
The tubes in the Kemper work much better and the sound is superior.
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I write music for tv and film. I bought the Kemper because of it's convenience of pulling up presets quickly for revisions. It can basically do anything you want and it can even be used for playing live in a band (any style you need it for too!). The one thing the KPA cannot do is capture the air between the microphone and the cabinet. No matter what, when playing direct in it is only going to have so much depth. When you are playing and practicing it's the best thing ever! When you are doing a professional mix, the Kemper recorded tracks have a hard time sitting in their own space. When I mic up an actual amp, all of a sudden it has WAY more depth and a wider stereo image, thicker and it sounds more musical.
My question is, do any of you record your guitar tracks through your Kemper into a speaker cab with it miced up? I am not talking about making profiles, I am talking about putting a Royer a foot away from the cabinet to capture the sound of the Kemper through an actual cab in an actual space instead of direct in.
I have the non powered version so I am either thinking about getting a power amp and a marshall 2x12 cabinet and a nice ribbon mic, or selling the KPA and getting an actual amp.
I do professional mixes every day with the Kemper recording directly in - it's just about learning a new process, really. I'm pretty sure it's used on a hell of a lot of big records these days in most genres of music plugged directly in.
Apart from the old sound design idea where you can create stage positions with convoluted reverbs, you can change the profile considerably by micing up the amp in a different position. So, for example I have profiles done by various people that have clearly been done with space and depth in mind, and they sit in the mix really well in that regard. Prior to selling all of my guitar amps (yes, all of them), I profiled them all with different blends of mics and at different positions in the speaker and room. They all play and record exactly as you'd expect them to in a mix scenario.
I'd say the Kemper was designed as a recording device first, and it happens to double as a live amp quite well.
The possibilities with this box are endless - if it's not coming out the way you're hoping to to, check out some other profiles or methods?
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Much better mix, but I'm still missing some bass...
Too much compression can kill everything, its much better to sort the frequencies out. Very often you have to cut the low end of the guitars, otherwise they will be competing with bass and kick.
P.S.: You can get profiles of the Axe-FX II on Armin's website (#02).
Yes, the bass stem was actually out of time so once that's in sync, I think the power that it hits at the same time as the guitars will thicken that bottom end up. Guitars have a good LF cut on them too (pretty much every mix needs this).
Bass is not a bass - it's a virtual bass so dynamics aren't super awesome as well.
But - if we can get those stems in line, I think that mix will sort it self out.
Definitely lacking some accuracy in the playing and also could probably do with a bit more attitude and accents in the right place as mdeeRocks says.
Then the mix mixes itself!
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Yes some of the stems weren't the right length.
Send me them again if you like - it'll be easy enough to replace them (I think one of the overdub guitars was longer as well?)
It has more power and energy generally without sucking the life out of the drums/guitars.
And yes - track those super heavy guitars with absolutely no compression! Plenty coming from the distortion
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I've provided our young German friend with a new mix of his song - he can share it with you if he wants to.
I hope he stays with the Kemper - I use it for all of my clients in all genres of music ... and they spend lots of money with me!
Rock on.
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I´ll try that, thanks
Can't send you another PM Japsido ... maybe your inbox is full or something?
Maybe check the setting that allows PMs as well - sometimes that turns off.
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Misha could probably play an acoustic and make it sound like metal
The most influential thing in sounds/tones is the player.
