I guess I try to give the original amp profile a chance with what the profiler captured. Most have Definition at <0.0>. But maybe I'll try your idea and see where it lands. That should be an interesting experiment...Definition first, tones next. Will all the settings be the same in the end? 
This weekend will be another marathon KPA weekend. 
Good tone is whatever gets you to where you want to be, and any control that gets you there is fair game, but I'm sorry to disagree on the function of the Definition control. I don't believe it is a guitar compensation tool. I use it as a final fine tuning for the amp center frequency, and rarely have to push it very far to find the sweet spot. And sometimes in A/B ear checks the original setting from the profiler sounds better than what my alteration sounds like. You have to be honest with yourself, as what you think sounds better in the moment needs to be checked with a verity of tests. I look for clarity of all notes and chords played, and go through many complex chords and lead ranges on the fretboard with all my guitars looking for total balance, but the main tone controls are the first place to start. Definition is the final tweak.
Maybe my goal is different, as I want amp tone that works with any guitar that I plug into it. If going from a Les Paul to a Tele hurts my ears, than I screwed up by pushing the tones too far in one direction. And yes, I want "amp in a room" sound, as I do know what an amp sounds like in a room, and also know the perfect listening position from the cabinet. That is one of the strengths of the Kemper...consistency no matter where you stand. No doubt mics alter that finished product, but you can actually use that to get a "better amp in a room" finished product. That is why choosing the right cabinet matters so much. I look for balance there too, and rule out anything that stands out too much. In the end I can sound very "live" and plug any guitar in with total satisfaction. Mission accomplished!
No one method is better than any other, as tone is subjective anyway. As long as you are happy with the final product, you win. I just treat the KPA like my real amps, and want both to sound the same and respond to all my guitars the same way. The good news is I can get an even better final product out of the Kemper because of all the fine tuning controls. Those go beyond what you can do with a real amp and cabinet.
Good video, HW. Thanks.
My experience with real tube amps is that the "sweet spot" for maximum gain is where notes are still clear enough to be intelligible, but going any further into over-saturation becomes destructive to crunch and note distinction. Obviously different amp designs have different responses to saturation. A multi-staged amp can have incredible distortion crunch without "mushing out".
So my (admittedly limited) experience with the Kemper is that I audition profiles looking for how my pickups saturate the profiled amp for maximum breakup with the best tone and dynamic response. And because I find better tone out of my pickups when they are lower than I see most pickups set, I usually have to select a profile with a higher gain setting used during the profiling process. Yes, I adjusted the input section's "Distortion Sense" to what I "think" is enough compensation, but I have no way to verify that it is set where it would be "equal" to any pickup output done by the profiler. That is one "level meter" I wish the Kemper had available...a target input gain meter.
The bottom line is I pick the best sounding gain breakup profile I can get and work DOWN the gain from there. Dialing back my guitar sounds great like that. Just like the video shows, it sounds better that way. When you push the gain up, that is when the pick attack gets weird sounding, and something doesn't sound natural about the breakup. So I agree with HW about that. I hear exactly what he is illustrating. What Don is saying about "tone" is also true, but the attack and dynamic response is what I hear falling apart when you push it further up beyond the optimal saturation point. Real amps do not respond the same when pushed up more. That's my experience. It is what it is, and I can live with that. Nothing comes closer to real amps IMO.
If I were doing the profile, the perfect point of real amp saturation with my pickups would be achieved. But since I have to work with what is provided, I can only select a profile that is closest to what sounds like "max without mush". I will try to push up gain and find the proper dynamic response point, but sometimes you just don't hit it right. And of course this is all subjective stuff. What I like might not be what the profiler likes, so that could be a deal-breaker right there. The ones that work well are beautiful though. Pure sonic enjoyment!
I'm finding the need to organize better now that I'm adding usable stuff over included content and free rig packs. Not done with these yet, as I'm still finding cool stuff, but at some point I have to do some housekeeping to get to where I want to be without scrolling through hundreds of choices. "Favorites" saves me some time, but even that is growing too large...and I just got my KPA not so long ago.
So I'm also looking for tips to manage Rig Manager.
Love the chime! Great sounding amp. 
Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Too many variables...That's what I see when it comes to getting that live tone right. Unless you do the band mix yourself, or work with the same sound company, somehow you have to be flexible enough to "fit in". But introducing real cabinets back into the equation sounds like a bad idea to me. You're filtering a filtered tone. I can't see that working. FRFR is the way to go, and that will only be as good as the FRFR monitor solution you choose. As far as how loud you cranked the monitors when you dialed in your sound, that matters. Hopefully folks know to "crank it" every once in a while to verify the bass is not too much.
And I agree that the best option is your own personal monitor solution that replicates your reference monitors. Not an easy task to find that quality in a stage setup. I tried ear monitors once and ended up pulling them because they made me feel disconnected from the band...and the live sound that I interact with. I still believe that if the "core tone" is done right, simple bass/mid/treble adjustments can get you sitting in the mix just fine. But if your guitar tone is not translating to nearly every type of stereo, TV, computer speakers of whatever, then the core tone is off and never going to work in any live situation. Then you need to focus on getting that balance right before you can go forward with a live situation.
Some people will do anything to make a buck. They have no moral compass or ethical value. Scumbags! 
I could see a day when the KPA could accept profile authentication key strings based off of an ESN or serial number. I would still want the option to share profiles I make (or someone else makes and wants to share freely) without complications. But the addition of an authentication option would put an end to this type of piracy.
I'd have to agree with the OP here.
Cab "transplants" are the way to go if there is something you are looking for in a set of profiles but not finding. My MO is simple - I select a profile from a different set with the kind of sound I am looking for and lock the cab section. I then go back to the profile set which seems a bit lacking and resave the borrowed cab on any profiles from the set that seem to suit the new cab. I copy them back from the profiler to the source folder of the profile set I am massaging in Rig Manager - I tend to copy the source profile of that cab in there to for future reference or in case I want to repeat the process for more of the set.
Eg today I put the JMOD and Matchless cabs from Tone Junkie (which are stellar IMO) on another set with uniformly great results. I tried the EV12 profile from earlier in this thread also (Deluxe EVM112L is the cab from Heater) and that worked really well on crunch and clean profiles.
Another approach that gets you there. I guess I trust a couple of amp profiles more than combined profiles, and I started out that way, but as my amp collection expands I might do it differently. I will look for those cabs and give 'em a try. Thanks!
I'm finding cabs that are almost universally working for anything. One that I'm currently really digging is:
CABINET
Manufacturer - Normals
Model - 2*12
Location - MERROWSOUND
Author - Keith Merrow
Name - Normals 2*12
Comment -
SPEAKER
Manufacturer - Emine
Model - Go
Configuration - 2*12
MIC
Model - SM-57
Postiton - ON AXIS
I guess these are Eminence speakers...maybe The Governor model??? Can't find any reference to the cabinet. As far as the SM-57 "ON AXIS", that was one heck of a sweet spot! I never got such uniform results with a single 57. Great job capturing all components of the spectrum...especially the mids. This will be heard in the mix! I bet this is "stage ready" (hope to try it someday soon). And here's another thing I like about this cabinet...The exact point of perfect saturation gain (and bass saturation...1.9X) on my TJ JCM800 High profile (gain is 6.4X...yes, that sensitive...maybe 6.48?) can clearly be heard where the top is either too prominent, too weak (low mids and bass prominent), or just the right balance. This cab works best on my new PBall amp profile. It rocks! 
So there is another speaker choice I would never had tried in real life or profiled. I just stumbled on it and heard something great that instantly had my approval. Now it's another mainstay cabinet. You gotta love this thing of ours!
Great Post! Thanks a lot!
So far I have not used different cabs.
Thanks to your posting I will try it out now.
You should have a lot of fun with that. Pick your favorite amp (and effects...why not?) and lock everything except the CAB section. Then you can go use Rig Manager to double-click on tons of profiles in search of great cabinets. My collection is ever-growing, and some old experiments have been deleted to keep my usable collection more organized. And as I find better cabinets, my usable amp collection is also growing.
Have fun!
Display MoreAs in real life !The impact of a (real) cab to a (real) amp is huge and comparable to the influence of the pickups to the sound of a guitar.
My experiences during my "tweaking-years" with real amps is the following impact-order-list:
1. Cab
2. Speaker
3. Capacitors of the tone stack
4. Preamp Tubes
5. Phase Inverter
6. Power Amp Tubes
Though the specific impact of each component is not completely comparable and concernes different aspects/components of the overall-sound / amp-behavior
That's a pretty good rundown. Transformers in the amp matter a lot. And there are other design factors that make or break an amp. I think tubes have much to do with distortion characteristics and harmonic structure. Other than tubes and bias, which I can select for the best sound, I just "lump" the amp into one category. A healthy amp is one major chunk, but how you dial that in for saturation and tone is a big part of the picture. I remember a lot of guitarist back in the day used to dime out almost everything...including bass. To me that was just a lot of over-saturated mud. I would never want that sound. I like full bass, but it has to be tight. The crunch has to be prominent. Getting the right balance of saturation and tone adjustments plays a big part. But after that the type of speakers and cabinet play the next biggest part, followed by how it's captured with mics...and that's always sound altering.
So, when hunting for amp profiles, I try and find that breakup response and tone balance setting I would have dialed in first. Of course the cab used in any demo will mask the overall tone, but if it's not too colored in any one area I should be able to hear what I'm looking for.
It's when you get something that sounds totally different than the demo that "sold you" that has me wondering why that's happening. Ten guitars with a wide span of quality pickups of all types can't be that big of that difference. After all, my guitars sound great on real tube amps. Are these demo recordings getting some "mastering tools" thrown into them? If some additional "processing" like that is being used, I think that would explain why there is such a drastic difference. And that's going to make me look towards another profiler for my eventual purchases. Whoever delivers the tones I like in demo recordings will get a lot of my business. But I'm not going to bother purchasing anything from some well known and popular profilers if their idea of tone and saturation don't appeal to my likes.
Display MoreThe discussion would probably be obsolete if we had reasonable opportunities to manage and catalog Cabs.
There is no doubt that with another Cabs the sound quality will be changed significantly.
My experience is that you can't define quality generally valid (also tastes are different) and it depends a lot on the guitar whether it causes an improvement or a deterioration.
BTW: There's nothing wrong with using external IRs for me.
But it's too much unwieldy for me to experiment with CABs.
External IRs would not improve on that.
I have to get to work soon, but I'll leave this final thought for the morning...
Mic placement is what "works" or doesn't work for my likes. And amp EQ was either done "right to my likes" (subjective) or not. Everyone has there own likes, but once in a while the majority can agree on "legendary" artist recorded tones.
So as I'm discovering with all these experiments I've been doing, the commercial amp has to win my ear first, then I have to adjust the Kemper tone controls to balance the sound the way I like it. That seems to work on any cab I use, and sometimes that EQ (or something close to it) works on other amps, as well. Finally, some cabs can work on all my amp profiles once the tone controls are locked in. I couldn't ask for a better outcome. But the kicker is ALL of my guitars work with these finalized profiles once all the tweaking has been done, and the guitars still have their own character. No need to readjust anything for different guitars. That's as good as I could hope for if I were actually using real amps...and we actually are using real amps, aren't we?. Cool!
I love this box!
Display MoreAnother little tweak that I have been using lately is:
once Ive got the amp/cab/effects down pretty much where I want them, the last 1%
of tone I get from adjust the "character" parameter in the cabinet section.
I find this much more subtle than using the High/Low shifts and can really add
that final bit of magic to the cabinet/overall tone of a profile.
cheers
YES, these are nice alterations that can really put the polish on the tone. We are so spoiled having these tools at our disposal.
I have not even tried to "tune" these settings on the last umpteen cabs I saved and used. When I have time I'll go back and try those tweaks. No doubt it may improve my final tone some. Cool that you can quickly A/B those changes from the original. It's a "Was it all in my head, or is there really an improvement made here?" reality check.
Display MoreExcellent testimony, Philbert.
It is always great to hear a new user has had an epiphany. Indeed, changing the "stock" Cabinet is one of the most fundamental and powerful customization you can make to a KPA profile. While this topic has been discussed many times before, by myself and others, there is no shame that you might have missed these threads/topics. I am just sorry you had to stumble along into this realization all on your lonesome, so to speak.
Typically, this realization comes when you are trying to work with a commercial profile that you spent good money on, and you just are unable to get it to sound the way you expected it to sound. Once you have this "Eureka" moment, the next logical step plays out something like this:
"Hey, if this worked so great for rescuing a so-so profile...why don't I perform the same experiment with my absolute favorite profiles, and see what happens. You know, the profiles that I previously didn't think needed any improvement or tweaking".
As it turns out, I have modified every single one of my top profiles (typically based upon a commercial amp profile) by swapping/switching out the normal (stock) cabinet, and replacing with a selection of exclusive cabinet presets I have compiled. Yes, this requires some auditioning, but the final result can be so very much worth it.
Exactly my scenario, Tritium. And yes, maybe I should have researched previous posts. But nice to know I'm not alone, and in good company on this topic. Back in my old Line 6 days we did everything we could to try to get something that sounded "real". Now we have many choices that "are real", and just need to find what we like for speaker types and mic placement. I'll take that any day! After all, with real amps and cabs, we do the same.
And yes, I'm going back and trying new cab discoveries on old profiles I previously locked in. The "favorites" selection list is HUGE now (not a bad thing), but it's cool to go through each profile version with different saved cabs to do a "shootout" of sorts to see which one(s) works best. The "Mars" cabinet that inspired this thread actually works on lots of amp profiles. This cab would be the "heavier" track in a typical darker/brighter double-track recording. That works well. But I'm already seeing a couple of others being constant winners for lots of amp profiles. Eventually I'll have to do a cleanup with all these experimental versions. But I can see this "experimenting" will continue for quite some time.
yeah, cab is the secret, I definitely agree on that. Too bad that presets are so uncovinient to manage. I have tons of them but can't get through the hassle of tying them all. An upgrade here will be an upgrade for the tone as well
I agree. It's especially a pain to have to name the cabinet you are saving, as the name it has doesn't carry over and you have to type it out...if it fits. I would welcome a better way to manage cabs.
Back at work and having little time to do much else until the weekend, I did manage to checkout those TJ Engle PBall profiles I downloaded. First impression was fizz city. Once again, a different cab saved the day. I believe a cab called "NORMALS" saved the day. I have two of them saved, and one of them sounded a bit more balanced and up front. From there I used the same EQ with a bit more mids and trebel...and a touch of extra bass (no number change...just pushed it up a bit). With slightly less gain it tightened up and still sounded full in the lows and mids. Definitely not a Marshall, but more "in your face". Full frontal assault blunt force trauma! Starting to build some higher gain tones. Josh Middleton has some interesting high-gain profiles. I might want those. And now I need to go back and see if I can resurrect a Rectifier profile with the right cab. Too much exploring to do...not enough time.
Time for work! I'll answer as many posts as I can when I get back home later.
Display MoreMy goto Marshall cab regardless of the amp profile is from a free profile on Rig Exchange called:
Jesse-RockBox-Plexi by Jesse Fildes
The cabinet is called Jesse RockBox
Its absolutely fantastic with any Marshall type amp.
For cleans I usually use a cabinet called "Deluxe EVM112L" by author Heater, which is also on the RE.
check em out
cheers
I'll look for that and give it a try. Thanks Joe. I welcome suggestions, for sure.
I had to force myself to get some sleep last night. Played a cab called Rand L , and with a bit of modification to my TJ JCM800 tone stack it has a nice color and balance to it. Very responsive and crunchy. That's one I never would have thought of. Bonus!
The cool thing about cab hunting is that you can find sought after speaker types that capture the flavor the way you like it. For example, the real V30 (made in England...not China) is ,by design, a bit shrill to my likes, but works for modern high gain amps if you get away from the center of the speaker. I found a 2x12 V30 cab someone did that had the sweet spot just right, so now I have a good V30 cab. Great! G12-25 Greenbacks are also tricky in the highs, but I got a couple of good cab models of that over the weekend too. Check!
Other speaker types I'm after are Blackbacks with a little more high end, and also Creambacks. I saved a couple from Studio 25 (I think Dirk did them), but I'm still looking for the right shades for these speaker types. But now that I have the amps right, it's just a matter of locking down everything but the cab section and auditioning thousands of profiles in search of exactly what I'm after. You couldn't ever do that in real life. What took hours to setup (for just one cab and mic profile) takes me seconds to try with Rig Manager. My cab collection is growing quite large now. This is AWESOME!
And here is the thing....I'm writing new songs with these inspiring amp sounds. And it's not just the tone bringing that out, but also the "feel". I'm shredding so much now that I'm breaking strings! 
It's been a long time since I got that pumped up over the guitar/amp relationship. Kinda like the adrenaline kicks in and you start flying on the fret board in disbelief that you are actually playing what you are playing. Time to start recording this stuff!
PS - I couldn't resist it anymore...broke down and got the Top Jimi Engle PowerBall profile pack. It's a unique slammin' amp I just had to have. Help me! I'm obsessed with this "thing"! 
Display More
The cab is the secret sauce. I posted that several times too. Search for the 1960 AV from deadlightstudios Lars Lüttge and also the mega boobie 2x12 from freangers (also deadlightstudios).These ones were the gamechangers for and meanwhile also other guys have created great ones. Guido last pack‘s include some gems too and yes, you can also flip the cabs in studioprofiles to make them shine. It doesn’t matter if it’s a di, merged or studioprofile. If it sounds good it us good.
My fav 3 for using their cabs:
Deadlightstudios (Lars Lüttge and Frank)
The awesome Sinmix ( Steve Stevens can’t be wrong)
Guidorist
Sorry to all others. That’s all I need.
I might have grabbed some of those. I do remember checking those sources. I'll try again. Thanks! 
Thanks guys. I've been playing guitar for 3 days straight and don't want to stop! It just keeps getting better. Now I'm out on rig exchange finding other cabs that work. I have about a dozen JCM800 versions, and about ten or so JT-45 versions. As long as there are cabs out there that work well for my favorite amps, I'm grabbin' 'em. I wish I had a week off of work to keep this growing, but no such luck.
I just wonder why the cabs that came with the amp profiles I like didn't sound as good. I really like the amps, but found the cabs lackluster. Doesn't matter, as I found plenty of other good IR's that work. I'll just keep collecting them and adding those to my favorite amp profiles. I do like Top Jimi amps though. He goes for "big" sound. I like that too.
So the "magic cab" helped me to shape the amp tones that opened the door to all sorts of other great cabs. And some of these are so addictive that It's hard to stop playing to create new profiles. I'm overloaded! 
Back to hunting and jamin'. 
What a difference a cabinet can make. But what happened came full circle, as a better cabinet made amp tweaking work with many other cabinets. My usable collection increased tenfold.
Long story short (yes, I'm trying), I took one of my favorite Top Jimi JCM800 amp profiles and went cab hunting to see if I could find a "more natural" speaker/mic tone that made my amp profile sound like a great amp in a room without the close-miced filtered sound. Looking for vintage Marshall tones to work with JTM 45, Plexi, JMP, and JCM800...and more. After all, a great cab can work on almost anything, right? Around the same time I needed a headphone solution for nighttime use that sounded like studio monitors...something my old headphones weren't doing. I ended up with an awesome set of cans with the Avantone Pro MP-1 MixPhones that actually helped me shape tone that translated better than my monitors, but translated back to my monitors just fine, and are a real pleasure to jam with for hours without fatigue. They have two modes, one specifically for mixing, and one for general listening. The mixing mode sounds close to my monitors, and I use it most of the time, but the listening mode is also very good. I aim to sound good with everything.
I must have copied and saved two dozen cabs from the free offerings. Then I put that TJ amp profile through every one of those cabs until I heard magic happen. With a little tweaking I had the cabinet that was just what I wanted...old Greenback tone in a room. Perfect definition from lows to highs, and very natural sounding. BUT the big surprise was what happened when I locked down everything and started running all the amp profiles (amp only) through this cab with a refined EQ combo. Wowza! Many profiles I "passed" on a long time ago suddenly "came to life". I recovered somewhere around 20 amp profiles, and out of that bunch about half of them were stellar. What a difference! Even the Fender and Vox profiles I purchased sounded fantastic. It didn't end there. The amp EQ I dialed in is somehow working with multiple amps which are now working with many cabinets. How that's happening I can't say, but I'm in tone heaven!
So, what is this cab, and where did it come from? The cab is called "Mars" by M. Wienstroer and done at Studio 25 with an AKG 414 off axis. There are several variations of this setup, but I believe I saved the cab from the "Gundy - John6 For MM" profile by Gundy Keller on 2015-02-14 12:26:04 in Factory Content 5.1.
SPEAKER CAB TWEAKS (by Gundy?):
High Shift -0.7
Low Shift -0.1
Character -0.8
Pure Cabinet 0.0
NO Pure Cabinet on Output Page 5 (don't need it anymore).
UNIVERSAL AMP EQ SETTINGS THAT REFINE ALMOST EVERYTHING NICELY:
BASS 1.8
MID 3.1
TREB 2.7
PRES +0.0
And now that I thought about it, I just locked down my tweaked Top Jimi JTM-45 profile (another freebie...great Marshall amp profile!) with a gain level of 5.4 (same EQ settings) for everything except the cabinet and used Rig Manager to select all the M. Wienstroer and Dirk Baldringer profiles listening to all the different cabs. OMG! 
They all sound good! The method used to capture the cabinets with that AKG 414 was a brilliant effort. Very natural speaker cab sound. No "fizz" or "buzz". Thank you!
EDIT: I might have tweaked the TJ-JTM 45 Max-2 amp by setting Definition at 6.1 and Tube Shape at 3.3. All other deep amp settings are 0.0. As mentioned, gain is 5.4 for my Les Paul with hummies and single coil options. EQ Above.
And for those that have the Top Jimi Brownsound Pack, check out the Diver Down, Fair Warning, 1984 and VH II cabs for more open sound goodness with the authentic 20 Watt Celestion color that is vintage rare and unique. It's awesome!
Last night I ran the amp and EQ combo back through all the cabs in my Kemper and picked up several more cabs that work really well. So, what came first? The chicken or the egg? In this case the cabinet or the amp??? Whatever...it works! I have many more amp and cab tone choices that work better than the original profiles. That's a good thing.
EFFECTS I LIKE WITH THIS "OLD SCHOOL" STUFF:
STOMPS:
A - W WAH
CryBaby
Manual = 4.0
Peak = 7.5
Pedal Range = +31%
Peak Range = -43%
Mix 50%
Ducking <0.0>
Volume <0.0>
B - PPTC
Pedal Pitch (Whammy)
Heel Pitch = 0
Toe Pitch = 24
Mix = 100%
Ducking = <0.0>
Volume = <0.0>
C - OCT
Analog Octaver
Voice Balance = -50%
Mix = -5.2
Low Cut = 1.7
Ducking = <0.0>
Volume = <0.0>
D - COMP
Compressor
Intensity = 4.9
Attack = 0.0
Squash = 0.0
Mix = 100%
Volume = +0.4
EFFECTS:
X - GATE
Noise Gate 4:1
Threshold = 9.7
MOD - WIDE
Stereo Widener
Intensity = 2.7
Tune = 10.0
Ducking = <0.0>
DLY - LDLY
Legacy Delay
Mix = 40.0%
Note Value 1 = 4/16 (1/4)
Note Value 2 = 3/16 (1/8 dot)
Feedback = 19%
Bandwidth = 1.1
Frequency = 3.8
Modulation = 0.0
Ducking = <0.0>
REV - REV
Hall
Mix = 63.2% (set to taste)
Del+Rev Balance = +58%
Time = 4.0
Damping = 2.0
Predelay = 27 ms
Bandwidth = 5.0
Frequency = +0.1
Ducking = <0.0>
Volume = +1.6
A LITTLE (optional) HISTORY:
"Apr 28th 2012
Hi Players, here‘s some more info on the profiling session for the Rig Pack 01.
First I like to thank Markus Wienstroer and Dirk Baldringer for doing great work.
Markus brought in some hot stuff from his great collection of amps,
all these amps are fine tuned for reaching the max in performance and tone.
Some of these amps are hard to find nowaday‘s and some just one of a kind, their simply unique.
The S. Mehl amp, or the JCM from 1981, tuned by Dirk Baldringer, or the old S. Duncan Convertible amp.
Even the speakers used in the different cabs are really old vintage stuff, broken in well.
Christoph Kemper profiled a Leslie and added new local presets for the Phaser Stomp.
Dirk Baldringer of Studio 25 spent a great amount of time and passion, for getting the most out of every setup we took a profile of.
We really tried to push the whole thing a step forward and will do in the future.
One of our goals will be to release new Rig, Profile and FX Packs on a more or less regular base and make them available for all KPA Players.
By the way, I think the Rigs of this package are very „tweakfriendly“
so, give them a tweak.
Have fun and a good rockin‘ weekend.
G. Droid"
Display MoreI don't think this is a deal breaker in any way. Maybe an opportunity.
The Kemper can go so deep that, for some, it's a bit daunting. Or for others, like me, that are sometimes too lazy to dig into sub menus for hours tweaking tones.
A perfect lesson for all would be for you to detail the process involved to tweak these tones to your needs. Thereby educating us all on your methods.
Not everyone may take the time but, and I know I'm not alone here, any simple insights as to how to take a profile that is "close" to the tone you're searching for and get it to the next level would be appreciated.
I too have been disappointed with a lot of the commercial offerings for various reasons. Most of the rock and metal profiles have way too much gain added back in after profiling and many have the dreaded phase issues resulting in the cocked wah effect we all know.
LIke you, I grew up on 70's rock and 80's metal. Page, Iommi, Van Halen, Lynch, DeMartini, Campbell, et al so, I am looking for those classic mid gain 3 preamp tube tones. I can appreciate some of the brutal metal tones these guys are getting these days and even enjoy firing one up from time to time but most of my presets are based on Marshall not Bogner Uberschall profiles.
I tried early on here to get a thread going to start sharing or creating a repository of replica star rig Profiles but it only got a small amount of interest. Maybe that is something we could revisit?
I myself would love to have a series of 5 pack profiles based on album tones of an artist. Clean, rhythm, lead and a couple of specialty goodies. Load in a slot and you have your Dokken sound ready to go, etc.
Regardless, don't be discouraged, this copyright issue is minor and understandable. I think it's more of a one size fits all solution as there are people with less integrity who would abuse it if tweaked profiles became popular.
Hang in there. I'll stay with you on this. If your first effort is any indication, you have a great set of ears and will be an asset to the community. Myself included.
Thanks!
Thank you, StratGuru and Karajan. I took some time off here and focused on some other things. Funny how the "copyright" profile thing is on a "copy" of "patented" amp designs...effectively stealing an amp's tone and impacting amp sales. Still, I respect the work and service people provide with profiles. And I understand even a "free" profile cant't easily be distinguishable from a "paid" profile. I understand the dilemma.
Unfortunately, I'm not at a place in life right now where I can do profiles myself. All I can do is "tweak" 'em, so that means I can't post anything except maybe a video. I'll think about some way to illustrate changes I find improve tone. Basically, it's what I hear when I make changes, and how do you illustrate that? First, I make very short duration large sweeping changes on whatever control there is to check (quick enough that you don't burn your ear on some weird frequency range), and then quickly zero in on what sounds best. But I always start with Gain and Bass. Those two work closely together. You want enough tight bass and good gain saturation before it gets to be too much. Then I move through the tone controls, and after that deep parameters. After all parameters are tested and roughly dialed in, then go back and make very minute changes listening closely to every note being played. Eventually I am making adjustments under 0.1, so they don't even show a numeric value change, but "E" appears and you "hear" the change (hopefully). I want to hear an even balance between lows / mids / highs, and then every single string ring in several complex chords I use to see if certain notes can be heard, or are buried. I go back over everything to find the "sweetest spot" on each control. That's where everything sounds in phase and "note clarity" is as good as you can get it. Mids are the hardest to get right. Too much and it sounds "fake". Too little and it sounds hard and lacks musicality (doesn't cut in the mix) Get it right and you have a natural tone that is bold, but also sits well in the mix. Treble has much to do with mids, and the balance between the two ranges is tricky. Presence is a matter of taste. What I really like about the Kemper is that when you get just enough presence, and not too much (buzzyness), it sounds like a real tube amp and NOT a modeler. That top end has to be there to sound "real", but not exaggerated like the modelers. Same with the 300 Hz and lower range that make it sound like real speakers in a cabinet, and not "out of balance" modelers that get too "woofy". They have a hard time getting the proportions of each range right. It's not an "all or nothing" roll-off thing. Yeah, 8 KHz and 80 Hz have to be there, but will be much lower than 2.5 KHz and 250 Hz. If they are not there, then it's "fake" sounding. Same with too much 500 Hz (fake sounding). Very hard to put this all into words. I just hear it. When it's all balanced, any guitar I plug in sounds great. But "great tone" is subjective. We come from the era of great amps with tight full bottom end, cutting mids and sharp edge highs. But the paradigm has shifted from then...not bad...just different. That is why I'm having trouble finding what we know and like...I think.
The MB JCM800 profile I was working with has been eclipsed by a new discovery...cabs! I discovered one cabinet profile in the free offerings (or included base profiles) that works fantastically with almost everything. Profiles I would say 'meh' and pass by became full of tone and life. With a little research I found out it's a vintage Marshall cab with 30 watt greenbacks profiles with and AKG 414 done by Markus Wienstroe and Derk (?) at Studio 25. I saved the cab and ran every amp in my Kemper through it. With the right tone settings, which somehow balanced out for everything, it rocks on almost every amp I will do another thread on it. Maybe tomorrow in the "Tips and Tricks" section. Now my Top Jimi JCM800 is killer! Much better than this MB J800. But I also recovered another 20+ amp profiles with this cab that sound fantastic now. All on a simple cab hunt experiment!
Cabs really matter! Who knew?
Phil
whatever you do, please do not share it here (on this website, rig exchange etc.)
I wish you told me this last Friday when I asked. I wouldn't have posted it.
I think it's clear I was trying to be a good citizen.
Well, I'm done. Sorry guys. This is a bummer. 
