Posts by OhG

For what it's worth, I've been using my Kempers (rack and toaster) for years now and I have NEVER purchased a profile from anyone (M. Britt, Top Jimi, Choptones, etc.) and had it sound even close to what they have in their demos. I know there will be differences based on guitars used, speakers, fingers, etc. But nothing I buy is ever remotely close to how awesome things sound online.

I run direct into our PA and use Westone Pro 5-driver in-ears for live use. For recording I'm using SPIDIF out from a Focusrite Clarett 4 Pre into Reaper, played through a pair of Yamaha HS8 studio monitors with my Mac desktop. Guitar is a Guthrie Govan signature model Charvel, a Custom master-built Charvel, and a Fender American Telecaster Ultra. So it's not as if I'm playing on or through garbage equipment.

I've just resorted to finding profiles that are close to what I want and then just adjusting them to my liking. I'd love to be able to buy profiles and have them closer to what is advertised, but I'm still getting awesome results just tweaking profiles instead.

Using your ear is really the only way to do it. Adjust each profile using the rig volume knob. If you’re building sounds using the same profile, just start with one that you’ve already balanced and use it as a template. The rigs that come with the Kemper are all generally balanced with each other.

Also, don’t assume that if two profiles max out at the same volume in a meter in your DAW that they’re the same loudness. Two sounds can have the same dB level, but still be very different in perceived loudness due to things like EQ.

Awesome. I’ll give that a try. Thank you.

Hi guys,

I've been doing more recording with my Kemper lately and I'm at a point now where I'd like to know if there is a way for me to take one of my existing profiles with all the effects (delays and reverbs) and record it into my DAW so that the guitar with all of the distortion and things that are in the stomp section, come out on one track, with any effects that are in the effects slot, recorded onto a separate track.

My setup currently consists of guitar straight into the front input of the Kemper. Out of the Kemper, I'm running SPDIF in and out, to a Focusrite Clarett 4Pre USB interface, and using Reaper as my DAW.

The best way to create your tones is to do it at the volume you intend to use them. So if you’re going to be playing live, you’ll get the best results tweaking your tones at gig level. If that isn’t possible, I’d personally start with some MBritt profiles and test those at a gig if you can. If you’re playing at lower volumes, MBritt’s profiles will likely sound too dark. But keep in mind he creates many of his profiles with live playing in mind - meaning, they’ll sound less dull when cranked through a PA.

Unfortunately, the profiles are all going to sound different depending on what you’re playing through and how loud you’re playing. Once you get a profile that sounds great through a cranked profile, it will sound solid (for the most part) on any other cranked PA (of similar quality).

If you have limited time at gigs, try testing just 1-2 profiles per gig. Get them sounding good and then add others if necessary. I don’t own a Kone so I can’t comment on that part. But a FRFR cab should give you a better idea of what your sound really sounds like our front than your 1x12 cab would.

Quote from bobbyodell

That Mimiq pedal looks badass. Wonder how well it intermingles with the Kemper.

It's not bad. I find that it definitely does color the tone a bit. The thing I dislike about it the most is that in 2 of the 3 modes, it results in one channel being slightly louder than the other. It's audible enough for me to even notice it during a soundcheck while standing out front. It's likely nothing that the crowd would notice, but I did. Between that and the tone coloration, I'd give it a grade of B-. I use it at about 18% mix; just up enough to provide some nice separation for in my in-ears. IMO, it's not good enough to use in professional, live settings, to do what it says it does, which is to produce the sound of double or triple tracked guitars.

You also have to use it in stereo unless you want a really bad out-of-phase effect. Very easy to use with the Kemper though. Drop it in the effects loop, put it in the "X" slot and choose "stereo loop". As long as you're running in stereo, you're good to go.

Try putting it as the last effect. If you want delay tails to continue after the swell has been reduced you’ll need it to be before the delays. Same with reverb.

Try reducing the swell time parameter if you want it to come in quicker. If you’re not getting the results you want, you could also try using a volume/expression pedal to get the swells to come in the way you want them to.

Quote from DonPetersen

If you're tracking in the studio, the real thing will always be best -> double, triple, quad tracking

live, it is highly doubtful that the FOH will give you a wide stereo field (if stereo at all),

or even IF you get that, only the people directly in the middle between the speakers will hear the stereo effect

Totally agree Don. I use the Mimic for live situations but I only have the mix parameter up to 18%. Just high enough to give me some nice sounding separation in my in-ears, but not enough to degrade the tone too much. To me, it’s not worth it because you’re right about stereo only being noticed by people seated in certain areas.

The closest thing you’ll get to double tracking and that really thick sound without actually double tracking, is to use the TC Mimic pedal. Using delays and choruses MIGHT give you a decent effect, but it’s not going to do what the Mimic does. The Mimic adjusts the timing of the notes as well as velocities to sound a little more human.

I’ve found that the widening effects (the new stereo and phase effects) in the Kemper sound cheap. There is a noticeable difference in sound quality when using them. For example, it sounds like the guitar just shifts more toward the left channel and it sounds louder than the right when listening in stereo.

Even the Mimic, which to my knowledge is the best doubler pedal out there, has some negative degradation affect on your tone.

If you’re playing live, the Mimic is your best option for double tracked sounds. If your recording, the best option for double tracking while maintaining the integrity of your time is to go old school and double the tracks manually.

Quote from V8guitar

I don't think anyone is actually knocking the TJ profiles ( I love 'em) just more of their bias...ironically off the back of this post, I went onto the MBRitt site and downloaded the free EVH rig....love it!!!

Exactly. I'm not knocking TJ profiles. I'm just saying that for me, for live use, they don't sound as good in a mix through a cranked PA as the MBritt stuff does. I think the TJ profiles sound better for recording.

Quote from sambrox

Just to go back to your original post, the difference between TJ and MBritt is that the TJ sounds are made to sound like the guitar sound on the records; typically high and low pass filtered to some degree, yet bright. MBritt on the other hand tailors his profiles to work in a live setting at volume, where excessive high end can be really unpleasant. Two different methods for two different scenarios. Like others have written in this thread, I tend not to mix different profile vendors in my live performance Rigs and my preference is also MBritt for live these days.

sambrox beat me to it, but I agree 100% with everything he said here. I found the TJ profiles way too thin sounding for live use and ended up going with MBritt. I had the opportunity to hang out with Michael Britt for an hour or so before one of his Lonestar shows and talk about his setup, rigs, etc.

Like Sambrox said, most of my profiles for live use are MBritt because I just add a tiny bit of treble or presence and they sound great through a PA. Remember, test the sounds at the volume you intend to play. So if it’s live, crank them up and listen to them at live volumes. I isolated myself with my band’s PA for a day, cranked the entire system up to live volumes and dialed in my sounds like that. They sound amazing. If I take those same profiles and try to use them for recording, I need to tweak the EQ because they’re being used in a completely different context.

(IMO) arranging/saving rigs into performances has always been the most user unfriendly feature Kemper has created.

What I'll usually do is go into Rig Manager, find rig I want to work with and then you have a couple options. You can copy and paste it into whatever performance slot you want, or drag and drop it. Sometimes opening a new window in Rig Manager (so you have 2 Rig Manager windows open) makes this easier to drag a rig from your rigs or rig exchange. After you've placed the rig where you want it, double click into a DIFFERENT performance and it'll save it for you. It may bring up a message asking you to save or discard.

I've found that simply hitting the "store" button 3 times after you move a rig in performance mode, doesn't always work. So get everything in that performance where you want it, and then double click into another performance. If you then click back into your edited performance, you'll see everything has saved.

And no, you don't need to fill a performance up with all 5 slots. You can have as few as you want in each performance.

I think the Kemper's EQs are great. You should put a studio EQ in the "x" slot, then set a really low "q" setting one of the bands, with the gain of that particular band all the way up, then slowly dial the frequency dial of that band from high down to low until you find the frequencies that you don't like and then you can just roll the gain back to about -5db to cut some of them out.

Another option for the hiss is to also use the studio EQ and use the hi and lo cuts. Set a cut around 8k (might be higher or lower depending on your preference) and that should help with getting rid of the fizz.

Depending on the profile, the Pure Cab setting can help as well.

Quote from Monkey_Man

What about the "Clarity" parameter, brother?

IMHO it's tailor-made for your situation; it brings out the individual notes in chords.

Yeah man. I did try that too. I messed around with that, the power sagging and tube settings and that helped a bit. I think I've got it working the way I need it to now.

I'm dialing in a new medium gained plexi profile that I'm really liking except for one small thing. When I'm playing open chords (mainly G and D) with the distortion on, the highest couple notes of the chords (2nd fret of high E string and 3rd fret on the B string when playing a D chord) seem to sound really thin and get washed out by the rest of the strings and the overall distortion/overdrive. I don't have a TON of gain or overdrive on (gain is only at a 4.1 on the Kemper). One of the overdrives I'm using is a treble boost with a tone of 2.8 and the volume only at 0.6.

I like the tone of everything, but those notes just get washed out whenever I'm playing big open chords. I'm using .10 gauge strings and tuned to 430. I'm just wondering, is there a certain range of EQ band that I should be looking to boost in order to make that area of the tonal spectrum pop out more? If I play those same notes in other areas of the fretboard with chords, they sound fine. I've tested this with other guitars and it's the same issue with all.

I've even added a TINY bit (0.5) of direct mix into the profile to help make some of the notes not sound so thin with the overdrive on.

Any tips?

Quote from andyg_prs

Question 3. Have any of you managed to get an IEM solution that works for you, particularly on high gain sounds without being too ice picky or just sounding nasty in your ear? I have a couple of IEMs and different IEM amps I can use. Back with the AX8 I tried mixing a direct feed of my guitar with a mix of the band from the PA....but I couldn't get anything I liked.

When it comes to IEMs, it's really about the quality of your IEMs almost more so than the quality of the profile (almost). If you're using single or dual driver IEMs, I don't care if God himself came down and created a profile; it's going to sound like crap and very thin. At a bare minimum, you need to be using triple drivers. I'm using 5-driver Westone UMPro50 and they are awesome! They sound better than my AudioTechnica headphones.

You've also got to set realistic expectations for what IEMs can do. You won't get that amp in the room feel from them because there is no amp pushing air at you. But if you get some really nice IEMs, after a few gigs, you likely won't have a desire to go back to amps. You can crank them to the point where they play a trick on your head and it sounds like you've got a cranked amp in the room (without the air). But, keep in mind, part of the point of IEMs is to protect your hearing.

I made a gradual change over time, reducing my setup from a 1/2 stack, to two 2/12 cabs, then to 2 1/12 cabs and finally to the in-ears. So my adjustment to them wasn't as drastic as someone who is going from a 1/2 stack right to the in-ears. But the one thing I love about them is that at every gig (we use the Behringer X32 as well), my monitor mix is EXACTLY the same, at every club, at every spot on the stage. The entire stage is a sweetspot for me now.

I'd highly recommend the 4 or 5-driver in-ears from Westone. Sweetwater carries them.

I think a similar thread is already well established here:

What are "your" hidden gems in Rig Exchange? Post your best finds here ...

You're not going to like this answer, but the best approach is to use your own ears. I say that because what you think sounds good or right, might not be the same for someone else who is giving you advice. And even if the two of you do agree on what sounds good, your individual setup will have a huge impact on how things sound (e.g. a chorus effect using a Les Paul is not going to sound the same as it would if you're using single coils; or if you want chorus and reverb to really cut through in a mix in a live setting, you generally have to crank them up in the mix even more than you might think when dialing in tones when you're alone). Unless it's something that is very specific and set in stone, like "what kind of delay, or what tempo delay should I set for this song", it's tough to answer.

I appreciate you trying to sort it out. I just gave up on running two Kempers the way I wanted to a long time ago because after many back and forth discussions, I was told that it wasn't possible to do what I wanted to do. There was some reason (can't remember what it was) that I wouldn't be able to use the Kemper footswitch or a separate MIDI controller to get the desired results that I want. I think it was the fact that I also wanted to use the foot pedals (wah and morphing) or something like that.

Quote from RockmanCentralBob

The Kemper Remote (if that is what you are using) does NOT have a MIDI out, so that would not by possible.

I didn't say I was going out of the MIDI on the Footswitch. I was using the Kemper Footswitch to control my Kemper. The only MIDI I'm using was to go out of the first Kemper and into the 2nd.

Again, didn't want to hijack this thread with something that has already been discussed and dissected thoroughly by the Kemper team in another thread and determined to not be possible to do what I'm looking to do using the Kemper Footswitch and 2 Kempers.