but can't match the overdrive box tone on the originals (which is also often very nice).
I'm just as much a fan of amp overdrive as I am using quality pedals, and, as a matter of fact, I tend to favor the latter, except in high gain scenarios. I have more control over what my gain sounds like. This is why I use 3 OD pedals pre-Kemper and basically never use the Kemper's built in DIST stomps. This sound cannot be achieved with a driven amp or Kemper's built-in stomps.
The Kemper (and, for that matter, Fractal, Line 6, Eleven, Atomic, and any other overdrive models I've ever heard) just don't do overdrives all that well. The focus is on great amps, and the overdrive sections, which is an increasingly growing market with post-rock, ambient, and worship music, is lacking. Stacking two ODs in the Kemper stomp section just kinda results in "more" because the only real "overdrive"-style pedal is the Green Scream, which is based off a Maxon OD808. The rest are distortion or fuzz pedals.
What we really need, not just for this scenario, but in general, are the following additional pedals/types of pedals to really have a complete collection: - OD based off an Ibanez TS9 or Ibanez TS9 with JHS Tri-Screamer mod - OD based off a modded Boss SD-1, modded Boss BD-2, or a Fulltone Fulldrive. With the Boss pedals modded, you can get a very similar sound to the Fulltone Fulldrive, which is one of the most popular overdrive pedals ever, just with different amounts of gain and saturation. - OD based off a Klon or Klon-style pedal for low gain stage overdrives. The JHS Morning Glory, Klon KTR, or the EHX Soul Food w/ JHS Meat & 3 Mod are all great pedals within this category, and obviously the original Klon Centaur, but I dunno who has the money to drop on one of these.
I'm going to submit a feature request for this in a moment. But there's just no way to get a true Bethel/Hillsong-style sound without stacking overdrives.
The typical contemporary worship sound is based around four main ideas, many of which borrow from the modern ambient/post-rock scene. These are:
1. One or more outrageously expensive amps. These usually consist of a boutique version of a Fender or a Vox - Matchless, Morgan, etc., and, if run in stereo, one of each type on each side. Obviously, with a single Kemper, you can only get a single amp sound, but you can still get the stereo spread by using stereo effects. For me, I like the 1965 Vox AC-30 from Pete's profiles (because that's what all these manufacturers are trying to copy anyway), as it's clean, but can be dialed up with just a slight touch of shimmer when really pushed hard. I also use a Matchless DC30 profile from time to time. It sounds a little boomier, but that plays better with single-coil guitars than the Vox. For most performances, I use my main guitar, a Parker Fly Mojo, which I can get both humbucker and single coil sounds (thank you coil tapping and versatility!).
2. Stacked overdrive pedals. This is a little trickier to accomplish on the Kemper, mainly due to the diminished range of overdrive options it gives you. This is reason #2 why I use outboard effects in front, and in the loop, of the Kemper. You can do this on the Kemper, but you're going to want to dedicate either (a) a profile for each type of overdrive, or (b) use no other effects. 2-5 overdrive pedals is not uncommon. For my setup, I use three - a 6 Degrees FX Sally Drive (a nice, low-gain, handwired TS808), a Foxpedal The City (medium drive, akin to, say, a Fulltone Fulldrive 2 MOSFET), and an Addrock Ol' Yeller (modded screamer). However, if it's from JHS or Walrus Audio, you're probably safe - their stuff seems to make it onto everyone's board these days, and with good reason - they sound great.
That said, the Kemper can do this, but you're going to eat up all of your slots. I'd recommend "faking" this if you're not looking to have outboard gear by dialing up your normal clean amp, increasing the gain, and adding an overdrive in front of it. This way, you can "fake" the sound of two overdrive pedals. You'll have a hard time doing more than one and making it sound unique though.
3. Delay Not as popular as it used to be, but a tool you should certainly have at your disposal. You can probably get most of the delay sounds you want out of the Kemper. I prefer either the Eventide Timefactor or the Strymon Timeline, though the Strymon El Capitan is very well favored. Strymon pedals are kind of the unspoken "this guy knows how to play guitar" pedal in worship circles, which isn't true at all, but everyone oohs and ahhs over them. Either way, the Kemper is certainly limited with its selection of delays, and having something that gives you a great, warm, tape-like sound or a shimmery (+Octave in the repeats) sound is not possible without eating up all of your effects blocks. If you can live without the ability to truly shape every facet of every delay sound, stick with a dotted 8th with about 3 repeats synced to the tempo, and you'll have the sound for 75% of worship songs. However, I'd say that #4 is more important these days than a delay, particularly if you're not a lead player, though, if you stack multiple delays, you can get some very spacious, reverby sounds too.
4. Reverb This is the biggest thing, and where the Kemper really falls short. You need MASSIVE reverb sounds at your disposal for worship songs. Shimmer reverbs are getting to be hated because they were very overused for a while, but if you like that sound, throw a Boss RV-5 in the loop. If you want more control, want to do beautiful swells, have MIDI control over what presets are used, etc., you're going to need a Strymon BigSky/BlueSky, an Eventide Space, or a Neunaber Wet. You just can't get 15-20 seconds of decay out of the Kemper.
Adding a compressor before your overdrives and an expression pedal after your overdrives (or, if you're using the Kemper's FX loop, post amp/pre-FX) will benefit your reverb as well. This gives you a strong signal going into your pedals. Swelling in your notes via the expression pedal will allow you to have instant synth pad-like swells when you need to fill space or for making more violin-esque leads. The compressor isn't essential, but you just have to be more careful about how hard you hit your strings. Cascading a delay (or multiple delays) into a Reverb will give you a really beautiful wall of sound.
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So, that's kinda how I do things and approach it myself, as well as what I've observed from others. I've found this kind of setup works for everything from Hillsong United and Elevation to the more chill, acoustic stuff.
A really great resource to find out more about Delays/Reverbs is Andy Othling's series on Ambient Guitar on YouTube, which relates very much so to worship music. Andy's toured with Future of Forestry and now plays in Archabald, both of which are not admittedly Christian bands, but have very worship-oriented songs. Check it out here:
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I'd second a vote for Matrix. The GT800FX is ample for most guitarists, though I'd step it up just a notch and get the GT1000FX, even if you're remotely thinking about playing bass through it.
Matrix builds quality stuff that will last you forever, but it doesn't come cheap.
Seconded the Morgan AC20. Great foundation rig. There's a few awesome Matchless profiles that have nice clean sounds, and, for most of my work, I use Pete's AC30 profiles, the clean ones.
However, if you want more of a Fender-y clean, there's gobs and gobs on RM, and even more in packs, like M Britt's. M Britt's packs are the ones I'd recommend if you want a great collection of clean to mid-gain rigs. Any pack works great. They're not my favorites, but many people absolutely love them.
Now on topic: I think less would be more. I mean less Rigs and some good Perfomances would be more impressive. There are so many Rigs and only one Performance to get an idea how to use it. You really get lost at the beginning. This system was born at a time when RM did not exist. A list of the available Rigs in the RE could be enough. (But in manner that a beginner can understand and becomes courios)
I have noticed also with other equipment, they are full of effects and possibilities, but are seldom reasonable for use. It would be a chance to do it better than others.
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I disagree. Many of us frequent the forums to see what's going on, find out new things, find out about rigs, rig manager, etc. However, many others aren't going to seek out additional software for their computer, and many aren't ever going to log in to the forum, install Rig Manager, or, heck, even register their Kemper. By providing a bunch of rigs to start with, it's showing the overall versatility of what the Kemper can really do, and giving people a complete set of useful sounds without having to do anything.
If you don't want that many rigs on your device, just remove them. There are multiple ways to get rid of the bulk number of rigs quickly - either "favorite" the ones you like and remove all non-favorited, or, when connected to your computer with Rig Manager, just pick and delete what you want. Or move them off to a folder (again, in Rig Manager), remove all of the rigs from your Kemper, and drag and drop back in the ones you like.
Oh man, yeah. This would be a killer intro feature. Better than the "default rig" setups that come stock in performance mode, and it would give people a better idea of how the whole "performance" thing works (because some people still seem afraid to use it).
The loop is parallel up until a mix of 100%. At 100%, it becomes series.
This actually is in line with a question that I have - is the FX loop buffered? I can't seem to find that information anywhere. If it is, besides the DA/AD conversion, there should be no difference is signal.
You should look into your distortion sense settings. I find that I keep my clean sense on -1.5 when I play my tele or my strat (-4.5 on my humbucker-equipped guitars), and distortion sense is somewhere between -2 and 0, depending on which guitar I use and the sound I'm looking for. The distortion sense acts differently than clean sense in that it triggers the breakup/gain/overdrive/distortion/whatever-you-want-to-call-it at a different point. All of this is outlined in that tutorial video - don't brush that off as your pickups are probably hotter than you think, especially when compared to samples of a different guitar that is of a different construction and pickup type.
You may also want to check your monitoring solution - if you're using FRFR, make sure your cab sims are on. If you're not using FRFR (you're using a standard guitar cab), make sure the cab sim is off on your specific output (either always off or cab sim off on the direct out if you're using that or the power amp to power a guitar cab). Your tone will be greatly shaped by the guitar cab you're using, arguably just as much as the amp profile you choose, so if you're going out to a 2x12 with V30's, your Vox AC-30 profile (for example) is not going to sound the same, as they are never loaded with those speakers.
Also, if you add a compressor or EQ, and it is boosting the levels of anything (you might have a stomp set as locked, therefore enabled on all profiles), it's going to cause a different sound pushed into the amp block. Try turning off those effects, and make sure you don't have any locked effects that are going to modify your sound.
That said, there's nothing wrong with decreasing the gain of profiles. It won't be a 100% realistic representation of the amp any longer as you're modifying a parameter from the profiling process, but it still sounds good and close enough. If you absolutely must have a 100% spot-on profile (does it really matter how exacting it is to the real amp if it gets the sound you want?), then I'd suggest you try out some other profiles (MBritt comes to mind, as his are all clean and low gain, with only a few mid-gain options), or profile amps yourself.
Finally, we all have different tastes. The profiles I use have all been modified - typically adding compression or modifying the cab. But this is the case with any digital amp with presets - not everyone likes the same things and some tweaking is almost always in order. You can't expect any profile to be perfectly brilliant out of the gate, though sometimes we all find some rare gold.
Well, not really, and this was my point, since part of the differences we perceive across two different volume settings in an amp is due to how we perceive frequencies at different SPLs.
IOW, if you want a realistic feel of how a certain rig sounded in the room at whatever amp setting you'll have to also recreate the same SPL.
Of course the Profiler allows us to use heavily pumped-up amps at bedroom volumes, and this is huge in itself
AH! We're talking about two different things: 1. Tone of the profiled amp at the profiled amp's setting 2. Perceived tone of the amp based on the SPL/volume level of the Kemper in the room.
I used to use Planet Waves cables. They were really good, though their build quality was trash. They'd break apart if you ever tried to rewire something. However, I never had one go bad on me.
I switched recently to using all Lava ELC and ELC Mini cable. Tonally, it's a little clearer, but I don't notice much. I'm just happy my pedalboard all has the same cables everywhere, instead of the multiple shades of black, chrome, and brushed silver it had with the PW cables.
I will say though - creating Lava Mini ELC cables is not as easy as it appears, and I feel less confident about them after first making them. I've had several go bad pre-gig. Apparently their new piston head jacks are much easier to build with and more stable, but I'm not going through that again. They're all working now, and I keep a handful of spares in my gig bag.
If I were to do it all over again, I'd probably go with the Disaster Area DisasterPlugs. They seem nice, and the plugs are made by G&H. For the soldered connections I've done, G&H is certainly my preference - easy to work with, but not very reusable. Or I'd go with Canare, though I hate the look of those pancake plugs.
An alternative option would be to pick up a small pedalboard - something like a Pedaltrain Metro 16 or a Templeboards Solo 18. This would give you room to mount your wireless, a power supply to power the wah and the wireless, and possibly a future pedal or two or an expression pedal. You could also use a small MIDI controller or footswitch-style controller (like a Disaster Area DMC or a Tech 21 MIDI Moose) to control the Kemper.
Yes, this means you'll have a pedalboard you'll need to power and run cables to. However, it'll be small. If you're worried about cables, you could always build a snake with a MIDI cable, power cable, and guitar cable with some flex tubing (I like the stuff Pedal Python sells), and make setup quick and easy - just connect to the appropriate places in your rack or set up a patch bay.
Mine's set up with the wireless under the board, but I have an A/B switch to switch to a wired connection (if I'm lazy about batteries or my pack dies). You don't have to go that far, but bring an extra 10' cable to a gig and you're prepared for whatever happens.
OTOH, Master volume being the same, a profile of an amp which was set @ 2 will sound as different from the profile of an amp set @ 9 as the two original amps. What matters most in terms of perception is the master (or overall) volume, which affects how we hear different bands of frequencies.
Right, that's what I was trying to say - if it's profiled at 2, the Kemper will sound like that amp at 2, regardless if the Kemper's volume is on 2, 10, or 0.1.
If you don't understand all the techno mumbo jumbo, then, the "Mid" knob is your friend. Using just the mid knob will get you most of the way there. For rhythm playing many kemper profiles are fine with minimal tweaking, just volume adjustments. To make any tone into a "Lead" tone just add mid until the sound cuts through. Also, setting guitar volume to around 7 for rhythm and 10 for lead is a good starting point for guitar-side tweaks.
+1 here. I used to be all about a metal sound in my younger days, scooping every bit of mids I could take out. The result? I made a lot of volume and noise, but no one could hear me. It's a nice crutch for playing at home and sounding a little bit better, but... with a band? No way. Thankfully, most of the profiles are made with logical, usable settings in mind, and, on most profiles, I keep the EQ completely flat. I never adjust more than ±2, and that's plenty.
Additionally, consider your gain levels. If you're playing higher gain profiles, you're compressing your sound, losing all your dynamics. This is true just as much with a tube amp as the Kemper. Try lowering the gain a smidge, and, if you have the compressor enabled on the Amp block, try turning it down. I usually keep it just barely on because I'm a ridiculously dynamic player, but if you're pretty heavy-handed, you might benefit from turning that off.
I would like to ask.. is it a good idea to record a live gig from the mixer, and at home tweek the kemper that the sounds fits into the mix or would be that just a waste of time?
It certainly wouldn't hurt, but you're not going to hear it in context. You'll get closer to the intended sound you want. If you can get a multi-track mix off the board, then you can mute your track, play along, and tweak. I'd certainly recommend playing loudly. The Kemper doesn't have the same effect as a tube amp, where a tube amp on 10 sounds very differently than a tube amp on 2. The profile is a snapshot of how the amp sounded when profiled, which, in my opinion, saves a lot of trouble of playing at band volumes at home. But you should still tweak in a loud enough setting to feel like you're really rockin'.
I'd also recommend starting with just one or two profiles you really love and will use often. It's easy to get into wanting to use 40 different profiles, but when you're going between something that's super chimy and something that's really dark, your overall volume levels are going to be... well... inconsistent. You'll bass out the house on one part, and cut someone's head off with the treble from another. Mess with the cabs and the pure cab setting too. It makes a tremendous amount of difference, almost even more so than the amp profile you choose.
Finally, if you haven't gotten into picking up any commercial profiles, I'd recommend looking into some as well. The ones that come with the Kemper are all fine and good, but you'll be floored at the quality with the right profile with the right cab. I use Pete's AC-30 for about 90% of my normal gigging work, but just recently started using a Matchless profile I purchased (but I can't remember from where). I also use a selection of different SinMix, Guido, and G1 profiles for specialty things, particularly the SinMix B7K for bass, the Guido Bogner stuff for fun Satch-style things, and the G1 Driftwood Purple Nightmare for a searing lead/progressive/metal sound.
I'm not sure where the insert point is for parallel path, but you might try going to your output settings and looking at the Direct Out. It's probably set to be something different than your stereo outs.
As far as amplification, I'm either using studio monitors or headphones right now. I'm hoping to pick up the Matrix FR10 or FR12 when they come out next month.
Pure Cab is supposed to scrub the microphone away from the cab block. In other words, it affects the cab's sound, not the output's sound.
I think Kemper put this in the output settings because it's not per-cab or per-profile... yet (crosses fingers). Since everything in the output section is static from profile to profile, it makes more sense putting it there and saying "this is a setting that you set once and don't forget, and it will affect your outputted sound." Because, well, it does affect your outputted sound, but only with a cab on.
Yeah... agreed with most, this is a bad comparison. Mics add color to any sound - I don't care how "flat" or "pristine" it is, they all provide a different sound. Mic'ing a FRFR cab in a room setting that already has cab and mic simulations built in is going to result in exactly what we heard - a muffled, boxy, blanket-covered sound. You get the same effect if you record a video at a concert - it just doesn't sound as clean and clear as it does live.
My initial thought was the DXR was significantly too bass heavy, but their mics are pointed toward the woofer, missing the tweeter altogether. The Atomic sounds a little better, but the tube amp sounds like it should. I knew something was off though. And, when hearing him say that the Atomic sounded the clearest, when it was almost as muddy and boomy as the DXR... it's proof that what you hear in a room doesn't even compare to how a mic picks it up.
Using the "performance" mode will allow you to send a specific set of PC messages to 1 or 2 external devices per slot. Granted, their implementation isn't the best - if you move a slot, the MIDI data doesn't go with it. It was my biggest gripe and the reason I went with a RJM Mastermind GT in lieu of the Kemper controller - I can manage it completely on my computer via a USB cable and I don't have to worry about moving around things, and I can keep my base rigs saved as individual performances.
The thing with MIDI is this: If you don't send a MIDI message, nothing changes. That means that if you always use slot 1 as your entry into a song, and you don't want to change the MIDI devices' programs in the entire song, set it on slot 1 and you're done. However, that also means that if you step on slot 2, nothing has changed.
This is common - MIDI messages are sent per preset on any device. This is because people use MIDI devices in many different ways to sit their needs. For me, I keep my "base rigs" as performances, and use MIDI to control my external pedals (via a switcher), delay, and reverb. Some people set up their performances on the Kemper to be 1 slot per sound per song. I found this a little too tedious for me. But, in either case, maybe you have a MIDI-controlled delay pedal. You probably want that off for a general rhythm part, but you want a certain sound for a melodic lead part during a chorus, and possibly a different sound for a lead.
As far as MIDI is concerned, it's really not all that complicated. As a brief refresher, you send a message via MIDI (the protocol, the cable type is irrelevant, though typically a 5-PIN DIN cable) to a particular device that exists on a particular channel (1-16, or OMNI/ALL to send the message to everything). That message is one singular statement. A PC (or Program Change) tells a device to change its preset (or program). A CC (or Control Change) tells a device to change a particular feature (tremolo depth, delay decay, etc. - you can remember CC by remembering you are controlling a parameter of a device). There's also SysEx and a few other things, but that's advanced stuff, and most people don't need to get into that.
On the Kemper, Step 1 is setting up your devices by programming their name (if you want) and it's particular channel it receives messages on. MIDI Out generally works well - keep it on that setting unless something doesn't work right. On your performance slots, for each slot, you can configure it to send PC messages (you cannot currently send CC messages with the Kemper) per device.
To amend on @REVILO here, there are some pedals that simply do not like a buffer before them. Most fuzz pedals and older wah pedals have this problem. The good thing is that they generally sit at the front of your chain, and you can always add a buffer after them; the bad thing is if you're running 30' of cable to get to that old wah pedal. Buffers don't "fix" problems, they simply boost the signal and change the impedance. Once some signal is lost, you can't recover it, though a buffer may make it seem like it is "fixed."
