I remain disappointed that we are unable to arrange the effects in our Profilers with Rig Manager.
Now that I think of it why can we not edit both the Amp Profiles and the Effects in software? It seems ridiculous when virtually every other hardware amp sim has a software editing interface.
Are you on the latest operating system and Rig Manager. Some of the later profiles need the latest OS and Rig manager must be recent to cope with the new reverbs etc.
For me it is D'Addario 10 - 46 balanced Tension strings on my solid guitars and 10.5 - 48 Balanced Tension strings on my 335 and 330 to keep a similar feel. I don't like the feel of 10's on a 24.3/4 scale.
On my L4 and 175 I use D'Addario Chrome 12's with a 22 plain string. Anything less than 12's does not activate the top and you just don't get the sound.
So true silhouette (about amps "sampling" the amp setting). If you overcompensate with the amp settings for an overly bright or dark guitar, it might not work well depending on which one you choose.
You brought up a great point about the guitar too. Lowering the pickups can make a huge difference sometimes.
Actually that is only part of the fun. Lower the pickups and raise the pole=pieces to the level the pickup was. You will then have a more focused sound reminiscent of a P90. I have done this with my 335s and love the result.
Whilst I agree with KPmole the main problem with profiles is that they "sample" the amp setting. If that amp setting does not suit the guitar then pretty much nothing you do will compensate for this. Which is why profiling your own amps and settings makes more sense. I have been lucky in finding a number of profiles that suit me. However, they don't necessarily suit all my guitars - Fenders v Gibsons. Also I must say, and I have gotten into trouble for this before, I don't like the sound of an SM57 on it's own and prefer it paired with a ribbon mic, which cuts out a large number of profiles for me. Auditioning profiles has been a huge task and of the 1000's that I have less than 5% are useful to me.
That being said I agree with you about the sound of the Marshall 800 - a horrible, unpleasant sounding brute of an amp. The JTM 45 is much nicer sounding to my ears. I also agree that lower output humbuckers are much nicer to play with. There was a fantastic article in the April Guitar Magazine about setting up your Les Paul together with an analysis of available aftermarket and vintage parts. Although don't have a LP the bit about setting up the humbucker pole pieces proved a revelation. It also goes without saying that the P90 a great pickup, which is why I love my 330L.
Terence I have listened to your clip. I don't think there is much wrong with the raw sound. What is lacking is the processing to give it more heft. I will have a look into it a bit more later on today. Thinking a bit more upon this you really could affect the sound quite considerably sweeping 800khz to find the sound you want. I am not an expert on metal sounds, but a boost at 150khz might also help. Try this in the Studio EQ in the Kemper too.
Also increase the definition in the Amp section and perhaps the Compression as well. Save as a new profile to compare.
I am not a heavy player and there are others here with more knowledge about all things heavy that could help you - perhaps someone here could send you their version of this profile.
i’m using A7x without a sub and I couldn’t be happier
In fact, for many people a sub creates more problems than it solves unless their room is adequately treat with sufficient bass trapping.
(I am replying to both silhouette and tyrone with one “quote” just to save space as it’s difficult to quote properly on an iPad)
I couldn't agree more. It took me a long time with positioning and foam and old seat cushions to discover that it sounded best when you don't notice the sub. There can be a tendency to have it turned up too much.
I never had good results with distorted rigs when playing through small monitors. Even headphones did not get me where I wanted to be. Best of luck, OP, you will get there!
I'm not sure that I can agree with this. I use a pair of Adam A7Xs with a Sub and find that they are up to the task. The thing about creating a tone from a profile for recording is referencing. You really have to listen to how guitars are mixed and more importantly how they are processed. There is no guitar player who has played on any track who just plays through the amp and leaves it there. Compression, eq, double tracking, delay, reverb etc. Sometimes soloing a guitar in a track will be strange because to make it fit in the mix certain areas of tone have to be EQ'ed out. Guitars in a mix do not sound like guitars through amps - they have been polished and honed to suit the music. Big speakers have their own issues as large drivers take a lot more energy to drive and often require more volume (and need a larger room) - which often means that things can sound better than they actually are. Smaller speakers in a small home studio are much better at reproducing the mid-range - which is where the guitar sound lives.
Ah what the hell. Here is a track I did recently - clean guitar but overdriven solo. the only thing of note is that the piano was played on guitar. The mix is a bit bass heavy! All the guitars are Kemper and cleans played with a Musicman Silhouette and the solo by a 335. Oh and I apologise for the single drum loop - I rather liked it!!
Come on Terence! The reason that a lot of us spend time here and on other forums is that we are not good enough to be out there doing it ourselves. Don't worry I'm speaking for myself guys. I would never criticise your playing. I might criticise the mix or the guitar sound, but never your playing. Me, I'm not sure that I care what people think because I enjoy what I do. I'm old enough to know that most people talk rubbish about music and indeed like music that I don't care much for. The thing is that there is a chance for you to find out what the problem might be. Tell you what, if you post something I will too!!!
Perhaps you are right and the Kemper is not for you. I don't think it is easy to find your own sound - I certainly found it difficult with Amplitude, Guitar Rig and Bias Amp. The Kemper did take a little bit of a learning curve, as I could not understand why many of the profiles did not work for me.
It took me some time to work out exactly the kind of profiles that suited my playing- much in the same way that I discovered what amps I did not like before I found some that I did. The strange thing is that what profiles suit my Tele and Strats do not always work well with my 335 and 330. Much in the same way of real amps. I am certain you know this. Given that it is impossible to help without hearing the issue I am at a loss to know what to suggest. I do feel however that the Torpedo may not necessarily be the solution as you might well face the same issue - what you might want and what you get. Personally I think that a guitarist playing in the virtual world needs to get over the idea that the sound will be like an amp in the real world - it will sound like mix ready amp sound, which is not the same thing at all. Again you know that.
I've just been trying the Britt Mars J800 1 5 2. It actually sounds fine to me - not my kind of thing but perfectly playable.
Perhaps a new set of questions is needed. How are you monitoring these sounds? Are you using good quality studio monitors with a studio quality sound card? You probably haven't given us enough information about your system for us to be of much help.
I have to say that I don't like a lot of the profiles out there. To my ears many of them are over-bright and too edgy for my purposes. It has taken me a while to create a library of sounds that suit me.
You could always try the Rory Gallagher and Richie Blackmore trick with a Marshall and place a treble boost in the stomp section. A friend of mine was complaining that his Marshall amp was sounding woolly - it worked for him in a live situation. The treble boost attenuates the bottom end and focuses the mid for much tighter sound. The Tube Screamer can do a similar thing.
Better still what about a profile we could try?
Interesting. Thanks for the info I will be trying it out next week. I will let you know how I get on.
Funny thing is that I have had a similar issue in that I was finding it difficult to get the sound in my head. I use a 335 and found that most profiles that featured heavy overdrive did not suit me.
I tend to go for a lower powered amp, like a Lazy J , on a crunch type level. I put a compressor in front (and sometimes a Boost) and let it drive the amp a bit. I go into the Amplifier section and play with the Definition (often turning it down) and the Power Sagging (turning it up). Then I adjust the mid in the EQ section until I get what I am looking for. I find that a lot of the Heavier profiles tend to have far too much drive, which for me me kills the tone and feel of the 335. It is probably best to have a clear idea in your mind what you want from an over-driven sound. I find when recording less drive is better in a mix.
I agree with you about the majority of VSTs and modellers. For me the problem was latency as my project got bigger with more plugins etc. That is the brilliant thing for me about the Kemper - no latency - as I run the analogue audio into the mixer and the SPDIF from the Stack into the DAW so that I can monitor at any level I like and use the post efx and reverb whilst recording just the amp profile into my project.
Nice to know that others are not caught up in the hype. I use my Kemper for recording and if I am honest I have not come across anything that is better for this purpose.
Tell me KPmole when you profiled your amps did you use a variety of mic distances? The one thing that I do not see on the professional profile scene is much talk about mic distances / positions. Given that this is so important in speaker irs it seems a curious omission.
I have not posted much on this forum, mainly because I have been a happy camper. I was reading a review of the new Axe-Fx lll in Guitarist magazine and it has got me thinking, partly because it is very expensive and partly because of the vast array of choices available to the user.
When I first got the Kemper I will admit that I went a bit mad trying out a large number of profiles. However, as I continued to use the Kemper I found that I was using fewer and fewer profiles. Perhaps this was because I was learning more about what I liked and what I didn't. I realised that whilst I liked overdrive I did not like some of the sounds emanating from the traditional drive boxes like Boogies etc., which I have to say was a surprise to me. I found myself using some Amp Factory crunch Lazy J profiles with a little drive from a compressor in the front and I had this Carlton like overdrive that kept the feel of the guitar - a 335 by the way. A little tweaking of the Amplifier settings and I have ended up with the kind of sound that I have found so difficult to get with an amp.
I am not a great one for efx - a compressor and some reverb are all I need. I cannot see how all the choice available in the new Axe-Fx lll would benefit me. I am not sure that many players use a vast array of sounds once they have discovered what suits them. I am not even bothered if the profile sounds like the actual amp as I have never played through a Lazy J. Actually I have found the Amp Factory 20 watt Victory amp similarly good + a number of low powered Britt Fender amps.
To be honest I would be lost without my Kemper. It does make me feel a bit protective when I see some of the comments online from the Axe-Fx brigade. At the end of the day it is not about whether the sound you get is exactly like the amp you have profiled but whether the sound fits your playing style.
I find that there are very few profiles that I use straight out of the box - perhaps a few of the Britt ones. I spend a bit of time working in the Amp section, especially looking at the Definition - whether I want the sound to be looser or tighter. I will certainly play with the Power Sagging and possibly the the Compression if I am using an overdriven sound. Clarity and Tube Bias can be useful as well.
I have found that the Kemper has revolutionised my recording of guitars. To say that I would be bereft if anything happened to it is an understatement. I will say however that when I first started using it I had a bit of a learning curve before I was getting the kind of sounds I wanted. I tend to view profiles as a starting point.
With the Rokerverb you need to connect the monitor out to the effects return and disable the cabinet section on the front as you are already using a speaker. I use my Egnater Rebel 20 this way and get a great sound from it.
