Quote from lespauled

Pickups are a personal choice, like guitars. My choice is the JB. But, a guitar with a Black Winter came into my place for a setup, and I was impressed. Like a JB, with more pronounced mids. A nice pickup. I might get one to put in one of my guitars.

The Black Winter in bridge is one of the best and versatile humbucker on the market imo. It cleans up nicely when rolling down the volume pot and sounds very, very good split too.

Because it has really high output I developed a "low output" mod (L-Pad, voltage divider circuit).

Volume drop is about 6db, but pickup still sees same load (2x500k pots).

This is my main tone. And the standard output now acts like a 6db (passive) boost.

I have found my Holy Grail of picks!

After testing literally hundreds of picks since last year in november, I realized that the world of picks offers so many alternatives for every scenario. I also started to make my own picks and learned a lot about different materials, bevels...

I love so many of them and also have posted some of my experiences here. But now I have found the pick to rule them all 😃

It's the Dunlop Primetone Small Tri 1,5.

I have used the big version as base material (Ultex) for my custom picks in the past.

And here it becomes clear how much size matters. I do not like the big version for guitar at all! But it turned out, the small triangle pick is the essence of everything I need in a pick.

Perfect size for me. The thickness and smooth speed bevels ensure enough warmth and gliding quality. Compared to Vespel material (BlueChip) the Ultex material has more mass and at the same time brings back some crisp and brightness that I missed with the later, which results in very balanced tone with still enough brightness in attack. Tone, control, precision, articulation and speed is superior to anything else I used.

They come in two versions, brown smooth and a more transparent amber one with grip. Although other claims are made, I think they sound pretty much the same...If...yes if you compare same size and thickness. Of course comparing a worn in pick or one with slightly different (hand made) bevel will also sound slightly different.

I never had thought I will like speed bevels!! I did make jokes about it. Who would buy an already "outworn" pick 😄 But it is great!!

I use the small 1,5mm smooth pick as my main pick, but also like the 1,4mm Akira Takasaki custom pick, which is basically the same as the cheaper regular 1,4 small tri with grip, but hey - I really like the colour 😅

In light of the things I said above:

YoavHanuka We can try this. You tell me 1 or 2 rigs (for example TJ) you basically like, but are still too dark and disappointing. I have a LOT of profiles, chances are good I have it too.

Then I make 2 new cabs for each. One cab preset that sounds just like the original, but finally pops and is exciting to play. A second one, that maybe sounds even closer to what you want.

YoavHanuka

Of course volume makes a difference. BUT I think this is not your problem.

Let me explain. When you use the Kemper in a (home-)studio environment, most of the profiles you mentioned ARE to dark. Or as other people have described, are not popping at all.

The reason is, that all those profiles have pretty raw and neutral miked cab section. The are mostly NOT eq'd mix ready. They are just a working base for later processing by mixing engineer.

Be aware: Every guitar tone you like from any album you ever listened to is heavily processed guitar tone! That's why it pops.

You can not easily reproduce with Kemper EQ. But I guess, as soon as you put the "Cut through mix" EQ preset after the cab (don't know the exact name, many TJ profiles have it already in a block, but deactivated), you will like the result.

A better solution? There are a few "mix ready" profiles or Impulse Responses (Bogren!) that try to give you another experience and some benefits in this direction. Disadvantage is, you are loosing some kind of "authenticy" and they sometimes play a bit harder. Also someone else makes the (almost final) decision, how your guitar tone sounds.

But what is authentic guitar tone? In the room tone? Miked guitars with nice preamps? Fully processed, mix ready tone we know from a recording?

Depends what you need!

For example for fun and recording demos I like "pre mix ready" profiles and sound

A tight and brighter sound that already "pops" and is almost mix ready, but still works for the player.

How to achieve? For example making your own profiles or at least cab presets / IR. I do it with real cabs, but sometimes also "pimp" existing IR.

Take signal or IR and run them through the same gear, as you would do fitting your guitar tracks in a mix. Than adjust from here and find a compromise that works. The new IR can not capture compression and so on, but this is not a downside here. With some try and error you can get very good IR that still plays dynamic, but now has an almost mixready "EQ curve" baked in.

BayouTexan

You ask for my old sins and want to listen to my examples for bad mixing? Really?

Here we go

I searched for my original "Black Metal" cassette demo tapes I talked about, but only could find songs that are already copied to a demo CD. This songs had been kind of a transition between recording only with cassette players and trying to add fx and kind of "mix" within a thing called DAW.

Here is a "better" track from this time (late 1990s). I still like the part in the middle:

This song is even older and has still very bad casio keyboard drums. Guitars had been recorded on cassette and later copied into Magix Music Maker (I think).

But hey, because it is (sometimes pretty happy sounding) "Black Metal" I can always say, the ugly sound and bad mix was INTENDED

Lpcustom You are a Jedi? I can see hints in the pictures

Aah, I forgot to tell about my really first mixing experience (which still sounded more balanced than my later work in DAW 😆).

For Black Metal demos I used to...

1. First record real drums in the cellar with a vintage cassette tape recorder (don't remember the name)

2. Play the recorded drums through the pa (vocal and keyboard system of my father) with another cassette player

3. Record the drum playback coming from the pa again with the tape recorder, while layering keyboard sounds (played live with two fingers)

4. Replay the drums and keys through pa and adding guitars

5. Repeat with bass and vocals

6. Copy the songs to one final tape...demo is ready

Nice natural cellar reverb and a LOT of hiss

True Black Metal Art!

BayouTexan

I remember doing my first mixes (many years ago) in the bedroom with speakers on the shelf pointing over my head. Sounded quite good... but only with those speakers in that room

For the rest of the world it sounded like shit

But noone told me at that time. So I put it on Myspace, was proud and people friendly praised it. Later I heard the recordings and songs on various monitors of friends... holy shit, what a nasty, phasy, ugly shit was this?!

The cassette demo tapes recorded on the floor of the practice room had better "mixing" 🤣

Eye-opener was the first time sitting in the triangle of proper studio monitors in a treated room. The details and sound location across the stereo spread just left me speechless. I didn't know!?

As I have indicated in the thread about your other tune, I have the strong (!) suspicion that you are not able to hear all the information you need for mixing (setup of monitors and room).

When I listen with cheap earbuds it is "not so noticeable". But as soon as played back with proper studio monitors it is VERY, VERY obvious that you deal with masive problems you are maybe not even aware of. Because you can not hear it in your room.

We are talking about only basic double tracked guitars, bass and drums here. And your "mix" is sounding way off.

You are one of the nicest guys here in the forum!!! And you have and bring lots of joy and fun to the forum. But the truth about your mix is pretty brutal 😇 But I think it doesn't help to live in an illusion.

Listening with superior monitoring systems will clearly reveal, that the track can not be easily fixed at this point.

EQ in a mix (changing the volume of frequencies) is used to reduce masking effect, so that you can hear every instrument. You also want to give each instrument its place in the stereo field.

If you are not able to hear an accurate impression and know how it translates to other systems, you CAN NOT create a good sounding, balanced mix. It's impossible!

As it is, your mix is pretty unbalanced. The stereo image is very weird, guitars sound horrible thin, anemic, distant and separated from the rest, kick too boomy, instruments volumes are not balanced to each other, the solo is not in time at all...

It's is impossible to improve, when you don't tackle the problem at source! It's a waste of time otherwise.

If you already have good monitors, it's choice of room, room treatment and accurate studio monitor placement. There is no way around it.

I guess I should have offered everything in one place from the start. But I didn't have plans to make that much Kemper cab presets back then

So first, here is the new DZL V30 Pack:

Download for free here:

Amporium - DZL V30 Pack

And here is the free complete collection for download:

Amporium - Kemper Cab Collection

Quote from nightlight

...That's a Korg Rack Tuner above the Kemper....

I really can't see any Kemper???

But the Kemper is all in your head it seems?! Even if you are cheating your best friend with this slut in lacy lingerie - all you can think of is still Kemper!

Face it!!

I would love some profiles of nice "pedal platform" amps like:

- JHS "Loud is More Good" Amp by Milkman

- Supro Keeley Custom 12

- Two-Rock Studio Pro 35

- Rivera Venus Deux

- Koch Ventura

- Wampler Bravado

-Suhr Bella

...

Also more from:

- Ampete One Amp

- Matchless Chieftain and other Matchless

- Marshall Astoria Classic

- Sovtek / EHX MIG-50

I liked the concept of my last Cab Pack with focus on the Sennheiser e906 quite a lot.

See here: Amporium - e906 Greenback Cab Pack

So I captured all new Impulse Responses of one of my VOX cabs loaded with a Celestion G12M-25 Greenback, but this time putting the Shure SM57 in the spotlight!

You get 20 meticulously miked Kemper cab presets that are fully tagged:

- Cabs with "N" have almost no colouring going on and sound very "natural".

- EQ means these have been carefully EQ'd - almost mix ready, but keeping the character and authentic feel of the Celestion Greenback.

- Then we have the EQT cabs. T like in "tape" - because these went through a Tape Machine model / plugin (Revox PR99 Mk II) to further enhance tone and experience. Really, really subtle differences

- The e906 was still "hanging" around, so I added 4 dual miked cab presets also.

The cab presets labelled "Dark" are not really dark, but quite a bit smoother sounding. This has been achieved (not by moving the mic to the cone edge, but) by pointing the SM57 in the area of the cap edge near the glue points / blobs (from the speaker wires).

Some cab presets might sound pretty similar on low gain profiles, but you get a better idea what's going on if you are auditioning first with high gain rigs. Then going back to lower gain, you might hear, feel and enjoy the difference

Download here for free:

Amporium - GB SM57 Pack

Quote from spotter

Looks great. I've never looked into preamps. I only saw classic Amp Heads and thought that's what a guitar amp is.

Is there much of a difference if you use an external preamp?

Amp heads are just a preamp section with poweramp in one box.

With rack systems you are more flexible and have multi options. Different preamps and poweramps can give nice variety of tone, but usually these racks are more complicated in use, expensive and heavy.

Quote from spotter

nice.

I also tested your 1960AV-IR stuff, but i have the same cabinet and so it didn't change that much

looking forward to try this one out.

Are you looking to do more cabs or amps right now? i like your "ear" and would love to test even more.

I finally managed to put my main rack gear in a proper case. My next project will be making new and REALLY useful profiles of the preamps and gear I use with it. So I have all my different settings and setups stored in the Kemper.

Start with track 4 if you want to get blown away immediately, but have little time.

What a trip!

Quote from digbob

link is broken

Can you please try again - it works perfectly fine here!?

New Kemper Cab Pack! This time blasting a real cab and speaker again!

Capturing the essence and sweet spots of a Celestion G12M-25 Greenback with a Sennheiser e906 . Difference to my other packs with e906: I am also using the switchable presence filter of the e906 to give some nice variety. And I think these are my best IR cabs yet

This pack offers 8 Kemper cab presets (4 very natural sounding IR and 4 carefully eq'd IR that are kind of mix ready, but still sound, play and breath absolutely authentic Greenback).

Although it's a 1x12 cab, I captured this IR pack to work great from clean to high gain and even crushing Metal. Let me know if I had success

Download here for free:

Amporium - GB e609 Pack

Added 22 new cab presets; now 38 cabs in the pack.

Again subtle differences

But now the pack is even more like "moving the SM57 around finding THE sweet spot" for the profiles loaded.

Still on the brighter side, but a few warmer sounding and less eq'd cabs included this time.

Profile Acquisition Sydrome is not in the way of making music if you stop audition new rigs!

Just buy and archive, buy and archive. It's all about building up a stock for possible need in the future. Don't stop buying (it doesn't take much time if you buy those "everything" packs and bundles) - just stop audition new stuff!