don’t worry Monkey. He’ll be back
Posts by Sunshine
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Say it ain't so, Keith!
Crazy, right?!
My wife even questioned this decision. That shows what a talking point the Kemper is in my household. She couldn’t tell you what another piece of gear I own is.
I’m addicted to gear and as soon as the master CK releases the next iteration, you know I’ll be back to try it.
I just want to thank everyone on this forum for the support over the past few years. This is an awesome community. -
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Hi,
The profiler is in excellent shape and has been rack mounted since I have owned it. It has spent most of its time sitting on my recording desk in the rack. The remote is also in good shape. Nothing loose, cracked, broken, etc. Everything works as intended. Photos will follow, but it’s late now and I’m posting this on a whim.
Looking for $2100 shipped.
I would also consider trading for a Helix rack with the controller.
Best,
Keith
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This is likely the problem you had. For live and rehearsal purposes tweak at the level you'll play. Google and "Fletcher Munson" will make things clear.
I appreciate the support, but I used the Kemper for three years of rehearsals and shows where I was making adjustments at rehearsal volumes. I tried a myriad of profiles,cabs, etc, and bought a Fryette power station to try and get some of that tube feeling back. Each thing got me closer, but never all the way there. If I were playing shows with full PA support it would be worth it, but it’s just not the case anymore. If I could afford to keep both I probably would, but for now I think it’s time to let some else have fun with the Kemper, and I’ll have fun playing in punk rock dives until a new full time project comes about.
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I bought a real amp for the first time since I have joined these forums in early 2017. I love the Kemper and it has been used on several recordings. I love having everything in 1 box and the way the foot controller only requires a single cable.
Last night I went to an old rehearsal space to jam with some friends for a benefit project they have going on. I brought my rack: Kemper, Power Conditioner, Fryette Powerstation. I bought the powerstation right at the end of my last project and it seemed to fix most of my issues with the kemper live ( I have never been a fan of the power amp).
I set up my rig at home and dialed in some sounds using some Omega Granophyre DI profiles (DI profiles also got me closer to what I have wanted over the years). I thought it sounded pretty awesome. When I arrived at the lockout the other guitarist had a 5150 and a Laney Ironheart 120 (which also sounds pretty incredible...). He plugged into the Laney and we played a song. I was completely absent in the mix. The Laney was roaring, present, and dominating. Even the bassist's wimpy SVT3 pro with a 4x10 was poking out in the mix more. I eventually turned up, and turned up again, and adjusted output settings to give more signal to the Fryette. In the end the volume on the Fryette was 3/4 the way up. That was it for me. I went home and ordered an amp that I have played several times, but always told myself I could just profile.
The first argument people make in this situation is "you need to tweak" I understand light tweaking, but outside of that, I'm not willing to butcher my tone to help crutch the sound of my rig out into the mix.
The second is "Use the right guitar,cab,etc" I have had powered gemini cabs, orange cabs, V30 cabs, 2x12/4x12 etc. All with variances but with the same overall lacking feeling. In fact, the Mission Geminis simply couldnt handle the raw output required for rehearsal. This was back when I was playing in a band with reasonable volume, in a padding walled studio...
In the end, the only time I was happy with the Kemper live was with legitimate FOH support, and in those circumstances it was praised by nearly everyone.This brings me to the real irony of this story. I am paying more money for older technology to play less shows.
Smaller venues sometimes barely have enough PA for vocals. This isn't helped by playing loud and fast punk/metal. In these situations I think ill ditch the bells and whistles for pure grunt.
Im not sure what lies ahead for my Kemper. Im tempted to use it for an effects unit for a while and see how that goes. Hell, I might even slave it into the new Orange if I absolutely need something from a Kemper profile. As far as keeping it around for recording, the DSP market is full of some pretty amazing stuff nowadays. This is even more tempting considering I am engineering a lot fo these projects. Sometimes its faster to edit a DI than wait for someone to try 100 takes.
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Cool rig!
If I could give some unsolicited advice though, move the Fryette to the top of the rack. Those things generate crazy heat, and that's not going to be good for the Kemper.
It'll also benefit the Fryette, since it won't be sitting under anything and should get more ventilation.
Good point. MY OCD will disagree with the layout, but common sense def tells me you are right!
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No. This would mean that you don't have any headroom within the monitor out of the Kemper. What you want is to control your cab/monitor volume via the Kemper not via the power amp. Therefore: Power amp up (regarding volume), Kemper monitor volume down at around -5 (or less) for having headroom.
Ok. This makes sense. Thank you, sir.
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I know we run between -10 to -18db to the FOH, but my new power amp says the line in should/could be between 0db to +4. Does this mean I should be feeding it signal from monitor out at 0db?
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it’s been a crazy and expensive ride with Kemper. Added a Fryette powerstation to my rack to use as a power amp. This is the happiest I have been with the Kemper so far tonally. The built in amp is OK, but just didn’t have the punch for the high gain stuff I play. Ironically, it sounds great through FOH, but I gotta have a little stage bump.
Also had to get a cart seeing as the rig now weighs a metric fuckton...
https://imgur.com/gallery/KXyLYPy
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Curious about the differing pads for studio and direct profiles. Does changing the pad value affect the volume of what's coming out of the cab? My understanding is that it would only affect what's coming out of the DI. I could be wrong!
When I ran the studio profile I still had the signal from amp to cab running through the DI out of sheer laziness. With both pads disengaged I was getting the clipping light on the DI illuminating occasionally. I engaged the -20db just to eliminate that. It probably wouldn’t have effected the studio profile. When switching the Kemper’s monitoring source from the mic on the cab to the DI signal coming out of the amp through DI box, it was much hotter, even with the first -20db pad still engaged. Even with the return on the Kemper turned way down it would clip the actual Kemper, causing an error. With both pads engaged I still had the return on the Kemper about 2db lower than what I used on the cab/mic signal.
In summary, the first pad while making the studio profile prob had no effect, but I turned it on just to see the red light go away. Both seemed necessary for the direct profile to get the DI signal to a reasonable level when hitting the Kemper.
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Thanks for sharing these. I have had a lot of fun with the less gainy of this pair of profiles particularly. Really nice tone with an LP or single coils and it works a treat with all manner of other pedals in front of it - as versatile as you could wish for. If you are doing more, some cleaner ones merged with the same cab would be interesting to try.
Seems I am not alone in thinking that I would love to hear your Bassman when you get around to it.
Thank you for the feedback. Really stoked they even came out useable. I too prefer the less dirty of the two.
I may try for another clean profile, but this thing gets dirty almost immediately. like, 2/10. I think the profile you like may have been at about 3... I could probably get a slightly cleaner profile, but it would prob not sound as good because the volume would barely be on and I think it would lack a lot of responsiveness.
If you like the way the front end takes pedals, you will really like my Bassman. I used that head for everything from shimmering cleans to aggressive rock tone, shaping everything with pedals. It was actually my main amp before I was seduced by the Kemper. I think the tubes in it are prob worth as much as I paid for the head, but this is an amp where the tubes really make a huge difference. Im going to try and get some profiles today if nothing else comes up.
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Very cool & fun to play thru! Thanks for doing the merged profile - I'm liking this amp through various cabs. What DI are you using?
Thanks for the feedback! It's so cool to me other people are able to play my amps via profiles. This could get addicting...
Im using the cheapest DI that was recommended! The Behringer Ultra-G. I have no use for a DI otherwise so it was one thing I wasn't really willing to invest heavily in.
On the DI box I used a -20db pad when profiling with the speaker and when I did the DI profile I engaged both -20db pads available on the DI box.
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Thanks, Keith! Will give er' a rip through the ol' 2x12 recto!
Bassman...?? Yes, please!!!
Its not super gainy, but throw a boost stomp in front of it and it perks up. Let me know how she goes through a cab. I haven't had a chance yet.
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Looking forward to trying these. While I love my vintage amp sounds, Misha knows how to get guitars to sing in a super heavy and gainy mix. My band is loud and I’m learning to appreciate some of the things you have to do to your tone to keep everything separated and articulate in a live setting.
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Well, only you can know how close the result came to the original, Keith.
How did the Profile compare when you switched between it the source amp?
I feel like I got it pretty close. I didn’t plug it into a cab yet, but used Beyerdynamic DT770s to monitor. Usually I use my custom in-ears or HD650s, which I feel are more neutral.
Sometimes I feel like other profiles I try are...quiet(?) compared to some of my favorite profiles? It almost makes them come across as muffled and lifeless when comparing to a really responsive and open profile. I messed with the return level and tried to get it as hot as possible without getting the “you’re clipping the profiler” error. I also tried to capture as much of the proximity effect as possible. I feel like it keeps the profile feeling more springy and alive under the fingers.
I didn’t use any other external gear, but maybe in the future. I like to learn things one element at a time.
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Thank you!
Thank you, Keith!
Any tips for the next profiling session would be awesome! I’m in no way an engineer, which is one of the reasons I love the Kemper.
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I have been using so many amazing commercial and free profiles and have only tried profiling once.. It turned out decent, but seemed like a lot of effort when there is so much good stuff to be had from the experts. Seeing as I'm not going to beat anyone's work out there with the same available amps, I thought I could contribute by profiling my own lil' custom amp. This amp was made by my good friend and bass player, Scott Reedy. He's the amp Dr. of south Orange County. This is a low wattage, nasty little amp. Just how I like them.
https://imgur.com/gallery/IvN9cVn
These profiles are merged for my fellow cab guys. There is a pretty clean version right on the edge of breakup, and a dirtier version. If you guys like this one, I have a 71' Bassman loaded with NOS tubes that I can take a shot at.
KWoodhall_Kemper_Dark Arts.zip
(Also on the Rig Exchange under Dark Arts, or my name Keith Woodhall)
Let me know what you think!
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I won't.
I use FRFR but it's subjective, so go with what you love buddy!
