Posts by KPmole

Quote from alligatorlizard

Sounds like a plan! Thanks for the info. As I've already got a (faulty) Crybaby, should be even cheaper Will order a 10k linear pot from either the link someone gave further up the thread, or have found some on ebay for similar price (also with gear and washers attached). I guessing you ordered yours from within the US?

By the way, how did you wire up the footswitch to have it work as on/off switch?

And am I right in assuming you swapped the footswitch because the one in there originally is a latch switch, and the Kemper's wah on/off function requires a SPST?

The footswitch was latching on/off (not momentary) so I replaced it w/ the non-latching momentary switch. You just wire the two leads to a normal (mono) jack. One goes to the sleeve, one to the tip (doesn't matter which one goes where) and you can use a regular guitar lead to plug into the Kemper or the remote.

For the expression pedal, you need a stereo jack, the 10k pot, and a 1k resistor. I just wired it per the Strymon instructions. https://www.strymon.net/strymo…our-own-expression-pedal/

Yes, I ordered from the US:

https://www.tubesandmore.com/p…ometer-dunlop-10-k-linear

https://www.tubesandmore.com/p…t-solder-lugs-soft-switch

You definitely need to start with a good Strat tone. I don't think you'd get the sparkle and bite you need from Texas specials. Fender CS69 pickups, a good Strat, and carefully adjusting the pickup height (not too close to the strings) will be a good start. A lefty Strat with reverse staggered pickups would get you even closer if you want to start splitting hairs.

That's a good idea (I plan on eventually building my own) but there's no reason to stick with the 23" rack width. By going wider (= to the width of a standard Marshall head) you could add some filler to the right and left of the Kemper, as well as above, and it would look better and more traditional IMO. It would also fit better on top of a 4x12" cabinet or a 2x12" cabinet.

I just built an expression pedal with a used Dunlop wah.

It was actually in PERFECT shape and could have passed as "new"...the previous owner didn't even take the plastic off of the bottom and front logo. -Nicer than both of my wahs, but they're both custom and I didn't want to convert them.

I used the 10K linear Dunlop pot that came with the gear and washers attached. I also bought a momemtary SPST footswitch and added a stereo jack for the expression pedal out. Lastly, I used a 1k ohm resistor on the wiper of the pot. I prefer to use a switch instead of the toe or heel position to switch off the wah, which avoids any issues despite the fact that my Dunlop wah pedal stays at the heel position on its own.

It works great and has the right feel!

$30 used pedal, +$20 parts, +$10 stereo cable = $60 "Mission EP1-KP".

If I wanted to get really fancy I would have bought a can of green paint....

+1. The option of being able to save user defined offsets (whether those are Feiten, Peterson, etc) would be most welcome!

You paid $2k for the Kemper ...you (or anyone) can't afford $5-$10 for a profile?

I feel the same way about the profiles that I do about music. Sure, you can steal it for free...but for the price of a latte' or two, you can buy it and support the artist, ensuring that they'll continue to make new music (or profiles).

Sure ...or you could just go out and spend $1800 on pedals.

I've felt that the Kemper occasionally leaves 5% of the tone behind. It could be a slight difference in tone or fatness (more or less) or maybe a lack of room ambience or air that you get with the "real" amp. Maybe it doesn't react exactly the same to outboard effects; it could be a number of things that account for the difference.

Ultimately, in the real world of live performance or studio recording, 5% means nothing to me. The Kemper is much more consistent and predictable.

Quote from NotScott

I am using a Mission EP1-KP

2) I like the wah that I have programmed. However, all of the action seems to be concentrated near the end of the pedal travel. What parameters do I need to change in order to maintain the current sound but just adjust the pedal sweep so that everything isn't occurring within a small range near the toe position? Thanks!

Can't you open the pedal and tweak the positioning of the gear on the tooth bar to move the action closer to where you want it? -That's what I'd normally do on a "real" pedal.

Along the same line of thinking, I wonder if I could just build my own expression pedal out of an old wah, but use an audio taper pot?

I want a 30 U "stack" version.

I'm with Wheresthedug on the request to be able to tweak the taper. I prefer an audio taper pot in my wah, and I like the majority of the effect to be near the end of travel toe down position.

I will admit I'm a somewhat hardcore analog tone junkie...and my "reference" pedal is my late 80's crybaby with a retrofit Roger Mayer board and wiring.

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.

Quote from Wheresthedug

I can confirm that Direct profiles through a guitar cab sre indistinguishable from the real thing. I did a test recently with my Boogie Mark Five:25 and a pair of identical mesa cabs. I made a direct profile with a really cheap ART DI box and used an RJM PBC as a high quality A/B switcher. I used a DB meter to balance the levels betwee the two rigs. I didn’t check which was which until after I’d changed a few times. They dod sound VERY slightly different but a little EQ tweaking fixed that. However, the funning thing is, I actually preferred the Kemper profile to the real thing before tweaking.
This is something I have found with other profiles too.

I literally hate Marshalls (other than the old 4 input JMPs etc) to my mind the JCM800 is one of the modt horrible sounding amps I have ever played. However, some of my favourite rock profiles turn out to be JCM800s :-0. To be fair, I actually think I know why this is. marshalls NED to be cranked to hit the sweet spot and come to life. However, the only ti,es I’ve been forced to ise them in the past os either in rehearsal studios or on gigs with backline supplied where I just couldn’t crank them. As a result they sounded thin, tinny, shrill etc etc. The Kemper lets me get the sound and feel of these monsters at any volume I want. Still more Boogie than Marshall but the Kemper is slowly winning me over

That's great info about the direct profiles!

I'm only a fan of the 4 input Marshalls as well, although I have a story about the JCM800. When I was in school, I had a roommate that had one. That thing was horrid sounding, like nails on a chalkboard. It didn't help that he practiced Bon Jovi riffs on infinite repeat through it. Anyway, my Marshall was a '75 4 input 50w that sounded incredible. One day I let him plug into my cabinet ('77 cabinet w/ greenback celestions). It still didn't sound as good as my head, but the differences were far less when he wasn't running through his 4x12 w/ the 70 watt celestion speakers. I find it amusing that the JCM800s have such a reputation for great tone. Back in 'the day' they were regarded as crap compared to the older Marshalls, and the only reason big acts of the 80's and early 90's toured with them was because they were disposable.

To get back on topic...I think the problem with T's profiles is the guitar. In addition to not being a big fan of the JCM800, I'm also not a fan of guitars with high output humbuckers. IMO, the ultimate Les Paul would either have mini-buckers (deluxe) or P90s. Full-sized "vintage" humbuckers are a little bit dark and muddy sounding for my preference, but if they're overwound or really high output they're even worse. Super high output pickups combined with the TJ profile (which tend to lean toward dark and fat sounding) could be a recipe for disaster. I would try tweaking the input of the Kemper to compensate (lower the input gain to counteract your pickups) and make sure your tone on the guitar is full-on...then report back. Hopefully that helps.

Lastly, despite what I've read (many believe the Kemper is guitar dependent) I've found the Kemper profiles to be completely independent of guitar, which would make sense since the guitar used has nothing to do with creating the actual profile other than the refinement and final A/B comparison steps. I can plug my Strat into my 100W Marshall profile, and it sounds like my Strat through my 100W Marshall; not super overdriven and thin due to the Strat's single coils. My LP Deluxe will drive it into distortion much easier and sounds considerably fatter. The same differences can be observed with my other amps and profiles. One of the reasons the Kemper is such a great amp IMO, is that it reacts to the guitars and pedal effects that are used, differently, in the same way the real amp does. You can plug a LP/Strat/Tele into a Line 6 or Amplitube simulation, and they all sound the same.

After performing expression pedal calibration, I'm not sure what you can do. I'd love it if there was a way to tweak the action to simulate different potentiometer tapers (audio or linear).

Anyway, the characteristics you describe (narrow range of action near end of pedal travel) are how all my "real" wah wah pedals behave.

I think I need to leave this thread before it drives me crazy.

Distorted guitars can sound good on any size speakers (including ear buds or a laptop). Are they going to sound like a 4x12 cranked?.... probably not.

The Kemper is really incredible at reproducing the sound and feel of any amp as played in the studio. That being said, it's also great at outputting studio sound to full range PA monitors for live use. I'm not sure how it would compare to a real amp through guitar speakers unless you were using direct profiles; I've never personally used it that way...but it seems that a requirement for accuracy would be a direct profile that eliminates differences in mics, mic preamps, and speakers.

Good tone is good tone, regardless of the playback. It's completely amateurish and unrealistic to expect the bone shaking crunch or ear piercing transients that you might get when sitting directly in front of a tube amp, after it's gone through a mic, mic preamp, been converted to digital and recorded, converted back to analog, amplified, and played back through speakers of varying sizes and quality.

I've got a room full of tube amps that rivals the showroom at most music stores, and with a good profile I could replace any one of them with the Kemper and get professional results in the recording studio or live. I mean, sheeeeeeeesh, don't even get me started on the frustrations of live sound reproduction in any venue larger than a small club. I don't care what boutique tube amp you have...it can (and likely will) be reduced to sounding like a shrill solid state pile of junk after the talentless soundman puts a misplaced junk mic in front of it and applies EQ and effects to it. The Kemper can at least help by eliminating a few of those variables.

If you're not happy with the Kemper, fair enough! If I was sitting in my bedroom jamming out during business hours, I'd probably pick a "real" amp over the Kemper myself. For any professional application (recording/live/low volume rehearsal) however, the Kemper has multiple advantages, with few if any disadvantages.

Just my opinion....signing out!

Another approach that might work as well as posting a clip....tell us what profile(s) you are using that you dislike.

An interesting side-effect of buying the Kemper, is that it's changed the way I hear guitar tones, for the better.

I've recorded live, in studio, and at home, and felt that I had a decent ear for recording good guitar tones. It's gotten even better after purchasing the Kemper and making profiles.

To be clear, your complaint is the way it sounds as played back through a guitar speaker cabinet, correct? Or are you unhappy with studio monitor playback?

If you won't post clips, at least elaborate on what gear you are using for playback (speakers and amplification). Speakers alone can turn a good Marshall tone to pure crap.

Why worry about amp effects when you can use pedals?

I mean, there are soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo many versions of overdrive, distortion, and fuzz available that it seems easier to spend $100 on your pedal of choice and let Kemper spend the R&D time on the modulation and time based effects that can't be profiled.

FWIW, I have most (all?) of the distortion stomps that Kemper has included, and the Kemper versions are really good.

.50mm Ultem Jazz picks. The Ultem is strong and long lasting, and the med-light gauge has just the right amount of spring and snap for a bright twangy attack.

The Clayton spike picks (0.56mm) in the teardrop jazz size are great, but I've been making my own and saving some $$.

I guess I should add, that the pointed tip is another important feature IMO. If I get a pick w/ a rounded tip I sharpen it before use.

Apologies in advance (if this post rambles off topic), but I just wanted to say thanks for the settings!

When I first demo'd the wahs (using the presets that shipped with my Kemper) I was massively underwhelmed with the sounds I was getting. They were freaking HORRIBLE. I felt like some kid at GC playing through a DigiTech wah. Total crap sound IMO.

Now after using the wah settings in this thread as a starting point, I feel that I could nearly ditch my two wah pedals and just use the Kemper.

My previous gripe was that the reverbs sucked (no realistic spring reverb). Now the new spring reverb is released, and I feel I could ditch my outboard Fender 6G15 since the Kemper sounds as good without the tone suck or volume drop. -Same thing with the wah after finding these settings! Everytime I find something good to complain about it gets fixed.