Posts by GuyJames

  • Retiring the kemper

    Quote from Jacques65

    I bought a second handed FM3 a month ago because I was curious about the possibilities. I also mainly use the same Kemper profiles (Michael Britts and Bert Meulendijks profiles). I must say that the FM3 is a great unit with a lot of great sounds and a lot of possibilities, but when I compare the best Kemper sounds I can get to the best FM3 sounds I can get, the Kemper wins. Maybe the comparison is not very fair because I own Kemper since 2013 and I own the FM3 for only a month, but the amp sounds in the Kemper just sound a bit more raw, more amp like to my ears. Especially in a band situation, the Kemper definitely wins.


    Of course your opinion can be different and there is only one way to find out and that is to try out the FM9 for yourself :)

    i look forward to comparing, although I know it will take some time Get the fractal dialed in. Kemper took me 1-2 years to enjoy but I think the education I gained in tweaking digital parameters will speed up the fractal learning curve.

  • Retiring the kemper

    Quote from Ruefus

    If I sound like a jerk....that's not intentional.


    I'm not sure why we needed to know of your impending departure. If you feel uninspired and think a change in digital amps will help then........best of luck.

    it does sound jerky the way you put it. This is a forum aka community… a place to discuss things. Is there a better place in this forum I should have posted to have a chill convo?

  • Retiring the kemper

    Quote from lbieber

    You imply in your post that the 'problem' with the Kemper is you. It is hard to imagine that the FM9 can resolve your predicatment in the long term. What will make you happy or inspired from an existential point of view

    change is good, plus I’ll never know if there’s something better for me I don’t try.

  • Retiring the kemper

    Quote from kriswylde

    Good luck finding happiness . lol My hapiness started heavily when I bought my kemper 10 years ago, and hasn't stopped . Weird in this day and digital age

    sounding like mad girlfriend getting dumped bro “good luck finding happiness” lol 10 years is a good run man 👍🏻

  • Retiring the kemper

    Been using the kemper since 2017 and it’s time to move on to greener pastures. It was a great unit to get into digital amps with however I’ve been using the same profiles for 4 years now because I can’t find any others I like and I’m just feeling uninspired with it. I’ve got a Fractal FM9 showing up this week. I have no doubt it will be as good if not better. I’ll be learning the FM9 for awhile and keep the kemper stage to compare but there’s no need to keep both.


    Has anyone here made the same switch?

  • Childbirth and Guitars

    thank you I’ll look into the link and make sure

    To note it won’t dissolve the ink. It is sharpie. And thank you, cheers to the next 18 years of parental service to mankind

  • Childbirth and Guitars

    Hope this is ok to share here…

    Interesting question here… Just had a baby and our midwife did a thing with the placenta cord dehydrated and shaped into a heart and said to preserve it we should spray it with a clear coat or varathane. This reminded me that this is a perfect opportunity to finally try and preserve sharpie signatures on my nylon string guitar. I got these all at a Tommy Emmanuel guitar camp in Maui back in 2019. It’s very sentimental to me and I want to keep them intact.



    Can someone please tell me how to best preserve these best?

  • Low output pickups

    Quote from V8guitar

    Same here, its only when I got the Gretsch that I though I want a different sound, not just compensate the volume difference.


    BTW I also have a strat that I fitted with vintage bareknuckle pickups and I also have a significant drop in output....I need to check out my pickup height there as well but I suspect its because over the years pickups and generally got hotter, causing a bigger delta with vintage stuff.

    we’ll today was a game changer… I suspected some wiring foul play so i pulled the tele apart took pics and sent it into Suhr to confirm if it was all good. IT WAS NOT lol… love my tech but Suhr has some extra stuff with their SCCII system so I got a diagram and all is well now.


    I can use my initial main performance and the difference is only in the natural eq the guitar offers.


    Since we were talking about switching guitars, I like the unique things each switch brings however I only want to tweak settings at the amp/pedals if there’s something significantly nasty happening.

  • Low output pickups

    i hear ya, I haven’t ever done that really because I haven’t had an issue like this going from one guitar to another be it. In a HSS strat you have those two worlds of single coils and humbucker and i found a balance between the two so switching to a 335, LP style guitar didn’t make a difference. The previous pickups in the tele didn’t have a stark volume difference either. There may be something going on with the wiring at this point I think and the pickup height itself will be explored.


    Having ultimate control to make every guitar change optimized is pretty cool though. Where some guitars may need a cut in the bass other guitars may retain it. The definition control seems like a one knob wonder for dialing in different guitars.

  • Low output pickups

    Quote from heldal

    It has been suggested to implement a set of selectable global input settings that could compensate for varying instrument characteristics. The 4 soft-buttons above the display are unused in input settings and could potentially be used to provide direct access to 4 different sets of parameters, alternatively one button to enter a list of many alternatives ... then select with a knob. I think there is room for improvements in the input section, but so far it has not been prioritised.

    that would be cool. There’s a lot of tweaking to be done on the amp section though too for guitar changes. I got some nice results dialing back the definition knob for the Tele which smoothed some of the excess high frequencies.

  • Low output pickups

    Quote from Kellerblues

    Yes and no. If you lock the Input then is global, otherwise is per Rig

    Awesome! I always thought it was global. What's the benefit of booting Clean Sense vs the Rig volume in the Amp section though? Does the Amp rig volume boost push the amp like a volume knob would on an amp, into more saturation? I'm sitting down to experiment now but I the feedback still.


    Thank you

  • Low output pickups

    Quote from creative360

    Low output pickups are about how they push the amp. So it’ll be different, even if the rig volume is increased. Experimenting with Clean/Distortion Sense and saving that setting for this guitar could be an effective catchall. Of course .. the whole point of low output pickups is what they do. Best thing would be to be open to approaching building rigs based on the strengths of the Tele. That would mean revisiting boost/comp settings and levels, as well as the deeper amp parameters.

    the clean sense is a global thing though right? If I could do it per rig/performance that would be a good idea. But yeah even the gain settings on the stomps I have need to be increased because everything is way cleaner.

  • Low output pickups

    Quote from waraba

    Separate rigs or even better , specific profiles : just dial your amp until you're satisfied ( with any boost / pedal needed ) then profile it. It's all about dynamics, so I'd choose a very dynamic & sensitive amp , like a boogie , fender ...


    If you don't want to profile, just star from a good dynamic profile and tweak it to your needs , then save several presets as a performance.


    Be sure to adjust the height of your PU right before.

    yeah profiling isn’t for me, but my go to lonestargtr 3rdPower blackface profile is the best clean platform profile I’ve found. Maybe you could chime in Mike?

  • Low output pickups

    Quote from vjelen

    I would create separate rig(s) for guitar with low output pickups and increase accordingly rig volume (or alternatively amp volume). If this is not enough than my 2nd choice would be definition. Good luck!

    that’s what I’ve done this far, just adjusted rig volume +3db on rig volume but I may need more or need to discuss pickup heights with my tech and experiment.

  • Low output pickups

    I just put some low output pups in my Tele and I dig the clarity but man it’s a huge volume difference. It also feels pretty frail without any boost.


    I’m curious what the best way to beef up these vintage pups is. Should I just copy/paste my main rig and save one specifically for the tele where I just turn up the amp volume 3+db? I don’t have room in the a-d or x-rev slots to add anything… Im hoping to beef it up in the amplifier section if possible.


    Any thoughts?

  • Cab recommendations for Kemper touring rig!

    Mesa boogie evm12 in a closed back cab was my revelation. It’s got all the headroom you need and it’s very flat for a guitar speaker, which helps keep the profile honest to the original intention. A guitar cab will always change the profile though. I’d say make sure to try things out for awhile before embarking on tour and getting struck lugging something you don’t like around.


    Getting a good floor monitor can make it though man. I recommend qsc k10 or 12. You could run one behind you sitting upright too to get that cab on stage feel.