help a beginner learn to tweak a profile?!

    I've only had my KPA for a couple weeks, and due to my recent work schedule I have not been able to give it the time I need to properly figure this thing out.
    I've been combing the rig exchange and found a few good profiles I like, and I bought about 8 profiles from The Amp Factory and they are excellent. With minimal adjustments Im getting some really fantastic tones.
    Now my problem is that last night I bought 2 more profiles from a vendor I found on this forum, and I hate to say it, but they really kind of suck.


    The demo clips on the website blew me away, and I was REALLY hoping that the profiles would come close. Or at the very least provide a foundation to sculpt a tone with. These however are just painfully bright and with a cocked wah sound that I cant seem to dial out. I managed to get chords and lower notes sounding semi chunky, but as soon as I bent a high note it sounded like my guitar was made of angry bees.


    With my limited Kemper skills, I have tried to adjust the definition control, and the eq of course, but Im not sure what to try next.


    If they were free Id just delete them and forget about it, but I spent 14 dollars and Id like to at least have one useable profile out of the bunch!! Also, I probably should actually learn how to use this fancy toaster. :huh:


    any tips for tweakers?

    Welcome minorseventh. In addition to any help that may be offered in this thread, I'd recommend you PM/e-mail the vendor that sold you the profiles. All of the folks that I've dealt with that sell profiles have been very helpful and want to make you a happy customer. Give them a chance to try and help you.

    You could try some of the standard cabinet and amp tweaks: definition parameters, pick parameters, etc... An EQ somewhere in the signal chain could also help to get rid of some of that buzz.


    In my case, however, I seldom use any profile if I don't like the basic sounds. There are far too many good ones to get bogged down tweaking something that doesn't work right, even if you paid for it. Sorry you had a bad experience.

    A lot of the commercial sellers' profiles are what I would call "mix ready" profiles. Out of the box, they work really well in a recorded mix with at least 2 tracks of guitar, bass, drums, etc. with little to no tweaking necessary. Sometimes they don't sound so great when played "solo". That's just how things are. Usually, great tones that work well in a mix don't sound as good solo. In my experience, a good recorded tone needs less bass and more treble than what I'd use for just practicing. That fizz and cocked wah sound you hear would probably help the tone cut in a mix and wouldn't be nearly as apparent as when played solo. That's likely why the seller's demos sounded so good...you heard it in a mix with the guitars multitracked.


    In my opinion, Amp Factory profiles sound great on their own and seem to have more of an "in the room" type of sound. I love them for practicing but when I want to record I usually turn to something else that requires less tweaking. Generally speaking, most Amp Factory profiles have an excessive amount of low mids and not enough highs to sit well in a mix without tweaking (for me, anyway). I generally try to avoid tweaking if possible. I don't enjoy tweaking and I find that if you tweak something excessively it starts to sound unnatural. So, I'll just move on to a different profile that fits my needs better.


    Even with that said, you can definitely tweak profiles to suit your needs. When I take one of the "mix ready" profiles and want to use it for solo practicing usually all I need to do is boost a little bass and mids and decrease the treble (using the main knobs on the front panel. If that doesn't quite get me there, I might use a studio EQ or graphic EQ. For me, I often have to increase mids around 500-750 hz. Target areas for excessive brightness are 2- 3.5khz (harshness) and 5- 6 kHz (fizz).

    thanks for the replies!
    I spent about 30 minutes last night on one of the profiles and got it to sound passable at least, but still it sounds nothing like the clip or the actual amp for that matter (one of which I owned many years ago). I accept that theres bound to be some tweaking with nearly every profile, but these are ridiculous considering the hundreds of free profiles that sound better out of the box. I was thinking that its user error, because I am not a KPA expert at all... but now Im kind of thinking I SHOULDNT HAVE TO BE AN EXPERT to get a decent tone!! I mean, thats why I purchased a profile in the first place right?!
    anyway. Im just going to move on, and be glad I didnt pay for a whole pack.


    on the positive side, I have learned how to tweak a little more. the cabinet character settings can really make a dramatic change. and Ive learned that I really dont like too much definition. (these were cranked all the way when freshly loaded, and they got a little less painful when turned down).

    It also depends on the guitar and the PickUps. Not every profile sounds good with every guitar. Some profiles sound better with single coils, some better with humbuckers.

    I could have farted and it would have sounded good! (Brian Johnson)

    Here's something you might try to at least compare your Kemper with another Kemper.


    There's a video of Mitch Gallagher at Sweetwater playing a PRS with the Black Bass Dimed profile that is a standard profile in your Kemper. You should be able to find the video on the Sweetwater.com site by searching for the Kemper Profiling amp.


    If you play a humbucker guitar with this profile having everything at the default and then listen to his playing on this demo through the same speakers, you should be getting pretty much the same result. Obviously all guitars and players are different but this would at least be a way to start from a known same profile through the same speakers. For me, with a Les Paul or a PRS, I get a very good match.


    If not pretty close you probably have something set non-default (look through your Kemper parameters) or there may be something about your sound system/speakers.


    This may not be exactly the kind of profile you're trying to use, but it seems like a good quality profile and might at least give you a comparison point to start from.


    Hope that's helpful.

    thanks for the good tip cmbrowns. I tried it with the sweetwater video, and through my monitors my kemper was dead on. so... I know its not my unit at least.

    just an update on this older thread:
    Ive learned to use my KPA better these days. Ive been having tons of fun and getting much better results all around, and...
    the 2 profiles (as per my original topic for this thread) in question STILL SUCK!!!! even worse now that I have learned to tweak better.


    all profiles are not created equal. but all commercial sellers should have free samples!


    most software companies let us try before we buy. a couple sample profiles sure would be nice to let us know what we are getting into.

    A profile which sounds good with your gear doesn't imply others will...


    What are you listening to your Profiler through? Monitor, guitar cab, cans?
    Also, have you checked\asked what instrument was used for recording the clips you liked?