TONE SEARCHING

    I have had my KPA for a year or so now. Primarily a bedroom player. I have bought commercial profiles and only scratched the surface of the rig exchange. Finding tone can be a challenge. I tend to look for tones that match a particular song I may be working on at any given time, often researching the original gear that may have been used for the recording or live performance.


    Guitar wise I have the basic ingredients, a Strat and a Les Paul, both with additional pickup switching options. Once I find a rig that suits I save it to the KPA in browse mode via rig manager and then copy it across to performance mode into the relevant performance slot(s) where I modify for effects/pedals if needed. I have also collected rigs for generic performance tones eg blues, jazz, pop, rock, metal (I can't shred).


    The combination of factors that create a given tone can be very complex so I tend to search for a rig (via Rig Manager) that sounds very close without tweaking. I search for an amp tone I like then try various gain levels and mic types where these have been separately profiled.


    Before I began this tone seeking process I backed up and then deleted all rigs in browse mode. Since then I have collected about 50 rigs in browse mode all used in various slots in performance mode. I can see this browse mode collection steadily growing and sometimes I find a new rig to replace an existing one where it more accurately nails the tone I want. All these browse mode rigs are very useable for me.


    Before the KPA most of us might have owned a few guitar amps (not all at the same time) and have some favourite settings. Now we can have them all. Do you have a strategy for finding the tones you love?

    You are correct PCB there are lots of profiles on the RX, some are great and some are not to great but that is the same with commercial profiles aswell. What someone finds to be a fantastic profile others may disagree and vice versa. I myself have profile saturation way to many profiles and i find myself only using around 20-25 of them. When i have clients in to record obviously they will give me an idea of what kind of sound they are after and i will point them in the right direction amp/profile wise. The way i normally audition a profile is i play it and if with in the first 5 seconds i dont like it i discard it. I always try and pick profiles without tweaking to much ive been doing it this way since i brought my kemper. I think sometimes you can spend way to much time just trying and jamming through profiles and not actually be very productive. :)

    If I was a bedroom player i had never bought the Kemper!! i think the sounds on Kemper is more like who it sounds trough PA! I use it 99% live and for that purpose its realy very good for me it sounds best at gig volume!

    Hi Morty and Zappledan.
    I use near field monitors, so at close range the sound pressure levels feel quite high. I have also gigged occasionally via FOH PA with floor monitor, so I understand what you are saying. But even mainly as a bedroom player I still get the response and feel I would get from a real amp, which of course could never be played responsively at bedroom levels. I believe the KPA is the very best device for this purpose.
    Cheers,
    Paul

    Quote from Morty

    If I was a bedroom player i had never bought the Kemper!! i think the sounds on Kemper is more like who it sounds trough PA! I use it 99% live and for that purpose its realy very good for me it sounds best at gig volume!


    I have to disagree here. Any tube amp is not going to give you a good tone at bedroom levels, particularly not an overdriven or distorted tone. The Kemper can and does.


    i do agree though that the Kemper is great at gig volumes. I just think it's damn good at low volumes too, and let's not disregard good headphones for bedroom practice levels too. Although not ideal, you still get a nice tone

    Quote from Netheravon

    I have to disagree here. Any tube amp is not going to give you a good tone at bedroom levels, particularly not an overdriven or distorted tone. The Kemper can and does.


    i do agree though that the Kemper is great at gig volumes. I just think it's damn good at low volumes too, and let's not disregard good headphones for bedroom practice levels too. Although not ideal, you still get a nice tone


    This.
    If anything is suited for a bedroom player it's the profiler. Much more than any tube amp. Fletcher-Munson aside it will sound like a cranked tube amp at bedroom levels.
    And it will sound just as great when cranked to gig levels.
    As for the tone searching: sometimes you have to commit to something to become productive. Commit to a profile that you genuinely like. Play and have fun.
    Don't get stuck in the rabbit hole of profiles- chasing.

    The Kemper is great for bedroom use, no doubt, and I doubt there is a better solution for this. However, when I crank it in a live type setting, it's just beyond amazing.

    Go for it now. The future is promised to no one. - Wayne Dyer

    Like 2

    I'm primarily a bedroom player and I have found the Kemper the ideal tool for me. I have owned tons of great tube amps and just never had a enough opportunity to crank them to get them to roar as they should (think Ferrari in New York City)...... The Kemper can give me glory at gig volumes and tons of satisfaction and really dynamic amp responsiveness at household volumes.....Greatest tool ever!! How do I know? I've played guitar more the last two weeks than I've played in a year with any combination of amps. As for profile searches.....I collected 2800 profiles prior to receiving my Kemper unit...now....I'm using about 35. I've started to try out rigs by certain top notch profile authors...M. Britt, TopJimi, TAF/The amp factory proved great starting places for me and I played them one by one for a minute or two based upon my gain needs....started with lowest gain......kept each I liked in a folder...then medium gain.....then higher. Once those were sorted.....then I played the groups again and weeded more out......


    Ultimately you'll find a handful you love...I agree with others...do some sorting and PLAY!!!

    Quote from Raoul23

    The way i normally audition a profile is i play it and if with in the first 5 seconds i dont like it i discard it. I always try and pick profiles without tweaking to much ive been doing it this way since i brought my kemper. I think sometimes you can spend way to much time just trying and jamming through profiles and not actually be very productive. :)


    totally egree, find myself wasting lot of time looking at profiles and not playing.. one of thedisadvantages of the great demand on the exchange..;-)

    "We don't see things as they are,
    we see things as we are"

    Productive is the smile on my face, when i can play and practice in my cellar with a good sound out of my kpa and i dont shock my neighbours.
    Its a lot of fun when i can play van Halen licks without damaging my ears.
    Loud or silent, kpa is one of the best solution.