Best ADA MP-1 profiles to match this tone?

    Hey guys,


    I'm about to sell my ADA MP-1 because it's been sitting around for a very long time not being used. But... right before I made the deal, I wanted to check if everything's alright. I plugged it in my old Marshall Solid State, put a G-Force in the loop and... boom, there goes my plan to make some money for new gear. I just loved the stock tones so much that I swore not to let it go before I find very good KPA profiles of that amp.
    I tried the profile in the Michael Wagener free pack, but it sounds just too polished and HiFi to my ears. I made a video of that short session to show the customer that it works. I know it doesn't sound great through that cheap combo and it's sloppy because I didn't intend to share it on a message board full of guitar nerds, but maybe it serves to show that spanky-Paul-Gilbert-Intense-Rock-and-kinda-imperfect-raw sound I'm after.


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    Can you guys recommend me some awesome MP-1 profiles? I'm willing to pay.
    Any help is much appreciated (even if you tell me the character is just the sound through a guitar cab instead of playing a KPA through studio monitors - or if you tell me "just take a hot rodded Marshall profile and shut up" :D )!

    I forgot that this is possible for some time now and that profiling of preamps isn't rocket science. I considered the manual, but one question remains: Can I combine the pure, harsh tone of the preamp with a cab inside the KPA and get a pleasant, complete guitar tone? Because I thought that the cabs don't include the poweramp setion of a rig. Or do they?
    Thanks for your help, will buy a DI Box this week.

    Quote from kthguitar

    I forgot that this is possible for some time now and that profiling of preamps isn't rocket science. I considered the manual, but one question remains: Can I combine the pure, harsh tone of the preamp with a cab inside the KPA and get a pleasant, complete guitar tone? Because I thought that the cabs don't include the poweramp setion of a rig. Or do they?
    Thanks for your help, will buy a DI Box this week.

    The Kemper doesn't profile the power amp section, though there is obviously some interaction of the power amp in the mix. Set it too high and the profile goes for a toss.


    With a DI profile, you could just go through the available cabs and see if there's something that works. Some of the guys were raving about the IRs that Celestion had released. Some of them are free. Perhaps processing those into Kemper files through cab maker and then pairing them with your DI profile will be the ticket.

    Quote from nightlight

    The Kemper doesn't profile the power amp section, though there is obviously some interaction of the power amp in the mix. Set it too high and the profile goes for a toss.
    With a DI profile, you could just go through the available cabs and see if there's something that works. Some of the guys were raving about the IRs that Celestion had released. Some of them are free. Perhaps processing those into Kemper files through cab maker and then pairing them with your DI profile will be the ticket.

    Hello Nightlight,


    What do you mean, when you say that the KPA doesn't profile the power amp section of an amp? I realize this thread is discussing an ADA MP-1 preamp, but your comment reads like a general statement.


    Cheers,
    John

    Quote from Tritium

    Hello Nightlight,
    What do you mean, when you say that the KPA doesn't profile the power amp section of an amp? I realize this thread is discussing an ADA MP-1 preamp, but your comment reads like a general statement.


    Cheers,
    John


    The Kemper doesn't really capture the power amp part of a amplifier and cabinet very well.


    There is definitely some interaction, but we have been given the instruction that when profiling, do not push the amp power section too hard.


    With tube amps, sometimes having it loud is the only way to achieve certain tones.


    So with some amps where the power amp section contributes greatly to the tone (due to tubes being pushed harder), the Kemper cannot process that additional section in the signal chain, which results in sub par profiles.


    Hello Nighlight,


    Okay, understood. I had noted the following comment in the KPA Profiling Guide:


    Quote

    You might also run into trouble when profiling a sound in which both the pre- and power amps of the reference amplifier are driven into distortion. If the resulting Profile sounds unsatisfying, try to reduce the volume of the power amp. This will make the sound somewhat more transparent, without significantly reducing the amount of distortion. The same is true for those modeling amps which offer a separate gain control for pre- and power amp.


    However, I took that for what it said, no more, no less. In other words, the KPA may run into issues when profiling an amp in which there is high levels of gain/distortion occurring in both the preamp and poweramp stages...not that the KPA was incapable of profiling a tube amp's power stage.


    Cheers,
    John

    Can't listen to the video right now but just an idea: *deleted by mod*

    this is not the commercial section of the forum.
    are you affiliated with the mentioned commercial profiler?

    Quote from nightlight

    The Kemper doesn't profile the power amp section,

    the power stage has a big impact on the sound and feel of an amp, of course it is part of a Profile.
    Otherwise no authentic tube amp sound would be possible and this would be immediately apparent in the post-Profiling A/B comparison.
    Power sagging for example can be increased afterwards, but the Profile has the authentic amount from the start.


    There is the possible exception in the case of considerable distortion in the pre- and poweramp stages, but this scenario is much more unlikely than it sounds.


    This is a good example of myth-building.


    Sorry about that, John, I think I was getting things mixed up as usual. Read below.



    Quote from DonPetersen

    the power stage has a big impact on the sound and feel of an amp, of course it is part of a Profile.Otherwise no authentic tube amp sound would be possible and this would be immediately apparent in the post-Profiling A/B comparison.
    Power sagging for example can be increased afterwards, but the Profile has the authentic amount from the start.


    There is the possible exception in the case of considerable distortion in the pre- and poweramp stages, but this scenario is much more unlikely than it sounds.


    This is a good example of myth-building.


    Thanks for the clarification, @Don_Petersen. I was specifically highlighting the situation some profilers experienced with too much distortion in the power amp stages and assumed it was because the Kemper doesn't profile the power amp stage well.


    There's actually a whole thread going on where some users have indicated that the discrepancies or shortcomings in profiles, specifically with regard to distorted tones, which they narrowed down to the power amp stage, IIRC.


    I think this all boils down to my inability to put my thoughts down well with regard to this kind of technical thing in my initial post, i.e. "doesn't profile the power amp". If you read my subsequent post, I refined my response further to try to explain what I meant.


    Apologies for building myths about the Kemper! It's already spoken about in tones of reverence. Soon we'll have a Temple of Kemper and fairy tales about how Mr CK was 7 feet tall and built the first prototype in a cave with scraps :D

    Quote from raunch

    Can't listen to the video right now but just an idea: *deleted by mod*


    this is not the commercial section of the forum.
    are you affiliated with the mentioned commercial profiler?

    Eek! Sorry guys!!!


    I'm not affiliated with the profiler at all. Just a fan that enjoyed that particular pack. Sorry if I broke a rule.

    Quote from nightlight

    Thanks for the clarification, @Don_Petersen. I was specifically highlighting the situation some profilers experienced with too much distortion in the power amp stages and assumed it was because the Kemper doesn't profile the power amp stage well.

    just too clarify: some users encountered problems when BOTH the pre- and poweramp stages were distorting considerably.
    power amp saturation by itself is not really an issue, you might have to adjust the Tube Shape control to get a 'harder' type of distortion, but that's it.


    the two scenarios that cover almost all tones are:

    • clean-ish preamp, driven power amp
    • distorting preamp, clean-ish power amp

    the first one covers 'vintage' type amps that have to be LOUD to distort, the second one is your typical rock/metal setup, where the distortion comes from the preamp.


    exceptions from the rule (Profile sounds like the amp) are very rare considering the amount of Profiles that have been made since and before 2012 and are due to specific circumstances that maybe shouldn't really be generalized like that.
    Although I know these are two things guitarists like to do: Focusing on the rare exception and generalizing, haha. ;)


    Also keep in mind that one of the users who keeps these threads about Profiling issues afloat persistently refuses to profile his own amps for some reason, so take these threads & opinions with a grain of salt.


    Haha, very true. Thank you for the information, I suppose having no amps of my own to profile, I'm very susceptible to some of the information floating around on the forum when it comes down to just the profiling part of the Profiler.