Clean tones (rigs) are all sounding dull

Here are a few tips from TJ.

If you want pristine clean like an acoustic, turning off the stack does wonders. If you looking for nice Fender and Vox cleans then rolling off the volume on hot pickups does wonders too.

Try some Liquid profiles first, put gain on Zero and then raise the gain until you hear it distort then you can roll back on your volume knob or just cut the gain. BTW, a slight bit of distortion during a mix will mostly go unnoticed with the bass and drums tracking.

Clean amps have a ton of headroom (dynamic range). So a lot of Kemper profiles sound thin and lack chime because it is reproducing that high dynamic range. Some profilers will add compression to bring them alive.

That is the key here, add compression. I personally like the compressor in the stomp section. The compressor in the AMP section works also. You can also try some AMP section SAG to get different tones.

My other fav trick is adding a TREBLE BOOSTER stomp after the AMP/CAB. Adjust the MIX to taste.

Not sure what sound you are looking for but a neat clean profile to try is in Rig Exchange named "Wooly Coats Spanky MK2".

I am writing a VST and I made a weird thing where I boost/dist 150HZ and 1500HZ and it gets real chimey. I made some profiles and put them on Rig Exchange also. Results will vary. Mine are labelled "MakoD2-Chime01" thru "MakoD2-Chime06". They have a lot of high end and various crispiness.

You can also try a crunch amp like the famous AC30 profile and turn down the gain.

You have a ton of options. Best of luck getting the sound in your head and out of your speakers!

For example, in the Rig Exchange there is a good clean sound from a Soldano preamp called "Soldano X88R Clone C". Easy to find if you enter "x88r" in search.

In any case, I would always put a compressor in front of the amp and a reverb at the end. Depending on how crisp you want the sound, you shouldn't be stingy with "Intensity" and "Squash". Additionally, an EQ after the amp can help make the sound more open.

Quote from theplayer

From all those 22658 rigs in my RM there isn't any that sounds pristine, clear, bright, crispy and with a substantial amount of volume. The ones that do have volume are quite distorted so that they are useless too.

So you tested those 22658 rigs
Anyway, I cannot confirm to your opinion that those (which?) sound dull and lifeless. Although I confirm: most rigs have no good loudness, a thing I never understood. I always turned them up with a compressor, amp volume or rig volume - then they got room.

Anyway, here is a very(!) loud clean (Fender) profile on RigExchange I suggest to you:

Quote from theplayer

There are hundreds of so-called clean rigs in RM but they all sound dull, boring and lifeless, even after adding treble and presence from my profiler. At 12 o'clock rig volume there's even almost no sound audible and also they all sound alike. From all those 22658 rigs in my RM there isn't any that sounds pristine, clear, bright, crispy and with a substantial amount of volume. The ones that do have volume are quite distorted so that they are useless too.

Am I missing here something or is it really hard or even impossible to get or to make a really nice clean useable tone with enough basic volume?

Because they are lifeless an dull. You really need to do your own if you want to be happy. That was my cure anyway. Kemper excels at cleans an hairy cleans, you just have to work out what floats your boat. I got some great stuff I need to get off my behind an upload. Dont forget to play with definition an pick attack.