..... and while you're at, don't forget to check out the videos too!
+1 on watching the videos. I found those very helpful after purchasing my Kemper Stage. I actually just went back to the video on the Stage this past weekend to see how to setup an expression pedal to do Volume, Wah and Tuner. It works great. The video walks through it step by step.
Yes you can do this. That is exactly how I do it. I have not profiled my amps yet, I am planning on doing that very soon because I can't find a profile of the amp I have been gigging with for the past 6 years. Therefore, I have not tried uploading a profile this way but I am sure it will work just fine since pulling them down to my PC and Kemper works this way.
So if it feels harsh in the beam, it‘s most likely also harsh going into FOH?
I‘m asking because with normal amps I find they sound better if they‘re slightly angled away from me.
And how about using imprints, is their “real” sound also in the centre or does something like this not exist?
You may find this to work very similar to when you are using a real amp since you are using a cabinet for a monitor. It also won't necessarily be an indication of how harsh it may be out front. You really have to get out front and hear what it sounds like in a mix. I would tell you that my amps on stage are close to sounding harsh to me but in the mix they sound great. Part of this depends on whether I happen to be next to the bass player or on the other side of the drummer by myself. That is why it is always good to get out front and hear it in the mix.
No disrespect to you personally, but I don't like this rhetoric. I see it on this board quite a lot. Someone will post a legitimate criticism, and others users will chime in, "Not a big deal to me — people just need to get over it!" And it's upvoted to high heaven. It's a big deal to some. Being a fan of a product, company, or entity doesn't mean not being able to see their flaws and wanting better.
And no disrespect to you personally, some of us dislike seeing all of the complaining. I just don't get it when a company tries to give it's users something new and all they do is complain. If the app isn't ready to be released yet and they put it out there and it has issues, there will be even more complaining. Some of us are happy to know that it is on it's way and are patient enough to wait for it. If all Kemper reads on here is complaints, why would they continue to give us new things for free? I have stayed out of this whole thread (both threads actually) until now. This comment didn't set well with me so I thought I would let people know there is another type of customer on here that appreciates the free things that Kemper gives it's customers and is willing to accept it on their timeline.
Hey All,
I have seen posts on here about people having issues with their volumes being drastically different when switching guitars. I was concerned that I would have that issue. I have a Kemper Stage. I play a wide variety of guitars but one that I play a lot is a Suhr custom build that has a humbucker in the bridge and two single coils in it. I have an EP booster on my pedal board that I use when I go to the in between settings (2 and 4) as well as when I go to a single coil. I have been very pleasantly surprised that when running the Kemper I do not have this issue. I can switch between my different pickup selections and the only volume drop I notice is the in between settings and they are not much of a drop at all. This is a huge bonus for me for a live rig. I don't know what I am doing different than others that have posted about this on here but I am very happy with the way this is working.
I will also add that I do not seem to have the issues with profiles that others are having. I purchased the Dirty Surley pack from Tone Junkie. I find these to be very good profiles. I have a Twin Sister amp so I have something real to compare them to. I find that with TJ and MBritt profiles all I have to do is just a bit of EQ tweaks to get the sound I want. I also adjust the effects they put on them to my liking. To me the TJ profiles just have way too many effects on them for my taste and use. They are easy to dial back though. I have been able to find pretty much every tone I have been looking for in the DS pack and other free profiles I have found.
I couldn't be happier with my choice to buy the Kemper Stage. I have 5 rigs setup that cover pretty much all of the different tones that I typically use when playing gigs. Now all I have to do is get them in a live environment to see how they perform. I am betting that since I tweaked them to sound very similar to my amp with pedals that they will sound just as good, probably better since I won't have to deal with the volume differences. This thing is one of the best pieces of gear I have spent money on in a long time. I have had it for about 9 months now. I just wanted to take a moment to brag on this thing. 
I’ve had a Kemper Kab, and FRFR cab and regular guitar cabs. At times I’ve liked them all. But currently I really like the Kemper through a Fryette Power Station and into a regular guitar cab.
I ran my stage through my PS-100 and into a 2x12. The sound was awesome. This is definitely a good way to do this.
The other way I do it is to run the stage directly into a QSC K8 on a stand hooked up to the main outs. That way I can adjust volumes and know what it will sound like directly through a PA.
I would think that putting it in the effects loop would work just fine. I probably wouldn't run the dirt channel that way though. That may not sound good in all situations. You could probably create some rigs that don't have an amp or cabinet to make it work. You will probably have to do some experimenting with it.
I hope this works on older versions of the iPad. I think mine is a Gen 3. Mine works to interface with my mixer over WiFi but wouldn't work with the Spark amp... I hope it works with this because I am not spending hundreds of dollars to buy a new one when I don't use the one I have all that often.
Interesting
The guitar is not part of the profiling process (which includes pickups).
How about during the refining process? My first though was exactly what you said. Then I remembered that you play the guitar to refine the prfile.
Awesome. Flawless.
If you were using a TS 1/4" cable before and are using XLR now, you very well could see a big volume difference. The TS cable is unbalanced. The XLR is a balanced connection. I would try the same cables you had before. I would also check as stated above that you are connected using the right settings on the monitor for a balanced connection.
Another though that I had was that they implemented a boos for the Kemper Kab in the Beta for units that didn't use to have it in the BETA. Maybe that is turned on?
I finally received the Fryette PS-100 that I had on backorder. I decided to try a little experiment.
I have a Peavey JSX 2x12 combo amp. I hooked the PS-100 up to that amp. I then went from the 1/4 output of my Kemper Stage to the input of the PS-100. I went through a bunch of rigs and turned the cabinets off and ran them through the speakers in the amp. OMG! Anyone who doesn't think these things sound like the actual amps hasn't done anything like this. I was super happy with the tones I was getting this way. I found tones that I have been chasing for a while with pedals and tube amps.
I have been looking for a nice more than slightly broken up sound that cleans up with the volume on my guitar. I have achieved some good results with OD pedals and tube amps but it takes a bit to get the exact tone I was looking for and if I am being honest, I don't think I have ever nailed that tone. I have just settled for close enough. I pulled up some of the amp profiles of amps I am familiar with and instantly found this tone and it was exactly what I wanted it to be.
I have honestly not spent as much time with my Kemper as I had hoped but this really got me excited about this unit. Once we all get back to playing out again I will have to get this thing out and get some stage time with it. I really hope I can get that same sound live. I will bring a PA speaker in the house and test that next. That will be my true FOH sound.
I originally bought the PS-100 for a multi-purpose device. I can use it to attenuate my tube amps if I want to and I can use it as an amp for the Kemper into a regular guitar speaker cabinet. So far it is doing both of those things very well. I love the results that I am achieving and am very glad I purchased both of these units. If you are looking for an amp for your Kemper to run into a guitar speaker cabinet and have the budget for one of these, I can't recommend it enough. Look at the PS-100 and the PS-2. They are tube power. One is 50 watts and the other is 100 watts with two channels. The PS-100 is $100 more but you get a second foot switchable channel in it. It was worth the price difference for that feature.
Great article. I completely agree with it. The only person you can compare your playing to is yourself. We all learn in different ways at different paces. If you are seeing improvement when compared to months ago, you are heading in the right direction. When I was teaching I couldn't use the same approach for every person. I had to find out what the roadblock was for each person then help them remove it.
Get a good teacher that can help you grow faster. Remember practicing can do as much harm as good if not done in a constructive way. I myself had to unlearn quite a few things. Try to avoid that.
Apart from that you do the right thing. Create the music only you can create. Nothing compares to that.
This is very good advice. I have been playing for many years. In my younger years I could play but everything came very hard to me and I had to work out solos ahead of time and had no ability to improvise. I quit playing after my Daughter was born. I gave it up for about 10 years. When I went back to it I ended up right back where I was before in no time at all. I made the decision to go get some theory lessons and learn how to use all of the bits and pieces of knowledge that I had learned along the way. That was the day my playing went in a whole new direction. I have been on stages at jams and played songs that I have never played before and improvised solos to them. I would never have been able to do this in my 20's. The reason I can do that now is that I know the theory. If someone can tell me the key the song is in and some rough Nashville numbering for the verses and choruses, I can follow along and figure it out.
When my instructor told me that there was nothing more he could teach me, I started teaching people who were stuck like I was. I found that a lot of guitar teachers can teach you theory but they can't teach you how to make that last jump into making music with it. Since I had to work though that myself with the teacher I had, it took a lot of effort on my part, I decided to start helping others do it. The teacher I had was great but he also was not able to get me over that last part and into making music. I had to figure it out for myself. I took a few people through that transition. That is when things get fun. It is great watching someone finally be able to connect the dots.
Definitely find a good instructor and invest in yourself. It was the best thing I ever did for my playing. It also allowed me to take it to the point of making money with it through gigging and teaching. It was a nice side hustle.
I have 3 Suhrs, carved top Standard, carved top Modern and a Classic Pro S. The first two are custom builds with high end woods. The Classic Pro is Alder. None of the necks are sticky or even close to that. My personal preference would be the Classic T. The reason for that is I am not a fan of a relic guitar. I like mine to look new for as long as possible. Any relic marks will be from my use.
Paulownia is another whole story. I did some research into that last year when I found a G&L that I really like that was made out of it. They also call it Empress. What I found is that it is a very soft wood, softer than Basswood. It will dent much easier than something like Alder. It is a fast growth lumber. A lot of people like it for the light weight but I saw it as something more fragile and possibly less resonant than a more typical wood for a guitar like the Classic T. I chose to stay away from it. Now, with that said, John knows what he is doing when it comes to building a guitar. He is using it for his builds and putting his name on it. There is something to be said for that. I did find out that as with other woods, there are different grades of it. That means there could be a difference in the hardness and weight of it. Maybe he is using some that is a little harder and resonant. I just feel that it is not something I want to take a chance on. Others may love it. Just my 2 cents.
Additionally, along the lines of sends, something that I still trip over from time to time when I'm not paying attention is reverb. I'll be going along my merry way and suddenly wondering why I can hear ghosted drums (or some other instrument) when the big, red M button clearly states that I've muted the bloody drums. If the reverb or any other send goes pre fader / mutes, then the track travels on its merry way to the reverb, and the reverb output ends up in the master bus. And because in my mind the drum have been muted, I've more than once thought, "how did the stupid drums get on my guitar track?" Actually the language is a bit more colorful, but you get the idea. Of course, if I mute the reverb, or disable the send on the drums, the ghost magically disappears. Ghosts are like that.
Very good point. This would be one way to make this happen in the digital world.
- The leak is already in the DI track (almost imperceptible), which I later reamp.
This to me sounds like the pickup in the bass may be a bit microphonic and it picked those things up when you were tracking either live or from your monitors. It would be impossible to get bleed from one track to another in the digital world. This had to come in through a microphone or a pickup when the track was created. Once it is there, it is always going to be there. You would have to track it again and ensure it is not in a noisy environment.
Yep, I am a fan. I love how they dig into things. They have had a couple of shows where they dig into Overdrives. I found those very interesting.
I am an overdrive addict. I have a bunch of OD pedals that I will never sell. I find that when I am searching for something, I can cycle through them and usually find what I am looking for or very close. I would not be surprised if at some point I use some of them with my Kemper. It will all depend on if I feel like I need something that I am not getting from the Kemper drives at that moment.
That "compression" lets me grab almost any guitar and not have drastic volume drops but allows for the dynamics and character of each guitar to shine through. Tube amps are fun, but a Kemper really serves it on a plate.
This is what I have put together from reading posts on here. I will definitely be testing this out some when I get a few more things squared away and get back to doing some music. To me the Stage is a perfect gigging unit. That is why I bought it. The fact that I could go from humbuckers to single coils and not have a huge volume drop like I do now with my tube amp and pedals is definitely a plus. I actually have a clean boost pedal on my board just for this purpose. I thought I may have to program in something similar on the Kemper to keep them at a consistent volume.
I just spent the evening getting familiar with a PRS that has very impressive coil splitting.
The coil splitting on PRS guitars is very impressive. The split sounds got a lot better when they started putting resistors in line that are engaged when the switch is flipped. It makes a huge difference in the volume. Suhr does a great job with it as well. I don't know how Suhr does it but I know PRS started putting the resistors in around 2008 or 2009.
