I started off just banging through the rigs and making favorites of ones I liked. (I think you can do this by holding down the rig button and I think a soft button as well)Then in rig manager made performances of them. The toughest part about having a Kemper is making choices. I could be happy live using any number of rigs on there. I'm trying to build my ultimate list to narrow things down. I think i have 5 performances set up so I can quickly compare. I agree with Zapp.
Posts by Dynochrome
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You are correct. I use the (IMO best sounding) standard fender med. I hated them for years because after a few pickslides they became string ripper-outers. Nylon is fine and does remedy the problem ( and I use the max-grip live exclusively)a bit but it's mostly the way I play that certain passage and the way I mute it that creates the sound not the rig itself. I have a huge bag of picks I've tried in the past and for live I MUST have something with grip, but for recording, nothing sounds like the ol' fragile fender med. you go through them quick but they have that attack..... I hadn't used one in years then after trying one again recording I heard something familiar that I liked about the attack.
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Tone Junkie had a good tip on one f his recent videos. To take one of the profiles in the pack with higher gain but turn the gain knob down on the Kemper to a lower gain. He said that gives you the same low gain sound as selecting a lower gain version of the profile but the amp still reacts like it is driven a bit harder and sounds better. Especially if you plan to it a lower gain profile with a pedal.
I have been messing with lower gain profiles & turning the gain up and vise versa. Also using the volume knob as it works great too. There is a lot to discover here.
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Frodebro indeed your right. but the short coming of many profiles is using too much gain and compression ,then when they are going for a less gained tone it is thin and weak.
Is that profile in the Factory or what pack do I look into/
thanks!
Dynochrome is that a factory profile or where do I try it?
I think it is in the most recent Kemper factory load.
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Wow, I have the same pack ...
and you are pleased with that sound through a 4X12 cabinet? It sounds and feels like a real guitar amplifier to you?
Good for you bro!
I sold all my 4x12's when I bought a subcompact car. A while back, I played an outdoor gig for about 4,000 with a ENGL 656 & 1x12 V30 OS OB cab. The support company was impressed by the stage sound & volume compared to the other acts on the bill. That 1x12 creates sound in the round and works great if you don't do IEM (which I can't stand). Through a 1x12 cab I am very pleased with the sound. I played it till my fingers bled last night, took a break and had to play it some more. Opinions vary, but the mid to heavy tones were my top 4 favorite on the Kemper so far out of probably 200 I've tried. The clean sounds in the pack weren't that great to me but I didn't expect that. And I knew as well there are gillions of good sounding cleaner rigs to be had at the click of a mouse in rig manager.
To answer your question yes it sounds great through a guitar cab and to me it sounds BETTER than most guitar amplifiers so calling a Kemper a real amp is almost insulting it. I feel like a Kemper can produce more exactness. It just seems more controllable, tighter where it needs to be, looser when it needs to be, finger controllable and balances the strings more but not what I'd call over compressed, just more together. Some people complain about digital devices (or even ENGL) being overcompressed, but if you play a tone with huge jumping.popping dynamics on a live stage the soundman will have your gain so low so you don't peak out, you probably wont be heard. You NEED to have consistent dynamic levels live to make it sound "like a record" out front so to me the way Kemper can do that is a benefit, not a liability. On some of my tube amps when I hit a full first position D chord, it can wash a bit and kinda sound a bit out of intonation, where the kemper really balances the strings and makes all the notes clearer and more defined like on a studio album. And live, that's what I am going for!
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before you even think about selling any more of your valve amps make sure you make your own profiles of them all. That is the only way you can absolutely guarantee getting your own perfect sound as other people’s profiles are just their idea of the perfect sound.
I had some great amps but they didn't sound any better than thousands of free profiles available. I won't miss 'em! That's the exact reason I bought a Kemper so I can have MORE!
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Bright tones can be often be adjusted by the Definition, Treble and Presence control of course.
I am very happy with the 74 TJ plexi. Haven't tried it live but the way it comes out of my guitar cab tells me if it's miced properly, it will be great!
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I haven't had that much trouble getting a live cab to sound good. Well done profiles seem to do it on their own. Just downloaded the TJ '74 pack and even though it's not merged, cab driver is doing a great job of making them fantastic through my 1x12 oversize V30 cab. I have only bought 3 packs so far and I can tell this one is likely the most versatile and close to what I want. Funny. somehow I must have turned the output
browse knob accidentally to a different preset (After this I deleted them all so that doesn't happen again) and it switched the cab sim on, on the monitor/poweramp. At first I was like, Hmmm..... not so great after sampling about 20 or so & being suspicious I checked, yep the monitor cab was on. I switched it off and there it was! Double cabinet not so good. I turned the cab back on and it seemed like it made the profiles more like the Mbritt ones were. Darker,muted.
I have read where some people like having the cab on THROUGH a cab. Maybe this is why. It kind of makes the top end a bit "softer". Hey if it's what you are going for , there are no "rules". EVH didn't know what he was doing with the Obreheim and other keyboardists would say he was doing it wrong but sometimes just using your ear gets you to your goal and surpasses conventionality. I am going back to cranking my Kemper with '74 profiles. Heck yea.
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Although I have absorbed a LOT, I am only 10 days into a Kemper. Personally I would be mostly concerned about how it goes through the FOH and make sure the audience that is paying you gets the sound you want them to have. After that, it's a matter of tweaking the monitor sound. Since merged profiles basically send the same signal you would get from a head/poweramp it shouldn't be different . I know I have to have a great sound onstage to feel like rocking out but it's more important to me that I know it's killing it out front. How many times have you seen bands where the guys are jumping around rocking out but it sounds like CRAP out front. I would just keep trying things. It always takes a while to implement a piece of gear like this into your live show but the payoff is when you get it down and you can roll into a gig at the last minute, wait 48 seconds for the unit to boot and be killing it stress free. Whenever I use tube amps even if I sound check, it seems like I have to run back and tweek more than I should be. Like the digital units I've used before , one day I will get there but with al the choices Kemper gives you, it's gonna take a while!
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people seem to love treble, presence…
When I hear people complain about Michael Britt profiles, immediately I suspect that they don’t play live through a nice loud PA because if they did they would find Michaels profiles to be very fitting with the volume up.
Yes, and am I ever glad I went that way.
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If you listen to newer stuff from him like the Crank & Go or the 2020 pack (which I both like very, very much and definitely are the basis for my live setup) you will find more highs/presence in it.
Sounds like he's doing things more like TJ (more highs and presence)
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Go try the free EVH one....I like it
Interestingly Jake always said he didn't like his sound during that time and I agree it was much thinner than when he played in Badlands ( big Jake fan here BTW).
Again, no one is knocking the TJ profiles, but this has made me rethink the MBritt ones I have. Things defo change at volume.
I tried the VH Free one, didn't like it and took it off my toaster. The TJ VH1 is still the best VH1 I have heard yet after trying a few. You need to turn the reverb up and add my tape delay setting (and change the phaser a bit) and when recorded over the guitar-less backing track, you can't tell anythings different except for my playing.
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I feel the exact same about just wanting to turn it up, I play mine through a 4x12 Marshall and I wouldn't want it any other way. I run mine like that with no speaker emulation of course and then I go direct out to a mixing board with cab emulation for in ears. Love having a speaker cab behind me pushing air while monitoring with in ears, some people may think overkill, but I love the option to be able to use cab emulation with direct and no cab emulation with a real cab simultaneously. Can't imagine having to have a real guitar amp again. Coming up on a year with mine and I can honestly say I have NEVER been disappointed with mine.
I really feel like selling all of my gear. (except vintage Marshalls) I've already sold some and am just down to a couple amps I would gig with. I may keep them just for a valve reference (mainly my 5153 50W 3ch) Once you skip around with a kemper that's as light as a basket of flowers and hear how good it sounds, lugging a 100W ENGL in a flight case to have not as much versatility just doesn't make sense. Have you noticed a lot of big names that were all using Kempers and AXFX are starting to go back to amps in iso cabs? I believe this is not because of the sound but: #1. When everybody starts doing something all of a sudden you're not special enough and have to be different. #2 the have a road crew to lug big amps and Iso cabs around. But mostly #1. I heard some bands using Kempers live and it sounded KILLER. I went from hating on them for the look to having to get one. It was SKID ROW that did it for me. I saw them at a smaller 2,000 seat venue and their guitar sounds were awesome. I wish I could get their profiles! Nicest bunch of guys too. Snake had the room across from us and introduced himself like a gentleman as if we didn't know who he was lol. I wasn't really a huge Skid Row fan until I saw them there. The new singer is great and bands with killer guitar in them that are not country or cookie monster are few and far between. I would highly recommend seeing them. Better without Bach IMO.
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I'm right there with ya!! Just got mine a couple weeks ago...
Now I know who to bug with all MY questions!!
Bug away, I've learned a ton and will pay forward!
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people seem to love treble & presence…
When I hear people complain about Michael Britt profiles, immediately I suspect that they don’t play live through a nice loud PA because if they did they would find Michaels profiles to be very fitting with the volume up.
- in my opinion.… But I guess, it’s all subjective to the way we want to hear things in our ears.
When you hear a tone like Jake E lee "rock and roll rebel" or VH "Beautiful girls" they have a lot of crispy top to them. Eric Johnson or Bonamossa tones not so much. I think the Mbritt ones sound great but a bit muffled compared to some TJ ones I have. I'll bet they do sound great through a live P.A with big horns. IMO the biggest difference comes from the cabs. If I play the TJ ones into a regular guitar cab, they are not strident at all and to me sound like a "regular amp" would that I would mic at a show. I can get both in the ballpark of each other with the treble presence knobs although it's easier to "cut" the TJ ones than it is to get some of the Mbritt ones snappy but I am pretty new and haven't tried any of his paid stuff. As I had mentioned before I wish I could just get a few amps rather than a whole pack of things that I won't use.
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I use a Britt 74 Marshall profile live. For most of my rock stuff. Not crazy about it alone, but wonderful with the band
What pack is that from? Merged? I wish he would sell individual amps like TJ does. I just want to get a few Marshall profiles not a bunch of stuff I have no use for.
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Exactly. I'm not knocking TJ profiles. I'm just saying that for me, for live use, they don't sound as good in a mix through a cranked PA as the MBritt stuff does. I think the TJ profiles sound better for recording.
I'm just wondering why the P.A. system can't reproduce sounds in a mix just like a recording. I mean a recording has bass,drums,keys etc. and so does a live band. I would think if a guitar profile sounded good, it would sound good.
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I'm looking for a nice Marshall rig that has that nice kinda hollow tone like the TJ 1974. I love that sample on the sales page.The '68 from the samples sound too close to some of the brown sound profiles to me and I already have them. I am looking for something to use live so I am hesitant to get the '74 only because it is studio only and I'm getting spoiled with merged profiles. That being said, I have played quite a few not merged profiles through a guitar cab that the cab remover program does a great job but with the merged, it's all your cabinet. It's tough buying profiles because it's kinda like buying a guitar pickup, you just don't know what it's really going to do until you own it.
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I didn't care for the free EVH rig. It seemed too "pushed" for me. I really appreciate that he did that tho. I know what you mean with the RR thing. I always liked his playing but was not ever crazy about his tone although I know some players that think it's the best. I could see where a perfect profile of his sound could be useless for all but recreating R.R. guitar parts!
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It won't let me listen but I know there are a couple of profiles that are very active upper midrangy & gainy that really amplify when I mute the strings hard in a way and it almost sounds like a click from a DAW that has too small a buffer size. At first I thought there was something wrong with the profile clipping or something but found that it only occurred on certain passages I played. It was my technique. When I play the same thing the same way on other profiles or amps you don't notice it but one certain profile (a paid one from a top profiler) is so live and just at the right frequency that it makes the way I mute particular passages jump out. Personally I kinda like to hear strings squeaking a little and I noticed some profiles making that more pronounced. There is a lot of finger sensitivity available on a Kemper to control. More than most amps. Like I said, I couldn't hear your clip but try another rig or maybe check the definition in the amp menu?
