Posts by Calaban

  • Your Honest opinion on Kemper as a live rig

    I'm not sure what my honest opinion is yet.


    I've played only one gig with it so far. I thought it sounded great and the rest of the band liked it, but there is still some dialing in to be done. If I'm being honest I'd say it didn't quite feel like a tube amp. Now, maybe I need to get used to adjusting it on stage or maybe my speaker solution isn't quite right. It's also possible that it's a much different paradigm and I need to get used to it. I hope I can.


    I think it will serve me well in two of the bands I play with but I'm not sure about the third.

  • Grateful Dead Tones?

    I'm very keen to find some Garcia type amp tones as well.


    A good clean Fender Twin profile would be a good place to start. But Garcia only used the preamps. He used very high headroom Macintosh power amps to avoid any power amp distortion.


    I know there are guys out there who have built Garcia rigs. Maybe I will reach out to them and see if they be interested in letting me profile one of their amps.

  • Git Cab sounds better than DXR 10

    I'm also torn on this.


    Granted, I've only done one gig with my Kemper so far. I used my DXR 10 and for the most part I was satisfied. But it was definitely missing...something. For now I'm guessing that a little tweaking will help but who knows?


    I haven't plugged into my regular cab in a long time. I should try it out again.

  • Dear Kemper: Please make a case for Rack owners

    I would love it if Kemper would make a case for the rack, like they have for the toaster. More of a bag, really.


    I recently purchased a Gator case for my Rack. It's good for now, but it's not ideal.
    For one thing it is normal depth, not shallow. This is ok, but I have to reach in the back to plug everything in. I also worry that the extra space will not allow for enough circulation and the Kemper might get too hot.
    Also, I am trying to make only one trip in from the car with my entire rig. I have succeded, but in order to do this I have to put all my cords, plugs, MIDI cables etc into the extra space behind the Kemper in the rack.
    The top pocket would be big enough to hold all of that, but at the moment I am putting my MIDI controller in there and it barely fits (it's a Musicomlab EFX MKIII and the zipper on the pocket is stressed).


    What I propose for a case/bag is:


    1. Plastic covered with a soft padded bag of some sort. 3U size....maybe 4U for extra airflow?


    2. Shallow depth
    2a. Possibly a little extra room in the back for a pocket on the inside of the back flap for some cables or misc items.


    3. Large pocket on top - big enough to hold the Kemper Remote, but also big enough for alternate controllers (my Musicomlab is about 3 inches tall) with room to spare for a few cables.
    3a. Possibly some pockets on the sides?


    4. Heavy Duty shoulder strap


    The Gator case I am using now almost fits that description - it was the closest I could find. But the pocket is smaller than I was expecting (shallower really....I don't need more room corner to corner, I just wish there was more headroom).


    Here is what I bought:


    http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/GRRACKBAG3U


    Like I said it's ok, but that top pocket is going to wear out pretty fast because I'm stressing the zipper too much.


    I know you guys can do better than that.....what do you say?! :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

  • Humbuckers and clean tone

    Try using a completely clean profile, and turn down your guitar so that the output is not as hot.


    Just a suggestion. I have no idea if this will actually give you what you're looking for!

  • Aaaargh! I can't decide :)

    Well tomorrow is the Kemper's debut live performance!


    I have chosen a Fender Deluxe for my clean sound, a different profile of the same amp for my crunch, the same crunchy profile plus the green scream for one lead sound, and a Marshall for an even higher gain lead sound.


    The Stomp section has a compressor, green scream, tremolo, and phaser loaded up in that order. The Mod section has a chorus. Nothing in the X slot for now. I'll probably put the pure boost in there.


    I hope it sounds good in a mix context....I haven't tried it yet so we'll see. I'm sure it will take a bit of tweaking but that's ok.


    I'm excited....wish me luck!


    I'll report back after the gig.

  • Aaaargh! I can't decide :)

    Thanks for the responses guys...lots of good ideas here.


    I think with my original bands I will use just a handful of profiles to keep things simple and consistent. As a few have mentioned it's important to be able to deliver my sound.
    My tube amp is a 73 Pro Reverb and I've been using only that amp for years. With the M Britt Vintage pack I'll use the 66 Pro Reverb which sounds incredibly close. I'll also
    probably use a Marshall of some sort and the 68 Matamp from The Amp Factory...I just love that amp...so dark and vintage and juicy lol.


    When I play covers (mostly in my wedding band) I really want to nail the tones of the songs as closely as possible, so with that in mind I may end up using more profiles. But in
    reality it probably won't be too many more - I could probably cover most of what I need with the amps I listed above.


    And I'll probably leave the Morgan AC20 on there because it's such a GREAT profile for my Strat, and it was the first profile (before I purchased any commercial profiles) that absolutely blew my mind.

  • Aaaargh! I can't decide :)

    Quote from WillB

    Have you tried Rig Manager?


    Yes I use Rig Manager and I like it quite a lot. I have folders set up which arrange profiles by author, guitar, and bands I play with.
    My question is more about how to decide, out of the many fantastic sounding profiles I own, which I should use live. It's really an embarrassment of riches!


    Part of my trouble also has to do with the fact that I've spent a few hundred dollar buying commercial profiles and I want to use them! But then of course, if I just choose a few, I can look at it like I spent only a few hundred dollars for a number of great amps so it's a bargain.



    Yes this is the approach I should probably take. I think I will decide on a Fender (or 3 because I love them) and a good Marshall for starters. Make some rigs out of those and gig them for a while. That way I've got my basic American and British sounds ready to go. I can just enjoy the other ones at home or while recording for now.


    It can really make your head spin...

  • Aaaargh! I can't decide :)

    I am really making an effort to keep the number of profiles to a minimum, while using that pool of profiles to create my rigs.


    The problem is I have too many good profiles!


    I have a whole slew of profiles from The Amp Factory and Top Jimi, plus Britt packs 1 and 2 and Vintage and a couple from Soundside. Many of them are so good I want to have instant access to them, but at the same time I want to keep the number down to aid in a faster boot time, make it easier to scroll through, and to just keep my brain from frying :wacko:


    Here's what I'm thinking:


    I love Fender amps so maybe a Twin, a Pro, a Deluxe, and a Bassman.


    I also want to have a good Marshall, Vox, Orange (Andy's Matamp is excellent) Hiwatt (I have the Gilmour Hiwatt), and Divided by 13.


    That should cover it, right?


    But wait....


    Each one of those amps has so many great profiles included with them that I can't decide!
    Ok...how about a clean, clean+, crunch, and OD sound from each....we're up to 36 profiles already! And that's just the 'pool' I want to draw from to create my rigs!


    Then on top of that I've got a ton of other great amp profiles from each of those vendors...and then I have to consider that what I choose for my 335 won't necessarily work for my Strat.
    So we could possibly be looking at doubling that number!


    Whew! It's a first world problem for sure...any tips? How do you guys deal with profile overload?


    Thanks!