Kemper Profiler Stage - Live Situation - Help needed - Disappointed

I spent a lot of time chasing tones when I first got mine, Marshall this, Diesel that, Friedman something or other. I tried most of the big profile producers and got really close until I stumbled across a Splawn Hot Rod profile on RigManager. A quick tweak and it was everything I was looking for and covered so much ground for me.

I settled predominantly on a Friedman BE100 for clean, Splawn for crunch and the same profile with added mids and volume for lead. I played the hell out of that until I found a Mesa profile and then it was that final 2% I wanted.

I would never have thought that my favourite tone would come from a Mesa and my cleans from a BE100 but it made me stop listening with my eyes. I don't need a profile of my dream amp, I just want to be able to make my Kemper sound like the tone in my head.

I don't like making drastic tonal changes with my band so i stick to variants of the same crunch profile across the whole set. My saved tones work well live to FOH, headphones at home and in recordings. I tend to reduce the gain and effect a little when recording but otherwise they work brilliantly.

Sounds like you may benefit from using a power amp and a 212/412 on stage. For high gain sounds my absolute favorite is choptones JP2C pack. Sounds thick and full…but FRFR and PA to me is ok but maybe not as satisfying live…but boy taking the monitor out to a poweramp and cab sounds killer..just a thought..

Quote from chu

I would never have thought that my favourite tone would come from a Mesa and my cleans from a BE100 but it made me stop listening with my eyes. I don't need a profile of my dream amp, I just want to be able to make my Kemper sound like the tone in my head.

I have finally started doing the same thing, not caring what the amp is, just how it works for me. Sometimes profiles available for amps sound better to me than when I actually played the "real" amp (Stiletto and SLO come to mind) I've had 3 Splawns and sold them all, they sounded good but nothing I can't get from the Kemper. There is a good chance I'd like your Splawn hot rod rig better than I liked the amps.

Quote from Wheresthedug

I have it too and like it. I also like Guido’s Bogner and Soldano packs.

Guidorist's stuff is excellent. I've got 4 or 5 of his packs. There's something warm and organic about his profiles. I personally never bonded with MBritt or Tone Junkie stuff.

As for the KPA's output - yes, it does run hot. I pretty much keep the -12db pad on at all times.

Quote from Mark Ensley

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no disappointment here.

Sounds great!

The more I mess around with the Kemper the more I learn and realize I still don't know.

Sorry to hear about your experiences Steve. But bear in mind it's quite a change you're going through. If you're used to having your tube amp with you on stage for years, surely the KPA will feel different and it will never be an identical replacement. The benefits of the KPA to me are the tone consistency, reliability and portability and lack of maintenance when compared to tube amps.

Have you tried profiling your own amp and cab? Or making a DI profile of your amp and running that through your cab, to see if that works on stage? Perhaps those high gain MBritt profiles - as good as they are for many - are just not your thing. Personally I wouldn't give up if I were you, there's a learning curve for sure, not just in controlling the KPA but more in knowing in what settings to use it and how to use it in those settings.

Also I would recommend tuning your profiles in a studio setting with studio monitors if you have the chance. That will be a better representation of your eventual tone.

Quote from KnoxHarrington

Sorry to hear about your experiences Steve. But bear in mind it's quite a change you're going through. If you're used to having your tube amp with you on stage for years, surely the KPA will feel different and it will never be an identical replacement. The benefits of the KPA to me are the tone consistency, reliability and portability and lack of maintenance when compared to tube amps.

Have you tried profiling your own amp and cab? Or making a DI profile of your amp and running that through your cab, to see if that works on stage? Perhaps those high gain MBritt profiles - as good as they are for many - are just not your thing. Personally I wouldn't give up if I were you, there's a learning curve for sure, not just in controlling the KPA but more in knowing in what settings to use it and how to use it in those settings.

Also I would recommend tuning your profiles in a studio setting with studio monitors if you have the chance. That will be a better representation of your eventual tone.

Great comments...

Made me think.....most of us were used to our on stage sound from our valve amps, few of us knew what that sounded like FOH and were even aware of that "translation". I think in many cases that is the delta and why for some they feel they "lose" the valve amp sound live.

Maybe why many people who use the KPA in the studio adapt quicker??? No science to back any of that up, just a thought process :).

In other words, I know my KPA does sound different on stage, but I also know my FOH has never sounded better.

Quote from V8guitar

Great comments...

Made me think.....most of us were used to our on stage sound from our valve amps, few of us knew what that sounded like FOH and were even aware of that "translation". I think in many cases that is the delta and why for some they feel they "lose" the valve amp sound live.

Maybe why many people who use the KPA in the studio adapt quicker??? No science to back any of that up, just a thought process :).

In other words, I know my KPA does sound different on stage, but I also know my FOH has never sounded better.

Spot on IMHO!

👍

Quote from V8guitar

Great comments...

Made me think.....most of us were used to our on stage sound from our valve amps, few of us knew what that sounded like FOH and were even aware of that "translation". I think in many cases that is the delta and why for some they feel they "lose" the valve amp sound live.

Maybe why many people who use the KPA in the studio adapt quicker??? No science to back any of that up, just a thought process :).

In other words, I know my KPA does sound different on stage, but I also know my FOH has never sounded better.

That’s the thing. I’ve spent the last 30 years concentrating on my FOH sound. Eventhough i had (and sometimes still do gave) a cab onstage i always prioritized on what the audience would be hearing. Line not playing earsplitting loud on stage and ruining the balance for the audience. So i’ve been playing line to foh all these years, and have learned what to be aware of. And just because you get a Kemper, does not mean that you can use the tool that it is right away. It takes time.

Quote from V8guitar

Made me think.....most of us were used to our on stage sound from our valve amps, few of us knew what that sounded like FOH and were even aware of that "translation". I think in many cases that is the delta and why for some they feel they "lose" the valve amp sound live.

In my early club days I was aware, and was always pissed that my awesome amp sound that killed in the room was being reduced by a 57 on the cone that would display it as a thin strident sound. Where was my amp? I Felt sometimes I could have went to the gig with a $100.00 amp and have the exact same sound.

When I listen to a Kemper now I picture being in a studio with a blazing amp downstairs and I am listening in the control room to an amp miked with a Chandler preamp, Royer ribbon and a i5/57 mixed. I judge my Kemper sounds that way. At the end of the day, unless you were always using your Kemper into a speaker cab, jamming in a room using it just like an un miked amp, You want the tone of your amp, perfectly miked and reproduced available going down an XLR cable to be reproduced to the masses or to a recording session. IMO That is where Kemper shines, where it needs to most.

What also helped me a lot was playing my KPA while standing in the hall of a great venue of which I knew the PA system was stellar. I placed my KPA at the FOH desk before soundcheck and played a while there, just to hear what the crowd hears. I made some adjustments to the rigs that definitely payed off during the following shows, also at other venues.

Quote from KnoxHarrington

What also helped me a lot was playing my KPA while standing in the hall of a great venue of which I knew the PA system was stellar. I placed my KPA at the FOH desk before soundcheck and played a while there, just to hear what the crowd hears. I made some adjustments to the rigs that definitely payed off during the following shows, also at other venues.

I did the same thing. We own the P.A. so that helps.

Well I am a newbie to KEMPER from TUBESVILLE...

I ran my KEMPER STAGE monitor into a PEDAL BABY into a MARSHALL 1960A and then direct into JBL rehearsal speaker towers via studio desk

CRUSHING TONE - full blown metal band...guys loved it!!!! Basically set a new benchmark for our sound - DOES NEED A TWEAK TO CUT!

It's not all about volume but a slight EQ tweak

It depends on stuff - I first ran my monitor out into PEDAL BABY into ORANGE 212 which was OK but the the MARSHALL 1960A just loved the KEMPER... interesting......

I upped the mids in my metal tone - don't pick a top end fizz tone

Live I will go a PEDAL BABY into a 212 or maybe just take my RCF 310A on a AMP STAND behind me and direct into FOH with some MONITOR facing me

@steveboss007 are you getting the “artificial” tone when you play through headphones (cab sim on), too? If BM profiles sound good for recording, and your headphones deliver the tone you want, I don’t see why they would not sound good for live with some live tweaks? It sounds that the artifacts you are hearing are coming from somewhere else in your signal chain. Where are you hearing the artificial tone, FOH, or your power cab on stage.?

You could try changing cabs/ir in your kemper rig, or your power cab /frfr type of sound is not what you are expecting at louder volumes live and better you go for a regular guitar cab in that case.

Quote from steveboss007

Yes, I have that pack. It is good but sounds too thin. Everything from BM sound good to me for recording, but for live, too thin.