So question for the Kemper users.

rossyamaha

I was watching a video earlier and there was a statement that I found interesting. So out of complete curiosity and as there are so many people here that have owned or do own a Kemper, how many actually profiled their own rig? 

drwiddly

I've had a Kemper for about five and a half years and used it live and for a couple of recordings, as well as at home. There are so many good profiles available, there seemed little point in doing my own but I did try with one of my old amps a few months ago.

I don't have any amazing boutique amps so my profiling attempt was with a Laney TT100. To be fair, the profiles came out pretty good considering it was my first attempt but they're not amazing by a long chalk. Profiling seems to be a bit of an art form, with mic placement, speakers, DI or not and the refining process all to be taken into consideration. I found the refining process to be crucial and poor results came with both under and over refining.

If you have a) a great rig and/or b) access to a few great amps then it's definitely worth doing and learning as you go. It might take a few attempts but, once you get the process down, I'm sure excellent results can be achieved. If, like me, you've just got a couple of OK amps laying around, then I'm not sure it's worth bothering, bearing in mind the quality of many commercial profiles and a good number of free ones out there.

grappagreen

I’ve profiled all of my amps with great success - I do have access to a decent studio/mic pres/mic however..

Doing this was the point at which I realised that taking my valve amps out on ‘the road’ anymore wasn’t worthwhile..

I do however use commercial profiles to fill in the gaps..

Si

KrisGee

I haven't. Simply cuz I've sold all my amps the day I bought kemper. I could of course do it for fun and see what the result would be but all my amps were already existing on rig exchange for free and I doubt I'd profile them better than someone with proper studio equipment.

joeyowen

I didn't, because I found a profile of a Deville which was already very good, rated high etc...

PVO_Dave

Never profiled a thing, sold my amp before going all digital with a PODXT originally.

So many good profiles out there now, not worth the effort for me

Wazmeister

PVO_Dave said:

Never profiled a thing, sold my amp before going all digital with a PODXT originally.

So many good profiles out there now, not worth the effort for me

Dave is bang on here...

Thr best I’ve heard imho are the Tone Junkie and the Brian Clare. In fact I purchased his everything pack which includes all future upgrades and releases free.

His use of the blue comps (before) and red (booster ?) after the amps are v interesting 

grappagreen

PVO_Dave said:

Never profiled a thing, sold my amp before going all digital with a PODXT originally.

So many good profiles out there now, not worth the effort for me

Was worth the effort for me as it nailed the 'does it really sound like the amp' question that was always nagging away at me. Before I profiled my amps there was always a question in my mind but afterwards I never questioned it again.

Of course do bear in mind that it's the mic'd sound and not the amp in the room. If I want a Marshall stack 'feel' then I plug my KPA into a Fryette PS2 with a 1960 cab. Not practical but what a roar.. for gigging my XiTone FRFR is just the ticket however..

I still can't help buying valve amps however

Si

PVO_Dave

grappagreen said:

PVO_Dave said:

Never profiled a thing, sold my amp before going all digital with a PODXT originally.

So many good profiles out there now, not worth the effort for me

Was worth the effort for me as it nailed the 'does it really sound like the amp' question that was always nagging away at me. Before I profiled my amps there was always a question in my mind but afterwards I never questioned it again.

Of course do bear in mind that it's the mic'd sound and not the amp in the room. If I want a Marshall stack 'feel' then I plug my KPA into a Fryette PS2 with a 1960 cab. Not practical but what a roar.. for gigging my XiTone FRFR is just the ticket however..

I still can't help buying valve amps however

Si

I can see the value in that, just to get rid of the nagging doubt - I'd watched a fair few comparison videos etc.. before taking the plunge back in early 2014, best guitar related purchase I've made. 

octatonic

I've profiled my own amps several times and many amps owned by friends.

I've even profiled a CB radio for fun.
It sounded shit, but wonderfully shit.

Dominic

Breaker One Niner this is Rubber Duck we need more Fuzz and a bit of delay !

ragingben

I profiled my amps, I have a Traynor YCV50 that cuts out after a small amount of time, it's amazing because it's now like I have an old friend back! I had more luck with the direct amp profiles because it takes all the art out of making a profile when you don't need to worry about mics etc. I've found that not all amps like being profiled though, my Orange Rocker 30 never comes out well direct amp or not. I agree with the others though - these days there are some many amazing profiles either free or at low cost I don't know that I'd bother profiling unless I wanted my specific setup. 

firepaulmusic

I sometimes play solo with my Carr Slant 6V close mixed and into the PA, backing tracks and vocals. Thing is, I'm very used to hearing my amp mixed through the PA and back through monitors. I decided to profile the amp clean and OD (Suhr Riot) and do the gig with just the Kemper. Absolutely no difference to what I am used to hearing...and the feel was the same.

ruoma

I profiled my lazy j, and compared it to the stock ones and a BM pack. Turned out I preferred and only played two sounds: my own profile and a deluxe reverb profile. I also vastly preferred sticking real pedals in front of the profile than a profile made with the pedals included in the chain. So I sold the kemper and will one day buy a deluxe to add to the J. I do have good mics etc to record. 

If you don’t need tons of sounds and am more like me, preferring one or two core sounds with pedals to boost, perhaps of amps you already own, I’d go real amps and UA ox instead. 

Cabicular

rossyamaha said:

I was watching a video earlier and there was a statement that I found interesting. So out of complete curiosity and as there are so many people here that have owned or do own a Kemper, how many actually profiled their own rig? 

You’ve hit a bit of a nail on the head Ross
I got one with the intention of profiling my amps
particularly during recording so if I ever had to go back and do some overdubs I would have a reasonable facsimile of the amp
when it came down to it though I discovered I could not be arsed with the faff
Unless it’s a commercial release I pretty much just use Helix Native now. It’s the sound I’m used to (I’m actually reasonably sure no-one would be able to accuratly tell the difference between my Virtual amps and my real amps)
There are a couple of profiles on the Kemper which I think are irreplaceable so I look at it as another amp rather than a profiler