The Steel Guitar Forum

Hi Everybody,

Has anybody tried the Kemper Profiling Amp (KPA) for Pedal Steel?

I have been using one since September 2012.
I think that I am the first Pedal Steel Player to use one in the UK.

My main use is D.I. into our ( L A J ) PA System EV SX 300's (we use 4 of them) for live use.
I also use the KPA for Recording Sessions.

The KPA sounds and responds more like a 'real' amp.
For most players perhaps going into a real amp might be a better option.
But for me and other players who now use something like a POD, the KPA is superior.
With the option of having a 1000 Rigs (Amplifiers + Speaker) at your fingertips, built in Reverb, Delay, Compressor, Envelope Filter, and many more F/X the KPA has got to be the best on the market at the moment.

The KPA can 'profile' (take a snapshot of) ANY amp.

So instead of taking ALL of your amps... Peavey, Fender, Evans, Roland or Little Walter... with you on the road... Just take the KPA

Main con is the Price tag of nearly £1400 in the UK

http://kemper-amps.com/page/render/lang ... fined.html

Hi Arthur ,
The problem I have had in the past is that there isn't just ONE amp that sounds good for everything .....This has led me to purchasing a music store like collection of amps !!....LOL !!.....LITTERALLY !!..... All my amps do something that I really like particullarly well , and that's why I bought them in the first place .....I think that it's now time to profile them and see how close the Kemper can come to the real deal ....If it's pretty close , I'll sell off the originals ...... From what I have have heard from the clips is that some amps sound pretty "spot on" while others seem to loose a presence that leaves the tone slightly more dull sounding than the original ....Perhaps it can be tweaked to come back to more of the original sounding amp but since I do not have one , I don't know for sure .....Have you found that ALL your amps that you profile come back pretty much spot on ? .....Thanks, Jim

Way too expensive for my tastes...2 grand?!

Most of the "modeling amps" have tremendous capability...in that they offer 50 amp samples - 48 of which are totally unsuitable for pedal steel.

Donny,
I have a collection of amps that there are no models for in the modeling amp world ....These are amps that are rare enough to want to recreate a profile for if I should sell them off .....I guess the saying "one mans ceiling is another mans floor" comes into play here ....I have a studio and there are quite a few of my amps that I would have been THRILLED to pay $2,000 for !!.... How many modellers have modelled a Jim Kelley FACS amp ? ......How many have modelled a Fuchs Triple Drive Supremes ? ........ Seen any modelers doing an Early 60's Fender brown Concert amp ? ...... While a lot of the modellers do sound good , they do not faithfully recreate the tone of the amps that they set out to model .... Again , they sound good , but not what I'm looking for ....If I sell off a lot of my collection, I would like to know that I can get the exact tone , or so close that it won't matter ....Modellers do not give me this benefit ..... If I can faithfully recreate the tone of all my amps and sell them all off, believe me, I'll pay the $2,000 and come out WAY AHEAD of the game !!..... ......Jim

Arthur, you said "I also use the KPA for Recording Sessions"

It might be interesting for us to hear it....

It's not really pricey if it does what it says it can do..

David H.

Nowadays more and more pro gigs use in-ears monitoring, so amps are not allowed on stage. I'm very curious about this unit, and also the FACTAL AXE FX, which is also getting rave reviews. If I could put my 65 Deluxe, my 62 browface and my Peavey Nashville 400 in one box, that would be amazing. Plus all the effects, so no more spending hundreds of dollars on pedals, power supplies, pedalboards... Plus access to all the other amps in the profile database, litterally hundreds of them...

Hello, what are your favorite Kemper Profiles that you like for Pedal Steel?

I have a Kemper and I'm using a profile from "The Amp Factory" called "Big Twin". It's pretty good, but I was curious what some of your favorite profiles were for Pedal Steel.

Thanks!
~Troy~

just from a quick glance, it seems a lot of people are confused to what this does. It isn't just a box loaded with amp models, like the axe fx. This actually Samples the sounds of any amp you want. If you want to sample a peavey nashville, or a cigarette box amp, you could.

The axe\fx is pretty good for what it does, but have seen more and more complaints that it just doesn't satisfy that real amp feel.

I've only had experience with the roland VG-99 which uses a midi pickup and models guitars, amps, synths, and anything else.

The thing sounded amazing for the first month of playing with it. I could get some decent tones from a modeled Tele and twin or ac30. Then it became too sterile and you could just tell it wasn't "right"

So, i think that is kind of the trap with all of these tools. They come close enough, but will never be perfect. I once worked with a producer that claimed when the air is moving into the microphones, that is when the magic happens. Thats what all of these modelers miss is that magic..YMMV

I have used one. It's the best modeling amp that I have used. I used it with one of the built-in amp models (the Two Rock) at church and it sounded good (they like them because of the lower stage volume). I have not yet had a chance to model my own amp with it but I've heard it profile other amps and it is pretty accurate.

When you're in a room listening to a tube amp, that sound is pretty special. ANYTHING else, that amp through a PA, that amp on a CD, that amp on your TV or (dog forbid) an MP3 - or your wee "computer speakers" - that's ALL modeling. Here to stay. Chorus effects and detuning and time-shifting were all originally invented to mimic the sounds of sloppy humans playing through tubes behaving badly - think about it.

I have been using the KP for about 7 months now and love what it does. I have profiled my favorite tube amps and made combination profiles that are better than anything I've ever played through .. for example my Vibrasonic with a Solid State M80 .. or a blues Jr. with a NV400 .. or a onto 8 with a JBL D130 .. the list goes on and the results are spectacular .. i Have sold off a bunch of my amps I no longer need. Mesa boogie, Mesa Maverick, twin reverb, Delux reverb , Acoustic 165 the list goes on .. these Kemper amps are fantastic.

Oh incidentally you need to tweek the Profiles to get them perfect .. they are not all going to have the life of a live amp right out of the box .. there is a process Kemper uses where you re record the amp as you play that samples that interaction. When you get into the higher edit screens you can set all kinds of amp parameters as well.
The main trick here is when you go live all your settings from the recoded tracks will sound the same. No lost rig .. you know .. I had the perfect sound in the studio when i recorded it but can't get that sound when on tour ..
It takes some technical brain power to work with this unit .. but it is the best tool i have used to get 1200 rigs in one light weight box without carrying a semi full of gear around with me ..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk7GexV_TF0

Here's a demo of one, it is a interesting technology.

Michael Britt, guitar player with Lone Star is selling his profiles on line. They are very well done. Includes many clean profiles that are great for steel including the Little Walter 50… I am getting ready to order the real Little Walter 80 but the LW 50 profile sounds great.. I would love to try out a NV 400 profile if anyone has done one.. For live amp playing, I'm coming out of the stereo outs to two NV112 into the power amp in, sounds great.. Much better than the NV preamp…

http://www.mbrittprofiles.com

Has anybody tried modelling a steel guitar amp with a 15" speaker and then using the Kemper and a 2x12 speaker cabinet?

I'm wondering if a single Kemper and 2x12 speaker cabinet will work well for both guitar and steel.

Gordon,
The samples sounded considerably duller/darker. High end clarity missing. No "air!" My friend Neil Zaza got the first Line 6 amp to test before they released it. He's a "Melodic Metal" player, and he thought the sounds he used on the Line 6 sounded pretty good, but he brought the amp to me to test the "Clean" sounds. Same problem! Loss of high end air and clarity. Of course I was comparing the Line 6 to my Doctor Z amps. But, huge difference! Maybe editing the samples would help? But sometimes it's hard to edit in something that is no longer in the sample.

John Billings wrote:Gordon,
The samples sounded considerably duller/darker. High end clarity missing. No "air!" My friend Neil Zaza got the first Line 6 amp to test before they released it. He's a "Melodic Metal" player, and he thought the sounds he used on the Line 6 sounded pretty good, but he brought the amp to me to test the "Clean" sounds. Same problem! Loss of high end air and clarity. Of course I was comparing the Line 6 to my Doctor Z amps. But, huge difference! Maybe editing the samples would help? But sometimes it's hard to edit in something that is no longer in the sample.

John,

I agree on the line 6 but the Kemper is amazing! It is being used by some of the top studios and musicians in the world. It is and will change the way we think of amps.. If you see Bruce out with Garth you will hear his steel through one..

Wally

Wally,
I said;"Maybe editing the samples would help? "
Gordon's youtube link was clearly lacking high end clarity. The samples were, uh,,, duller-sounding. But maybe editing??????
John

John Billings wrote:Wally,
I said;"Maybe editing the samples would help? "
Gordon's youtube link was clearly lacking high end clarity. The samples were, uh,,, duller-sounding. But maybe editing??????
John

Sorry John, I guess I read it wrong... The main thing is acuraltly profiling the amp using good mic technics...

While amps may be profiled, I think it's far harder to profile a speaker/cabinet. When they profile, they're probably using one mike, and placing it very close to the speaker. That won't sound like what you hear with two ears, at a far greater distance from the speaker/cabinet. Combo amps and speaker enclosures sound different, depending on where they are. So, a modeled sound will always reflect only one facet of sound that an amp produces. It's the audio equivalent of a Xerox copy, and copies seldom have all the character of an original.

Is anyone using the Kemper Profiling Amp with a Dobro? I have the JD Reso Fishman PU and Mic Modeling unit and it works great.. but it would be nice to consolidate and use the Kemper for all of my instruments.

Any input is welcomed.

Thanks!

The Kemper is a great tool .. I own the rack mount with the power amp and I use a full range cabinet. My advice is yoiu really need to be ready to model your favorite amp and then tweek what you've done. The Kemper is not for the technically shy. The results can be stunning. The guitar patches are fine for most anything and you can buy some for guitar and steel. Hope that helps.[/i]

I love mine. M Britt's profiles sound amazing and are totally worth it if you have a Kemper & haven't got them yet. I actually like his profile of a NV400 better than I like my own NV400. I have a TC Furlong cabinet that I use mine with and I really like the way it sounds. It has all the effects you could ever want and is very easy on the back. I love the way my blackface twin sounds, but my back cringes when I think about taking it to a show over the Kemper.

Anyone use one with a Dobro? I have the JD Fishman Aura system. I wonder what it sounds like through a Kemper??

A few random comments.

Britt profiles: In the last year or so there was an article on this in Guitar Player. If you go to their web site they may have it in the archives.
He mentioned that for all of his profiles he uses the same cabinet. He talked about his reasoning why.
It was also mentioned that there are several other guys selling packages of profiles as well.

Cabinets: There have been a few reviews in GP of Full Range cabinets/speaker systems designed specifically for profilers like the Kemper and Fractal and others.
The guy claims that it makes a big difference. I can see where it might. If you demo the Kemper/Fractal through a standard speaker cab, that may be where you are making things duller.

Kemper versus Fractal: I assumed that the Fractal was better for effects and uses models (NOT profiles), and the Kemper actually did profiles but was not as good in the effects department. I think that may be incorrect and warrant further investigation. Somewhere a while back I ran across a thread on another site where they talked about this. They got into a discussion where the Fractal can actually do profiles....somehow.

Opinion/question: Sitting next to it in a room you might be able to tell a difference between the profiler and the real amp. On stage, especially a BIG stage, are you still so sure? And if you are using a proper recommended full range cabinet, will the subtleties start to disappear?

Cost: The Kemper/Fractal are expensive. But how much is one amp of the real thing, especially some of the vintage or boutique ones? I think that is one of the main appeals to these units.

Design and intent: Face it, steel players are a minority. These things were originally designed for the wider 6 string community. But as was mentioned, Garth's steeler is using one. So it appears that the call for profiles for other instruments is now being heard and addressed.