warwickhunt

I spent 4 hrs today with another bassist who has also recently started down the road of Kemper Profiling and between us we profiled, tested and compared a variety of permutations. I came to the conclusion that yes I probably don't care much for these sims/IRs/profiles et al. and it pretty much renders my original question as pointless! LOL

I bought it used, it was easy enough to sell for the same price. I actually disabled the cab sims as I disliked all of them, I felt the pedal sounded better with them disabled. The issue with any of these pedals with in-built captures or files downloaded from sites is that the tone/sound of the amp simulations just isn't a sound I like.

I bought one recently but tbh it didn't suit and I found the cab sims... Meh! I'm sure it is ideal for some especially if it does the core tone you want but I couldn't get out of it what I wanted.

Pretty much my thoughts, views and tribulations right there! The guitarist in my bands (same one in both) has been an advocate for years and owns most of the big names (Fractal, ToneX, Helix etc etc). He swears by them and as he owns our PA and does the live sound for us, he has been the driving force for me trying to go silent stage and 'digital'. I've tried the bass IRs, Cab Sims etc in his pedals and racks + other gear I have begged, borrowed and bought inc me buying a Kemper Profiler (used); this last was the ultimate commitment to getting to terms with getting something which I am happy with. *Crux* 'I am happy with' - I know many of the combinations of equipment I have tried have supplied a decent enough sound/tone to FOH but I've never been happy with what 'I' am hearing! Playing live (what I do rather than recording), has to be a pleasurable experience, it's why I do it. Yes I want the audience to be happy but I am making music for me as well. I don't want sh*t amps and cabs that give me a woolly mush, I don't like the IEM experience (hasn't worked for me but I will be trying again), IRs never quite feel/sound right and I feel I'm almost dealing with a 2nd rate amp sounds. We are talking small differences here but if I've got a good sound that I'm happy with why would I accept something not quite as good? I think sometimes manipulating these digital sounds is so complex that you end chasing your tail and making things worse! Hence I was hoping if there was a way to capture my amp and settings in an idiot proof way, I could go that route but its not to be. A few of the analogue preamp pedals I've used have been good but not quite right so maybe I need to persevere and find the right preamp... or take my bass amp along to gigs (sans cabs) and take line-outs to the PA and my monitor. LOL

Spent a LOT of hours this week doing tests and tweaks but I've come to the conclusion that of these digitally available technologies, I'm not going to get what I need or like. Honestly, a tough call as some of the captures I've done have been so close to the genuine article that it has been staggering BUT I can hear a difference and despite knowing that to virtually every 'punter' there's no difference, I'd rather it was 100% OK for me. I'm a dinosaur and destined to remain that way! LOL

Nothing in any of the off the shelf supplied samples has ever been good enough for my tastes and as for the cab sims... don't get me started! LOL As with all of these things they are guitar oriented which means the architecture is generally over complex for 'many' bassists needs. I want my amp in a pint size pedal that has an in/out gain + 3 band EQ controls. If you could do the capture thing and store half a dozen of your favourite amps that could be easily manipulated, I'd be happy as a pig in poop.

Appreciate the input but again, way more complex than I'd ever want, need or use. I actually bought a used Kemper Profiler (Toaster) and the capture process is excellent and 95%+ of the sound of the real thing BUT I've ended up having to go to the far end of a fart to set it up to use live, which has been achievable BUT... as soon as I swapped basses I was needing to access sub menus to alter the input clean sensitivity. A pedal that can get that 95%+ of the amp it is capturing but in a simple 4 or 5 dial format would be sweet.

Helping fellow bassists out can't be doing any wrong in my book.

I realise you get Helix and NuX pedals that have their own presets, cab SIMs and IRs etc but is there a compact pedal that allows you to profile/capture amps (and cabs) without all of the bells and whistles of a Kemper profiler. I know you can get a Kemper 'Stage' board but I don't need nor want 9 buttons/switches and all of the 'rig' capabilities of the full blown Kemper. Is profiling/capturing solely the domain of Kemper or does another manufacturer offer this? As a gigging bassist I want the ability to profile an amp/cab of mine and store it in a simple pedal format.

All power supplies are not created equal. My X5 Plethora happily runs off my 400Ma rated Arion pedalboard (has been for nearly a year and plenty of gigs) and my Fishman Plat Pro is running off the same power at the same time. However, my X5 hooked up to a 500Ma 'newer' supply doesn't like it even when hooked up by itself and switches itself off and on... well it did it a couple of times before I thought 'S0d that'.

Going off the recent comments all of the strings bought following the OP link seem to be legit at £13. I didn't carry out much due diligence when I ordered mine off Amazon but they arrived today and are legit. I'm sure you get lots of knock offs sold via Amazon but in this instance the D'Addario strings seem fine.

Travis Bean didn't crack it.

Do you play purely acoustic instruments with no means of electronic amplification?

Mine are due for delivery on Monday, we'll see what turns up. Anyone got actual photos of the ball ends etc of genuine strings?

I once joined a new band and vividly remember the guitarist mocking me for my ear plugs... 2 minutes later he asked if we could swap stage sides as he was deaf in one ear from years of playing on that side with a loud drummer! The irony wasn't lost on me.

Meh, I'm done trying to help others and offering insight when it is asked for!

Are you saying that the student played the drums 'less hard' when wearing IEMs as opposed to having music played back through monitors? Yep that seems obvious and not a great surprise at all. We've experimented going silent stage using IEM and our drummer confessed to it being easier as he didn't have to play harder to hear over the backline. It didn't work for us using IEM however as I was never comfortable (physically) with them and didn't like the sound etc (ditto the drummer). The guitarist singer continues IEM but the drummer and I are happier with me using no backline to carry bass to FOH (it goes DI to PA) but I do use a 10" powered monitor mounted on a pole off to the side of stage; both drummer and I have worn hearing protection for 25 years plus. One size doesn't suit all but SOME form of hearing protection is a must.

Indeed. You'd not get EQ on a power amp which does ring a (very) small alarm bell that the unit may have been measured as 100w @ 8 ohms with the EQ turned to maximum: is it boost only or cut/boost, maybe even cut only? Ergo with EQ off/turned down you may get a reduction in output, easily remedied by turning pots to 100% but that could be inducing a tonal characteristic based on the frequencies that it boosts/cuts. Totally anecdotal as I've no idea how the amp is configured but it is possibly worth investigation... saying that it isn't a great deal of money!

Yes, that's what I meant. Often the 'bass' frequency for a guitar is centred higher than a bass player might like; ditto there seems to be no info as to what frequency the mid and high are affecting.

No reason for it not to work. The frequencies might not be geared up to suit bass but that's navigable. 100w @ 8 ohms 'might' be a struggle against a drummer and/or loud guitarist but everyone's circumstances are different.

SWR Behemoth?