Profiles for live use with a regular guitar cab

I don't use it with a regular guitar cab but….

Any profile will work with the Monitor Cab Off box ticked.

In this case the Kemper estimates where the amp stops and cab stars to separate the two. It isn’t perfect but does a damn good job in most cases. On the few occasions I have used mine with a guitar cabinet my normal profiles have worked perfectly this way.

However, if you want absolute authenticity you should use a Direct Amp Profile which is made without a cab. The downside here is that you then need to add a cab for FOH on the main outputs. This may not be as “authentic” as a studio profile with the cab baked in.

The ultimate solution in theory is to use a merged profile which is created by making a studio profile and a direct profile of the same setup then subtracting the direct amp from the studio to leave only the actual cabinet. It works well and should give you the best of both worlds. However, not everyone actually uses this function properly when making merged profiles. A lot of people totally misunderstand what it does and just “merge” any amp with any cab. When done properly merged are probably your best bet though.

Personally I always go for merged profiles and leave the IR for what it is from the profile.

My to go profiles are the BE100 and SLO liquid ones from Mattfig ... I do use a seymour duncan powerstage 700 to drive a zilla 2x12 cab and adjust its EQ to taste without touching the profile

Raf

Hey DutchGuitarDude1,

I use guitar cabs in the rehearsal room only and use FR (Active Kone or any other monitor of the venue) in every other situation, because I am lazy and I like both solutions. In my experiance the range/angle of a guitar cab is not made for the small stages I gig. I would have to be 3-5 meters away and in direct line to the cab to hear myself good and do not annoy anybody else with a compensating loud volumen. So FR is for me the choice for gigs.

With cab sim off in my rehearsal room my 4x12 Marshall 1960 gives the celesion colour to my sounds and I love the sound of it and the moving air of a guitar cab. My bandmades and me found the right spot for the cab and the best volumen. I use the same pofiles for both solutions,

Best regards

Hudi

Quote from DutchGuitarDude1

If I use a direct profile, I can add any IR to the FOH outputs?

Yes.

You can use the cab from any rig in you Kemper library. If you have an external Ir that you like you can drag the WAV file into Rig Manager and it will convert it to Kemper Cab.

Do not limit yourself to just direct (or merged) profiles by assuming the studio versions aren't as authentic.

I don't care how I get the sound I want, so I ignore studio vs merged completely. If it sounds (and feels) good....then it is.

Well....it's an 11 pound box of electronics. *None* of this is 'authentic'.

Personally, I don't prefer merged or direct. I like what the cabdriver does. Direct sounds too much to me like guitar rigs on a DAW that you then have to add an IR to. Something about using studio profiles give it that something extra to me. I don't have to mess with it and I just find profiles with cabs that go to the board sounding like my "real" guitar cab onstage. Things change when you go to a "real" cab and you have to find the right speaker that doesn't color so that it sounds consistent with your main outs.

No special profiles needed for use with a cab, your ears just have to get used to a cab and the room volume.

I'll get used to playing at a low volume in the studio then going to just a cab in the room will be odd at first, but once my ears get used to the volume, I just want to crank it up more and more, it sounds so great when that guitar speaker gets going. That's the "amp in the room" sound people try to find. It's right there.