Tonejunkie, MBritt and other commercial profiles - is it worth buying??

I use TJ profiles almost exclusively.

My advice, stick with factory content, you will find more amps than you´ll ever need. Some factory content is made from Tonejunkie, MBritt, etc.

I bought a lot of commercial profiles, and i don´t regret it, but after some years of Kemper usage i would say that you can get pretty much every tone

you need with the factory stuff alone, knowing how to tweak them to fit your guitar and your taste. But that is the same with the commercial profiles.

The biggest discovery for myself was the impact of the cabinet (and how it is miked) on the amp sound.

if you aren’t in a hurry, just wait until the new updates will come. There will be some kind of „try before buy“ function coming up in the rig manager. Don’t know when, don’t know how it will work, but that’s what I understood from the announcements.

I have never bought any but I think they would be worth it. They are mostly made in studios with amazing equipment and sound engineers with years of experience, I think that has to be worth something.

The profiles available for free are not all great but there are some amazing profiles that have all the sparkle and with a little help are just what I love to play so I never had the need to buy anything "yet". I'm thinking really hard about it. I'm waiting for the new upgrade to decide. To buy or not to buy.

I would give the factory profiles a thorough test drive first and see if any sound like they are what you are looking for. Maybe download a few profiles of amps that interest you from the Rig Exchange. Also don't forget the Legends packs in the download area. I never found many factory or free profiles I liked but your tastes may be different.

I have purchased dozens of profile packs from a bunch of commercial profilers. Even that can be like playing roulette. Most of them were demoed and deleted. The only profiles I really use are MBritt. I'm a high gain type of guy. If I had to stop using his Crank N Go pack I would just sell my Kemper.

If you are looking for something specific they have, then yes, they are worth it. I mostly use Mike Britts and TJ profiles with a few others in there, but they are many great ones right on the Kemper. That said, they are worth the price in my opinion. I got really lucky last round and got TJ Everything pack for 30 Euro, so I have more than I will ever need.

It's worth browsing the "Hidden Gems" thread from the Hot Topics section.

You'll find things such as this: Morgan AC20 by rmpacheco.

Saying that I've been happy to pay and support some of the well known profilers just because I dig what they do and there is an art to capturing great profiles.

I use a mix of commercial and free profiles, Mbritt & MattFig are my preferred, together with the free packs from Kemper

I have spent a hundred dollars each on MBritt and Tonejunkie profiles. I don't regret it at all. Maybe I could have found profiles of equal quality by wading through all of the free profiles, but with those two vendors I am confident, that I get very good quality.

I think you can probably get about every sound you ever need with the factory contents and the legends pack and the free sampler rig packs included. You just need to know how to tweak the kemper. That being said I’m a gear slut so I have quite a bit of packs from different providers as people have said Michael Brett, tone junkie stuff is some good stuff. TJ gives away a lot of his stuff for free as well with teasers, which are really good. Some of my favorite stuff is from the Amp factory.

Quote from wpotere

If you are looking for something specific they have, then yes, they are worth it. I mostly use Mike Britts and TJ profiles with a few others in there, but they are many great ones right on the Kemper. That said, they are worth the price in my opinion. I got really lucky last round and got TJ Everything pack for 30 Euro, so I have more than I will ever need.

Same story here. Got the TJ stuff really cheap. Britt profiles are fatter for me and TJ, while good, is a bit on the thin side in many cases. Britt profiles sit better in a loud band situation IMO.

TJ = Top jimi or Tone Junkie?

Tone Junkie

The free packs have a lot of good representations from various Profiler makers.

I played around with the factory content, Rig Exchange and the sample packs in RM. I never cared for MBritt or Tone Junkie stuff. That's just me.

Guidorist Profiles have been great for me. His stuff is inexpensive - but done right. Also - if you're patient, he'll do buy one/get one specials at various times of year. Then its a complete no-brainer.

Quote from vjclaus

TJ = Top jimi or Tone Junkie?

TJ = Tone Junkie for me.

Do you have any preference for speakers or microphones? That could narrow it down.

Definitely worth buying some 3rd party profiles. But...

Just because some are very popular, doesn't mean they're going to work for everyone - I've bought far too many profile packs, from dozen's of different profile-makers, and very few have really given me anything like the tones in the audio/video demos - all depends on your gtr/pickups. You might be very luck, and the first ones you try sound great thru your gear - but you might have to try a few before you get what you want.

However, once you find some tones that really work for you, you'll be glad you did!

Just hope Kemper introduce an official market-place soon where you can actually try profiles before you buy - would save Kemper users a LOT of money and frustration!

As already said it always comes down to personal taste, music and playing style and so. If you want to buy something from one of the many providers try to find a taster pack in the Rig Manager or on their websites. Or grab a cheap pack in a sale.

If you don't like the style, than normally you won't be happy with the rest of the collection.

The reason for this is, that the main style and quality of the profiles does not depend on the amp they used. It depends on the capture process and studio skills. Cabinets, microphones, placement skills, pre and post production and the personal taste of the creator.

And if this style does not match your personal taste, than the chances are big that you better not waste hundreds of dollars in sounds. Some of the well known creators always use a similar approach in their process so the style and quality is consistent. But even if the majority of the community likes it, it doesn't mean, that it has to work for you.