Kemper Profiler Bass Rigs

Kemper Profiler is now more bass friendly, with over 50 professionally captured bass amp profiles.

Kemper Profiler Bass

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Thanks to its innovative “profiling” technology, the Profiler is just as capable of recreating the sound and feel of bass amps as it is with guitar amps. Now the company has expanded its virtual bass rigs to make the amp more appealing to bassists.

There are now quite a number of professional bassists that are using the Profiler. The company even name dropped some popular players, including Pino Palladino, Christopher Wolstenholme, Phil Buckman, Billy Gould, Mark Greenwood, Tony Levin and Paolo Gregoletto.

Since many professional bassists have been using the amp both in the studio and on tour, the company has gathered their feedbacks and inputs to learn how the company can make the Profiler more suitable for the electric bass.

To make the amp more low-end friendly, Kemper added multiple bass profiles into the default rig content. These rigs include direct profiles taken from the DI output of bass amps, and also feature microphone captured tube-driven bass amps that feature slightly distorted tones.

On top of the default bass rigs, Kemper Amps have also released more virtual bass amps and cabinets that are downloadable via their website. In the Rig Manager software the bass rigs can easily be identified by right clicking the top row, selecting the column ‘Instrument’ and then sorting by this column. There are also more bass rigs available via the Rig Exchange webpage, where actual owners of the Kemper Profiler can share their profiled rigs.

The company provided a “Low End Connectivity Guide”:

“Bass players are free to use any kind of bass cabinet for monitoring the Profiler on stage or in the rehearsal room. Modern bass cabinets typically have a neutral sound character like PA cabinets do, while classic bass cabinets, e.g. the famous Ampeg 8 x 10” cabinet, tend to color the sound. When monitoring through a bass cabinet that colors the sound, to avoid a double coloration the Cabdriver should be engaged by setting “Monitor Cab Off” in the OUTPUT menu. Still the complete simulation, including virtual cabinets is available simultaneously for the mixing desk from the Main Outs, so no microphone is required. When using a neutral cabinet the cabinet simulation for the monitoring signal should be activated. The built-in 600 Watt power amplifier of the Profiler PowerHead and PowerRack provides plenty of power to cut through a band during rehearsal or in live situations with drums.”

The Kemper Profiler comes equipped with a built-in analog splitter box, this will let you split your processed and unprocessed signal. The Direct Output carries the unprocessed bass signal while the main outputs carry the processed signal in stereo. The “Git Analog” option in the Output menu removes unnecessary analog/digital conversions for the Direct Output.

Another feature that bassist will appreciate is the “Parallel Path” option. This is particularly useful when running your bass signal through a distortion pedal or overdriven amp, where your sound can lose some dynamics and fundamental frequencies. With Parallel Path, you can mix in the undistorted bass signal with the distorted signal to get back the lost fundamental frequencies.

The Profiler also comes with many bass-specific stompboxes and studio effects, some where even tuned to better suit bass players. Here is a list of some of the effects:

  • Analog Octaver is a classic effect originally intended for bass.
  • Pitch Shifter types for different intervals and colors. The Pitch Shifter allows for polyphonic playing, including chords.
  • Formant Freeze and Formant Shift possibilities in some Pitch Shifter FX. Although restricted to monophonic playing only, shifting the characteristic formants of the bass will provide a whole new character for the instrument, while remaining very authentic.
  • To extend the passive equalizer in the Stack section (tonestack) for even more flexibility shaping the bass sound, the Profiler provides a number of stomp equalizers. In particular, the 4-band parametric Studio Equalizer is extremely flexible and well suited for bass.
  • Every chorus type FX features the “X-Over” (crossover) parameter, inspired by specialized bass chorus units. Raising the value of “X-Over” shields the lower frequencies from the effect of the chorus modulation, thus giving the sound a stable bottom-end.

Finally, Kemper have created a special “For Bass” section in their online forum, where bassists can ask questions, provide feedback, share best practices and suggest features. For more information visit Kemper Amps.

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