D100 PACK – 29 Profiles

The Diaz CD100 is one of those amps you don't see every day.  The CD100 is a 100w beast based (a little) on the high powered tweed twins but with added reverb and some pull knob options for getting unique higher gain tones.  It stays bluesy no matter where it is (since Cesar Diaz was SRV's guitar tech), but can cover a great range of tones from country cleans to searing lead tones.  You can see why this is one of Warren Haynes' go-to amps.  I had a CD100 for many years on the road and eventually parted ways but I found another recently to bring those tones back to my KPA.  These profiles cover many of the amp settings along with some gain pedals in front.

Diaz Pack requires 3.0 firmware and while most amps were profiled using my trusty 3rd Power cabinet, the new separation algorithms make it easier to get more great sounds by switching to your favorite cabs as well.  These clips were recording into ProTools 10 using a Propellerhead Balance interface with no plug-ins or processing using my red Tom Anderson Cobra with 3 P90s (pictured above).  Check out the soundclips below and as usual please excuse the sloppy playing...

Profile Pack 1 (60 profiles) seeks to recreate* a collection of boutique and vintage amps from my personal collection as well as contributions from my friends (thanks guys!).  They cover a variety of styles, from clean sounds that stay warm and full (also great for pedalboard-based set ups) to mid-gain and lead gain British sounds.  Some of these profiles have been the basis for my live presets for the past couple of years and sound great in the studio as my session buddies can attest as well.

Below are sound samples from 40 out of the 60 profiles included in the Kemper Profile Pack.  I will also include a few other variations of some of the amps, but these should give a good idea of the profile sounds. All of the snippets below were played on my red Anderson Cobra with 3 P90's.  All of the clips below were recorded directly into ProTools 10 thru a Propellerhead Balance interface.  There is no eq, compression, or plug-in on these tracks.  Please excuse the sloppiness and tuning.

Scroll down below for sound clips

D-Pack is my collection of D*mble and D*mble-inspired amps for the Kemper Profiling Amplifier.  For reference, using an original Overdrive Special along with other great D-inspired amps like Fuchs, Ceriatone, and Two Rock, I've gathered some of my favorite tones from these iconic amps.  60 profiles wasn't enough to fully capture the full panorama of these great amps, but I tried to get some usable and (hopefully) inspiring tones to play--everything from the glassy cleans to the over-saturated, smooth, singing lead tones.

As with any amp that is capable of such tonal variation due to the mini-toggle switch settings, and different inputs, etc., these profiles are not meant to capture every setting of the amps, but are merely snapshots of my favorite settings.  The clips below highlight how subtle the differences are between the different amps and even different settings within the same amp.  This pack may not be for everyone, but hopefully some of you may find some joy in playing the dynamic D-Pack as much as I do.

One of the early boutique amp builders, Jim Kelley created some amazing amps used by Vince Gill, Bonnie Raitt, Lee Ritenour, and others.  There were only about 600 made so they're still pretty rare and though they don't fetch Dumble prices yet, they are amazing amps and built to last forever.  I profiled this tan 210 combo.

With all the pull knobs and two channels and proprietary power attenuator, there are a lot of possible settings and I couldn't possibly get to them all, but I tried to get some great usable tones from clean to crunch to saturated solo sounds.