Early Van Halen

Yeah, I accidentally took them down from YouTube. I think the Kemper has a more organic sound/feel.
Ah...So the 'Top Jimmy' reference is a Kemper profile or something, not a Fractal preset? I was hoping to hear some 1984 tones out and playing out of the Fractal. I can't get enough. Of course Top Jimmy was with the Ripley, I believe. Anyhooo... nice tone. I jammed along while watching/listening.
 
Half of Eddie's tone is in the hands. Same with Nuno, both play thru rigs that are simple by modern standards.
As far back as the late 70s other guys were playing thru Eddie actual live guitar rig with his guitar and still asking, "Why doesn't it sound the same?"

Eddie, as a young man, picked really hard. He had pretty cold pickups by modern standards too, this all matters too. Nailing the amp isn't enough, though I think the reverb is actually more important than the exact amp for the feel.
 
For the life of me I can't figure out how folks get the factory presets to sound so good.

I think they're closer than some guys give them credit for - or maybe it's just not as fun having them already dialed in for us lol and we simply have to make it harder than it needs to be so we start diving in. I was surprised when I started messing with "the brown sound" preset, after a simple cab swap (to LT's TVMix 7) it was ready for prime time IMO, really close to the VHII tone, especially with the right guitar/pickups.
 
Just get a Kemper. I came from the Kemper. I profiled all mu studio tones that I had as programs in my rack setup. Using pro gear like Neve preamps Royer, Sennheiser, and shure mics, as well as all the great stuff in my guitar rack. I could never get the mids to sound as they should after the profile was done. It didn't matter if I did the capture or someone else there was this oddity in the mids that was not right. I used the Kemper for almost 8 years before I grabbed the AX3. There is zero comparison.

Yes you will need to dial in your tone, which usually will not be quick. Expect 1-2 weeks to get all your tones correct, especially if you are trying to copy tones you used on albums, or others tones they used on albums.

If you just want 1 tone and 1 tone only and don't want to tweak or really do much dialing in a tone, then the Kemper is what you want. I hate tones other people try to dial in, because they are never what I need or how my fingers work with the guitar or how I pick, etc... This is where a Kemper fails for me, even when you are capturing your own tones.
 
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Just get a Kemper. I came from the Kemper. I profiled all mu studio tones that I had as programs in my rack setup. Using pro gear like Neve preamps Royer, Sennheiser, and shure mics, as well as all the great stuff in my guitar rack. I could never get the mids to sound as they should after the profile was done. It didn't matter if I did the capture or someone else there was this oddity in the mids that was not right. I used the Kemper for almost 8 years before I grabbed the AX3. There is zero comparison.

Yes you will need to dial in your tone, which usually will not be quick. Expect 1-2 weeks to get all your tones correct, especially if you are trying to copy tones you used on albums, or others tones they used on albums.

If you just want 1 tone and 1 tone only and don't want to tweak or really do much dialing in a tone, then the Kemper is what you want. I hate tones other people try to dial in, because they are never what I need or how my fingers work with the guitar or how I pick, etc... This is where a Kemper fails for me, even when you are capturing your own tones.
That's odd, I had the exact opposite experience. I worked with the axe III going deep into every setting for two years straight and could never get the sounds I was looking for. With the Kemper it was instantly close and with a little tweaking good to go. I must say though I don't create my own profiles, just using high quality ones from main providers.
 
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