Getting Started

Clean to Edge-of-Breakup: These captures are dialed for a tone that straddles clean to edge-of-breakup—all depends on how aggressive you pick/strum. Exceptions are the SRV-like captures. Those are clean to pretty rippin’ blues/rock tone.
Headroom for Wet Effects: To maintain headroom, I’ve found it best to capture with a bit more gain and then pull the Capture Gain back to 3 or 4.
Treble Range: I wanted some extra high-end flexibility, so these captures are usable anywhere from 3 to 8 on the treble side—plenty of range to shape your tone. With my low-output humbucker-equipped guitars, I’ve found the sweet spot to be between 3 and 6 for the best balance of clarity and warmth.

How this started: Going Straight to the Source

A few years back, I wanted to create my own Kemper profiles. I had played many great ones, but I always had the desire to make my own—dialed in from the source exactly how I wanted them to sound. So, I bought a slew of great amps.

2002 Vox AC30 – Korg Era with Don Butler Tone Mods
1994 Vox AC30 with limited edition red tolex and NOS tubes
Matchless HC30 with NOS tubes
Matchless Chieftain
Benson Chimera
Fender Prosonic
Dumble Steel String Singer Clone
Borrowed a 1965 Vibrolux in mint condition
1964 Vibroverb Reissue

Experimenting with Dual Profiles

When I had them, I experimented with creating dual profiles—blending two amps together into a single profile. One of my favorite combinations was the AC30 and Benson Chimera, so I captured that pairing in two ways: one with the Benson as the primary flavor and one with the AC30 as the primary flavor. I tried this with a few different amps and ended up with some great combinations.

In the end, the experiment was worth it—the Kemper profiles turned out great! Fast forward to today—I don’t have those amps anymore, and I miss those sounds.

Bringing the Profiles to Tonex

So I decided to experiment again by capturing my Kemper profiles with the Tonex. When I did this with the Quad Cortex, the results were nearly identical. I had high hopes for the Tonex, and it didn’t disappoint!

If you’ve ever run your pedalboard into a Kemper (or two for stereo), you know the common complaint—too compressed. But with a Tonex, it’s a different story. It responds, crackles, and breathes like a real amp, with all the headroom you’d expect.

Now, I have the sounds I love (especially the dual profiles, which are so unique) in a device that responds like an amp should. I wanted to share them with you.

If you’re like me and don’t care whether these were made directly from amplifiers—only that they sound great—you’ll love them. But if you’re more of a purist, I challenge you to try them. You might be surprised. 😉 After all, if it sounds good, it is good.

What’s Included

2002 Korg Era Vox AC30 with Don Butler Tone Mods: Tons of AC30 chime and sizzle.
1994 Vox AC30/6TB: The red tolex makes this one sound mean. In all seriousness, this AC30 sounds a bit more mellow than the 2002; it’s warmer and meatier. Think an AC30 through Greenbacks instead of Blues.
Benson Chimera: Round, big, and the grind I love.
Benson Chimera + AC30 Dual Capture: More grind, less chime. The Benson takes the lead, giving it a thicker, chewier sound.
AC30 + Benson Chimera Dual Capture: More chime, less grind. The AC30 leads the way, keeping things a bit brighter with more sparkle.
Fender Prosonic: The Prosonic combo breaks up in a way that’s just special. One of my favorites.
AC30 + Prosonic Dual Capture: A great mix of chime and meat. AC30, but with some extra weight behind it.
Matchless Chieftain: Beefy and round with plenty of bottom end, and a hint of the Matchless chime.
Matchless HC30: Chime and sizzle for days. The top end definitely has that signature Matchless bite.
Matchless HC30 EF86 Channel: The EF86 channel is something special. More gain, more harmonics, and an aggressive edge—like an angrier Normal channel. I don’t have a consistent use case for this, but it’s fun to mess with.
Matchless HC30 + Vibrolux Dual Capture: Matchless bite and chime combined with vintage Fender Blackface cleans.
1965 Vibrolux Reverb: All the mid-scooped and shimmering high end you’d expect from a vintage blackface Fender.
1965 Vibrolux Reverb SC: Same as above, but voiced for single coils. #blues #country
2002 Vox AC30 + Vibrolux Dual Capture: A blend of the 2002 AC30’s chime and sizzle with the scooped, glassy tone of the Vibrolux.
AC30 + Match Chieftain Dual Capture: AC30 chime meets Chieftain body.
AC306TB Mid Push: The same chimey tone, but with more mids. Sounds beefy and a bit honky. Think old school Passion tones.
Vibroverb + SSS Dual Capture: The famed SRV combo. Strat heaven on this one!
64 Vibroverb + Duellist: SRV tone, but pushed with the Duellist.
1964 Vibroverb Cleaner: Really clean tone from the Vibroverb.
Texas Flood SSS Clone: This is the Texas Flood Steel String Singer clone. More SRV.
Texas Flood SSS + Duellist: SSS + the Duelllist.
UA Ruby: Captured my favorite settings (2 captures).
UA Dream: Captured my favorite settings.

How They’re Voiced

Pedal Platform: These are designed as pedal platform captures—clean-ish to edge-of-breakup.
Dialed for Flexibility: Most captures I’ve tried tend to be too dark. These allow for a bit more flexibility with the high end.
Input Trim: I keep the input trim at the stock level. No time for messing with that stuff all the time. 😜

If you need a hand or have any questions, please feel free to reach out. I’m always happy to help as best as I can. 😀

In Christ,

Troy, GFHG