How Good is the Fractal VH4 Model?

[CrimsonKing]

I'm normally a 5150 guy, but the VH4 is since a few months one of my favorites. Channel two is so nice for a slightly dirty clean sound. Channel three for high gain stuff, boosted or just the amp. Love it!

Channel 2 gets JCM 800 tones with the bright switch engaged and enough presence dialed in. That channel and a boost could be all one needs, but then you have the 3rd (Mega) channel which is legendary for its wall of sound. Punchy af and a lot of clarity for the amount of compression.

 

[knwlnd]

This is what I love about Fractal gear and this forum;

I see a post about an amp I’ve never tried from @2112.

Then see some settings suggested from @sprada (which translated really well from the real amp to AXE-FX III).

Then a cab direction to head in from @dr bonkers.

And before you know it I have another awesome sounding preset and have learned a lot about an amp I could have missed out on.

Actually two presets, I applied the same treatment to the Diezel Blue and got stellar results.

 

[Tremonti]

I'm borrowing a Diezel VH4 at the moment (2009 model) so naturally the first thing I did was dial up the Fractal model with the knobs in the same position and take a look at how close the TMA reads between them. I zero'd out speaker drive/comp/compliance and used the relevant X-Load impedance curve and the results are very impressive.

View attachment 133673

Keep in mind this is without making any adjustments to bring them even closer into line. Just eyeball the settings and go.

Preset bundle attached. I'll put a video up over the weekend too.

Thanks and cannot wait to try!

 

[2112]

Here's a vid

 

[CAGOPOCO]

I had one (2012 model IIRC), it was very cool but less versatile than one might think, too stiff and/or too compressed for most application.
For crushing modern rock power chords and low strings riffs was great but there are better amps for anything else.

Channel 3 topology is a heavily modded 2203, but mids are centered differently and highs are more distorted like a Rectifier. It is also much compressed than both by design.
For some reason it sounds big but single notes lack juice. Channel 4 has more juice but it's compressed as hell and doesn't feel good to play solos.

Channel 2 sounds very un-Marshall, if anything it vaguely reminds a cranked Hiwatt. I don't know how people tell otherwise. The only thing they have in common is the gain level.

 

[sprada]

Here's a vid

Amazing how Cliff nailed this model.
There's likely more difference between two real VH4s

 

[GuitarGuy316]

Here's a vid

Awesome! Is the bundle uploaded somewhere already? Link:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/vh4-amp-match-97026289

@FractalAudio, any chance that a Fryette PowerStation loadbox curve will be added at some point? It's a little bit more tricky so you can change the reactive curve with the switches on the front but WARM+EDGE sounds best to my ears.

 

[FractalAudio]

@FractalAudio, any chance that a Fryette PowerStation loadbox curve will be added at some point? It's a little bit more tricky so you can change the reactive curve with the switches on the front but WARM+EDGE sounds best to my ears.

The odds of that are somewhere between extremely low and nil.

 

[Blakemore Music]

Are the bright switches missing on the authentic page for the Silver models 2/3 in axe edit for anybody else?
(I haven’t checked on the axe screen, yet)

They are on there on the Blue Models.

Great video, sweet amp!

 

[Keith White]

I'm borrowing a Diezel VH4 at the moment (2009 model) so naturally the first thing I did was dial up the Fractal model with the knobs in the same position and take a look at how close the TMA reads between them. I zero'd out speaker drive/comp/compliance and used the relevant X-Load impedance curve and the results are very impressive.

View attachment 133673

Keep in mind this is without making any adjustments to bring them even closer into line. Just eyeball the settings and go.

Preset bundle attached.

How good is the real amp

 

[GuitarGuy316]

The odds of that are somewhere between extremely low and nil.

Guess I need to try the X-load eh?

 

[My name is mud]

The amount of gain in this amp, that’s super dirty

 

[AlbertA]

The odds of that are somewhere between extremely low and nil.

 

[Randalljax]

That was a great comment
We just need an Ask Cliff anything thread and he can answer a bunch of repeated requests like that
Global Blocks in FM series
…. Not going to happen
Dual pitch blocks in FM
… nope
Jazz amps
… probably not
More Bass amps
…..perhaps one day

 

[York Audio]

9 out of 10 on a dial ?

Yeah, 9 out of 10 on the real amp's channel volume. The model doesn't have a channel volume though, so I don't know how to replicate that.

 

[jbigg21]

Here's a vid

You sir are the man!

 

[Thomas Obester]

Yeah, 9 out of 10 on the real amp's channel volume. The model doesn't have a channel volume though, so I don't know how to replicate that.

I assume models are wide open, like when you have one channel amp with just one volume knob.

 

[lastcaress83]

Very nice work! Prescient timing as well… I watched Adam Jones play through a silver and a blue VH4 along with his Superbass last night, killer show! Knowing that I’ve got super accurate models of these amps in the AFIII made it that much more enjoyable.

 

[IronSean]

I assume models are wide open, like when you have one channel amp with just one volume knob.

They can't necessarily be because some real amps distort witht he channel colume up (presumably this is part of what's going on with the VH4) and leaing them wide open would cause the amp to have a permanent semi-cranked sound. More likely I'd guess they're modelled at noon, a middle ground of the possible values.

 

[jaycal6]

Chris Baseford just emailed a VH4 preset in his newsletter. Looking forward to checking that out.