Stratoblaster
Fractal Fanatic
I picked up a VP-4 a couple of weeks ago and have used it at some jams/rehearsals with combo amps and thought I'd write up my thoughts on it.
The Reader's Digest version: it's a fantastic pedal that perfectly fills a need for me.
For some background context, I've gigged/jammed with a lot of tube amps over the years, mostly without any FX loops so I've always had to run all FX before the amp. Not ideal, but workable.
I used a Vox Tonelab SE for many years as a front-end to various tube amps, backlines, etc. but primarily thru a JCM-800 1x12 combo, JCM-800 head/4x12, and Orange Rocker 30 1x12 combo. Did the job, easy to use and was a nice, portable, solid unit to bring out for playing.
I decided a needed something up-to-date and when the VP-4 dropped the timing couldn't have been better; I was investigating new, small-ish multi-FX gear and the VP-4 popped up a couple of days later. Perfect...
Setup:
I read the manual a couple of times before I got the device so I was good to go.
I connected the VP-4 and did an overall setup (IO, Input Gain, etc.) via the front panel, then fired up the JCM-800/4x12 and toured through the unit trying out some presets. But, as I had a rehearsal in a couple of hours and I wanted to bring the VP-4 out, I roughed in a couple of presets loaded with bread-and-butter FX: Wah, Drive, Chorus, Reverb, and Delay, etc.
I didn't use VP4-Edit right off but roughed in the presets via the front panel as I wanted to familiarize myself with the front panel and making tweaks since I anticipate having to finalize some settings (mainly the Drive settings) when I plug into a given amp/location.
I accomplished all of that in about 30 minutes and felt quite comfortable editing the unit via the front panel.
I then downloaded all the software, setup VP4-Edit, created templates for use with different amps/locations where I use whatever amp is available, and within 30 minutes had that all running with my starter presets saved.
Jams/Rehearsals:
I did a rehearsal that night with the JCM-800 combo and the VP4 was everything I thought it would be. Easy to use while playing, flexible, and tweaking on the fly is super efficient. Bass player wanted to jam "Miss You" and I said "ahhhh, one second" and brought in the Phaser overtop of the Chorus, tweaked it, and was good to go in about 20 seconds (the bridge has a cool phaser on the guitar in that tune). I was already very happy with the utility provided by the VP4...!
Have had it out at a couple of local jam-nights (using various amps) and some rehearsals and I'm a immensely happy camper. It definitely filled a big hole in my gear and I'm excited to use it.
What I Like Most:
The 100% analog bypass (when setup that way) when the device has all the FX bypassed. That has been a somewhat constant irritant over time with outboard devices not having a clean bypass and/or having issues getting unity gain. I absolutely love this feature...a straight-wire buffered analog bypass is fantastic.
I'll not dote on the quality of the sounds/FX, as we all know how awesome they, are but suffice it to say the FX sound amazing and having such a huge compliment of FX makes the VP4 a very convenient and practical all-around FX pedal. It sounds killer and pushes amps to tonal goodness.
The overall form-factor and easy of navigation to tweak on the fly and usability when playing. It's very flexible, with Presets, Scenes, FX Mode, etc. and working those features with the foot in "real-time" is quick to get a feel for. Although, I spazzed last night with my virtual capo preset; I have both D and Eb scenes, both with a lead scene, and went into my solo scene (which should have been in D) to my Eb solo scene...no guitar hero-stuff happening there lol.
Particularly noteworthy is how the FX mix when the time-domain FX (chorus, reverb, delay, etc.) are in front of an amp's preamp/distortion stages. So often those type of FX just don't "play well" in front of an amp; you can't really mix them properly, they can sound just....weird, and getting to your happy place is difficult and outright impossible in some cases.
The time-based FX in the VP4 mix and behave extremely well when used in that configuration; I've never heard time-based FX sound/play so effectively before the amp as I do with the VP4. Love it...
Having everything reduced to four (FX, presets, scenes with dedicated buttons) coupled to four switches and four tweak knobs makes for an easy, fast, and intuitive way to effectively use and adjust the VP4. There is a cool synergy with all of that. Great stuff...I love it.
With scenes, presets, channels, and tweak-able hold-functions, etc., available the VP4 has huge flexibility and workflow options. I'm still thinking through how I might approach some things but am assured that I'll have all the options that I need no matter which way I go.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, the VP4 is a perfect device for some of my particular gigging/jamming/rehearsal needs. Having Fractal quality FX and signal path in a little box is awesome...terrific job everyone at FAS...!
The Reader's Digest version: it's a fantastic pedal that perfectly fills a need for me.
For some background context, I've gigged/jammed with a lot of tube amps over the years, mostly without any FX loops so I've always had to run all FX before the amp. Not ideal, but workable.
I used a Vox Tonelab SE for many years as a front-end to various tube amps, backlines, etc. but primarily thru a JCM-800 1x12 combo, JCM-800 head/4x12, and Orange Rocker 30 1x12 combo. Did the job, easy to use and was a nice, portable, solid unit to bring out for playing.
I decided a needed something up-to-date and when the VP-4 dropped the timing couldn't have been better; I was investigating new, small-ish multi-FX gear and the VP-4 popped up a couple of days later. Perfect...
Setup:
I read the manual a couple of times before I got the device so I was good to go.
I connected the VP-4 and did an overall setup (IO, Input Gain, etc.) via the front panel, then fired up the JCM-800/4x12 and toured through the unit trying out some presets. But, as I had a rehearsal in a couple of hours and I wanted to bring the VP-4 out, I roughed in a couple of presets loaded with bread-and-butter FX: Wah, Drive, Chorus, Reverb, and Delay, etc.
I didn't use VP4-Edit right off but roughed in the presets via the front panel as I wanted to familiarize myself with the front panel and making tweaks since I anticipate having to finalize some settings (mainly the Drive settings) when I plug into a given amp/location.
I accomplished all of that in about 30 minutes and felt quite comfortable editing the unit via the front panel.
I then downloaded all the software, setup VP4-Edit, created templates for use with different amps/locations where I use whatever amp is available, and within 30 minutes had that all running with my starter presets saved.
Jams/Rehearsals:
I did a rehearsal that night with the JCM-800 combo and the VP4 was everything I thought it would be. Easy to use while playing, flexible, and tweaking on the fly is super efficient. Bass player wanted to jam "Miss You" and I said "ahhhh, one second" and brought in the Phaser overtop of the Chorus, tweaked it, and was good to go in about 20 seconds (the bridge has a cool phaser on the guitar in that tune). I was already very happy with the utility provided by the VP4...!
Have had it out at a couple of local jam-nights (using various amps) and some rehearsals and I'm a immensely happy camper. It definitely filled a big hole in my gear and I'm excited to use it.
What I Like Most:
The 100% analog bypass (when setup that way) when the device has all the FX bypassed. That has been a somewhat constant irritant over time with outboard devices not having a clean bypass and/or having issues getting unity gain. I absolutely love this feature...a straight-wire buffered analog bypass is fantastic.
I'll not dote on the quality of the sounds/FX, as we all know how awesome they, are but suffice it to say the FX sound amazing and having such a huge compliment of FX makes the VP4 a very convenient and practical all-around FX pedal. It sounds killer and pushes amps to tonal goodness.
The overall form-factor and easy of navigation to tweak on the fly and usability when playing. It's very flexible, with Presets, Scenes, FX Mode, etc. and working those features with the foot in "real-time" is quick to get a feel for. Although, I spazzed last night with my virtual capo preset; I have both D and Eb scenes, both with a lead scene, and went into my solo scene (which should have been in D) to my Eb solo scene...no guitar hero-stuff happening there lol.
Particularly noteworthy is how the FX mix when the time-domain FX (chorus, reverb, delay, etc.) are in front of an amp's preamp/distortion stages. So often those type of FX just don't "play well" in front of an amp; you can't really mix them properly, they can sound just....weird, and getting to your happy place is difficult and outright impossible in some cases.
The time-based FX in the VP4 mix and behave extremely well when used in that configuration; I've never heard time-based FX sound/play so effectively before the amp as I do with the VP4. Love it...
Having everything reduced to four (FX, presets, scenes with dedicated buttons) coupled to four switches and four tweak knobs makes for an easy, fast, and intuitive way to effectively use and adjust the VP4. There is a cool synergy with all of that. Great stuff...I love it.
With scenes, presets, channels, and tweak-able hold-functions, etc., available the VP4 has huge flexibility and workflow options. I'm still thinking through how I might approach some things but am assured that I'll have all the options that I need no matter which way I go.
Final Thoughts:
Overall, the VP4 is a perfect device for some of my particular gigging/jamming/rehearsal needs. Having Fractal quality FX and signal path in a little box is awesome...terrific job everyone at FAS...!
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