A small but powerful and flexible hybrid board (VP4, TK Imperial pedal, +++)

[Richard_G]

Lately, I’ve been thinking about how to put together a board combining my Tone King Imperial Tritube preamp pedal, my recently acquired Fractal Audio VP4 and a few other of my pedals. And in my own humble opinion, I’ve now put together a nice, flexible hybrid board in a rather small footprint (compared to many other boards).

I thought this board and setup perhaps could be of interest to others here as well. So here it is:

I guess the setup and signal chain may be considered somewhat complex for a small board, where I’m connecting the VP4 and TK Imperial pedal (TKI pedal) in "standard" 4CM while also utilising the dedicated "extra" inputs and outputs of the TK Imperial pedal:

"Main" signal chain: Guitar -> Paul C Timmy -> Origin Effects Cali76 Compact Deluxe -> Wampler Germanium Tumnus Deluxe -> Fractal VP4 IN-L -> [Pre-FX in the VP4] -> Fractal VP4 OUT-L -> Origin Effects RevivalDrive HotRod Custom -> TKl pedal IN -> TKI pedal FX loop send -> Fractal VP4 IN-R -> [Post-FX in the VP4] -> Fractal VP4 OUT-R -> TKI pedal FX loop return L
+
"Extra" signal chain: TKI pedal "To amp in" -> UAFX Enigmatic -> IK Tonex One -> TKI pedal "From amp send"
+
Expression pedal: Mission EP-1 connected to the VP4 (off board)
=>
Outputs: TKI main XLR outputs and/or TKI "To amp return" output and/or TKI headphones output.

Let me expand a bit on the setup and signal chain:

• I am starting off with two of my favourite analog drive pedals (Timmy and Tumnus) and a nice analog compressor (Cali76) in front of the VP4.
• Using the standard 4CM method I have a lot of possibilities of putting additional FX from the VP4 in front of the (pre)amp on a per preset basis.
• With the RevivalDrive Custom placed between the VP4 OUT-L and the TKI pedal IN, I can
  • use one (or both) of the sides on the RevivalDrive as an additional drive pedal/gain stage before the (pre)amp
  • or use one (or both) of the RevivalDrive’s sides with the fuller analog preamp/amp-sim settings (and in this case bypassing the preamp section of the TKI pedal [and the Enigmatic and the Tonex One; more on this later]).
• I love the Rhythm channel on the TKI pedal. The Lead channel is growing on me. The reverb and tremolo of the TKI pedal are also really nice. And I think the TKI pedal works really well with drive pedals.
• With the VP4 connected to the TKI pedal in 4CM, I can also put Fractal’s really nice delays, reverbs and modulation from the VP4 post the TKI preamp on a per preset basis.
• With this setup, I’m using IRs on the TKI pedal (one can switch between three [user] IRs on each channel) and not the new IR block in the VP4. The IR is active on the TKI pedal’s main XLR outputs and on the headphones out, but can be bypassed. Note that the TKI pedal also has an "To amp return" as part of the "extra" connections, and this is without the IR. So I can for instance run the mains out to FOH with an IR active, and at the same time run the "To amp return" to a power amp and traditional cab for monitoring on stage. I can also run one XLR with the IR to FOH and one XLR with the IR to a FRFR monitor on stage (I’m using a mono setup anyway).
• The "extra" signal chain - where I’m going from the TKI pedal’s "To amp in" output to the Enigmatic and Tonex One and back to the TKI pedal’s "From amp send" input - is only active when the TKI pedal’s preamp section is bypassed.
  • So when I bypass the TKI preamp section, I can choose to have either the Enigmatic or the Tonex One active (both with no IR), and then this will go via the rest of the TKI pedal and out to the TKI pedals outputs. As mentioned above, I can also have both the TKI preamp section, the Enigmatic and the Tonex One bypassed, and then use (one or both sides of) the RevivalDrive as an analog preamp into the rest of the TKI pedal and out to the TKI pedal’s outputs.
  • It should also be easy to remove two cables/connections on the board and connect my Synergy SYN-1 in place of the Enigmatic and Tonex One when I want to. But I haven’t tested this yet.
  • Likewise, I should be able to remove the same two cables/connections and connect the "To amp in", "From amp send" and "To amp return" to my Bogner Shiva 20th, effectively expanding the amp with the TKI pedal’s channels and allowing me to switch between the Bogner’s preamp and the TKI preamp with the TKI pedal’s bypass switch).
• When the "extra" signal chain is active (ie when the TKI preamp section is bypassed), the normal FX loop on the TKI pedal is still working as normal (as the system’s FX loop). So I’m still able to use the rest of the setup as intended (with the FX from the VP4 pre and post amp, the analog pedals in front etc.).
• Likewise, the TKI’s reverb and tremolo is available also when the TKI preamp section is bypassed.
• My plan is to further work on this setup by also including some MIDI, but I haven’t done that so far. I will at least explore how I can control some of the TKI pedal’s functions via MIDI signals from the VP4 (the TKI pedal’s preamp bypass state, active channel, IR selection, switching the reverb and tremolo on/off, etc.).

I have just finished putting the board together and will continue to experiment and test the setup. But so far I like this setup a lot!