Fractal Audio Systems VP4 - Virtual Pedalboard

[FractalAudio]

I didn't get much action with it today because I still feel pretty crappy, and sods law, I've now pulled something in my back and have that sharp stabby sciatic pain stuff. Probably resting too much coz of the noro. I hate the human body.

Sciatica sucks. I've been battling it for almost a year now.

The best thing I've found for it is the "Captain's Chair":

It strengthens your core and helps decompress the discs in your back. Since I've been doing it my pain has gone from "can't tie my shoes" to "almost unnoticeable some days".

Three sets of 15-20 a few days a week is doing wonders.

 

[Orvillain]

Sciatica sucks. I've been battling it for almost a year now.

The best thing I've found for it is the "Captain's Chair":

It strengthens your core and helps decompress the discs in your back. Since I've been doing it my pain has gone from "can't tie my shoes" to "almost unnoticeable some days".

Three sets of 15-20 a few days a week is doing wonders.

Yep!! 100% !!

I used to be a lot better at taking care of myself. Used to run 5-7km 3 times a week, used to lift (not huge weight though) 3 times a week. The last few years I've just properly slid into "ughhhhh can't be arsed" territory. Need to fix that! Kids and Covid sorta threw me a bit.

Some life changes soon should help with it.

 

[Orvillain]

I see that you actually use the kitchen sink approach.

har har har!! Clever dick!

 

[GTR37]

Will let you know!

I love this though:
View attachment 39826

So much more intuitive than the Axe FX III.

That’s really cool and much more intuitive , I hope that comes to the Axe and FM editors at some point down the road

 

[deadpool_25]

Sciatica sucks. I've been battling it for almost a year now.

The best thing I've found for it is the "Captain's Chair":

It strengthens your core and helps decompress the discs in your back. Since I've been doing it my pain has gone from "can't tie my shoes" to "almost unnoticeable some days".

Three sets of 15-20 a few days a week is doing wonders.

I need to try that. Is it a standard rep or is it a thing where you hold for a few seconds each rep.

 

[yeky83]

Sciatica sucks. I've been battling it for almost a year now.

The best thing I've found for it is the "Captain's Chair":

It strengthens your core and helps decompress the discs in your back. Since I've been doing it my pain has gone from "can't tie my shoes" to "almost unnoticeable some days".

Three sets of 15-20 a few days a week is doing wonders.

I got sciatica during Covid times, wrote a “help” post on the Fractal forums and all. I was stuck on my hands and knees for two weeks and couldn’t walk properly for a few months. Then had numerous bad flair ups over the next couple years—one time I sneezed wrong and it took me out for a week!

The best thing I’ve found for mine is the glute bridge, but heels fairly close to the butt and stick a hard ball (basketball) between the knees and squeeze the crap out of it with your knees while doing the glute bridge. It activated like a never-used sliver of my posterior chain (glute, ham & hip joint) that felt super foreign & weak on my sciatica side, and grooving that chain has helped a ton. This, as well as further mindful adductor activation in everyday movements, has been so helpful to me in gaining back function after a couple years of feeling terrified & debilitated all the time.

Since finding this, it’s unnoticeable most days now. Still can’t really do anything explosive without getting the toe tingles after, but I can now even sleep in more than one weird position I was stuck to before!

 

[laxu]

Yep!! 100% !!

I used to be a lot better at taking care of myself. Used to run 5-7km 3 times a week, used to lift (not huge weight though) 3 times a week. The last few years I've just properly slid into "ughhhhh can't be arsed" territory. Need to fix that! Kids and Covid sorta threw me a bit.

Some life changes soon should help with it.

You too, huh?

Last month I finally lit a fire under my ass and started going to the gym again. I can't overstate how much it has done for both my physical and mental health. I feel I'm having a clearer mind, sleeping better and just overall moving around feels easier. Even lifting that Mesa Mark V combo around didn't feel too bad.

 

[Orvillain]

Right. Foxy Tone fuzz going back. Cioks DC7 and Crux high current addon incoming instead.

Will power my VP4 and whatever additional pedals I ever manage to decide on!

Definitely my wah. Probably my volume pedal as well, but also.... an expression pedal can control the VP4's input or output volume. Sooo.... I could go that way and take out a gain stage from the pre effects.

 

[Orvillain]

Right. I think I'm sticking with this for a while. See how I get on.

The layout should be fairly self explanatory. But I'll just walk through it quickly:

Guitar > Volume > Wah > LVX > MXR Reverb > VP4 > Stereo Out

I can do stereo effects if I need to, all the way through from the LVX. The MC6 changes my Mark V amp channels via the relay switches. Rhythm or lead, and if I hit the currently activated one it will flip over to the clean channel.

Left two switches activate the tuner and tap the tempo for the VP4.

Then I've got Reverb Freeze and Delay Hold - those also send midi CC's in, but assigned to external 1 and external 2. So really I could attach those to anything on the VP4.

LVX is mainly on there to fill the gap to be honest with you. I could use it as a looper for now, or use it for some more glitchy effects, but I doubt I will - not in the new band anyway.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

View attachment 40055

Right. I think I'm sticking with this for a while. See how I get on.

The layout should be fairly self explanatory. But I'll just walk through it quickly:

Guitar > Volume > Wah > LVX > MXR Reverb > VP4 > Stereo Out

I can do stereo effects if I need to, all the way through from the LVX. The MC6 changes my Mark V amp channels via the relay switches. Rhythm or lead, and if I hit the currently activated one it will flip over to the clean channel.

Left two switches activate the tuner and tap the tempo for the VP4.

Then I've got Reverb Freeze and Delay Hold - those also send midi CC's in, but assigned to external 1 and external 2. So really I could attach those to anything on the VP4.

LVX is mainly on there to fill the gap to be honest with you. I could use it as a looper for now, or use it for some more glitchy effects, but I doubt I will - not in the new band anyway.

Are you keeping the plethora and dd500 for now or moving those on?

 

[Orvillain]

Are you keeping the plethora and dd500 for now or moving those on?

Keeping them. They're very good.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

Keeping them. They're very good.

That's a sweet place to be pedalwise

 

[Orvillain]

That's a sweet place to be pedalwise

Obviously anything can change. Like for example, I would definitely be up for putting my DD-500 where the LVX is. Or a dedicated looper pedal. Not really decided what to do yet. But what I can say is, I can get what I need for delay and reverb just from the VP4. It is sick. Really fucking sick.

 

[Orvillain]

@SillyOctpuss

For instance, a change immediately as a I start test driving for propers.

Since it is very easy to hit two switches on the VP4 to activate the tuner, I replaced the MC6 tuner switch with another command. All it does is load the next bank.

On the next bank, the same switch loads the previous bank. So I can easily toggle between the two.

Then this new bank... I setup the looper commands for the LVX. And it kinda works. I have a dedicated page on the midi controller for looping.

Except the LVX looper sucks. Clicky when it loops back around. Not very responsive to midi commands. Glitchy. Just odd.

Replaced with Plethora. Put a looper in slot 1. Use the Morningstar editor and their midi library to quickly setup the commands for the Plethora.

Now my "page 2" is effectively a Ditto looper experience. But instead of a single switch I have four switches - record/dub, play, stop, and clear.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

I had just about convinced myself to get a collider or a dd200 and RV200 but I think I'll kick myself if I don't get a VP4 to see if it'll work for me or not.

 

[Orvillain]

I had just about convinced myself to get a collider or a dd200 and RV200 but I think I'll kick myself if I don't get a VP4 to see if it'll work for me or not.

Come to London. We jam. We drink beer. We re-enact the Smack My Bitch Up video.

 

[SillyOctpuss]

Come to London. We jam. We drink beer. We re-enact the Smack My Bitch Up video.

If we still lived in England I'd have absolutely taken you up on that. I'd even provide the beer and vaseline.

 

[- ★ - BROCKSTAR - ★ -]

So I jumped into the fractal world for the first time. I just got me a VP4 on the way. Was going to get another H90, and I totally forgot about this coming out a few months ago until I ran across it today again on reverb and immediately thought to myself, this may be the way to go and seems like it does more than H90.

I still use and love my helix floor every single day and that won't change, but I'll most likely use this for some different flavored stuff for my ambient/experimental stuff and synths. Maybe put it in the fx loop of my boss vg-800.

I am confused though on something. Can any 4 blocks be whatever I want? If I want 4 pitch blocks, or 4 delays, or 3 choruses and 1 reverb, or 2 reverbs and 2 delays etc?

 

[Orvillain]

You can't have 4 pitch blocks. But you can have 4 delays, or 2 reverbs and 2 delays.

There's a CPU meter, and I'm assuming it will not load a block if I will exceed the CPU. But yes, this is a way better product than the H90 IMHO.

 

[Orvillain]

I'd even provide the beer and vaseline.

Yer a gent, and a scholar.