Fractal Talk

mikah912 said:
Yeah, Mesa Marks V/VII have so many channels and switches, they're almost modeler-like in their versatility. I think that's why people are really getting into the Synergy modules after that concept kinda floundered on the fringes in the Randall/Egnater days. People still love amps and pushing air, but they don't want their options to be limited by choice - or by volume. With MIDI and IR loading becoming increasingly widespread.....you can have it all, really.
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The V feels like it should to me, with channels making sense across the board and not feeling like I wish this mode was here or there.
 
JiveTurkey said:
I've been playing amps for a few weeks now :bag
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My man.

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DrewJD82 said:
I hadn’t messed around with the 1987x model much after I got my Ceriatone but made a preset for it last night and man, I think I like it more than the Ceriatone! The Ceriatone definitely has more dirt on it, I’m assuming some of the ‘68 mods lend itself to that. I can get the VH1 thing out of the Treble channel 3/4’s the way up on the Ceriatone, the same dirt isn’t even available on the 87x dimed.

Gonna compare them more closely tonight. Something that cracked me up though; I dialed in the preset from scratch and about an hour in wanted to grab the DynaCab setting I was using for my load box and the head so I saved it as a Block and went back to the 87x preset to find that I dialed in the exact cab/mic spot for the 87x already.
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One of my favorite 1987 sounds is the Lead scene in Larry Mitchell's 2022 Gift of Tone III preset: 1987 + dirty Klon.

www.fractalaudio.com

Gift of Tone - Fractal Audio Systems

www.fractalaudio.com www.fractalaudio.com
 
yek said:
One of my favorite 1987 sounds is the Lead scene in Larry Mitchell's 2022 Gift of Tone III preset: 1987 + dirty Klon.

www.fractalaudio.com

Gift of Tone - Fractal Audio Systems

www.fractalaudio.com www.fractalaudio.com
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I’ll definitely load it up later! I loaded up that Greer Lightspeed (can’t remember the fake name) on one channel of the drive block and the Klone on the other as the Klone has been my go-to for almost every boost necessity since it was released, even the metal chugga tones, but I think I’m digging that Lightspeed more, at least with the 87X.

I added the SD-1 in a second drive block/3rd Scene and it’s pretty remarkable how both those pedals don’t totally screw the sound of the amp, but make it sound like a natural inclination of dirt. About 10x last night I said “THIS is MY Strat tone” because it’s not really ripping off my heroes for once.

I just want a band to be able to play these tones at gig volume with.
 
mikah912 said:
A lot of people just accept that whatever the factory presets sound like is how the unit should be defined. On that front, Fractal tends to offer presets with rolled-off highs, IMHO. I always want more presence and bite, but the performance page allows me to address that quickly and move on.
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That's certainly an opinion...

I don't feel that way at all. I think it depends on the guitar, pickups and player. I rarely use factory presets and when I do often lowering the highs is a first step ;)

But not all presets are created equally and maybe I'm using ones you're not?

Also a good reason to know how to create and adjust presets as factory presets don't get updated too often and will drift off over time with firmware changes.
 
I'm not the best with this but y'all are so I'm throwing the towel and asking. I have had a lot of success with my VP4 strictly post amp - but I wanted to try it in a kind of 4CM to get pre and post FX (namely a noise gate for my Hollowbody). I have it configured Guitar > VP4 L Input > L output out to Amp > Suhr reactive load > DI into VP4 R input. The VP4 has 4CM enabled. What I experience is NOISE - a ton of it. Engaging the input gate AND utilizing a gate block does nothing to mitigate it. I have to be doing something wrong, and maybe it's because I'm not using it in the conventional 4CM way in that I'm not using a cabinet or sending the output back out to an Amp's return. Thoughts?
 
Mikael Dez said:
I'm not the best with this but y'all are so I'm throwing the towel and asking. I have had a lot of success with my VP4 strictly post amp - but I wanted to try it in a kind of 4CM to get pre and post FX (namely a noise gate for my Hollowbody). I have it configured Guitar > VP4 L Input > L output out to Amp > Suhr reactive load > DI into VP4 R input. The VP4 has 4CM enabled. What I experience is NOISE - a ton of it. Engaging the input gate AND utilizing a gate block does nothing to mitigate it. I have to be doing something wrong, and maybe it's because I'm not using it in the conventional 4CM way in that I'm not using a cabinet or sending the output back out to an Amp's return. Thoughts?
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Are you using any Humbuster cables? I don’t have a VP4, but I’ve experienced very noisy 4CM setups with my FM9 and certain amp heads. Humbuster cables were a huge help.

You can make your own Humbuster cables if you have TRS cables and the ability to reconfigure the jack connections. I used an alligator clip to test the Humbuster configuration on a TRS cable before doing any soldering. When I verified that it helped, I soldered the connections to make it permanent.
 
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Mikael Dez said:
I'm not the best with this but y'all are so I'm throwing the towel and asking. I have had a lot of success with my VP4 strictly post amp - but I wanted to try it in a kind of 4CM to get pre and post FX (namely a noise gate for my Hollowbody). I have it configured Guitar > VP4 L Input > L output out to Amp > Suhr reactive load > DI into VP4 R input. The VP4 has 4CM enabled. What I experience is NOISE - a ton of it. Engaging the input gate AND utilizing a gate block does nothing to mitigate it. I have to be doing something wrong, and maybe it's because I'm not using it in the conventional 4CM way in that I'm not using a cabinet or sending the output back out to an Amp's return. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

For shits and giggles, see which side of the loop is causing the noise, it’s likely the effects loop return of the amp and may need to be isolated.

It’s probably worth building a couple tiny iso boxes for anyone playing around with this stuff. A couple tiny project boxes, in/out jacks and an audio transformer is cheap as fuck (like $20?) or you can just buy one pre-made for $37. Like this one- https://www.americanloopers.com/col...ik-isolated-jacks-guitar-junction-box-model-a

Or future proof yourself and get one with a couple isolated in’s and out’s -
www.americanloopers.com

Junction Boxes / Patch Bays - Signal Split

www.americanloopers.com www.americanloopers.com
 
Mikael Dez said:
I'm not the best with this but y'all are so I'm throwing the towel and asking. I have had a lot of success with my VP4 strictly post amp - but I wanted to try it in a kind of 4CM to get pre and post FX (namely a noise gate for my Hollowbody). I have it configured Guitar > VP4 L Input > L output out to Amp > Suhr reactive load > DI into VP4 R input. The VP4 has 4CM enabled. What I experience is NOISE - a ton of it. Engaging the input gate AND utilizing a gate block does nothing to mitigate it. I have to be doing something wrong, and maybe it's because I'm not using it in the conventional 4CM way in that I'm not using a cabinet or sending the output back out to an Amp's return. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
I'd think you have a possibility for phasing issues this way as well. Why not 4cm then out to the Suhr?
 
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eggpl@nt said:
Are you using any Humbuster cables? I don’t have a VP4, but I’ve experienced very noisy 4CM setups with my FM9 and certain amp heads. Humbuster cables were a huge help.

You can make your own Humbuster cables if you have TRS cables and the ability to reconfigure the jack connections. I used an alligator clip to test the Humbuster configuration on a TRS cable before doing any soldering. When I verified that it helped, I soldered the connections to make it permanent.
Click to expand...
I am not using hum buster cables but I may go down this route.

JiveTurkey said:
I'd think you have a possibility for phasing issues this way as well. Why not 4cm then out to the Suhr?
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I'm using an IR block in the VP4 - this is my "quiet/silent amp at home" solution that doesn't require a computer basically.
 
JiveTurkey said:
Headphones then or...?
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Either headphones or my studio monitors. I play through my cab too but that one annoys the family 9 times out of 10 and my music room isn't that removed from the main living area so I try not to be TOO annoying lol. I think I'm just going to buy a Boss NS-2 to solve this and that way I don't have to muck with 4CM and I can stay analog in front of my amp.
 
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Mikael Dez said:
Either headphones or my studio monitors. I play through my cab too but that one annoys the family 9 times out of 10 and my music room isn't that removed from the main living area so I try not to be TOO annoying lol. I think I'm just going to buy a Boss NS-2 to solve this and that way I don't have to muck with 4CM and I can stay analog in front of my amp.
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Do you have a USB plugged in to the VP4?
 
Well, first time configuring 4CM with SPDIF and I ran into an issue that can’t be resolved - SPDIF only sends mono, and the signal is therefore only coming out of 1 monitor. I could probably mess with the Scarlett’s mixer and configure it so that signal is routed to both monitors (?) but it’s not worth my time, I want a stereo output. I knew the analog out on the VP4 is in full mono but I guess I didn’t think it would extend to the SPDIF. This is all still fine for me, it just confirms that 4CM is not the method for me with this specific device at least.
 
DrewJD82 said:
I’ll definitely load it up later! I loaded up that Greer Lightspeed (can’t remember the fake name) on one channel of the drive block and the Klone on the other as the Klone has been my go-to for almost every boost necessity since it was released, even the metal chugga tones, but I think I’m digging that Lightspeed more, at least with the 87X.

I added the SD-1 in a second drive block/3rd Scene and it’s pretty remarkable how both those pedals don’t totally screw the sound of the amp, but make it sound like a natural inclination of dirt. About 10x last night I said “THIS is MY Strat tone” because it’s not really ripping off my heroes for once.

I just want a band to be able to play these tones at gig volume with.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the Klone is the #1 for me too. I have channel A of my Drive block set up as a clean boost (0.15 - 3.5 -v5), and channel B for more dirt (7 - 5 - 7). Together with my clean and dirty amp tones, they cover approx. 70% of my overdrive needs.
 
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