LawrenceH
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Everything posted by LawrenceH
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Here's mine, plonked on the kitchen worktop, and no messing with the phone camera. Plugged in, the numeric display is (usefully) bright - hence it washes out the cameras as seen above. Looking carefully in person, I'd say it's up there with my Cali76 bass comp in terms of finish quality and apparent ruggedness, though obviously it's more 'functional' than 'graphic designer-y'. But on a pedal this complex I don't care, particularly when its from such a small company and getting it re-engineered to match a commissioned visual design brief would make it (much) more expensive.
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The brushed metal case of the VIP looks a lot nicer in-person than these photos and videos. It's a high quality tooling and finish. But ultimately who cares, as long as it's sturdy (which it definitely is). No-one in the audience will pay it any attention and even if they do, most pedalboards look like a crappy mishmash unless you happen to have complementary visual designs across the board - or choose your pedals based on fitting a visual aesthetic over sound.
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I do really like the last voice, sounds sexily expensive - can see that being v useful. Is that off the FI or the Moog? I guess robotic Kraftwerk emulation probably has a bigger market segment in Germany/EU, but I'd still like a demo with a more funk-oriented player, focusing on playability and expression. I know I should be the change I want to see, but the learning curve seems steep in terms of learning the pedal itself alongside video production and YouTube publishing.
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Excellent, that suits me as though I use rounds I'm a very reluctant string changer! I was concerned that fast mode might use more of the overtones to make a guess at the note and old strings can be a bit dicey there. Thanks as always for the sage advice and keeping us in the loop. Looking forward to the new update!
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I also have a more general question about tracking and strings/instrument EQ. Are spanking new roundwounds likely to track better than older? How about flats? What about the effect of tone controls on the instrument itself? Or pickup position? Any safe generalisations? It's possible I've asked something similar before, in which case forgive me.
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Brilliant! Can't wait to give it a go. Amidst all the focus on preset management, I hope the idea of changing a subset of the default presets (ideally the first bank) to some of your more 'classic' bass sounds hasn't fallen by the wayside for any upcoming release. For obvious reasons I'd think it a particular selling point if one of these was a sound with e.g. square/pulse and saw layered.
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Boring midi problems aside, I'm interested to know the current progress on implementing portamento/glide on audio trigger. For me that is still the number one feature limitation (as opposed to quality of life issue) of the FI4.
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Hmm I had no idea about that! A strange and annoying quirk that seems like it would cause all sorts of problems. Can't remember if it has been open or not tbh. Will have another go, thanks for flagging that!
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No other devices - this is the first bit of midi kit I've used for probably over 20 years. I don't actually recall making or altering any settings at all save possibly selecting the device itself within the editor. I think chances of operator error are high. But I don't mind spending £25-odd on a name brand interface just to rule out one set of possibilities.
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This very cheap one, doesn't seem to need additional drivers
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Windows 11 PC
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I have the VIP with recent firmware (possibly current? Would need to check), and the usb interface is I think one you have had working. It does talk to the FI4 but seemed erratic when adjusting settings and loading/initialising patches. One issue is not knowing what 'correct' operation is meant to look like when editing patches especially when learning my way around a new synth architecture. I'm generally not a huge fan of learning from videos, but a clear, dry tutorial on building a 'classic' patch (eg Chameleon) from a freshly initialised patch would actually be very helpful for unlocking and showcasing the power of this pedal.
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Ah shame, yeah I did think it was pretty ambitious given the parameter depth/breadth! I remember the 90s S&S synths (eg Korg, Alesis) were really well designed for this - but even they relied on 2x16 LCDs to navigate the menus. Incidentally I have had trouble with the super-cheap midi interface I bought, not sure if it's user error, my computer or the interface itself, but I'm going to order something like the Behringer Go to see if it resolves itself. I've managed to load the odd patch but manual editing seems inconsistent and I wouldn't trust it to update firmware.
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Ah ok, thanks. I can see the point of that but personally, full parameter editing would be much more useful. Especially if patch organisation via the pedal is going to be a thing (since I would never use 99 patches for unique voices, I'd just arrange the banks to suit particular sets)
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Hi Peter What is a set list mode?
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Rehearsal room/stage electrical safety gear
LawrenceH replied to Beedster's topic in General Discussion
This'll be my last post. But in the scenario above where someone is already getting electric shocks possibly due to a faulty amp, removing the earth from the mic wire is NOT an acceptable solution. If the fault is in the guitar amp (or the supply feeding it), removing the path to earth means they are still building potential which can easily be earthed through another path, like a different mic or some random bit of stage kit or touching someone else who is earthed. Especially dangerous if it's one where the potential slowly floats up over time. The ONLY safe solution is to stop using that guitar amp/supply. Hum is not necessarily a sign of serious danger. However, an electric shock is a damn good indicator (nylon trousers notwithstanding). The point is not that the fault is definitely lethal, but that you don't know it isn't -
Rehearsal room/stage electrical safety gear
LawrenceH replied to Beedster's topic in General Discussion
I am temporarily popping out of my posting retirement to say, the solution to an untraced fault causing electric shocks via the mic is NEVER to remove more earth connections. This is a potentially (geddit) lethal scenario. If you have any doubts at all about a venue's electrics or your gear, at least plug in through a decent RCD. For god's sake don't try and work around it by removing earths! By the way, a local RCD on your gear is safer than relying on an RCBO back at the distribution board, because RCD effectiveness is influenced by length of a cable run. -
This is exciting. If you could use both an FM and virtual analogue voice simultaneously, that would be even more so - a bit of moog underneath REALLY fattens up a dx7 bass sound. Definitely another case where careful choice of presets will be invaluable; so many of the classic sounds were just factory presets in the case of FM, it is horribly unintuitive to programme. I guess an S&S engine would be useful for some people, and very innovative in guitar pedal terms. Wavetable synthesis maybe even more so. For digital multi-effects, imo they have to be very good indeed to make it much of a selling point. So many decent-ish utility units and modellers already available. A nice compressor model would help give the synth output an even more 'finished' sound based on my experience so far, but again 2 or 3 optimised presets would be essential. I'm a big fan of the one knob compression/saturation in the Strymon Deco I picked up recently, it really is very tape-like and sounds great on the FI4/VIP, just adds hugeness.
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What about FM, is that at all feasible? Especially a 6-operator setup which mimicked those iconic Yamaha algorithms would give access to a very different sonic palette, some very handy bass patches in there. (not to mention that unique 'gong' Synclavier patch at the start of Thriller).
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One thing to add that is more relevant for users here: the FIv4 takes compression very well. I've tried it both with an optical compressor and the ubiquitous Cali76, separately and together. Both together in particular gave that final polish and punch you get on e.g. 70s records. I haven't tried the internal overdrive, but it also responded well to a smidge of pedal drive to emulate those classic synth lines where a small amount of overdrive juices them right up. I did wonder whether I would need a compressor before the pedal to help it, happily I can say not and will probably keep this immediately after my tuner in the chain. I didn't think to check background noise when testing which, as I was on studio-grade headphones, means it was probably very quiet since my compression chain adds a lot of gain.
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Done. And there's me posting in the very megathread I was grumbling about being hard to mine for info! 🙃
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Reposting here from the MXR thread at Peter's request, where people were discussing the relative merits of the two pedals: OK I am breaking a self-imposed decade-long exile from posting to chime in here, because I just got the Future Impact VIP that was up for sale and I'm so bloody impressed with it as a product. You guys are absolutely right - in fact, I'd said something eerily similar to Peter earlier today in a private chat where he was very kindly giving me advice on a usb-midi converter. First up - tracking on the VIP is stellar. I don't have the MXR, but I own the Source C4 and used to own the original Deep Impact. This feels both immediate and accurate, it gives me that finger-ear connection that makes me believe I'm playing an instrument. Feed it clean bass with clean technique and octaves jumps, slides, ghost notes, bends are no problem. The only thing that might improve it a little bit is some kind of training mode with AI or similar to give even better, context-dependent note-on/-off triggering. But it's already really, really good. If you're competent enough to play in a funky covers band then this pedal will do what you want with minimal adaptation to your playing style, you can play it and still feel like a bassist. Sonically, I only needed to play through a few presets to hear very clearly that this will do anything that is showcased on that MXR demo, and more besides; including stuff the MXR can't do to the best of my knowledge but that's still useful for actual real-world bassists. E.g. some of those classic bass monosynth patches a la MJ or Herbie rely on mixed waveform voices and/or pulse width modulation. The MXR 'voice' button is a bit of a black box that sort of kind of maybe covers these a bit but definitely not to the extent the FIV4 does. The FIv4 filters and associated envelopes sound great in a way the C4 can't manage; the sweeps are smooth, the tone is fat and pristine in a good way, that'll dirty up nicely if desired. In particular the very starts of the notes are the first time I've been convinced by a bass synth. Ergonomically, the VIP makes this much pedalboard friendly and the metal finish looks good, better in real life than on-screen. In an ideal world a future hardware revision would include LCD screen, USB interface and either rotation of the VIP casing 90 degrees while retaining top cable entry, or an additional footswitch for separating patch up/down functions. At the moment fast-pressing moves you down a patch number instead of up, it is ok when you get used to it. As other users have said: The big but very solvable problem is that the v4/VIP presets showcase the power and quality of the pedal but by and large aren't at all useful for the average gigging bassist in a band. All it needs is slots 1-10, or better 1-20, to be filled with a range of presets chosen to mimic synth bass in classic tracks a la the MXR, and it would elevate it to the undisputed top of the pile. It wouldn't matter how easy it is to edit beyond the basic level and dynamics controls on the front, because the users that feared the editor would never need to touch it. That'd probably also help with the dearth of decent Youtube demos, since bass reviewers wouldn't have to gain programming expertise first. I think part of the issue for the FI is that the people developing it are way more adventurous and forward-looking than us bassists! As it is, for now we just have to accept getting our editing fingers dirty or at least downloading some of QM's excellent patches. Hence my question to him about an appropriate MIDI adaptor. A secondary problem is that a lot of the useful online info about the FIv4 is buried in this gigantic megathread here and at the Other Place, that are hard to search or browse efficiently. Honestly I love the MXR demo and am still keen to try one, but I think once the hype has died down the FIv4 will emerge as still being current best-in-class for synth bass. It's not just powerful, it's musical and fun. Right I'll climb off my soap box now! Be interested to hear people's takes on which classic synth bass tracks would make the cut for a preset top ten or top twenty...
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OK I am breaking a self-imposed decade-long exile from posting to chime in here, because I just got the Future Impact VIP that was up for sale and I'm so bloody impressed with it as a product. You guys are absolutely right - in fact, I'd said something eerily similar to Peter earlier today in a private chat where he was very kindly giving me advice on a usb-midi converter. First up - tracking on the VIP is stellar. I don't have the MXR, but I own the Source C4 and used to own the original Deep Impact. This feels both immediate and accurate, it gives me that finger-ear connection that makes me believe I'm playing an instrument. Feed it clean bass with clean technique and octaves jumps, slides, ghost notes, bends are no problem. The only thing that might improve it a little bit is some kind of training mode with AI or similar to give even better, context-dependent note-on/-off triggering. But it's already really, really good. If you're competent enough to play in a funky covers band then this pedal will do what you want with minimal adaptation to your playing style, you can play it and still feel like a bassist. Sonically, I only needed to play through a few presets to hear very clearly that this will do anything that is showcased on that MXR demo, and more besides; including stuff the MXR can't do to the best of my knowledge but stuff that's still useful for actual real-world bassists. E.g. some of those classic bass monosynth patches a la MJ or Herbie rely on mixed waveform voices and/or pulse width modulation. The MXR 'voice' button is a bit of a black box that sort of kind of maybe covers these a bit but definitely not to the extent the FIV4 does. The FIv4 filters and associated envelopes sound great in a way the C4 can't manage; the sweeps are smooth, the tone is fat and pristine in a good way, that'll dirty up nicely if desired. In particular the very starts of the notes are the first time I've been convinced by a bass synth. Ergonomically, the VIP makes this much pedalboard friendly and the metal finish looks good, better in real life than on-screen. In an ideal world a future hardware revision would include LCD screen, USB interface and either rotation of the VIP casing 90 degrees while retaining top cable entry, or an additional footswitch for separating patch up/down functions. At the moment fast-pressing moves you down a patch number instead of up, it is ok when you get used to it. As Al has said above: The big but very solvable problem is that the v4/VIP presets showcase the power and quality of the pedal but by and large aren't at all useful for the average gigging bassist in a band. All it needs is slots 1-10, or better 1-20, to be filled with a range of presets chosen to mimic synth bass in classic tracks a la the MXR, and it would elevate it to the undisputed top of the pile. It wouldn't matter how easy it is to edit beyond the basic level and dynamics controls on the front, because the users that feared the editor would never need to touch it. That'd probably also help with the dearth of decent Youtube demos, since bass reviewers wouldn't have to gain programming expertise first. I think part of the issue for the FI is that the people developing it are way more adventurous and forward-looking than us bassists! As it is, for now we just have to accept getting our editing fingers dirty or at least downloading some of QM's excellent patches. Hence my question to him about an appropriate MIDI adaptor. A secondary problem is that a lot of the useful online info about the FIv4 is buried in gigantic megathreads here and at the Other Place, that are hard to search or browse efficiently. Honestly I love the MXR demo and am still keen to try one, but I think once the hype has died down the FIv4 will emerge as still being current best-in-class for synth bass. It's not just powerful, it's musical and fun. Right I'll climb off my soap box now! Be interested to hear people's takes on which classic synth bass tracks would make the cut for a preset top ten or top twenty...
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The gap-filling is only an issue if you have gaps... more of a problem on the more complicated BFM horn designs I'd have thought, as they incorporate lots of angled cuts which are tricky to get accurate on a DIY set-up. Don't over-think it, especially if screwing the cabs, it's just wood glue! I'd just use whatever I had to hand, as long as it's not pritt stick it'll be fine
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I have used a UK-brand expanding PU glue, can't remember which but there are plenty available that are gap-filling and suitably strong. Probably this would work (woodwork, geddit? Oh dear) http://www.wickes.co.uk/Evo-stik-Polyurethane-Wood-Adhesive-310ml/p/227825 I have to say though, assuming cutting is accurate and cabs are being screwed together anyway, I have gone back to good old PVA because it is far less annoying when you get it all over the place!
