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Did a test run of my new setup at practice last night. All the same as my old setup except for the addition of the old Ernie Ball passive VP my dad bought me like 26 years ago. It’s been part of a few past setups, but this time I fixed my tone suck issue. Switched on the onboard buffer in the boost right after it, and BAM.

What a great “effect”.

- tune in a much less obtrusive way
- fade in and out in more of a “studio recording” way for breakdowns, etc…
- a noise gate that actually works
- another dynamic tool to use in conjunction with pick attack, pickup selection, effect choice, etc…
- the original tap tempo tremolo
- control feedback or do pedal steel-style pre-bends, all while working the vibrato
- and yes of course those sweet churchy swells

i kinda miss having one on my board. i always used it after drive but before modulation/delay/reverb. it's great for dialing back when you just want a wee bit of crunch but at a lower volume

s_mcsleazy wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 11, 2021 2:14 am

i kinda miss having one on my board. i always used it after drive but before modulation/delay/reverb. it's great for dialing back when you just want a wee bit of crunch but at a lower volume

I do post drive as well. I like a little dirt to come from the amp, so rolling back the VP with a drive on does clean things up a little even though the guitar level the drives see doesn’t change.

A high gain pedal pre-VP with a super clean amp is more synth-like, but that can also be a cool sound.

My dad's old Mr. Crybaby I've been using since always. It's wah and/or volume.
I like doing "swells" with delay and stuff. Yes.

Mines back due to my stereo setup needing a buffer to function (!? Youd think the eventide would have active splitting in bypass!).

The MVP so maybe imagine your boost was already inside the VP. Its buffer is great, and sometimes the min volume is useful for recording gains etc. Like fading a boost pedal and its a nice warm one.

I have discovered slow gears though too so maybe im using it for swell but i am sure for different applications id have preferences.

I often balance dynamics at rehearsal but what then worries me is at a gig with substandard monitoring im less likely to do it.

jorri wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 12, 2021 4:11 am

I often balance dynamics at rehearsal but what then worries me is at a gig with substandard monitoring im less likely to do it.

Yeah. This is going to take some practice for me. Not so much for monitors, but for FOH.

Probably just going to mean making a point to say to the person running sound “This is my baseline, and THIS is as loud and obnoxious as I’m going to be. Can you work with that?”

That’s a good practice anyway, but with the VP I tend to keep dirt and boost a little higher since I can pull it back. Don’t want anyone running for the fader if I get loud for a second.

marqueemoon wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 12, 2021 9:48 am

jorri wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 12, 2021 4:11 am

I often balance dynamics at rehearsal but what then worries me is at a gig with substandard monitoring im less likely to do it.

Yeah. This is going to take some practice for me. Not so much for monitors, but for FOH.

Probably just going to mean making a point to say to the person running sound “This is my baseline, and THIS is as loud and obnoxious as I’m going to be. Can you work with that?”

That’s a good practice anyway, but with the VP I tend to keep dirt and boost a little higher since I can pull it back. Don’t want anyone running for the fader if I get loud for a second.

Yes i'm not entirely sure how to approach it. In practice i can balance by ear. On stage, well sometimes the monitoring is ok... other times, maybe by the placement of the pedal. That said i used to go between a min-vol to max-vol position on the MVP. Now, i use more loops so its more about balancing between the loops which is less of a relative procedure (as long as i hear /something/!).

Is also a trope i get of some FOH go: dirt is too loud, turn those pedals down. then actually they were balanced and now the dirt just gets lost, because the drummer plays with dynamics, or its post-rock influenced, whichever. OK, sometimes this is a clipping issue, but then that suggestion could also mean you don't need to mic the combo. It can be hard to guage but if the soundcheck happens in the practice room i guess with some confidence you can turn up with a balanced sound and somewhat convince them you have things sorted which don't need too much fiddling with.

One thing I like to do is use a stereo volume pedal at the end of my chain.

That way I can:
1- Set my amp to maximum loudness and use the volume pedal to dial back.
2- The volume pedal then acts as a clean booster.
3- I don’t have to worry about clipping my digital delays and reverb by overdriving them.
4- I can set my fuzz pedals to unity or just a little above; since they aren’t boosting the amp, and still clean them up rolling back my guitar volume.
6- If I need to be quieter or louder, I can set that at the amp volume level and not alter anything in my chain.
7- If I need to cut the signal to the amp I can be dialing the volume to zero.

That seems like a good position for it. I was using in the fx loop, so it acted like a master volume, which in theory would reduce noise. But have tried as an always-on boost due to having the mvp first in chain. Not sure of preferencebut probably in the middle where swells dont cut off trails.

Another thing with my setup right now is i just stopped using fx loop and the stereo worked better so there is no need.
But am actually considering dismantling the MVP to make a buffered booster pedal that is mor ergonomic. I should probably find a prebuilt one that sounds as good though.....any suggestions? No idea what the mvp is so i may take a look inside to check if its some similar circuit to anything.

jorri wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 19, 2021 6:14 am

That seems like a good position for it. I was using in the fx loop, so it acted like a master volume, which in theory would reduce noise. But have tried as an always-on boost due to having the mvp first in chain. Not sure of preferencebut probably in the middle where swells dont cut off trails.

Another thing with my setup right now is i just stopped using fx loop and the stereo worked better so there is no need.
But am actually considering dismantling the MVP to make a buffered booster pedal that is mor ergonomic. I should probably find a prebuilt one that sounds as good though.....any suggestions? No idea what the mvp is so i may take a look inside to check if its some similar circuit to anything.

Re: buffered boosts I have a Suhr Kokoboost (V1 with the full range and mid boost sides) and a Creation MK 4.23. The Suhr’s buffer can be toggled on and off via an internal switch.

Of the two I like the sound of the Creation slightly better, but the Suhr is more versatile. The new price for the Suhr is kind of silly, but I bought used and boost is a core part of my sound, so worth it to me.

marqueemoon wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 19, 2021 9:37 am

jorri wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 19, 2021 6:14 am

That seems like a good position for it. I was using in the fx loop, so it acted like a master volume, which in theory would reduce noise. But have tried as an always-on boost due to having the mvp first in chain. Not sure of preferencebut probably in the middle where swells dont cut off trails.

Another thing with my setup right now is i just stopped using fx loop and the stereo worked better so there is no need.
But am actually considering dismantling the MVP to make a buffered booster pedal that is mor ergonomic. I should probably find a prebuilt one that sounds as good though.....any suggestions? No idea what the mvp is so i may take a look inside to check if its some similar circuit to anything.

Re: buffered boosts I have a Suhr Kokoboost (V1 with the full range and mid boost sides) and a Creation MK 4.23. The Suhr’s buffer can be toggled on and off via an internal switch.

Of the two I like the sound of the Creation slightly better, but the Suhr is more versatile. The new price for the Suhr is kind of silly, but I bought used and boost is a core part of my sound, so worth it to me.

Thanks. A little out of budget and hoping for the tiniest box as otherwise my board overflows but we'll see. There's something in the brightness but with odd harmonic saturation the MVP has, yet i am thinking its a bit nonessential, for now to fork out a lot. At least the great brick is useful for DI recordings- shame i cant find a schematic to compare what it has under the hood or clone it though.

jorri wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 19, 2021 5:21 pm

marqueemoon wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 19, 2021 9:37 am

jorri wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 19, 2021 6:14 am

That seems like a good position for it. I was using in the fx loop, so it acted like a master volume, which in theory would reduce noise. But have tried as an always-on boost due to having the mvp first in chain. Not sure of preferencebut probably in the middle where swells dont cut off trails.

Another thing with my setup right now is i just stopped using fx loop and the stereo worked better so there is no need.
But am actually considering dismantling the MVP to make a buffered booster pedal that is mor ergonomic. I should probably find a prebuilt one that sounds as good though.....any suggestions? No idea what the mvp is so i may take a look inside to check if its some similar circuit to anything.

Re: buffered boosts I have a Suhr Kokoboost (V1 with the full range and mid boost sides) and a Creation MK 4.23. The Suhr’s buffer can be toggled on and off via an internal switch.

Of the two I like the sound of the Creation slightly better, but the Suhr is more versatile. The new price for the Suhr is kind of silly, but I bought used and boost is a core part of my sound, so worth it to me.

Thanks. A little out of budget and hoping for the tiniest box as otherwise my board overflows but we'll see. There's something in the brightness but with odd harmonic saturation the MVP has, yet i am thinking its a bit nonessential, for now to fork out a lot. At least the great brick is useful for DI recordings- shame i cant find a schematic to compare what it has under the hood or clone it though.

The Soursound Hundred Dollar Boost is no slouch either.

marqueemoon wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 19, 2021 5:28 pm

jorri wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 19, 2021 5:21 pm

marqueemoon wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 19, 2021 9:37 am

Re: buffered boosts I have a Suhr Kokoboost (V1 with the full range and mid boost sides) and a Creation MK 4.23. The Suhr’s buffer can be toggled on and off via an internal switch.

Of the two I like the sound of the Creation slightly better, but the Suhr is more versatile. The new price for the Suhr is kind of silly, but I bought used and boost is a core part of my sound, so worth it to me.

Thanks. A little out of budget and hoping for the tiniest box as otherwise my board overflows but we'll see. There's something in the brightness but with odd harmonic saturation the MVP has, yet i am thinking its a bit nonessential, for now to fork out a lot. At least the great brick is useful for DI recordings- shame i cant find a schematic to compare what it has under the hood or clone it though.

The Soursound Hundred Dollar Boost is no slouch either.

In the end i wondered if my Hudson Broadcast is basically already doing this and just need to change my pedal order and use it differently perhaps. Certainly at higher voltages it has this feel but might lose some crunch or fuzz option doing so...... Plus as per a post in amp section, Carlsboro Suzz (using Stingray Super) adds some harmonics and can be set clean, so that can do something am not sure it 'buffers' anything though.
And i remembered how much the MVP was so for sure as a direct trade isnt too extortionate (i may be with soursound in ' no boost should cost more than 100' but even then i am like...its just an always-on boost!)
The soursound sounded great on demo though, the kind of thing id be after.

So some trial and error to find a way around it first.