VB-99 + Megatar "Hammer of Thor" = Yes, please!

Started by LPHovercraft, February 22, 2011, 09:19:23 PM

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LPHovercraft

So - I just received my VB-99, and have got to say that I'm summarily impressed. Essentially, the only change that I made to the settings was to select "PIEZO G" as the pickup type and started going through the presets. I'm really floored at the - uh - for the lack of a better word - tracking. ::) I realize that this is a modeling processor and *not* pitch-to-MIDI, but still - to hear such radically different tones coming from an electric bass is stunning. I've read a LOT of comments about *not* using the factory patches - and I had a saying in college - "Friends don't let friends play factory presets." - but I just gotta say WOW at what I'm hearing and playing. I just want to dive in and lay some bass tracks into Cubase and re-amp the hell out of them with this thing. I'm impressed, and it takes a LOT to impress me.

For now I'm running the Bartolini pickup from the "guitar side" of the Megatar through the 1/4" input of the VB-99, just to have a single device for practice (on headset). The VG-99 is in on Friday and then it's *ON*! 8) I know I'm late to this party, but I just had to gush a bit.

This is going to be a special kind of fun. :D
Houston Haynes - LPHovercraft

Brent Flash

Most of the Factory Preset comments were probably aimed at the VG not the VB. In fact I don't remember many commenting on the VB's Factory Presets much.
Anyway you have a lot of exciting discoveries coming your way. As they say, better late than never! Enjoy and gush all you want! :)

LPHovercraft

Thanks for the encouragement. I can already "hear" some things I'll need to tweak, not the least of which is the sensitivity on the hex pickups. I can tell by the range in the A-B crossfades (that are triggered by the strength of the note strike) that I'm not getting everything out of it. That's an easy adjustment (and I'm sure there will be more) but I'm just floored that I got THAT close to a road-ready sound after one parameter adjustment. That's a compliment to both Mobius and Roland. Everyone seems to have done their homework here.
Houston Haynes - LPHovercraft

fokof

#3
Cool !

Welocome to the VB99 world.
It IS an amazing piece of gear and I can't conceive how come Roland doesn't put any energy at all promoting this unit.

I agree that the presets give an idea but are not fantastic.
Like you said: the setup of GK pickup is critical to obtain the best out of that box.
I have mine for a little over two years now and I'm still discovering different tones.
Best bass processor in this dimention of the known universe. ;D

And if you have patches to share some day , feel free

LPHovercraft

Here's the latest rig configuration - with both VG and VB units, plus the DBeat that's basically acting as a host for reFX XPhraze when in-studio. I'm still waiting on one last piece of gear, which is a Roland M-1000 SPDIF mixer I picked up on eBay last night. It should be in by this time next week. I'll be racking it up in a two-space carry rack with an Audio Technica in-ear monitoring setup.

There's a Mac Pro under the console area that's the "real" workstation - running all of the orchestral stuff - but the DBeat has a lot of the synth-oriented virtual instruments in it as well, so I can choose to use some live instead of just flattening tracks to audio loops. That's something I'm still working out CPU-weight-wise, but one of the big things was off-loading the guitar processing from Guitar Rig 4 on the DBeat to outboard gear - the V-units you see before you. Should be fun to see and hear how this flies. I had an 88-key weighted keyboard in the central position, but I decided to "bring everything in" by replacing it with a 32-key axe that I had stashed. I figured that I should 'wear out' the options offered by the limited key range before I went to the trouble to break out the big axe. I'm not doing as much piano as I used to.

:D
Houston Haynes - LPHovercraft