NPAD - Vypyr VIP2

Wattage

High Voltologist
Well it's not the most exciting purchase I'll ever make but what the heck it's still an amp so New Practice Amp Day it was yesterday.

My little micro cube has seen some better days so I was going to get a bigger Cube to keep around for practicing and dragging around when I needed something light. Turns out my local shop no longer handles Roland, hmmm. I didn't bite right away but the new VIP Vypyr seemed like a fair amount of amp for the money and I generally like Peavey so after thinking it over for a day I grabbed the 40wt VIP2 version.

Nothing wrong with the 20 but I wanted something I could jam with in a pinch and I liked the idea of a 1x12 instead of 1x10. I certainly didn't need the 100wt version for what I want it for....:smack: I must be getting old.

Used it yesterday for a bridal procession that I had to play and it was solid, big, warm and clean sounding with a decent reverb. I was also able to play additional music through it with the aux in. It worked well. some amps sound like ass using the aux jack with the ipod but this sounded great.

Practiced for about 3 hours today with it and I've got to say while there are some goofy little things about it, mostly looks, it is pretty impressive. I updated the firmware to v1.62 and now have a access to PC based editing of patches which is nice. I won't swear to it but I thought I noticed some of the effects sounding a little better after the firmware update. Have to put my bass back together and see how it sounds as a little practice amp for that too.

Seems decent enough to recommend checking out if you're in the market. I like it better than the recent Valvetronix amps I tried and I would guess would more than hold it's own against the equivalent Cube so all good here.
 
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Re: NPAD - Vypyr VIP2

I always have fun goofing with the vyper series, but never bought one. One of those "if only I had started on an amp like that..."
 
Re: NPAD - Vypyr VIP2

I always have fun goofing with the vyper series, but never bought one. One of those "if only I had started on an amp like that..."

Seriously. If I would have had one of those when I first picked up a guitar instead of a Gorilla I wouldn't have taken a 10 year break. :D
 
Re: NPAD - Vypyr VIP2

Seriously. If I would have had one of those when I first picked up a guitar instead of a Gorilla I wouldn't have taken a 10 year break. :D

this

I can still see that durned Gorilla
I smashed it
or it just fell apart whilst i was kicking it
 
Re: NPAD - Vypyr VIP2

well I haven't tried a VIP2 but I have one of the original vypyr 120 that was digital preamp and tube power amp. the only complaints I had was the sound gate was way to sensitive and was not adjustable, and the amp was very dry unless you added reverb and delay. oh also it would sometimes squeal and lockup when changing patches. even with all these complaints it was still a pretty cool amp. I pull it out from time to time to play with. I am sure they fixed a lot of these problems with the new version. congrats on your new purchase
 
Re: NPAD - Vypyr VIP2

those VIP series DO look a little funny, but it's not a piece of furniture, it's an amp.
Good to hear it's keeping up with your needs.
 
Re: NPAD - Vypyr VIP2

I use a VIP1 for teaching. It is essentially a full-range amp that uses amp models to transform into an acoustic or bass amp too. This is why the aux in sounds so good. I like mine, and it sounds great at lower volumes. As it gets louder, the models distort, but not the way you'd think, so they are a little harder to dial in as the volume picks up. Also, the looper is only available if you buy their overpriced foot controller.
 
Re: NPAD - Vypyr VIP2

I want the vyper vip to be stereo out and stereo fx loop like the mustang 4 and 5.

There's a guy on the Peavey Forum that will add an FX loop to the mainboard if you need one. I had him do one for my VIP and one for my original Vypyr.

The next generation Vypyrs that are due out soon will have FX loops and will be analog instead of digital. Those are gonna be killer.
 
Re: NPAD - Vypyr VIP2

There's a guy on the Peavey Forum that will add an FX loop to the mainboard if you need one. I had him do one for my VIP and one for my original Vypyr.

The next generation Vypyrs that are due out soon will have FX loops and will be analog instead of digital. Those are gonna be killer.
If I continue to drag my feet on getting a Mustang 5 head, I may bite on that. The amp needs to have people who aspire to be pedal poppers so it can still be relevent, unlike practically every other modeler when it comes to "upgraded to tube" happening.
You can build a floating island of regret with Line 6 Spiders.
 
Re: NPAD - Vypyr VIP2

Having said that...the Mustang is really tough to beat. Id like the bass amp too but the line 6 + power amp takes care of that.
 
Re: NPAD - Vypyr VIP2

I started out on a small used Yamaha solid state amp that probably sounded as bad as the Gorilla.

The Vypyrs...I came close to buying one a few times, but the stories of them malfunctioning always kept me from going through with it.
 
Re: NPAD - Vypyr VIP2

Gorillas - oh man when they came out everyone had one. They must've made a fortune selling those things.

I can see a lot of people wanting an FX loop with it, that's a pretty common option these days, not an issue for me thankfully.

I imagine a foot controller would be a good purchase for it but yeah they seem a little pricey. Maybe I'll look for a used one. Not sure but I thought the effects on the VIP were digi and the amps analog. Isn't that the TransTube? Anyway it seems to handle single coils and lower output pups pretty well which is nice. The Classic and the Budda models are both very good so far too. Like most anything coming out of China that is value priced I am sure they're are some quality concerns but I've always been lucky with PV so I am not too worried.
 
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