Back in 2016, Australian Musician visited a small booth at the NAMM Show in Anaheim and we spoke with Peter Walker from FOMOfx about his prototype, the Virtual Jeff Digital Whammy Bar. Also on the stand presenting demos of Virtual Jeff was Cold Chisel’s guitar legend Ian Moss, who happened to be a business partner of Peter Walker. That year the Virtual Jeff won NAMM’s prestigious product award, Best in Show.
That prototype went on to become Virtual Jeff® PRO (VJP), the current model, which not only is the digital whammy bar it has always been but they have added a virtual capo to the product!
Now in 2024, Peter Walker and Ian Moss launch their new vOL PRO™ pedal, which replaces the traditional expression pedal used for dynamic swells and tremolo, and a boost pedal used for searing solos.
Australian Musician editor Greg Phillips caught up with FOMOfx’s Peter Walker to chat about the updated Virtual Jeff, the new Vol Pro expression/boost pedal and Peter and Ian’s invitation to invest in the this revolutionary Australian-made technology. Watch it below
Plus, the duo are now open to work with investors to generate greater success as part of this special story, with a Birchal EOI Crowdfunding Campaign, which has just started. “Ian and I met as touring musicians in the 1970s. He went on to play with Jimmy Barnes in Cold Chisel while I became a platinum record producer, but we stayed friends and worked together on guitar effects and albums over the years,” Mr Walker said.
“The bane of our existence were whammy bars that were fitted to many guitars of the day. I never had one, but Ian was a legendary user. Along with the rest of the guitar playing industry, we were always frustrated by the unreliability of mechanical whammy bars. You just couldn’t stay in tune.”
In 2015, Mr Walker and Mr Moss created the prototype for the revolutionary digital whammy under business name FOMOfx. Then with the support of investors back in 2019, Mr Moss and Mr Walker were able to develop the VJP. This innovative tool uses an advanced digital signal processor (DSP) which guarantees tuning accuracy for the product lifetime.
“VJP is a digital device and therefore has performance and features that are impossible to achieve mechanically. The product has been in mass production for 18 months and is protected by patents in eight major markets.”
The development and production of the VJP is just the first of three other ground-breaking technologies that require funding to patent and bring to market.
The second, vOL PRO, works stand-alone or in sync with VJP pitch changes for unique effects.
“The Crowdfunding campaign, which is now live , gives music lovers keen to disrupt the industry a chance to join the FOMOfx story,” Mr Walker said.
“Funding will establish Australia as a leader in music technology. The funding will help us patent the new inventions, gear up to mass produce them, market them appropriately and launch them into the American market.”
The duo are now open to work with investors to generate greater success as part of this special story, with a Birchal EOI Crowdfunding Campaign, which has just started.
Investment opportunity:
FOMOfx – The Revolution in music effects (birchal.com)
Learn more via the upcoming Webinar Jun 5, 2024 12:30 PM. Register HERE
Purchase products:
https://www.fomofx.com/
Watch below as our friend Brett Kingman checks out the Virtual Jeff Pro