Add the very best in each category

[billlorentzen]

I realize "very best" is very subjective, but I'd like to see the Helix get away from "iconic" and big brand names and start adding the most innovative and best in each category.

 

For example, while the Boss Chorus was ubiquitous, the TC Electronic Stereo Chorus was a much better sounding unit - once you heard it you knew. There are prolly even better units out today. I want them in the Helix.

 

The Mutron autowah is another misstep IMHO. Way better units for guitar are available and it's a struggle to get a useful sound with the Mutron.

 

And enough with Fenders, Marshalls and Voxs! New amps do what they did, only better. I want more amps like the Divided by 13 and Dr Z (my two favs), which are going in new directions and/or improving on the sounds of the vintage units.

 

Moving forward, I'd like to see the Helix move into the boutique, high end products, and away from the run of the mill Guitar Center stuff.

 

OK, flame on!

[TheRealZap]

i'd rather they just offered an original amp pack or suite of amps... 

that were tweaked from bits and codes of everything to simply make amazing amps that do not exist... basically take all the flaws of the original amp models out... and push the boundaries...

no reason to be subject to accuracy of any name mainstream or boutique or whatnot.

 

in fact i just submitted the ideascale: http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/New-Original-Amp-Models/772434-23508?submitted=1

[radatats]

I too want to see amp/cab packs from specific manufacturers.  I already posted an idea for a Freidman pack... That would be awesome!

 

Would love to see pack of Friedman amps and cabs for the Helix and the HD series.

Heads:

- BE-100 (3 modes BE, HBE, CLEAN)

- Buxom Betty

- Dirty Shirley

Cabs:

- Buxom Betty 112 (Celestion G12M Creamback)

- 412 Cab ( 2 Celestion Greenbacks -top, 2 Celestion Vintage 30's - bottom)

 

Vote it up!

http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Friedman-Amp-Pack/754564-23508

[billlorentzen]

i'd rather they just offered an original amp pack or suite of amps... 

that were tweaked from bits and codes of everything to simply make amazing amps that do not exist... basically take all the flaws of the original amp models out... and push the boundaries...

no reason to be subject to accuracy of any name mainstream or boutique or whatnot.

 

in fact i just submitted the ideascale: http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/New-Original-Amp-Models/772434-23508?submitted=1

I like that idea!

[talwilkins]

Absolutely agree and voted!

I really don't care if it sounds like anything else.

All it needs to do is sound fantastic!

[Wallyg]

i'd rather they just offered an original amp pack or suite of amps...

that were tweaked from bits and codes of everything to simply make amazing amps that do not exist... basically take all the flaws of the original amp models out... and push the boundaries...

no reason to be subject to accuracy of any name mainstream or boutique or whatnot.

 

in fact i just submitted the ideascale: http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/New-Original-Amp-Models/772434-23508?submitted=1

They did that in the Vetta. I used those models quite a bit and loved it. Great FUN!

As soon as they do that, then the people who "aren't happy unless they aren't happy" will be on here complaining about why Line 6 is wasting it's time creating non exisitent models when there are so many great boutique/vintage amps out there. Unfortunately, It's probably a no win.

[mbenigni]

As I've said before, I'm not too worked up about there being a million different amps, or about some specific boutique amp being in the list.  If the amps that are included are GOOD amps, they will be versatile, and the tones they'll deliver will broadly overlap with most of the specific amps that are being requested, just as those specific amps tend to overlap broadly with one another.  Selecting between 20 different amps that only the most discerning of players/engineers can distinguish from one another is often more distracting than just picking an amp that's in the ballpark and dialing it to taste - provided that amp is versatile enough.

 

Personally, I'd rather see Line 6 broaden the number of deep editing variables so that end users can "design" their own amps as they see fit.  That's part of the allure of per-component modeling vs. profiling for me.  Theoretically, a few good circuit models and lots of exposed variables should yield countless tones - something to suit everyone.  And it cuts out the middle man, i.e. Line 6 listening to us whine, us waiting on Line 6 to deliver content.  But that's just me.  I like to tinker.  (See Positive Grid's Bias Amps app for an example of how to put a smile on my face.)

[stumblinman]

Holy crap RealZap I think you nailed it.. All the sounds are out there already.. Mix and Match!

[rudomat]

I realize "very best" is very subjective, but I'd like to see the Helix get away from "iconic" and big brand names and start adding the most innovative and best in each category.

 

For example, while the Boss Chorus was ubiquitous, the TC Electronic Stereo Chorus was a much better sounding unit - once you heard it you knew. There are prolly even better units out today. I want them in the Helix.

 

The Mutron autowah is another misstep IMHO. Way better units for guitar are available and it's a struggle to get a useful sound with the Mutron.

 

And enough with Fenders, Marshalls and Voxs! New amps do what they did, only better. I want more amps like the Divided by 13 and Dr Z (my two favs), which are going in new directions and/or improving on the sounds of the vintage units.

 

Moving forward, I'd like to see the Helix move into the boutique, high end products, and away from the run of the mill Guitar Center stuff.

 

disagree! they can´t try hard enough to get as close to the best marshall, the best fender and the best vox as possible...you can´t really reach it anyways...everything else is very nice....if the marshall sounds like ac/dc, the vox like keith etc., then you got it....;-)

[billlorentzen]

i'd rather they just offered an original amp pack or suite of amps... 

that were tweaked from bits and codes of everything to simply make amazing amps that do not exist... basically take all the flaws of the original amp models out... and push the boundaries...

no reason to be subject to accuracy of any name mainstream or boutique or whatnot.

 

in fact i just submitted the ideascale: http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/New-Original-Amp-Models/772434-23508?submitted=1

I agree! One of the things I noticed immediately with the original pod 1.0 was that it could do something no other amp I had used could do (and I have owned some very high end amps). It could articulate the individual notes in a chord more clearly, even while fairly heavily distorted.

 

I'd like to see some really original amp sounds developed.

 

When digital recording was first introduced, some engineers (myself included) who had worked for years trying to get around the limitations of tape were pretty excited - no more hiss, generation loss, biasing, tape degeneration, etc. Of course, at first there were some shortcomings with the converters, but in the long run, I don't think many engineers would really want to go back to the old days.

[bartnettle1]

While an arsenal of staple ingredients are needed to cover decades of " new sound"  tones,

It is the creation of the the new now sound by guitar should be on any serious contender s radar.

 

The Pods have for some time have given us great renditions of favorite analogue pedals and FX to recreate tones of yesteryear.

 

Creation of new sounds via recombining old favs in innovative ways only gets so far.

 

Right now fads are pitch shifting vocals, When Cher did it it was new and it is the new sound still.

Sampling bits that were successful before. Most Pop is EDM based. Not as much guitar nowadays.

 

I feel the new sounds from guitar will come from innovative software/plugin developers not so much recreating but being innovative and designing the next new thing.

 

Perhaps this is not the realm of a guitar multi FX unit but if it sounded good and was entirely new.

Why not?

[billlorentzen]

One more thing I would appreciate is some slight optimization of some of the models. For example, the Divided by 13, which is one of my favorites, could use more clean headroom. I pretty much have to use additional gain staging fx before and after it to get a clean enough sound. I wouldn't want to change the tone, just make it a little more versatile. For the sticklers, perhaps they could make two versions - a straight copy, and an optimized one.

 

On some of the older Marshalls, they could do the opposite - give them a hot-rodded front end.

[brue58ski]

I always wondered why they didn't/haven't modeled the MXR Distortion +. And do they still have that Budda amp they modeled for the XT series laying around? Why not model that? An old Mesa Boogie (Mark I or II) would be nice also.

[billlorentzen]

I always wondered why they didn't/haven't modeled the MXR Distortion +. And do they still have that Budda amp they modeled for the XT series laying around? Why not model that? An old Mesa Boogie (Mark I or II) would be nice also.

Im pretty sure one of them the Distortion +. But do you really like that thing? I had one of the originals back in the day and was overjoyed to finally get really great distortion when I got my first Boogie Mark 3.

 

Some years ago I was about to throw out my D+ and Dynamic Comp, but on a whim, put them up on eBay and got $100 each for them! After I switched to a dbx 160x rack compressor there was no going back to those sucky MXR units for me.

 

This is why I started this thread: those old units were popular when they came out because that's all there was, but they really don't compare to the state of the art stuff out today. So why model them? I say model only the very best.

[Rewolf48]

How do you get a "classic" sound if you don't have those classic tools?

 

 

But I agree with you, I don't only want models of the common kit of long ago so that I can reproduce the common sounds of years gone by, I want the extraordinary kit. 

[brue58ski]

Im pretty sure one of them the Distortion +. But do you really like that thing? I had one of the originals back in the day and was overjoyed to finally get really great distortion when I got my first Boogie Mark 3.

 

Some years ago I was about to throw out my D+ and Dynamic Comp, but on a whim, put them up on eBay and got $100 each for them! After I switched to a dbx 160x rack compressor there was no going back to those sucky MXR units for me.

 

This is why I started this thread: those old units were popular when they came out because that's all there was, but they really don't compare to the state of the art stuff out today. So why model them? I say model only the very best.

 

It sounded really good though a JC120 of all things. A wah, the D+ and the JC120's chorus. Ton O' fun. Plus, as a poor bedroom rock & roller, the Distortion + was all the distortion I had. I liked it for what it did. Definitely found the Ibanez TS9 to be much more versatile once I got one. But if the Distortion + was in the Helix, I would definitely use it. I thought more people used one in the day. Supposedly Judas Priest at a time.

[lawrence_Arps]

How do you get a "classic" sound if you don't have those classic tools?

 

 

Back in the day we put up with dodgy sounding stomp boxes for compression and delay etc because we had no option.  and of course, most of us can get a bad sound out of even really good equipment.  I would rather have a dbx160 or an LA2 than any mxr or Ross compressor....same with delays, mod fx etc.  Personally I dont care too much if my sound is "better" than the icons I looked up to in the past!

[billlorentzen]

Back in the day we put up with dodgy sounding stomp boxes for compression and delay etc because we had no option.  and of course, most of us can get a bad sound out of even really good equipment.  I would rather have a dbx160 or an LA2 than any mxr or Ross compressor....same with delays, mod fx etc.  Personally I dont care too much if my sound is "better" than the icons I looked up to in the past!

Somebody finally gets me! (sob)

[talwilkins]

I get you!

I actually don't give a lollipop if I sound like ... (fill in the blank).

All I'm interested in is sounding great to my ears.

Of course I try to sound somewhere in the ballpark of my hero's sometimes but to me that's more like finding the type of tone and feel.

if it can sound even better than I'm really a happy camper!

[mbenigni]

Personally I dont care too much if my sound is "better" than the icons I looked up to in the past!

 

I agree... provided that the "better" equipment (or model) is versatile to the point of being able to provide a superset of tones compared with the older, lesser equipment.  The easiest example is that tired old MXR DynaComp.  Yes, it's noisy, and a million miles from "transparent", but some of the better more modern compressors struggle to achieve its in-your-face, breathy (I call it "poofy") chicken-pickin' effect.  That's a very specific sound that some of us have grown to love because of the way it sort of sucks LOL.  And therefore a case where you either need one compressor that truly runs the gamut from pristine to broken, or you need two separate compressors.  (In "real life" I have a DynaComp and an Xotic SP compressor on my pedalboard, and love them both.)

[billlorentzen]

I agree... provided that the "better" equipment (or model) is versatile to the point of being able to provide a superset of tones compared with the older, lesser equipment.  The easiest example is that tired old MXR DynaComp.  Yes, it's noisy, and a million miles from "transparent", but some of the better more modern compressors struggle to achieve its in-your-face, breathy (I call it "poofy") chicken-pickin' effect.  That's a very specific sound that some of us have grown to love because of the way it sort of sucks LOL.  And therefore a case where you either need one compressor that truly runs the gamut from pristine to broken, or you need two separate compressors.  (In "real life" I have a DynaComp and an Xotic SP compressor on my pedalboard, and love them both.)

I hear ya. Sometimes the dyna comp might be the ticket - or even the old Orange Squeezer!