C'est la vie - Moving on to the HeadRush and other stories...

[SharkGuitar7]

Well, I've had the FHFX now for about 4-5 months.
I've been using it for some live shows and pre-production for our second album which is an instrumental cinematic prog band.

There's been a number of positives, but a few negatives in my use of the unit that I just can't overlook, and have caused me to move on.

 

FYI, I used an old cheap Digitech RP1000 for almost 8 years before getting the Line6 FH.

 

While the FH was a leap forward in some ways (BT connectivity, colored LED's on foot switches, HD amp models) it was a step backwards in some.
Primarily the pitch shifting and harmonizer effects lacking total control over the dry and wet signals, which is something I use fairly often.
Adding wet signal using a 'slider' reduced the dry signal which made the effect sound very thin.
The RP1000, as old as it is, lets you have total control of these parameters individually.

 

I was able to come up with some amp models that sound fantastic to my ears and record well while sitting nicely in the mix.
They also play well with others in a live setting and have a good "feel" which is important for dynamics's when you depend solely on modeling.
Very important to me as I run direct to house for live shows. No amp. I've grown to love this setup over the years going back to my Digitech.
No more 'woofy' sounding 4-12 cabs that vary from stage to stage. When they are in the right room on the right stage they are God's gift to the guitarist.
If they are not, they can focus like a laser beam on a certain part of the crowd and sometimes even the sound techs just shake their heads.

So, thanks to reaching an agreement for an Artist Endorsement with HeadRush Pedalboards, I'm moving on.
We begin studio recording next week, and I've got Matt Bissonette doing bass and Mike Keneally on guitars, keys, and co-production along with Chuck Ide engineering.

Getting the opportunity to work with such heavy hitters left me no choice but to kick it up a notch.

The HeadRush has quad-core processing and programable spillovers for delays and reverbs along with total control of the effects parameters for pitch and harmonies.
It's far easier to use and program than the interface on the Helix, in my humble opinion.

Its really too bad because this FHFX has so much in the way of upside, with just a few minor tweaks it could be really useful.
Anyway, thank you all for the dialogue during my time in Firehawk Land.
I wish you all great success on your personal music endeavors.

 

Cheers to all!
Keith Moreland
www.petsharkband.com

 

 

[suedehead99]

Artist endorsement?  Free headrush?  Jammy sod.

[SharkGuitar7]

So I went into the studio with the HeadRush.
Downloaded the free Celestion Impulse Response cabs.
The tone was nothing short of amazing blasting through the $4K Focal studio monitors.

Pulled out the Firehawk FX to use for one part of one song with the reverse delay.
The amp models, as good as I thought they sounded before hearing the HR, just could in no way hang with the HR unit and the added IR cabs.
They sounded just like real 4-12's barking!

FHFX is going up for sale.

I really enjoyed this community and still believe the FHFX has a lot of potential, and is actually useful even as is.
As a pro player, I just need something more and the HR delivers. 

Thanks