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Showing content with the highest reputation on 04/23/2018 in all areas

  1. Hey guys, Today I have a “Dimebag” Darrel / Pantera inspired guitar tone. I threw together some fun Pantera riffs to demo the tone. It’s more of a hybrid of Dime’s tone as it evolved through Reinventing the Steel. This was a lot of fun. I used Ownhammer impulses on this one. Their stuff is the best. I used a blend of: OH 412 ENG V30 421-FRED OH 412 ENG V30 421-EDGE FRED for cutting through and the EDGE for the chunk and low end. I used the LINE 6 Fatality model. CHAIN: PRS Tremonti SE loaded with Fishman Fluence Moderns Line 6 Helix Rack using the Line 6 Fatality amp model and Ownhammer Impulses Into the Universal Audio Apollo Twin which feeds Persons Studio One 3 Drums are Toontrack Superior Drummer 3
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  2. Think I will go with the Line 6 Power Cab Plus. Thanks
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  3. Hello Helix friends, I made a set of Heavy 412 IR's for my own use and thought I would share with y'all. I created and tweaked them specifically for the higher gain Helix amps (Mesa, Engl, Bogner, Peavey, Soldano, etc.). https://www.dropbox.com/sh/aiz98594dds5i51/AAB1-NcuUKjTNBZsVN3QOo-ua?dl=0 Heavy412Creamy.wav Heavy412Edge.wav Heavy412Sizzle.wav Heavy412Smooth.wav Heavy412Thump.wav
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  4. In comparing the Helix to a $50k vehicle: I bought a new vehicle last year, and did not reference the manual once. It is still wrapped in plastic in the glove box. I did not have to look to see how to start it or to check the oil, or to fill it with fuel because I have been doing those things for 30 years with other and more simple vehicles. Doing those things are just kind of "intuitive" because of my experience level. Same thing holds true for Helix in my case. I've looked up something I needed to know maybe 6 times in almost 2 years on the Helix. I already know what some of my favorite amps do when you turn up the master. I already know what some of my favorite overdrives will do in front of a variety of amps. I already am familiar with the spectrum of frequencies in guitar signals and equalization. I have experience in gain staging for "optimal" performance to my ears. Should Line 6 documentation be better? Perhaps. However in the case of modeling, you can't necessarily document what makes is sound "good" because that is subjective. But...I digress. Very general starter tips: Helix with a "real amp", connected to the front of the amp: effects only. No amp models or preamp models. Helix with a "real amp", connected 4 cable method: make sure your send/return block is in the correct spot for what you are trying to achieve, use preamp models when you "real amp" preamp is bypassed. Helix with FRFR, use full amp models and cab models, or IRs in the place of the cab model. The sound will vary quite a bit depending on what FRFR you are playing through. Drop in an amp model and a cab model that you have experience with the real version. Play around with that a bit, then expand on that. You will have to be a lot more specific with what issues you are experiencing and maybe even post some pics of your presets.
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  5. Just to present an alternate view here. Although going into a guitar cab with a cab block dialed up in the Helix defies conventional wisdom, I still find it works just fine depending on the guitar cab being used and the preset. No cab block dialed up might be a good place to start when using a conventional guitar cab as a monitor but don't hesitate to experiment with combining it with a Helix cab. It can sound great under the right conditions, provide sonic flexibility, and give your guitar cab a completely different feel and sound that is closer to the amp/cab you may be trying to emulate. I do find an FRFR as you would anticipate is more accurate when it comes to emulating a wide variety of cabs.
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  6. Hey guys, So I was having the problem of installing gearbox on my new macbook pro 2012 on MacOS Sierra. Unfortunately I didn't find much of a solution here but I figured it out and I thought I'd share my solution. My Toneport GX now works with my mac and audio seems to work fine. Installing gearbox So if you run the master installer (.mpkg) you'll quickly see that you can't choose your hard drive because it's not OS X, but MacOS. Instead you can right click on the .mpkg file when you first open the installer and click on "Show Package Contents". Then go to Contents > Packages. Now you'll see the directory containing the individual packages. Be sure to click keep after running each package when it prompts you to move the .dmg to the trash. Install all of the packages except for the Driver Uninstaller. I don't know if the order you do this in matters but I just went for drivers, driver prefs, gearbox, plugins, line6 monkey then frameworks. You will likely have to keep security settings open to authorise running each individual package but it's a small inconvenience in the grand scheme of things. after you've installed the packages test to see if GearBox is working. Installing Drivers Go to the software download page and select your_device_name > Drivers > Mac OS X and download the driver. I didn't have any issues installing this one the typical way of just running the package. After installing the driver everything worked like a charm when I opened GearBox. Note The only shortcoming I noticed was that every time I open GearBox it gives me the first-time prompts even when I hit "Never show this again" and it opens up the documentation but I don't lose my custom tones or anything.
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  7. In order for the Helix (or any other modeler) to sound its "best" the user has to understand how effects work in conjunction with amps in all types of configurations. If an end user is attempting to build a preset in a manner that he/she does not understand, then the "best" sounds may not be achieved. Writing a manual to be able to do that would be impossible. It would be like a manual for "how to get the best stratocaster sound."
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  8. If you want to run the Helix in front of a combo, that in and of itself is a limiting factor. You would probably want to start with using the Helix for effects only in that case, and using it as a pedalboard replacement. It will actually work very well in that scenario, and I have had much success using it like that. You could try using some of the preamp models in the Helix to add some different distortion flavors in the mix, and depending on how you have your amp set, they may or may not work out. But that's what I would try. What won't work well in this scenario is the full amp and cab modeling. The reason is that the preamp, power amp and speaker in your combo is going to be really coloring the tone coming from your amp. That's really what guitar amps are designed to do. In order to get the best response from an amp modeler, though, you really want to plug it into something that is full range, flat response (FRFR). This is why people often use PA-type speakers with modelers. Those speaker are designed to be relatively flat, and, ideally, they should give you an accurate reproduction of the signal coming from the modeler.
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  9. scallybert, You asked a quick question about Impulse Responses... The easiest (and probably most familiar) way to explain it is that it is a modeled speaker cabinet. Just like when you swap out a modeled cab on a POD (for example) from a "6x9 Super O" to a "112 Field Coil", you are essentially changing from one Impulse Response to another. Simple enough, just a fairly new term for it. Impulse Responses (IRs) are the "new sexy" in modeling. The POD series has lots of modeled speaker cabs, but you are limited to the ones that Line 6 provided, either through stock software programming or model pack upgrades. With the Helix, Line 6 has allowed an onboard "storage space" where you can save 100+ IRs from other manufacturers. Without getting too complicated, it's a "recording" of a particular cabinet/speaker/mic. Several companies sell software packs of these IRs. Some of the popular ones are from OwnHammer, RedWirez and Celestion. You can find a decent selection of free IRs on the Web or you can choose to buy from the companies I mentioned (there are a LOT of other companies that sell IRs). They range in price from a couple of dollars to over $100. It pays to shop around. The new Line 6 PowerCab speaker system allows third-party (meaning other than L6) IRs to be stored in their memory. A POD owner can run "no cab" on the POD unit, but use the IR in the PowerCab to take advantage of a cab model that wouldn't normally be available to the POD. They talk about it in the L6 video for the PowerCab. There is also a Digitech pedal called CabDryVR that has a small assortment of IRs inside. The IR thing is pretty cool, but can become a HUGE rabbit hole. The Fractal Axe FX can store from a couple of hundred to a couple of thousand IRs, depending on which version of Fractal you have. It can quickly become "option paralysis" when you sort through so many IRs to find "the perfect tone." If you run a POD/Helix/Fractal through an amp and guitar speaker cab, you normally wouldn't want to use an IR, because it sounds kind of weird. You are essentially sending a modeled speaker sound to a speaker and "double-EQing" the tone. Some people like the sound though. No rules, right? IRs are GREAT if you are running your POD/Helix/Fractal to PA speakers (house mix) or to a Full-range, Flat Response (FRFR) system - another cavernous rabbit hole, or are recording straight into a DAW (versus mic-ing a real speaker cab). Without a cab model (IR) used into these non-guitar-cabinet speakers (or DAW), the sound would be really sizzle-y. The modeled cab or IR makes it sound closer to a traditional guitar cab that is being mic'd. There's a RAGING debate over on the Fractal forums about the amp-in-the-room sound versus using IRs with an FRFR rig. If you've only played in front of a real amp and never mic'd it, you might think the IRs sound weird. Think of a garage band scenario: the bass player and guitarist each have a loud amp and only the singer uses the PA for vocals. Everyone else just cranks the amps straight into the audience. IRs don't really capture THAT sound, although you could probably get close with a lot of EQing. Conversely, think of an arena concert with a big-name band. You are hearing the amps that are on stage, but maybe through a microphone and into the PA or maybe they are running straight out of a modeler and into the PA with no amp on stage at all (this is becoming almost the norm). Or, just listen to a CD. You are hearing the guitar amp through a mic or a modeler. That's what an IR sounds like - a mic'd cabinet. IRs and FRFR rigs are becoming popular for a couple of reasons. First, because they are available! Second, stage volume (especially in smaller venues) is a source of frustration - both for the band (volume wars) and the venue owners (noise ordinances). Third, IRs allow gig-to-gig consistency in sound. Mic placement is an art. Fourth, you hear what the audience hears. Fifth, it is less gear to haul, fly and set-up. And the list goes on... I saw a video with Metallica's current rig rundown. Hetfield runs out of a Fractal to the PA (also called Front-of-House or FOH) and sends another output to a Matrix solid state power amp to a pair of 4x12 cabs on the stage. No wall of Mesa/Boogie stacks; it's a mostly empty stage with Lars' drum riser, a couple of single stack cabs and Kirk's wah pedal. They didn't mention in-ear monitors (IEMs), but they probably have them. So, instead of volume wars on the stage, James can turn Kirk's guitar up or down in his own in-ear mix without impacting what Kirk hears or what the audience hears or worrying about what he's sending to the house mixer. I've been playing for 30+ years, so this is new and exciting stuff for me. Hopefully I've gotten most of the details correct. If not, others will chime in and set it straight. So there's a stupidly long answer (and commentary) to a short question. What are Impulse Responses? The briefest answer is: a modeled simulation of a mic'd speaker cabinet. It's more than that, but that is the simple version. You can further complicate it by adding in: birch cab vs plywood, mic type and placement (on-axis/off axis, distance, condenser versus ribbon mic, etc. ), room size versus isolation box, open-back versus closed back cab, ported cab versus non-ported, etc. Rabbit hole. Hope this helped...
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