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Well, they don't want to say this publicly, but from what I've heard in a small number of cases it renders people sterile. What they haven't pinned down yet is if that's a bug or a feature.

Hi there folks! For about 9 months or so I have only been using my Helix with a pair of ALTO TS315 FRFR speakers, and after some back and forth editing and testing, I have been able to find an awesome amp/IR solution for my taste. Today, I went to a couple of guitar centers around my town to try different tube amp/cabs just for fun, and to my surprise, non of the amps/cabs I tested was as good sounding as my patches in my garage, where I only use Helix with a pair of FRFR speakers. I have really been adopting to the sound and feel of amp sims and IR's to a point where I actually like em better!! Is there anyone else here who has the same experience? Cheers!

Well don’t let “Spikey” know that - he may think it’s aimed at him, especially since that stuff in some previous release notes: ”For those who did complain (AND WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE), the new tuner will be unlocked once you perform ONE of the following:...” And there was also something from a while back about your car radio playing death metal at 5am, or something equally weird.

Lol... if it makes you feel any better, I don't care when it drops. I'm just here for the meltdowns...;)

As I said back on.... (sound of webpages being shuffled around)... page 3 of this thread, I e-mailed Line 6 asking that they hold off on release until I get home from my work travels. I’ll be home Thursday, so brace yourself!

The Spider V is going to be around for quite a while. Look at how long the Spider IV was available. The problem is that some of the online retailers have issues with their stock tracking systems that seem to mark things that are out of stock as being discontinued... There are no immediate plans to replace the V with something else.

I think sometimes people don't take into account that many of our Helix units are "operational" systems. We actually depend on it every week in the same way as an order taking system of an internet retailer. You don't approach it casually and it's not something you do without a lot of thought and planning. Because I really can't afford to be thrown into a 3 or 4 day skirmish with unexpected problems that I MUST get resolved before I'm scheduled to play again. The implications of that are far greater than needing any of the features of 2.8 immediately.

Hi Gang. I'm a luthier when I'm not doing my first job of concert sound and teching. So a few months back, I successfully, and rather easily, transplanted all the electronics out of my tick-blood-red Variax 300 guitar and put in into a colorshift Strat (see the pic). It is absolutely my favorite guitar. Upon that success, I picked up a Variax 700 bass and am working on the same kind of project - putting the electronics into my own build (see the cat bass). This time, in addition to separating the bridge and cat5/TRS jack's cables from the "coffin" electronics while creating the design, I had to take the motherboard and controls circuit out of the coffin as well to create a new layout in the bass body. It's just a matter of unplugging a few ribbon and multipin cables and reattaching. Well, it should be .... I have everything back together but I cannot get the bass to come to life. Instead, when it powers up, the LED light (which is either normally red or green displaying which A/B model you've selected per bass), is just a flashing red (3x per second approximately). I have disconnected and reconnected everything, several times, blowing out parts and checking everything thrice as I go, and no progress. In reading these threads, someone suggested I plug the bass into the Monkey and reinitialize. I tried this, but the bass is invisible to the Line6 software (where my 300 shows up immediately). My next step was to start a ticket with Line6. I asked them how to reinitialize, or what the blinking LED code may be, or which part of the circuitry (I/O, tone controls, motherboard, bridge) is the likely culprit ... and to please sell me a replacement part. Naturally, their response was that I have to send this in for troubleshooting, which of course will be my LAST resort. Can anyone help me troubleshoot this? All insights are welcomed! Thanks Chris Famous Guitar Replicas

I gave up on the traditional approach a while ago and haven't looked back. I don't personally feel like I'm missing anything.

I've only recently started messing with the IR-s in Helix and I came up with two advantages: 1) Convenience - having separate IR-s allows to combine them in different ways, not having to mix them in a DAW. 2) Stereo - can pan the IR-s hard L/R, that gives a bit of width depending on the combination, sometimes that is needed. That said, using the mixed IR-s doesn't stop from using 2 IR-s for even more combinations. That can get overwhelming though.

I dont bother anymore with amps. Helix is really awesome.

Now, why would anyone who is as "AWESOME" as I think that? ; P BTW- thanks for taking the time to do it "right" Line-6.

No huge issues from what I can tell... More like getting all the details buttoned up. There’s a ton of integration in this update. There’s the L6 Link stuff with the DT amps and Powercab, and then there’s the new Variax stuff as well. When you’re testing the interaction between all those pieces of gear, there’s just a lot to look at. There's also the Native Compatibility Mode piece, which is another part where the interaction between different pieces of gear and software needs to be considered... It's probably the most ambitious HX update to date.

Check your bit rate settings, sounds like you may have 48kHz selected for one and 44.1 kHz for the other. Your onboard device may automatically detect bit rate.

Nothing- NOTHING wrong with multiple toys glideman. I wish I had an FX-III. But I love my Helix and my Kemper. I use them both all the time. And it was also mentioned (not by you) in this thread that ordering 3 items and knowing you are going to return 2 of them is somehow taking advantage of their return policy. I disagree. Why? 1. Because that is the policy that "THEY" made, not me. And I did not violate anything by trying out their product and then returning it after the choice was made. I followed "their" policy, be it one item returned, or TEN. 2. It's much easier on me, (the customer) to try out all 3 ( or 10) items at once and decide by recent comparisons between them right then, versus weeks in between shipment. 3. And finally, there is no way in which to try out a Kemper, Helix, Boss, and esp. an Axe FX III at Guitar Center or anywhere else usually. They can not afford the inventory or it's not available but thru a certain company. And then they only stock what the bean counters tell them is selling like hot-cakes anyway, usually 3 to 4 times what they bought it for in bulk. 4. And finally, if the maker has made the "best" product to begin with, then they have no reason to worry about it being returned... ; ) As always, YMMV on this. I can see where some might think this idea is wrong, OTOH if you take very good "care" of what you return to the vendor then their mark-up is only reduced by a 3rd (or less) of the overall overblown cost of the item, and they (the middleman) won't lose anything, they just won't make as much as they wanted to on it. ; ) There are very few pluses in buying musical equipment these days, and this is one of them. Take advantage of it while it lasts.

What about drinking for each letter of the alphabet .. all alphabets? Just a thought!

If not months.

Is his comment around the 2 min, 8 second mark a hint that the update is already on his Helix. A Beta, I suppose?

One thing regarding rolling back with the 2.8 update. Any presets or backups created with the 2.8 firmware will be incompatible with earlier firmware versions, so it really is important to remember to create a backup prior to installing the 2.8 update.

After the Nth time of tweaking various things, then neglecting to save before turning everything off, now I automatically save whatever patch I was using and create a backup before powering down. Saves me from pulling the last 3 hairs out of my head. Besides, I'll be doing the same thing I've done with every other firmware release... letting the early adopters be the canary in the coal mine. I always wait to see how much and what variety of "this sucks" chatter there is in the immediate aftermath of the release...then I'll decide whether or not the inevitable "oops we didn't notice that" bug is annoying enough to justify sticking with the status quo for a while.

Just spent the last hour with Helix native...I'm impressed. There is a strong possibility that I'll be a Helix Floor owner within the next week.

Nice of you to say that D.I. And that also makes Line-6 and the competition stay on their toes (which is good for all of us)!

No problem in Europe https://www.musicstore.de/de_DE/EUR/search;pgid=fOgg8gwrQIFSRpZVGW6t9CCG0000n3Oodopi?SearchTerm=variax+standard&SearchParameter=%26%40QueryTerm%3Dvariax%2Bstandard%26FollowSearch%3D9563 https://www.thomann.de/be/search_dir.html?sw=variax+standard&smcs=06ab0e_3847

Amen! It takes months/years of dedicated, focused use to really learn an amplifier, real or modeled. Even a new pedal can have a learning curve of many weeks. In the "real world", few of us are ever in a position to sit in a room with 50+ amps every day and pick the one we want; we get an amp and we learn how to wring every last thing out of it. Owning two amps is tall cotton. The expectation seems to be that when we select an amp in Helix it will magically sound like it was dialed in to our gear and environment by an expert, but in reality it is still our job to become that expert. More amps will not eliminate the need to actually learn how to use them.....

I seriously cannot for the life of me understand why everyone gets their panties in a bunch over getting new amps all the time.... what is it you cannot get out of the helix right now? It has every flavor you need covered, just learn how to dial it in.

Unnerving is such an odd word to describe what you're feeling while waiting for a firmware update... It's really not that big of a deal. It will happen in due course.

Of course you can create that. Though there are a lot of variables to get the exact sound. For example: 1. Telecaster guitar (or something very similar). 2. Amp type: Most of the classic country amps were Fender. I'd start with the Spider's Double Verb which is a model of the 1965 Fender Blackface Twin Reverb. If that didn't work for you I'd move on to the Double Show next. Ultimately though, there are numerous amps that could fill the bill for you. The trick is knowing what settings on the original tube amp did it, and WHY, so that you can try to dial it in on the modeled amp. 3. Compressor - Start with the MXR Dynacomp. I'd begin with the sustain at 40% and the level at 80%. You're likely going to have to adjust to taste here depending on all the other settings as well as how you tend to play. 4. Delay - Begin with the analog delay model. Have the feedback low (you're usually after single repeats). Adjust delay time to taste, but usually you'll be on the shorter end of things. 5. Reverb - I don't know that this is needed, but I'm just going to throw this out there that to me just about everything sounds better with at least some reverb, including country twang. The above is where I would start to find your sound. Just like in a real world setup, there will be tweaking to be done. It takes practice and experimentation. You should also do a search in Line 6's "CustomeTone" section (https://line6.com/customtone/search/?submitted=1&family=spiderv&search_term=country) for country and check out a number of those presets to see if any previous users have already nailed the sound you are after. If they have, by all means use it, BUT you should still carefully review what they did and how so that you can learn to do it yourself. The Spider V is a very versatile amp. With patience and practice you can get it to sound like just about anything.