steelstringer

Thanks for the insight. I tried your suggestion of the OCD-Minotaur-Timmy, and it is a great pedal stack.

No offense taken here, and thanks for your reply and insight. When I was gigging often, I totally shared your perspective - if it sounds good, it really doesn’t matter how I got the tone. Now, due to work, grad school, flaky bandmates, etc, I find myself dialing in tones at home just for fun. So, I guess I’m getting wrapped up in the how and why of tone creation as a means of entertainment for myself. Like you mentioned, the Helix provides many avenues toward the same result. I’m focusing (maybe too much) on the subtle differences between a traditional high gain model and a clean amp with pedals.

Also, just to clarify, I know that I haven’t discovered anything new here, it’s just a different approach for me. I guess I just wondered about different perspectives of getting a high gain tone this way versus selecting a high gain amp model.

Hello all. I recently created a high gain patch in a way that changed my thoughts on Helix overdrive tones. I had an existing clean patch (Archon clean), and I added the Tone Sovereign in front. It got pretty crunchy. Then, I boosted that pedal with the Minotaur. The resulting tone is on par with many of my “go to” high gain models (Badonk, Placater, Archon). In fact, the note articulation seems to be an improvement overall. Does anyone one else use this approach for high gain tones on the Helix? Is it a viable alternative to just picking a high gain model? Why or why not?

I find that the resonance/depth controls thickens the overall tone, but doesn’t add mud or flub. It’s too bad that only a few of the models have this control. I also used to dial back low frequencies for leads, but then I felt that the tone was too thin. It’s always a balancing act...Good luck with your tone search.

I’m going to throw in a really simple approach that works well. 1. Find an amp model with a depth/resonance control (archetype clean or lead, badonk, etc). 2. Set your rhythm tone. 3. Using snapshots, set a lead tone that only bumps up the gain, master volume, and depth/resonance. Leave all other eq settings alone. This results in a fat, sustained lead tone, in my experience. It’s very simple, but give it a try.

It becomes problematic to me when I’m reaching across the switch and my forearm touches it. I have my LT on a stand, and I often sit and edit patches that way. I have the “touch” control set to “off” in the global settings, as well, but that switch still responds to touch.

Same issue here - also 2.81

Just a quick tip that works for me. Try an amp model that has a “fat” or “thick” control. Set up a snapshot to turn it on when you want your lead tone. The Placater Dirty and Texas Cali CH 2 are good examples. This approach works well if you are happy with your rhythm tones, but feel like the lead tones are a bit thin. It works nicely in conjunction with a master volume boost.

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

I often hear that kind of fuzz/fizz on cleaner tones when I use the bridge pickup, which means, in my case anyway, that it is too hot. I tamed the issue by switching to the middle position (Les Paul style guitar) for clean/edge of breakup tones. That, in combination with low/hi cuts recommended by others on this forum, fixed the issue for me.

I tend to lower the gain, bump up the master (around 6-7) and add a Minotaur (gain between 1-2) when I dial in the higher gain amps on the Helix. This approach tightens up the low end, in my experience.

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/helix-2-8.2004443/

One other benefit that comes to mind is stage volume. It is so much easier to keep volumes at a comfortable level with modeling tech, especially if both guitarists and the bassist are using it. This benefit is even more noticeable to guitarists who sing, since they often get used to singing over loud amplifiers. I wonder if this figured into MK’s decision.

This is cool, and it got me thinking...why would he go this route? I know why I did it with the Helix — it simplified my set up/tear down. I cannot go back now; I’m converted forever. But a world class musician doesn’t really deal with that issue, I would assume. So, why are some big time artists going this route when they have techs who can and will run complicated analog rigs?