amsdenj

I usually use IEMs and have my own mix from the PA. I do this in part because I really need to control the volume or I have lots of problems with my old and damaged ears. Recently however, the band played an out-door event with a vendor provided PA that couldn’t support our IEMs. I sent Helix to FOH using the XLR outputs, and used the Helix 1/4” outputs to feed my on-stage FRFR, a pair of JBL EON610s. My monitoring solution was to use my IEMs as ear plugs to protect my ears, and take a stereo feed off the EON610 outputs to my P2 headphone amp. I turned the volume on the P2 up so I could just bearly hear my guitar in my ears, just putting back a little of the high end lost from using the IEMs as ear plugs. This is by no means ideal. But it actually worked pretty well. I personally don’t need to hear a lot of vocals to do my lead vocals and harmonies. The bleed from the monitors and hearing my voice in my own head with ear plugs is fine. It takes a little getting use to, but I’ll live with that over loosing my hearing. So my point is that sometimes things that aren’t ideal can work pretty well. Don’t be afraid to try things and compromise. But most importantly, protect your hearing, you might need.

Here’s another idea. As you pick harder and the guitar puts out more output into either a distortion pedal or amp that’s breaking up, it would be nice if the bass going into the distortion is cut, and treble coming out of distortion is cut to give a nice mid boost - cutting flub and ice pick. That way as you turn the volume control down on your guitar and the amp cleans up, the bass and treble are automatically turned up giving you that nice rich clean sound. Two multi-pass compressors could do this, one before the distortion and another after, each set to do the opposite of the other.

I found a work around to get 1/2 speed (and 2x the loop length) using the 1-button looper. Here's the steps: Configure a block with the 1-button looper and assign a foot switch Save the patch Touch the foot switch assigned to the 1-button looper to select that block turn the block select knob one click clockwise to select the 6-button loop block press the loop foot switch to get the 6-button looper foot switches press the 1/2 speed switch turn the block select knob one click counter clockwise to select the 1-button looper - you'll still see the 6-button looper foot switches. press foot switch 6 to exit looper mode save the patch The 1-button looper will now be in 1/2 speed and the loop will be twice as long

Try using the Double Take modulation effect to get a bit of comb filter. That can create some resonances you might like. Otherwise use a parametric EQ and sweep around to find the frequency that provides the resonance you're looking for.

If you use two speakers in your FRFR for stereo, and set them right next to each other, there will be minimal stereo separation for you and almost none for the audience hearing your stage amp. But that doesn't mean stereo is not worth doing. It will provide some space and separation that will make your sound be a bit fuller and less muddy, simply because each speaker isn't trying to handle everything the same way. I run stereo and really like what it does for the overall tone. I do not use Helix for vocals. Get a vocal processor if you want to do that. TC Electronics makes some nice affordable vocal processors that work well with guitar. I have a Harmony-G XT, but don't use it since our PA (X32-Core) does what we need, and the band has 5 signers, so we don't need harmonizers. My goto patch also uses most of the Helix DSP, so there'd be no room for vocal processing. With two FRFR speakers, you can angle one in towards the center of the stage to provide guitar for the band. An open back guitar amp works best for this. But with two speakers, you have some flexibility on how you point them. I don't bother with the speaker polls because I use IEMs for my monitors. The FRFRs are for stage fill and feel, not my monitor tone. And I wouldn't want the pointed directly at my head in any case because that would risk hearing damage. A FRFR will generally have much more dispersion than a guitar cabinet. For a backline, you may not need them pointed at you - and I'd be worried about hearing damage in that configuration anyway. You need to take that seriously. I lived in denial in my younger days only to learn the consequences for tinnitus and hearing loss later in life. Don't do it.

I generally use a small number of presets that represent my own general tone groups: acoustic, low-gain, mid-gain and high-gain. I tend to use the mid-gain patch for most songs, and use the volume control on my guitar to clean it up when needed. All of these patches have similar effects in the same position in the signal chain and assigned to the same foot switches, with the pretty close to the same name. These are the effects I use 95% of the time. There are however a few songs we do that require pretty different configurations. One starts with a drop-D 12-string acoustic followed by a Les Paul slide tone. I use a separate patch for this song. Another song uses MIDI Guitar 2 in MainStage for a horn section that I play in one part of the song. Footswitch 7 turns that horn section off and on, but otherwise its my mid-gain patch. I probably have less than 6 songs that need really song specific patches. I can generally get to these by using 4 stomps/4 snapshots and just banking up and down to find the patch. I use 10 stomp mode, and within each patch, I can get at the effects I need similar to how one would use a traditional pedalboard. I use 4 snapshots in the patch for unusual things that require more changes: standard, open tunings for slide (I use a JTV-69S), quick acoustic, and Leslie. So my approach is to develop my own core tones, and use a minimum number of patches in a given gig. This keeps Helix from becoming a distraction while providing my own interpretation of the songs. Then I minimize the number of song-specific patches I need and keep them clustered closely in a set list so I can get to them quickly if the song comes up.

I use two JBL EON610s in a backline configuration. They're on the floor because I need to put the PA (X32-Core) rack unit on top. Using the EON610s as a backline like this provides a great stage amp. They're light and sound good enough. I can easily point them so that one is straight out and another tipped into towards the center stage to provide some guitar to the band members who don't use IEMs (we're 3 out of 5 so far using them). I use them in the Monitor configuration in order address the bass boost that results from coupling with the floor, and the fact that I'm almost always stuck close to the wall or corner. I use IEMs in order to get better control of my own stereo mix, and protect my ears. So I'm getting my tone out of the IEMs, not the backline. But there's still some low end bleed from the 610s. What I like about the backline is the feel, not the tone. There's a thud on low notes and a physical resonance with the guitar that's missing if you only have IEMs.

I had this problem with my Variax 700 Acoustic and a new Line6 VDI cable. My old cable works fine. There appears to be some variation in the connectors and that seems to be enough to cause problems in some cases.

A couple of general observations: something that sounds good quiet will likely sound good or better when turned up (but watch for low end buildup) - the reverse may not be the case something that sounds good on speakers will likely sound good in IEMs - the reverse may not be the case So fine tune your patches at gig volume and through the typical FOH FRFR you're going to get, and it will probably sound fine in your IEMs.

Here'a another way to set Helix compressors. If you want a really squashed tone as an effect, set the compression ratio (in there's a control) high, say greater than 5:1. Use 1.5-3 for milder compression Start with Sustain at 0 or Threshold all the way up - i.e. no compression. Set Attack to be as slow as possible and release to be as fast as possible (if the compressor has them) so that these will contribute to minimal compression and have the least impact on the guitar tone At this starting point, toggling the block on and of should make no difference. Next play and start turning the sustain up (or the threshold down) until you notice some loss in volume. This is an estimate of the gain reduction. You can watch the meters on your PA input if you want to actually measure the overall gain reduction or use a dB meter, most phones have apps for them. Toggle the block on and off to help get a sense of the amount of gain reduction Keep playing and start reducing the attack time until the pick attack just starts to get washed out, then back off a bit (unless you want that effect). This gives you the fastest attack possible without killing the pick attack, articulation and note dynamics. You'll notice some additional gain reduction. Start increasing the release time until the compressor sounds smooth and there's no odd pumping or the compressor seems to follow the tempo of the song. This will depend on how fast you're picking in a song. You want the release to be as slow as possible to give the most sustain, but fast enough so that the pick attack of notes played fast don't get cut off. This will probably also increase the gain reduction. Finally set the makeup gain: adjust the level control so that the toggling the compressor on and off doesn't appear to change the overall volume This will help bring the guitar for forward in the mix and will even out picking dynamics. It will give the guitar more sustain and a nice feel without being overly obvious. Of course if you're looking to use compression as an effect, keep turning the dials until it does what you want, maybe using the above steps as a starting point, but going beyond the limits in each case to see what it does. Another thing to consider is compression before or after distortion. A compressor before distortion won't do much because the distortion is already clipping and there's no gain left for the compressor to work with. A compressor will tend to keep the tone in saturation a little longer. A compressor after distortion isn't going to do too much either because the input is already clipped and there's no dynamics left for the compressor to work with. Worst case is it will allow more distorted pick attack through if the attack is slow and this could add to fizz/ice pick. A compressor with additional makeup gain can act as a boost. If its before distortion, this will increase the distortion saturation. If its after distortion, it will act as a volume boost. But there are probably better blocks to use as a volume boost, you don't need to use a compressor for that. I put the compressor early in the signal chain, before distortion since I mostly use it for clean or on the edge of break tones. A compressor works great in this case, keeping the amp closer to breakup and giving a warmer sustain. One last thing to consider is amp sag, which is essentially a compressor in the power amp section. What's different about sag is that it works as a compressor even when the power amp is heavily distorted - in fact that's when it works best. Keep the master volume turned up and drive turned down to control the distortion to maximize sag and how the overall amp feels.

As far as I remember, this has not changed. 2.6 seems to be functioning as described in the manual, which hasn't been updated yet. Correction: Variax Model is missing Don't Force on Helix, along with the Custom models. But both are available in HX Edit. Looks like a bug. I didn't notice this because I build and edit patches with HX Edit most of the time, and only fine tune with Helix. Variax Settings: Pre Preset, Global: determines if all other Variax controls are global or per preset. If global, changing the preset will have no effect on the Variax. If per preset, then Variax will be set to whatever was saved in the preset or snapshot when they are selected, including the model/mags switch. Lock Variax Controls: determines if the volume, tone, and/or pickup selector controls are locked or unlocked. If locked, they have no effect until the model is changed. Variax Tuning: Don't Force, Custom: If don't force is selected, Variax stays in whatever tuning it is in when the patch/snapshot is selected. If set to Custom, then the custom tuning is selected. Don't forget to set the strings you want to change in snapshots to the snapshot controller.

Perhaps the difference in sound is what's happening between the Helix XLR output and the JBL EON FRFR. If there's anything clipping in that signal path, you get harsh, bright ugly tone, while your IEMs might sound fine. You didn't say what's feeding them. Check your end-to-end signal path. Run all your blocks close to unity gain (little volume change when bypassed), and make sure the input into the PA is not even close to clipping - keep it down around -12dB or mid scale on the PA meters. You can also use the PA meters to check for unity gain in your blocks and channel volume. Also make sure any effects that were designed for guitar level signals in front of the amp, but used after the amp have the headroom turned up. You can tell these block types simply by the fact that they have a headroom parameter. That D130F is not known to be a warm speaker. Try using a ribbon mic off axis, maybe even middle of the cone, to tame the brightness. Then fine tune with the IR low and high cut to get the mid focus you're looking for.

I do own a '67 Les Paul (with Tom Holmes pickups) and a '92 Strat Deluxe (with SVL Daytona pickups). And both of those guitars have silky smooth stainless steel frets. But I prefer the JTV-69S for gigs because its lighter (I'm getting old) and has more flexible tones, including open tunings and acoustic. It doesn't play like either of those other guitars, but its just different, not necessarily bad. To some extent the JTV-69S neck is more like a combination of the Fender scale and the Gibson thickness. I put the SVL Daytonas on the JTV-69S too, and it no longer suffers any missing tone. I really love those pickups and they really made the guitar. The models are just icing.

But it would be simple to add it as a parameter for the block, and would be great if it could be saved at 1/2 speed as that's what I use most of the time.

Very good information, thanks Phil. I still think I hear some high end rolloff when backing off the volume control when using the magnetic pickups with the VDI cable. Since the signal from Variax to Helix is digital, why would there still be high end rolloff?

Helix Cab models include early reflections which might be perceived as dynamics, IRs by comparison might sound flat. But this is very true and insightful. Here's an idea: Helix has a lot of options. That's great for addressing many different needs, and for widening the market. But just because all those features are there doesn't mean each of us has to audition them all in order to find the best, most perfect tone for us. That would turn the joy of Helix into a real pain. Instead, why not just try something new every so often, stick with it for a while, play a few gigs, and if it sticks fine, if it doesn't, try something else. For example, I haven't been entirely happy with my Helix clean sound. It just doesn't quite do what my old Fender Showman does with the bright switch turned on. So when 2.6 came out, I tried the two new clean amps: Placater Clean and Cali Texas Ch 1. I like them both, but still like the Archetype Clean too. I can't tell which one I like better, they're all sort of just different. So I'm just going to pick one and play it a while and see if it sticks. If it does, I won't worry about whether another might be better. If it doesn't, I'll try another.

Cloud computing is about centralizing the administration and maintenance of hardware and software resources to provide efficient, effective computing services. Its about having a shared utility rather than a bunch of individual computation "generators". Harvesting and exploiting information is an unfortunate outcome of our connected world. Cloud computing doesn't really make that worse, just more efficient. Since we know this is happening, we need to take more responsibility for managing and securing our own information, and for assessing the quality and validity of the information sources we consume. This is part of what has motivated me to stop using Facebook. Its a way of controlling what information I give out, and an expression of concern about what Facebook has been doing with our information.

I tried setting the looper to 6 button, setting to 1/2 speed and then switching to 1 button looper, but the looper is still set to full speed. Is there a way to do this?

Save in Helix Native seems more confusing. You have the choice to save to disk or library, that's fine, but there are some issues. When you select Library, a dialog pops up with the list of patches in a set. That would be ok, but seems redundant with the library view that's already displayed on the left. But the odd thing is that the current patch isn't selected by default. You can press the save button, but its not clear where the patch is saved. You have to actually select the patch you want to save, regardless of what is currently loaded. It would seem easier to have a simple Library > Save which saves to the currently loaded patch, and Library > Save As... to store someplace else.

Helix in front of S-Gear - interesting option. I’ve used S-Gear for a long time and still prefer it for recording over Helix Native. But for a live setup, I just use Helix, and have an Apogee GiO into Logic Pro X or MainStage with Helix Native (mostly the same patches) as my backup. I also do a bit of MIDI guitar with Helix and Logic too. I do have a recording setup that uses Helix front of the amp effects into S-Gear, using the Apogee GiO as a MIDI foot controller, and an Arturia BeatStep for additional amp controls. That’s my home rehearsal and recording setup. There’s real magic in S-Gear and its delay, chorus and reverb effects. It really shows the potential of digital guitar amplifiers. Recent Helix amp models are approaching S-Gear in functionality, but there’s still a noticeable difference in the overall tone. Its nice to have both options.

The thing that pushes Helix over the top for me is the Variax. The models aren’t perfect. And there hasn’t been much new development for quite a while. But for a gigging musician that needs a lot of guitar tones, has to carry and setup their own gear, needs some open tunings and and occasional acoustic guitar - its really hard to beat a Variax with Helix.

There can be significant variability in the piezo pickups, and this can be exasperated by how the piezo pickup fits into the bridge piece and how the string goes over the pickup. I have found that this changes over time as the guitar gets used and the pickup seats differently in the bridge piece. You could start by using Workbench HD to adjust the pickup volumes. I use my DAW metering and the global string volumes to balance the string levels. The variation can be quite significant and this alone can really improve the sound of the Variax models. You may find this will correct your problem since sometimes something that's just louder is perceived to sound brighter, fuller, etc.

A 1/4" cable will go through extra D2A and A2D conversions and that will have some signal degradation, but likely not much with modern converters. But a more significant effect is the high frequency rolloff that results from high-impedance guitar pickups and the 1/4" cable capacitance. This can really warm up single coil pickups. Hendrix famously used a long, somewhat cheap coil chord because he like the way it warmed up his Strat tone. The amount of high cut increases as the volume control on the guitar is turned down. Some people use bypass caps on their guitar volume controls to eliminate this effect so they can keep a sparkly tone as the guitar is turned down. The cable capacitance also interacts with the guitar tone control and pickups to create a 2nd order tone control that can sound nice as the tone control is turned down, especially for slide. The VDI cable doesn't have these "compromises", so if you want to warm up your guitar tone, you'd need to do it what an EQ block early in the signal chain.

The same thing happens with footswitches. I use a Drive footswitch to change amp drive from min to max values. If I edit the controller and change the min and/or max value, the change doesn’t take effect until I press the footswitch.