ricstudioc

At first glance it would seem so - assuming it has a 1/4" tip/sleeve expression output it's probably worth a go....

Congrats on the fix, glad to see you got it sorted. I'm gonna lean toward the "dumb luck" scenario - with the modfier that, in this case, "luck" has more to do with an extremely complex and sophisticated software environment, and it's hardware interface. Somehow, something went south on ya - minor power spike? Static hit? Little bump in your last update procedure? Hard to say - but I'm always impressed with the brain power that goes into something like this, lord knows how many thousands of lines of code lurk in there. And it only takes one line to be corrupted to throw things into the dumper. Right now, while things are good - do a full backup, setlists and individual programs - and then get back to jammin'....

Pretty much this - I'm old school, I select the amp (or experiment with amp/cab combinations) to get the core tone I'm looking for. Hopefully I can achieve that with just amp/cab eq's, but that would be the next addition if needed. Only then do I start placing fx, engaging/bypassing as I go to keep tone/level consistent. Last is controller assignments, I'm not a snapshots guy yet so it's pretty much on/off switching with perhaps some parameter changes stacked on a switch. The new auto-engage is gonna get some love pretty soon, tho - I've had both external expressions hooked up from day one, to date never really used #3. That's about to change... Said it before, say it again - Helix is literally what I've been waiting for in my adult playing years. (Arrived a bit late for the rock-star thing, but watchagonnado?). And not just sound/feel/touch - the interface is so brilliant and easy to suss out that "patch from scratch" is not only simple. but fun...

...and then there's this - like I said, flexible. So your basic gtr sound goes to the combo, and processed stuff to the Alto? Using the fx return on the combo to bypass its preamp?

This. Period. There are simply too many variables in doing a quality mix to consign to a one-button solution. There's a reason why i have a dozen or so different eq's to reach for in my DAW - each one has it's strengths and flaws, as well as character.

Well, I'll advocate for FRFR and let others discuss actual amp/cab applications. Personally I settled on a pair of Alto TS110a - most of the time they're in front of me like a set of floor monitors, but if the situation demands it they have the juice to sit behind me like a backline and get the sound out there. Kinda wish I'd waited a bit and got the next-gen ones (110b?) only because they changed the design on the cabinet to where they can sit on either side in monitor configuration. Why FRFR? As many folks point out, probably the best way to think of the Helix is as an amp in a studio environment, where you're listening thru the studio monitors. And I agree with that philosophy. Other than those small situations where I backline the speakers, I'm always DI'ing into the FOH board anyway - so the audience is essentially hearing the "control room monitors", and via the FRFR's so am I. Eliminates a number of variables from the room/environment. Also, if you opt for the amp/cab solution you're pretty much committed to the sound of that particular setup - going with a more flat (FRFR) system makes it easy to change everything on a patch-by-patch basis - you don't have to EQ the hell out of things to make your 4x12 sound thin and nasally (if you need that), start by pulling up the 6x9 Supro, or 8 inch Champ and go from there. So for my money there's just more sonic flexibility in going the FRFR route. Lots of guys running into amps/cabs, the Helix is nothing if not flexible in that regard. I just appreciate the all-on-one-box solution...

I'm in, makes perfect sense - they already know the in/out and power protocol, and the form factor for the board, find it hard to believe with those items specified it couldn't be possible. Price? I dunno - give me a truly next-gen board with more potential and control, and an editor to match, I suppose in the 400/600 range would be reasonable.

Yeah, wedding/corporate/function stuff. I'm a hooker - but I'm a well paid, penthouse hooker. None of the on-your-knees-for-$20-in-an-alley stuff. The old punchline - "We've already determined what you are, now we're just haggling over price." :o Actually, I'll be leaving the project after the turn of the year, we've been rehearsing/overlapping gigs with my replacement for a while now. Just tired of the same old after 4-5 years with the project, don't really need the money - and time is marching along, I'm getting older. I have a VERY capable studio in my home that I never find time for - enough room to record full bands - and while I can still play for a damn I want to spend some time returning to the creative side of things. Music for the simple joy of it - I've been missing that for too long.

As did I, and my running joke at the time was "If you went back in time and showed this to George Martin, they'd never find your body. George: "Paul, John! Look what I've got..."". Gotta love dbx, made the small format tape platform viable...

Thanks - I'll chase that down. Edit - yea for me! Appears it's only affecting pre-2.1 presets with snapshots, since I have yet to implement that feature I should be golden. Once the tryptophane wears off I see an update coming - the auto engage will be da bomb. Thanks again, Honest Opinion.

First thought in my mind as well - if the OP is as "pro" as he implies (a vague question-begging term at best), with dozens of imminent gigs, why wouldn't he have a second unit? I'm semi-pro these days (admittedly my band doesn't go out the door for less than $2500+, I'm a well paid part timer) and when I decided the Helix was my baby I found a good deal on a return - I leapfrog them as regards updates, never doing B until I've verified A. I dunno - different strokes.....

Just want to clarify, here - have the long weekend, considering doing the update, but I've noted some talk about this. And unlike another recent poster, with tons of holiday gigs about to hit I'm inclined not to update if there are any truly significant issues. I've seen some comments about the Exp 1/Exp 2 display getting scrambled in some manner - is that it? No actual problems with functionality? Thanks!

Don't you dare apologize - I'll beat you with my walker (at least till I fall over, and even then I'll play hell with your ankles...)! I exceed your cutoff date, and think your post has a relevance that can't be repeated often enough - and no, this is NOT a "get off my lawn" thing, it's an "understand the roots of all this, respect the origins of it, and don't take these modern miracles for granted" thing. You cite some milestone examples, don't forget the Beatles w/George Martin at the desk. That period of time (mid 60's thru mid 70's) was astonishing for the raw amount of creativity and expression that was pouring out of our speakers - up until then the recording studio was there to capture the performance as it happened, and suddenly it became an instrument where time and sound could be manipulated, became a part of the creative process. This can NEVER be overstated, it's importance is paramount. When I was - I dunno, 15 years old? - you'd get the word that Zeppelin/Tull/Yes/Purple/Zappa/Floyd/etc was dropping a new album, and we were like kids waiting for Christmas, We had no idea what would be coming - but we knew there was going to be something amazing, Not only would the music be distinctive, each artist with their own unique take, but the potential for sonic boundries to be expanded kept us breathlessly waiting. And the local FM jock with the balls to drop the needle on the whole album end-to-end was our hero. The Shure VocalMaster - all six channels of it - was the defacto PA for club/high school/garage bands, the Fuzz Face was the go-to if you wanted distortion (no one told me that mine would become a collectors item - damn!), echo was a studio-only process with the Echoplex and BInson still 5 years out. At that same 15/16 year old period I interned at Cleveland Recording, home to James Gang, Grand Funk and the other mid-west heroes of the time - looking back it seems like using flint-and-steel to create fire. None of the tools we so blithely take for granted now was anywhere to be seen. But buy a Helix and every imaginable tool to craft and manipulate your sound is in there, for less than the price of a decent used car. There's a post just up - some guy beefing about the 2.1 update messing with his sound. Boo hoo - go ahead, sell it and go back to analog, amass a pedal board the size of Rhode Island and a rack like a Fridgidair. Or quit yer whining, put the time in to tweak yer stuff, and bless your good fortune that something like the Helix (and yeah AxeFX or Kemper) even exist at all. Or better still - get a Princeton and a Fuzz Face - take it from there, bucko, and god go with ya. And remember, some truly great music was made with nothing more.... It's Thanksgiving, and certainly I have my list of things to be thankful for. I'm still standing after some medical issues that should have killed me (MORE modern miracles!), I'm respected and sought after in my day-to-day profession, I don't go to sleep at night worried about money - and I'm still performing, and the Helix has brought me more sonic power with less tonnage to cart around than I would ever have conceived possible as little as 20 years ago - certainly back when I was waiting for "Thick As A Brick" to drop. BTW - shot over to Sweetwater and broke out my calculator - not including volume pedals and minor accessories there's 894 different pedals there. Your estimate seemed a little light - and that's not counting any of the boutique, "from the manufacturer only" pedals out there... Again - go ahead and get ON my lawn, there's a ton of young talent out there, you can still (if rarely) find truly distinctive musical art happening. But do not for one second take for granted the power and flexibility available to you in a 20 pound box - as much as you should respect, and research, the roots of the music itself you should do the same regarding the technology we use to make it happen at all. Good Times!! Happy Thanksgiving all !!!!

Basic usage is pretty straight forward, sounds like you'll be using the 1/4' outs for now. Press the modeling knob, pick your sound and go... Now if you want to muck about in editing/creating your own setups, that will involve using Workbench software - again fairly obvious, but a bit of a learning curve. Thing to remember - if you're playing around with alt tunings, if you're not in headphones or playing fairly loud you're still gonna hear the actual strings sounding at normal pitch. This has tripped up lots of people, they start yelling that the modeling has gone wrong or some such, Word to the wise...

Been busy for a few days.... Thank you, Guv.nor - there's no putting anything past you guys.... I'm always much more interested in simple, down-home looks vs overly made up - on that basis (and as syrupy as it may sound) check her out in "We Bought A Zoo". Yah, Black Widow is pretty much killer - but Scarlett in jeans and a tee shirt is my idea of perfection. "Mrs Peel - we're needed..." Oh yeah, she showed up at just the right time in my life - suddenly girls were interesting instead of yucky. I note that they both make their mark in jumpsuits - Emma of course had more variety in hers, but Widows' will do just fine.... ..... any word on the update...?

...Avengers movie! What? What did you think I was gonna... Oooh - naw, I'm cool there, whenever's good....

Nicely caught, sir - nicely caught.... :P

- Running into the front end or thru a loop? - If front end, is the noise present with nothing plugged into the input? - Does the noise track the volume control on the guitar or always present? - Battery power or AC adaptor? - Swapped cables around? - What is the airspeed of a fully laden swallow?

"Ok folks, this next song..." (Reaches down to adjust something) "...is something I wrote when..." (Reaches down to adjust something) "...my girlfriend broke it off..." (Reaches down to adjust something) "...with me after I got drunk and beat..." (Reaches down to adjust something) "...her in a game of Monoply." (Reaches down to adjust something) "Ready boys? One, Two..." (Reaches down to adjust something) "...Three.." (Reaches down to adjust something) A quadrillionth of a second is a terrible thing to waste....

LOL! ...though if you've never tried benzene-marinated lima beans, you've deprived yourself of a culinary adventure. Just don't cook'em over an open flame....

My "kitchen sink" setup includes a Key, Mel, and B pedal - I have 3 independant sends just after an input compressor, the returns come after any amp/cab stuff, but before mod and delay/verbs. My only gripe is with the Mel, I wish they'd given some control over the fixed vibrato - it can get a little obnoxious.

I'll have to check it out, but it's gonna take a lot to challenge my POG2. The filter and attack control let me get a very cello like sound, and the memory slots are a huge plus. But I'll def give it a listen....

As others have noted, you'll be doing good to just get in the zip code - totally different physics at work between instruments. As a keys player in one of my bands I ended up buying a specific sample library just to get a better sax sound. One tip - if you need any sax "growl" in your parts, take a look at the ring modulator, assign depth to a pedal. I use one with that library assigned to aftertouch, when I get it right it's pretty convincing. Since ring mod works from incoming pitch you have to set it pretty carefully to work in a certain range...

Preach, brother, preach!! Kinda brutal, but spot on....