ricstudioc

...and all cars go from one place to another - ever driven a Road Runner 426 Hemi? Raw, unashamed power with a place to sit. It's 1973, and my 'lil "local heroes" band opens for Foghat - we have the same lineup and the crew asks if, to save time, we'd mind using their gear. I've been using a little combo, "their gear" is a lineup of full Marshall double stacks. At sound check I plug in, come off Standby, and standing about 10 feet out from the amp line I bash a "G" chord - and my pants legs (remember bell-bottoms?) literally ripple - I can FEEL the breeze...! I immediately fall in love - inside the month I've got me a Marshall... I feel confident in citing that experience (as duplicated by many many others) as the origin of the phrase. One of the best things about the advances in amp - and now modeling - tech has been the ability to get "that sound" without the need to attend the Pete Townsend School of Lip Reading. In the modern realm "moving air" (IMHO) has more to do with a certain visceral quality perceived by the player, than actually being able to blow out a candle 10ft from the amp... Good times....!

Well I spent 20 years in a wheelchair, but after seeing the Helix UI I can walk again...!!! ......too much? Bit over the top...? So ok - Helix ain't gonna heal the sick, or raise the dead (depending I suppose on the amp you hook it up to...) but on an obviously well thought out and executed design, the UI stands out as the cherry on top. All the power and possibility in the thing mean nothing if you can't get to it and manipulate it without it getting in the way - and the UI is pretty much as clear as New Mexico air. Based on comments over the last year it seems like lots of folks initially bump their nose into splits/merge, and "how do I get to path 2" kinda stuff - but once you get your head around those items, patch design is pretty much just like looking down at a pedalboard/patchbay kinda deal. Another "program on the device" guy here - thus far I've only used the editor for librarian purposes.

To the manual - yeah, I downloaded the most recent version, and put it on the drive. Kinda saw it coming - snapshots were bound to require an update. To the gig - congrats! I know just how you feel, once I got my core sound dialed in the gigs have been consistently great - well, from a guitar sound point of view. There's still the drummer to deal with.......

FWIW I've been using the G50 with the Helix from day one, one of my configurations has all the loops running. I've have yet to feel any discernible lag in doing so. You probably already know this - a millisecond equates to about 1 ft of distance from the sound source, so when I walk across the stage to ham it up with a bandmate I'm creating 40/50 ms of perceived delay. Wa-a-ay more noticeable than anything I've felt from the rig itself....

Seconded - my luthier had a neck from a John Mayer (sp?) strat that he put on my 69 - night and day! But I also dig the stock neck on the Standard. So I agree with the others, check the setup and tweak to taste before jumping right to a new neck...

Yah, staffing is pretty hit-and-miss at GC's - there ARE some decent folks here and there but the bell curve sits a lot closer to the low end. And yeah, they can absolutely be muttonheads as regards what they've got on the shelf - walked into my local some years back and saw a DrumKat sitting behind the counter. Inquired, and was told it was a trade in - they were asking $50. Bought it immediately - those puppies retail for $1500. Had Alternate Mode send me a new power supply, been working fine ever since.... SCORE!

I'll wipe mine down with a microfiber cloth, and after certain outdoor gigs I blow all my gear down with canned air as it comes off the truck. I put one of Glenn D's protectors on mine - sad to say the adhesive hasn't held up well and the edges tend to lift. Hmmm - todays a "get some projects done" day for me, maybe I'll dig the black duct tape out of a case and attend to that. Not knocking it - heck just the time it saved sourcing/cutting the cover was worth it to me. "Precious"...? Well on the one hand money's not a huge concern in my life - I would buy a replacement in a heartbeat, as I've said many times this is the gadget I've been waiting for for years, my only disappointment is that it's come along so late in my life/career. But I HAVE paid MUCH less for a car that I've driven for years. O'course my working definition of a muscian - "someone who puts $10,000 worth of gear into a $500 car."

Ditto. I don't just play guitar, depending on the gig I may also have keyboards, gtr synth, elec percussion - basing my system around FRFR allows me to use one amplification system for any/all of the above, saving a ton of weight and schlepping extra gear. Pragmatism at it's finest - it's just one more kudo to L6 that Helix thru FRFR easily holds its own sonically against the actual amps in the room.

I'd assume they're assignable per user......

heh heh... good'un. Gotta admit I'm a bit baffled by the whole point of the OP - but hey, who am I to judge...?

You're a better man than I, as I very selfishly position my gear, and self, on stage so that I might orgasmically wallow in the majestic cloud that is my sound as produced by the Helix. The audience...? Screw'em - that's what I bought a sound system, and pay an engineer, for. It's HIS job to ensure the audience experience - MY job is to be so caught up in the finger/tone/response intersection that, just possibly, I might take my playing to the next level, however briefly. (Don't take that "screw'em" too literally - obviously they're the reason I'm there at all. But they're there to see what I can throw down, so "if A, then B"...)

Alto TS10's here - very happy with them for the Helix. Little light in the bottom for my keyboards (I run another pair there) but I find them to be very punchy and responsive in the guitar freqs.

Wondered if someone was gonna catch Max - good call! "Double vision when the bars close down....."

I would humbly disagree, using two of them with absolutely no issues. Are there better? You betcha. But mine work just fine and the price is reasonable....

Anyone know - can controller assignment change from snap to snap - i.e. Exp 3 controls decay mix in snap 1, then Univibe rate in snap 2?

My kinda guy - lemme know if yer ever gonna be in the Phx area.....

Don't know why this would offend anyone - more truth in this than not. And yah, I'm a #1 - sadly with the emphasis on the "+" in "40+". (Still have a Rockman Sustainer on the shelf....)

While in agreement with the opinions above, if you just want to get rid of the hum look into the Ebtech line of eliminators. They're not "conditioners" in any sense of the word, but they're amazing at eliminating hum issues. My "uber-rig", which incorporates the Helix, VG8, GR33, GP10, a cappucino maker, and anything else electric that I can find wouldn't be usable without a couple of them. Available from small to large, they simply work.... http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Hum?adpos=1t1&creative=114582610801&device=c&matchtype=b&network=g&gclid=CjwKEAjwqdi7BRCL6Zmjk5-rsTwSJABmrVabUJ0Jhk0SwEmzU-ruL6zIOATIGbvUMzfPir4YjZe4sBoCcU_w_wcB

Must be just me - I have no problems whatever with the toe switch, quite possibly the smoothest I've ever used. Lean forward a tad and presto! - wah on. I wonder what the differences are between units in manufacture?

Oddly I got both of mine off the shelf at local GC's (Phoenix area) - used to work in MI retail so I understand the "you stock what you sell" mentality, but still - you're gonna sell more of something if people can put their hands on it. I get that the mom-and-pops can't speculate on these marginal items - but GC is the 800lb gorilla and should be willing to keep these available, at least 1 or 2 in any given market. Baffles me....

I have both a 69 and a Std - that alone should say something, it's become a go-to for the variety band I work with. The ability to switch between acoustic/electric/dobro/banjo on the fly is a godsend in that environment, as is the special tunings capability. Now - studio recording of an acoustic? I'm still throwing my Samson ribbon in front of my Takamine - but for live use the acoustic models hold their own against most any piezo'd acoustics. I'm not one of the "purists" who niggle about the accuracy of the Strat/Paul/Tele/etc models - to me they are just different "in the ballpark" flavors that you'd otherwise have to cart a metric lollipop-load of guitars around to have available. ( I actually typed "lollipop" - yielded to the censor long ago...) Note my signature line - the Variax is a dancing bear. I have yet to integrate w/Helix - never did w/HD500 - just 'cuz I luvs me my wireless. But I have another project in the works where I will be doing so - and have no qualms or doubts about doing so, it's very transparent to do. And there's a hint that L6 may be whipping up some enhancements for the Helix as regards Variax i.e."fx blocks" that could provide "in-patch" control. Cool if it happens..... VDI + mags is integrated in the VDI spec - just the one cable carries both signals.

fwiw - i put a fender neck on my 69, the stock neck was too much a baseball bat for my tastes. But I kinda like the Std neck as is. Give it a whirl before jumping....