gunpointmetal

My local GC sells all that stuff as open-box for a slight discount. Selling you a returned unit as new, even if the previous owner never opened the box, is shady AF. My Helix came with a hex wrench, USB manual, and there was definitely protective film on the main screen because I left it on there till it started to peel off. Definitely return it for an unopened item if you're able. If the salesman gives you grief, talk to the supervisor. The last time GC tried to lollipop me around (bought a used amp that was "tested in excellent working order" from a store in a different state and when it arrived at my local store the speakers were non-functional and half the amp output wasn't working, then the out-of-state store tried to say I intentionally damaged the item IN THE GUITAR CENTER I PICKED IT UP AT) I emailed corporate and they sent me a $500 gift card.

This part might sound obvious dumb/but sometimes people get excited and gloss over stuff, so don't think I'm I'm being condescending here, just touching bases. Think of it as each preset is it's own guitar rig. Are you gonna plug your guitar into just any setup and have it sound the way you like? The other thing to keep in mind is what the Helix is meant to reproduce when you're using headphones or studio monitors or FRFR. If you're accustomed to hearing what a cabinet (combo, head/cab, whatever) sounds like sitting on the floor next to you, the only way to recreate that in the Helix is to connect it to a real guitar cab/power amp with cab modeling/IRs turned off and listen to it out in the room. Honestly, I've been playing modelers and multi-FX pedals since the Zoom 505, and I've yet to find one there presets actually sound good outside of a few really wild synth-type sounds. Editing for your guitars, your playing style, etc is NECESSARY on almost all of these devices. Inexpensive headphones will never get your the best sounds out of the Helix, but they shouldn't be awful either. Whenever I get a new piece of gear like this my first thing to do is go to a blank preset and add nothing but an amp and separate cab/IR block and tweak those things till I'm happy with the sound, just like I would do if I was in a recording studio tracking through studio gear. Maybe even do it with a couple of different amps/cabs to get an understanding of what parameters are doing before you add in any FX. Knowing what sounds good to you and how to get it with the gear will make going back and editing any of the presets that have a sound close to what you like much easier. Another important thing to remember is that headphone-created patches will almost always ONLY sound good in headphones, so you'll have to tweak those patches when you plug into bigger speakers/monitors. Think of of it like going from a 1x4 cab to a 4x12 cab. There's no way the same settings are gonna work, even with top of the line boutique tube gear. Tweak with your ears, not your eyes! There's a learning curve, but once you figure out how it all works, there's so many possibilities, and its actually really easy to adjust stuff once you're comfortable with the interface. Good luck!

I doubt that any of those guys is using the exact same settings for rhythm and lead sounds. Most likely either channel switching, amp switching, or some sort of EQ/Boost combination. A quick Google search suggests that Dough Aldritch is using a custom-made boost/distortion into various Marshall heads via amp switcher with a Marshall cab. Maybe try the 2004 Mod or the Friedman model with the Marshall cab, back the mic off a little bit to get a little less "buzz" in the tone, and try boosting it with either an EQ or a low-gain-setting distortion pedal. Like I said, though, I doubt those guys are using the same settings for lead and rhythm, if not switching amp heads/boost entirely.

Elektrik is a good one, too, like a beefier 5150. The Uberschall is so low/low-mid heavy that even with a boost it's still easy to make it boomy. For single-note stuff, especially higher up the neck, an EQ before the amp with a boost in the 300-800Hz range (depending on amp, guitar, tuning, etc) can make those lines sound more vocal and broader, but it will be muddy for rhythms.

Distance from the speaker. Shifting it around the cone is a sorely missing option.

Would it possible to provide an example of the lead tone you're looking for? A lot of these descriptors will mean different things to different people. Depending on the amp "cranking the master" might not help the situation, and using a boost for leads is different than using a boost for rhythms. In my case a rhythm boost is set to attenuate low end and pump the input, whereas a lead boost will have more low end information, as well as pumping the input and the high-end a little bit. A TS boost setup with the lows attenuated and the output pushed will make chords, low-strings cleaner, but will take away a lot of the lower overtones (undertones?) that come along with single string/lead stuff.

With technology stuff if you're waiting on the next gen, you're always waiting.

Yep, haha, accidently hit Multi-quote and cleared out the wrong one.

I honestly haven't used it in a few FW updates, but that's how it DID work. And that's how a mix control is supposed to work. 50% would be half and half fx/clean signal. Why would you want the 100% mix of a reverse delay to have lean signal in it?

From Computers to DSP floor processors, if you NEED it for work, DO NOT try to be an early adopter. I use my Helix 3-4 times a week, more if I'm recording. There's no way I'm doing a firmware update until its been out AT LEAST a month to see if there is a 2.8X version to fix any possible bugs.

That whole "I hear my amp, but the audience hears the mic" thing is why about 2/3 of the local shows I go to have terrible guitar tone. The guitarist dials in their cab to sound good where they're standing (you know, about 8'-10' in front, off-axis) and then it either sounds harsh and sharp directly in front (if there's a stage, right in people's faces) or farty and boomy everywhere else in the room. And, since so many guitarist rely on "feel" (whateverthelollipop that means) instead of just playing the right notes, they can't get along with FRFR because it doesn't work in the room the same. That's actually why I LOVE FRFR. My IEM and my onstage monitors are getting the same signal as the FOH, so I'm not guessing at what the audience is hearing, apart from the any adjustments the FOH engineer makes for the room, anyways.

Geez, get a room and kiss it out guys. The tension is exasperating.

There's no mic's involved in the feedback. It's only coming from my on-stage monitor, which is only being fed by the Helix.

Sweet! I was stoked to see the PC+ 212 until I saw that it's literally 2X the cost. Any chance of a non-plus version?

Goddammit L6! lol, every time you make the thing I want you make it the most premium version possible and price me right out of owning one! Think there will be a "non-plus" version?

I run Guitar w/Active Pickups ->Helix->EV ZLX monitor with the XLRs going to an IEM mixer and FOH. I don't run a true power conditioner, just the breaker-protected power strips (Furman). I guess excessive line noise could be the issue, as I said, my gates and their usual settings are pretty tight and I literally stand 3' away from two of those ZLX monitors for hours a week at practice at usually higher-than-gig volumes with no feedback issues. I understand how feedback works mechanically, and usually dialing up my gates will remedy this issue the most part (I'll still get little squeaks when muting quickly). I guess maybe the question would be can bad/dirty power raise the noise floor or reduce dynamic range or something in something like the Helix. The squeals are solely coming from my on-stage monitoring AFAIK even when I'm DI'd to the FOH. I didn't even really think of the fluorescent lights. Both places are kinda dive-ish and have lots of those multi-color beer sign lights throughout.

If we exclude the fact that you can take your tones with you, the only real advantage is the adjustable impedance at the input.

If this place turns into TGP 2.0, I'm out. Everybody just needs to unclench their butt cheeks and learn how that little wheel at the middle of the mouse works. Give it a spin and all of the sudden the crap you don't want to read ISN'T IN FRONT OF YOU ANYMORE. Crazy, right?!

I doubt that those people don't "get it", that advice is usually presented when someone is trying to solve an issue. I do really appreciate that I can organize the signal chain for how I want it to sound instead of how not damage equipment, lol, and i think THAT is more the future of guitar modeling than getting it more "realistic" than the current tech. At the end of the day a lot of people are trying to make these incredible little DSP computers sound like a heavy-lollipop old amp from 50 years ago, which is cool, but there's so many more possibilities.

Ah, its always the new kids who haven't been around thinking they know whats up. This is a USER support form, meaning its USERS helping USERS. If you think its gonna be some sort of of official Wiki for Helix, then, uh, HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. People, its easy enough to unfollow a thread, or just not respond to posts that you have no interest in. It's even OK to have a civil disagreement about topics you ARE interested in. Don't seek out upsetting things on the internet and then get mad that they are upsetting. Some people's kids, I swear...

Is there any reason to think bad/dirty power would cause feedback issues with digital gear? There are two venues that I end up playing (usually not by choice, but when you only do originals, you gotta take a show sometimes) where I have constant feedback/squeal issues that I never have anywhere else. We've played basements to garages to 1200 cap venues and there are only two places where this issues occurs. It's like my gates aren't set tight enough all of the sudden on presets/patches that I never experience issues with in any other environment. The only consistency between the two places is that the buildings are old, we're on the floor, and power is sourced from two outlets on the same wall. Anyone have a similar issue, or know a reason for it, or what the options are to stop it?

I don't personally hear anything "wrong" in your clip. That pick noise is pretty common hitting the strings "flat" and is audible in decades of commercial recordings and I hear it all the time seeing bands live. You could try recording the DI into a DAW and analyzing it to see where it is and try to reduce it, try a compressor ahead of any overdrive/distortion pedals to bring up the note after the attack to make it stand out less, try a different pick thickness/material, or work on how you hold the pick for riffs where its troublesome. That "clink" noise is one of the reasons I ended up with the picks I use now (Winspear Amber Battleaxe) because the attack is more percussive and less "pingy". But really, I don't hear anything out of the ordinary. If you're used to playing through something thats louder, or a tube amp that saturates, the pop of that sound is probably less noticeable, but ultimately still there. You could try turning up the amp master or sag parameters and see if that smooths it out a little bit.

There's no reason to force a kid to learn guitar on some piece of lollipop First Act or whatever. If a kid wants to play flute in the school band, are you gonna buy the cheapest, out of tune, hard to maintain instrument out there to see if they "really have a passion for it"? Guitarists are such a weird bunch. Some of you sound like "well back in my day, we had to learn on a plank with piano wire, no frets, and you just had to deal with the slivers". lol

Same thing I would tell parents when I was teaching beginner lessons. If you want the kid to give up on it, buy him a cheap department store guitar. If you want him to take it seriously, buy something decent enough to not be a fight to play. For one, there's a much better chance they'll stick with it and two; if they really don't get along with it you can actually sell it for money instead of $5 at a garage sale, lol.

Guess I'm not sure how an impulse response helps in this situation. Sounds like you need a multiband comp with with the sub-100Hz frequencies flattened into a beam then boosted up. You'll probably be able to get "bigger" lows bypassing an IR all-together and going straight the board.