xavierb

I swear I thought I found something like CTRL + 1-8 used to work, did I just dream that? Does anyone know an editor shortcut to change the snapshot?

Thanks Phil: it's a good workaround, but you have to "use up" one of the models for that, this idea would save you one.

 

And yes I understand what you mean with the physical position, my idea wasn't proposing to be able to "switch" the pickup on the mag side, merely to switch to the mags - in whichever positions they are already, i.e., simply what pressing on the model knob already does.

Here's a more generic/useful version of this idea - make the input block controllable by snapshots:

http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Make-a-snapshot-able-to-control-the-input/837674-23508

Thanks 

You can already do this with Workbench HD. Just create a custom model where the mix is 100% magnetic. The one thing to be aware of is that the pickup selector is a hardwired switch for the pickups, so its position will always determine which magnetic pickups are active. This an actual electrical connection, so that's not going to be able to be changed via firmware update. So if you have the pickup selector in the bridge position, there is no way that you'll be able to select the magnetic new pickup via the Helix without actually moving the pickup selector. That's just one of the compromises that had to be made to actually make the Variax have working magnetic pickups.

Thanks Phil: it's a good workaround, but you have to "use up" one of the models for that, this idea would save you one.

And yes I understand what you mean with the physical position, my idea wasn't proposing to be able to "switch" the pickup on the mag side, merely to switch to the mags - in whichever positions they are already, i.e., simply what pressing on the model knob already does.

Make "mags" one of the Variax models, useful for snapshots:

http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Make-mags-one-of-the-Variax-models-useful-for-snapshots/837070-23508

In my case it seems that it may have been related to the cable connection (on the saddle side) to the piezo. Try that if you haven't already, it worked for me and may work for you, good luck :)

Just an update: On my JTV-89F I fixed the plink problem by removing the E saddle from the saddle, jiggling the blue cable where it connects to the saddle, then reassembling the E saddle with the Floyd, and finally re-stringing.

I thought it's worth mentioning, in case it helps someone else. Took me about 5 minutes - there's a clear difference, before vs after, now the E string sounds like all the other strings including with the Spank model which was previously the worse.

So for my case it was a physical problem of some sort.

Well, if you're listening to the other strings than the string with the plink, I can totally agree. Like I said, the Variax uses piezos, which I think is a huge advantage in terms of having a better frequency range to sculpt into certain sounding guitars.

 

It's all advantages and disadvantages pretty much.

The roland system can use piezos as well, for instance the Godin guitars hex pickups are piezos, not mags - and you have to configure that in the settings of the host system (GP-10, etc...). I've never tried a piezo-based guitar against COSM, it might sounds better to me. The only thing Roland does better than Variax is down tunes, there's a lot less latency.

Then maybe it's time for us to move forward from Variax.

Even with the plink, the Variax sounds much better to me than a GK/GP-10 or the Vox star stream (I tried both).

Swapping the leads does work for me (and another friend who has a 89F with the problem too). The downside is that the A string sounds a little "muffled" and that you've got to keep remembering to swap E & A whenever you change tunings - so I went back to the EQ filter instead as it seemed to be the best out of the not so great solutions I found in this thread so far.

A few pages ago it seems that Line 6 was working on a solution, is anyone from Line 6 able to comment on any progress?

The only current solution I have is to add a negative (-3dB to -10dB) notch filter at 1600 Hz, but as someone said earlier this affects the whole tone. I was hoping that line 6 would release a firmware update that would make it possible to EQ each string individually (or at least the E string, which is the one that most people have a problem with) but they don't seem to be in a hurry to fix this problem, given the age of the thread :(

We know that would work, because on the JTV-89F if you swap the A and E string the problem goes away so it's clearly something that can fixed at the software level.

Has anyone with plinky guitar tried earlier firmware versions (1.7x) and if so does it fix anything?

I can't remember, but has anyone ever gone back to an older firmware to find out if it solves the plink problem?

Has anyone been able to change what positions 2 and 4 do on a JTV89? They go to single coils, I much prefer to have it Ibanez style (4 = neck humbucker in parallel, 2 = single neck + humber in series) but it doesn't see possible because of the way the electronics are setup inside.

Yes. I have a JTV89F and the E string is plinky :(

Ah, yes I guess I expected the mousewheel to control the parameters instead of the scrolling (which I think is what you're saying).

Forgot to mention that there's no mousewheel support either.

Scenes! Works killer with Axe-edit and I would love to see this implemented too, at some point.

Yep scenes are awesome, vote for it on IdeaScale if you haven't yet.

No doubt, let's get the editor out. Just hoping they did not subscribe to some design aesthetic where they try to make the editor look just like the Helix screen.In my opinion this would be squandering the opportunities to improve the visuals to provide the increased amount of information, and the ability to tweak all relevant parameters on a given block or logical piece of work at once without paging, something that a screen editor can easily provide.  An enhanced version of the Helix screen would be much better!  

I think we all agree. But don't despair, Line 6 seems to be responsive to feedback so once the editor is finally released a few IdeaScale entries and lot of patience should eventually turn it into something great :)

It will be ridiculous if huge bars mean paging over instead of having all parameters show up on one page. It should be an absolute priority to eliminate paging wherever possible. That is one of the huge advantages of an editor. Paging is dictated by the screen size and number of knobs on the Helix. No need to carry that over to a software editor.

The Helix screen would have been designed so that a person of an average height with a normal vision would be able to look at it standing up, right? I mean that's one of the advantages about the device. On a computer you have a much bigger screen resolution, *and* you stand closer to it - so you end up with a lot more real-estate - therefore you can and should cram more into it, i.e., show many more parameters at once compared to the physical Helix screen.

Not quite what I'm seeing right now on the screen shots, but yeah - I'd rather have something that works than nothing at all :)

I neglected to mention, the editor is the perfect opportunity, at least before it is implemented on the physical interface on the Helix, for L6 to introduce scene functionality!

I would rather have an editor today than wait months for editor/Helix with scene support.

I hate them as well. They work absolute wonders if you want aggravate your carpal tunnel. The sliders might be marginally better.

 

Best is a single click, or better the TAB button on the keyboard, to select the focus and just input the numbers with the keypad.

 

That's one reason I hope that for effects with a lot of parameters it doesn't put a stupid scroll bar on the 'sliders' page to be able to get at them.

I agree wholeheartedly agree, I would also like those keys mapped something like this for each parameters:

• +/- to go up/down 10%
• SHIFT+/- to go up/down 5%
• CTRL+/- to go up/down 1%

Proof of life... yay!

L6 has said it will look exactly the same as the Helix screen, so if you want to see it, look at your Helix.

Are you telling me that they've now got all that extra screen real estate and they're going to waste it away by (for example) not consolidating the Helix parameter tabs so that all the block parameters show up all at once? For example I'd expect that I can see & edit the master volume along with volume and other parameters within the same editor screen, and not keep having to move screens like I have to on the Helix.

Glad to read you got it swapped out, but just wondering..., Do you know what caused it to fail the update? I'm new with the Helix and didn't want to make the same error... Thanks.

I don't know, I did everything Line 6 advised, no USB hub, wait, etc... I understand that v1.06.5 now has a "Safe boot mode" for the "In extremely rare cases, Helix can hang after a factory update" situtations. I'm totally not convinced those are extremely rare cases given how flaky the firmware updates have been (on not just one but 2 devices) but anyway once you get to 1.06.5 at least you've got an option. Good luck :)

I've always heard it "Not Available, Maybe May."

Well I sure hope we'll still not be asking for it in May! :)