robbieb61

And now at Saturday night's gig it's back to NOT working again. Not sure what to do. I play too many gigs to be able to send it back for repair.

Check this out...I played a gig last night. An outdoor gig (brutal in Vegas in the summer). And just for the heck of it I tried the Helix wah (using the Helix expression pedal)...and now it magically works just fine! WTF?!?!? Not sure what's going on with this thing.

Looking forward to reading that. :)

Yeah, mine turns on and off (auto engage)...but won't go past the "40's" on the readout. And then when I push it all the way down...the numbers go up and down in a "glitch-like" manner. I don't have time this week to get it out at home to try any troubleshooting. But next week I'm hoping to have a day or two that I can.

That I don't know because I never use a volume pedal

It has some kind of "learn" thing on it. I did that. No change.

I have 4 presets with 8 snaps each that I use. And I have 3 different "user" slots with those same presets (each tweaked for different guitar/pickup combos I have). It does it on all of them. I will attempt the global reset solution, but just not sure when. I have a lot of gigs this week to get through and I hate to take a chance. Hopefully the global reset will work and it won't turn out to be hardware-related. My Helix has been going strong since I first got it in Oct. of 2015. So I'm crossing my fingers!

So this last week at my gigs...I'm noticing my wah pedal on the Helix sounds like crap. I'm in the middle of songs onstage so I don't have time to investigate the problem. On one of the breaks I tried it out real quick and it sounded as if the pedal was just engaging the wah but having no effect on the frequency to make the "wah" sound. So I thought that maybe, somehow...a gremlin had caused my settings to magically change and I would have to take a look at it. So I had tonight off and I'm playing again tomorrow. So I drug my Helix out of the truck and set it up to fix the problem. I selected my wah on the GUI of my Helix floor and stepped on the Expression pedal. Wah came on like it's supposed to ("auto-engage") but it still sounded like it had no high frequencies. Pedal is still set for "minimum 0 maximum 100"...matter of fact none of my settings have changed. Then I noticed as I worked the pedal that the readout on the Helix was showing it stopping in the high 30's/early 40's instead of going up to 100. So I pressed it all the way down. That's when the numbers started going up and down randomly (but never above the low 40's) as if they are "glitching". So...I got rid of the wah in the signal chain and I'll be using my CryBaby wah pedal (a real one) in front of Helix. Tested it out (haven't used it in a while) and it sounded fantastic. BUT...I really would like to know what's going on with my Helix Expression pedal. Has anyone else had this happen? Is there a "fix"?

I think you mean: "For less than 2 years"I got my Helix in the first shipments from Sweetwater in Oct. 2015...today is August 19 2017 Not even 2 years since the Helix hit the street. 😊

Thanks for clearing that up brother. I thought I was losing my mind. lol

Something is wrong with the forum. This thread isn't making any sense to me reading it. Not the subject matter...but a technical issue with the forum or something. I can see Digital Igloo quoting "PlickBadger" but I can't see any posts in the thread from him. And I see people making replies that are obviously replying to comments...but I don't see what they are replying to! How can that be? Is the forum messed up? Or am I not part of some super secret group of posters whose posts I can't see?

So it's NOT just the Left output that is mono the way it's physically marked on the back of the Helix?

Well, it's still not as "stable" as my BOSS tuner by any stretch of the imagination...but at least it is now "usable" I couldn't use it at all onstage before. :) I was able to use it at my gig last night with a Floyd equipped guitar...couldn't do that before.

Isn't it great that you can say "only" 4? Lol!

It doesn't make any sense to me...I only have a guitar plugged into the guitar input...but somehow it calms down the jumpiness

klangmaler made a reply in one of the "tuner" threads, I thought his idea was B.S. But today I had some time with my Helix at home, and I turned the tuner on...still sucked. Then I turned the tuner input from "Multi" (default) to "Guitar" Holy crap! I don't know why or how...but the jumpiness was GONE. The tuner worked just like a "real" tuner should! No need for turning down the tone knob or hitting the string over and over real quickly. It just WORKS now. Give it a try guys! And klangmaler, thank you for that post :

I don't have any regrets or anything I wish I had known beforehand. The Helix sounded great in Oct. 2015 when I got one of the first shipments from Sweetwater... And it has improved greatly since that time with new amp models.

I'm pretty sure we all understand physics and guitar strings vibrations. My Boss tuner can tune my guitar perfectly in a few seconds. My Korg rackmount tuner has the same exact specs as the Helix is supposed to have. Guess what...if I line it up with my Boss tuner and hit a string...any string on any guitar I own...both those tuners "grab" that note and display it and they both show it the same in terms of flat, sharp, or in tune. The Helix gets you there too...eventually. The problem isn't accuracy. And nobody who has played guitar for any length of time is unaware of strings vibrating, etc., etc. The Helix not being able to tune a guitar QUICKLY and EFFICIENTLY is not because it's "Better". Just the opposite. The "Better" tuners get you in tune fast and accurately. Helix is jumpy. And sometimes leaves me wondering IF I really am in tune because it never seems to settle down all the way on all the strings. How many times does this need to be said? If some people are happy and sit at home playing their guitar and don't care how long it takes to tune...that's GREAT! I'm happy for you. But the Helix is marketed as a PROFESSIONAL piece of gear. And "professional" means making money with it. And a lot of us make money with it playing live in nightclubs doing 3 and 4 sets a night. That's all I'm saying...the Helix has an awesome display for the tuner. I just want the darn thing to stop jumping all over the place. Don't need a physics "lesson", don't need to be told how to tune my guitar. It's almost insulting to pro players to be talked to like that. Line 6 just needs to fix it.

I've been snipped! Ouch! Lol

That's what I've been saying. Back "in the day" (for me the late 1970's and the '80's forward)... when you would read Guitar Player or Guitar World, etc. the ads for different guitar tuners would literally BRAG about their tuners ability to "lock on" to the note for fast efficient tuning. THAT is what the Helix is not doing. And that ability is uber-important to a musician playing in a live band that puts on a pro-show without a lot of "dead-air" between songs. That's what's frustrating for me. For instance...I get to a gig. First thing I do is get my guitars out to get acclimated to the room temperature. Then I set up my rig. I let the guitars sit for as long as I can before we play. So a few minutes before we start...then I tune. Helix takes a lot longer to tune with (which is frustrating to begin with). Granted my guitars rarely go out of tune very much. I only use top quality guitars and have set them up nicely. But having said that, I still try to check the tuning between songs...especially if I played an aggressive solo on the previous song. It's just not possible with the Helix tuner because of all the jumpiness. That's my complaint. Every other tuner I have ever owned since the 1970's was able to be used quickly between songs. Every one of them. The Helix just doesn't seem to be able to lock in and stabilize itself. I've seen people on here talking about physics and guitar strings vibrating as if they are talking about something that everyone didn't already know. That was the point of all those company's bragging about their respective tuners being able to lock down the note for tuning ease. :)

Yeah, I'm used to being able to quickly check all 6 strings to make sure they are in tune between songs...and a lot of times we go from one song to the next, so you literally only have a 4 count from the drummer to do a quick check. Every other tuner I have owned since 1977 has been able to do that...except the Helix. :(

I've never in my life plucked a string that many times to tune it. Matter of fact, you usually have to give it a few seconds after you first pluck it to let the string "settle down" from the force of the pick striking it. Is that how you have always tuned your guitar? Because that would be impossible to do with a Floyd and a lock nut. You literally could NOT keep plucking like that and tune the guitar because your picking hand would be on the fine tuner trying to tune.

My guess is your bass player doesn't like you. :( Not joking. I've played (as you probably have too) with hundreds of musicians in bands over the years. And anyone who made that kind of statement to me would have also already started drama by going to all the other band members and talking about it behind your back. I'd start looking for a new band. I'd also get some kind of speaker onstage with you anyway. Plenty of good powered monitors and FRFR stuff, or even running into the effects return of a guitar amp. You don't want to have to depend on somebody else to get YOUR sound you want and need to hear onstage. Best of luck to you.

Two can be as bad as one it's the loneliest number since the number one...

Pretty sure he was joking around using the "saddest chord" line from the movie "Spinal Tap" It makes sense that if you are going to play a song in the "saddest key" (d minor according to the movie), that you would want to use the saddest tone as well. Lol