codamedia

My 6 year old LT has had one "complete" microswitch cleaning. That was about 2 years ago, and it's still going strong. The entire process took me about an hour... so I can't complain over the level of required maintenance I've had to endure. On the contrary, I have bags of BOSS microswitches from a variety of units. I use to have to replace those puppies on a regular basis. 

I wouldn't dismiss the foam theory, but outside contaminants will certainly find their way in as well. On the LT, the EXP area is a clear point of entry. Combine some humidity with some dust/dirt particles and cleaning becomes inevitable over time.

Just my 2 cents... based on "my" experience with them. 

I always sent a MONO signal to the FOH and let the tech position it as he needs. He can add some stereo delay, or some stereo reverb if he wants, he can pan the guitar left/right/center as he feels he needs to... but he does have instructions not to go drastic. 

As an listener, I prefer MONO live as well. I want to hear the MIX regardless of my ticket being LEFT/CENTER/RIGHT in the room. 

On 11/24/2024 at 5:39 AM, theElevators said:

Stereo sound is easier in terms of mixing, as you can SLIGHTLY pan instruments left/right, so they would not all be clashing together.  I'm not making this up, several pro sound guys told me they prefer stereo guitar signals. 

I tend to agree, a slight separation is nice. But you don't need a stereo signal to PAN the guitar a little to the left or right! 

I would try the JC120 pre-amp into an Alnico Silver or Alnico Blue cab block. The cab block will give it a Vox tonal quality. 

For any dirt you may require... I'd just place a dirt block of choice in the chain, not try to get it from the amp. 

Separate the amp/cab block and put the send before the cab.

YES - it does use one additional block, but it also works! 

If I were buying an FRFR today... I'd lean to the Fender line. They sound great and have those familiar controls of an amp for quick room/stage compensation without diving into menus. 

That said... my AITR tones are baked into my presets. As long as I have a quality monitor arrangement... that tone is there. Studio Monitors.... check! FOH/PA... check! Quality stage monitor... check! IEM's.... check! Any decent FRFR .... check! 

3 Options...

1: Do what the studio engineers have always done. Work really hard with the mic choice and placement in the cab block to capture the "amp in the room" sound to the best you can. Those recordings we love often sound like amps in the room.... that was achieved with creative use of mics & placement. 

2: Turn off all cab modeling in the Helix and plug into the effect return on an amp. Voila... amp in the room. 

3: Find a good "speaker simulation" IR. Before IR's existed people used speaker simulation hardware such as a Palmer PDI-03... but there were many others as well. Those don't have the MIC character added... they are simply EQ's that attempt to sound like a speaker/cab, without the mic. If you can find an IR package of those sounds.... you can load them up instead of a cab block. 

On 11/5/2024 at 3:02 PM, cdtreadwell429 said:

When I went back to snapshot mode I expected all my settings to automatically recall to a snapshot. That didn’t happen.

That's not how it works.... going back to snapshot mode simply gives you the options to choose a snapshot, it doesn't automatically load one. 

On 11/5/2024 at 3:02 PM, cdtreadwell429 said:

Even pressing on a snapshot footswitch didn’t override the bypasses from stomp mode. 

That is the behavior you will get if you set the stomp(s) in question to ignore snapshots. When you set "snapshot bypass" to OFF, the stomps on/off state maintains separation from snapshots. 

Page 47 of the V3 manual explains "Snapshot Bypass". 

On 10/29/2024 at 5:53 PM, newmansion said:

Can anyone guide me to that sweet swirling goodness of tone!

It's the Waylon Jennings sound... Phase

I don't get their the authentic way, but I just throw on a Script Phase and turn the mix down (between 30% & 50%) so it blends with the original tone. 

For troubleshooting, eliminate anything that can adjust volume...

• If you have a volume pedal block (often assigned to the EXP... disable it)
• As stated above, disable the big volume knob from your outputs
• I would also disable the Global EQ if you are using it... 

Make sure you try the 1/4", XLR and headphone out to see if the problem is everywhere, or just on one set of outputs. 

On 10/25/2024 at 8:20 PM, Whiplash030100 said:

Hello, I really liked your explanation, but I have many doubts, could you explain me more in detail, because I really don't understand much about Helix.
Thank you very much 

My steps are already detailed, and they are also in every update instruction Line 6 issues. I don't know how to make it clearer. 

You said that the problem occurred after an UPDATE!

The simple question is... did you follow the update instructions and did you restore your "global settings" after the update? If not, that is likely where your problem occurred.

Silverhead tells you how to restore your global settings... give it a try.

On 10/25/2024 at 1:53 PM, silverhead said:

open HX Edit and select the Restore from Backup item under the File menu. Select the most recent backup file. Then leave the check mark beside the Global Settings item in the menu. You can deselect the other checked items if you wish.

On 10/25/2024 at 1:28 PM, Whiplash030100 said:

So, what I would have to do is to reset to factory defaults to solve this “Bug”?

There is no bug... bugs are unintended... this is by design.

As far back as I've owned my Helix (2018), the update procedure has been as follows 

1. Full backup of the Helix (this is forced when updating through HX Edit)
2. Update the firmware... this will restart the helix and rebuild the presets
3. Perform a factory reset... (also restarts the Helix)
4. Restore what you require from your last backup
   1. Global Settings (I do these)
   2. IR's (I do these)
   3. Presets/Setlists (I have 2 setlists I import where I do all my work... YMMV)
5. Restart one last time and let the Helix rebuild the presets! 
6. Not part of the update notes... but I also do one more restart to make sure it starts without rebuilding again. 

I set aside 1 hour for the full procedure... it often takes much less.

I never update the day of a show... or anything else that may be important. 

Since 2018 I've done a lot of updates... I have never encountered an issue. I'm not saying others have never encountered issues, I'm just saying I haven't! 

On 10/24/2024 at 8:17 PM, bellinghammond said:

 

https://line6.com/support/profile/1468682-codamedia/

"If it's instrument level you are already set, if it's line level, you need to lower *the* volume return by 8 - 12db to accommodate."

 

You need to lower the volume return of '*what', Codamedia?

Can you re-phrase this in another way?

If you insert a "SEND/RETURN" as a single block... you can only set it to "Instrument level" or "line level". 

The problem is... often the send will go to the input of an amp which would be instrument level. But the amps effects send will be line level, therefore it won't match the return settings. Line level into something set to instrument level will be very loud.... there is an option to lower the return level on the block to compensate. 

This is not a "one adjustment works for all" solution... everyone needs to know how their various pieces of gear operate, and set/adjust things accordingly to accommodate. 

Since you don't want an on/off state on the volume pedal.... set it to none. 

@datacommando pointed you (and me) to the right page in the manual.... your volume block will be assigned to one of the EXP pedals positions, you want to set it to "none"

On 10/9/2024 at 9:52 AM, thaw said:

yes this is exactly what is going on.  Sorry if stupid question, but how do I change the ON/OFF (bypass) status on the volume block without changing the position and curve of the pedal.  I want NO bypass change but it seems to be tied to expression position?  thanks! 

I don't use an HX Effects so I can't really direct you... but it is part of the "bypass assign" area for the block. Locate that and you will see EXP is assigned... remove the assignment. 

On 10/8/2024 at 7:36 PM, thaw said:

This works well except that when I rock the pedal back to the heel position (0%) the block turns off.  This causes the volume to jump back up to 100%. 

That sounds to me like the ON/OFF state of the volume block is assigned to the exp value. That is often great for a WAH, but not a volume pedal. Locate that assignment and remove it.... then make sure the volume block is on when you save the preset and/or any snapshots depending on your snapshot global settings. The volume pedal block will always remain on, and will obey the global settings of the EXP pedal. 

I embrace the separation of presets when switching amps. I rarely find that the same effects settings work across different amps, tweaks are often required. 

I work on a master preset... then save that preset to multiple locations so all the pedal assignments and effect layouts are consistent. When I swap the amp in one of the presets I then make the tweaks to those effects to accommodate the change. This works for me because I only use a few amps. I really only have 3 live presets... a Fender, a Vox and a Marshall. Those have been in tact for several years now with minimal change. 

For those times where I decide I have a new favorite effect or effect setting, I simply save it as a favorite and load it in each preset rather quickly. 

Studio is a different game.... effects are kept minimalistic, and I'll tweak the amp models and cabs a lot more to get the source tones right. 

On 9/23/2024 at 1:51 PM, kerryhall1 said:

I just want to split a single stereo path into two mono paths, run each into their own preamp, then merge back into a single stereo path as left and right.

Create a parallel path with the split block.... insert a separate preamp on each path then merge it back together with the paths hard panned. From that point forward everything needs to be stereo... including the cabinet block. If running IR's, you may need to add those in the parallel paths individually. After the merge, If you insert a mono effect/IR/cabinet everything will collapse back down to mono... that is why you need to use stereo effects after the amps.

Mono Effects > Split > one amp on each path > merge > stereo everything all the way to the output

Pay attention to the warning from "theElevators"... make sure the signal collapses elegantly to mono or you may be in for some horrible surprises on some gigs. Also keep in mind, in order to monitor this in stereo on stage, you still need a stereo power amp and cabs, or two monitors and a monitor mix that allows stereo. 

On 9/7/2024 at 6:43 PM, Aenglish88 said:

I just replicated the issue again, it changed Drive parameter across entire preset and all snapshots from 4.0 to 6.0, my clean trem snapshot went big drive just from changing snapshots from one clean preset to my rhythm preset. It changed the Drive parameter (not a bypass) across ENTIRE preset.

That is exactly how it would operate if you didn't ASSIGN the parameter to snapshot control. By default, nothing is controlled by snapshots other than the on/off state of the block.

• If you want a parameter to be controlled by snapshots, you need to assign it as such - then set it accordingly from snapshot to snapshot.
• If you want the on/off state of a block to be ignored by snapshots, you need to assign it as such

On 8/28/2024 at 8:16 AM, blue_apple said:

Is this a valid solution, or should I go about correcting this issue a different way?

It is a valid solution. The Helix does not have a PAD on the XLR's like a good DI does, so using the Global EQ (assigned to XLR only) is a great way to repurpose it as a pad. 

That said... you say a -20db. WOW, that's a lot. A PAD is usually about a 6db - 10db cut. I agree with others that say your preset(s) may be too loud. 

The fact that is sounds completely different is exactly what I would expect. They are completely different monitoring situations. 
 

On 8/8/2024 at 3:54 PM, wmatthews1986 said:

Can someone tell me what i need to adjust?

As with any setup, it starts with the amp model. Start by getting a great tone through the FRFR with just the amp/cab model, then add the effects. 

I had to go find this older post of mine from 2018.... 3 post in on this short thread

https://line6.com/support/topic/35963-using-a-300-variax-with-a-helix/

But here it is again for quick reference...

Bottom line, it works, but it takes some getting used to. 

--------------------

For anyone interested in connecting an older Variax and a Helix... take the time to learn how they will interact with each other, or you will be left scratching your head in confusion... especially if you came from an HD500 or earlier POD XT Live or X3. 

The two most important things to understand... when you use "force mode" to load guitar models from a preset or snapshot change....

1. You can only set the model access from the HELIX... You cannot change the model on the guitar, then save on the Helix like you used to with an older POD
2. The HELIX can only access the FACTORY Variax Models, Custom 1 and Custom 2 locations. Read that carefully!  Here's why!
   • If you customize your variax guitars in Workbench, then store them over their original location the Helix cannot access those. You can call them up on the guitar itself, but the Helix cannot load them through preset or snapshot!
   • Any custom guitars you need instant access to from the Helix (ie: loaded with a patch/snapshot change) must be stored in a CUSTOM 1 or CUSTOM 2 location. 
   • If you change guitar models via snapshot... and are in the habit of changing pickup positions on the fly... I strongly suggest you set Snapshot behavior mode to "discard". If not... it won't take long to learn why :) 

IMO: The reward of having guitar model changes available via snapshots more than makes up for any inconvenience of learning a few quirks. My Variax 300 has new life under the HELIX... now that I've learned it's new personality :) 

--------------------

I don't believe this is possible internally... but you might be able to do a midi loop back and set the EXP pedal to send the required midi message(s). There is an audio gap when changing presets so I don't believe that will yield any usable results, but snapshots may work. 

On 7/21/2024 at 3:07 AM, RevIngram said:

I bought the helix because it sounds great, but also to act as a midi controller - at the moment it's not reliable.

Submit a ticket to Line 6 and include an export of your preset along with the details you provided here. 

If it's a bug, they will be able to reproduce it which is the first step to bug fixes! 

On 7/21/2024 at 3:07 AM, RevIngram said:

Come on line 6 - fix this please!!

They can't fix it if they are not aware of it. There are thousands of configuration possibilities in a Helix... you have stumbled on one that affects you. 

On 7/4/2024 at 2:57 PM, Kenadams1 said:

The problem I’m having is when I set the guitar to half step down the high "E" sounds very flat.  

"Sounds" very flat? Have you plugged into a tuner to see if it "is" very flat? 

That will quickly confirm if the guitar is the problem, or if it is just the environment (ears, room, volume, perception, reflection, etc...) 

Next time I get a chance I'll check my JTV... 

That video is a good example.... you simply can't use the same settings on the effects, they need to be altered to make it work for a similar result. 

FWIW... I prefer delays "before" the dirt... I find it more dynamic and interactive. Reverbs are not something I use a lot... just a natural sounding room to create a little space.