Jugghaid

Turn off the modeling and cab simulations in the DT via midi. Also what I have done going into a DT50 is to use only amp models (some prefer preamp models) with no cab or IR.

Not much difference between the 2 setups really. With the Helix amps and cabs disabled, I think it has the same net effect. Works great, I know that. :) I also do the same thing you do into my Egnater Vengeance 1/2 stack. Just run a line to the effects return and I'm good to go. Sounds like a million bucks and only cost a few grand. :D

Sorry for the delay, been super busy with work. I actually messed with this and decided to go simpler. All amp and cab models on the DT are disabled. I just hook up the L6 link from the Helix to the Dt50 head and use full amp models (no cab). I played with changing topologies etc, but honestly prefer it 99% of the time on topotlogy III. For running to FOH I run a parallel out in helix with just the IR of choice (usually ownhammer). Works great. But most sound guys are stubborn and just mic up the 1/2 stack anyway which is fine as it sounds killer.

Gotcha. My other guitar player has a switchblande and while it's a great sounding head, I haven't messed with the Midi capabilities of it at all. That would make sense as to why you were having trouble doing this. the Grandmeister (and Triamp) can accept midi CC commands for a lot of stuff. I can control pretty much any parameter of the amp directly from the helix including the expression pedal to control effects depth etc IIRC. However, the effects in Helix are better than the ones in the Grandmeister. They aren't bad, just not nearly as good, versatile, or plentiful as the Helix. But I could still control gain, etc on the grandmeister with the volume pedal on the helix if I wanted to or pretty much anything else.

I switch between 2 channels out of my 4 on the H&K using Midi Toggle (CC=31). Not presets. There is no program toggle. If I have 2 of these set up I can toggle between all 4 channels of my grandmeister as well as 2 or 3 models on the helix. However, I could (at least int theory, I'll have to try it) do the same thing with program changes, but I would be selecting preset 1, preset 7, preset 17 and preset 31 if I wanted and then assign the appropriate effects blocks to those program changes by toggling off blocks while I toggle on blocks. I haven't tried that, but I might just for fun. The trick will be setting up the paths correctly and being able to control them with the same footswitch as the program change. I think I could do that, I'll have to play with it though. This is where the 2 seperate processors really helps. Especially if you are not draining the capabilities by using your amp tones rather than models. You can load up a metric ton of effects blocks to manipulate in 2 separate paths if necessary. having said all that, scenes would be the best solution and hopefully it's at the top of the ideascale list. ;) I like the challenge of making machines submit to my will, but easy is also good. :D

I do just press one button. Default setting gets me the clean channel and an octoverb + univibe. Then I hit a footswitch and it changes to the crunch channel on my HK via midi as well as turning off the octoverb and vibe and turning on a plate reverb and delay. I hit that switch again and it goes back to the default. Make sense? I can have that one footswitch do 8 different things and some of those would be turning off effects as well as turning on effects. Or activating a parallel path with several effects or shutting it off. Or turning off one main path and turning the otner one on by swapping the input status. Also I have several patches where I bypass the HK altogether and use the modeling in the Helix. On in particular has 3 midi channel changes for the HK and 2 models from the helix going to just the effects return. I have different effects assigned at different times. honestly I don't use this for my live rig because I really don't need that kind of flexibility in one patch, but I wanted to see if I could do it so I did. I use either my Egnater Vengeance or DT50 half stack for live use. I don't even bother with 4 cable as I don't need it, but it would add 2 more guitar tones if I needed them. My main patch has an Engl model from the Helix and some verb for my main patch. That's my mean and potatoes tone. For the other tones I have a clean, that I hit one footswitch, and it kills the Engl and the verb and turns on a Whowatt with a different verb and delay. Hit the switch (clean/dirty) again and I have my main tone again with trails from the delay. I also have a crunch switch set up where I use a footswitch as a controller to drop the gain and raise the channel volume on the engl model to get a medium gain tone. I leave the reverb on (as I can't assign it to 2 footswitches) but also add in a phaser when the crunch channel is engaged. Additionally, I use the courtesan flange and optcial vibe as effects on the main channel that are set up strictly as footswitches as is a momentary clean boost. and a separate boost+delay for soloing. It all works really well. Now that I got a Variax last thursday I have the clean patches set up a bit differently with a tube mic preamp model and compressor/eq etc for acoustic sounds and sitar sounds. So I have the down position of my JTV59 as the 89 bridge pickup, the middle position as the sitar and the neck position as the acoustic guitar. if I go to the clean channel, I select the acoustic or sitar depending on which song it is. Now, granted, I'm playing all originals and not covers, so It's probably a bit easier for me to set up my presets based on the flow of the songs I play as opposed to having to have 42 different tones in a night. But you really won' need 42 tones in a song. I have 3 presets set up for individual songs in our sets and I have one main preset for probably all but 4 or 5 of out tunes.

Thanks! I got it last week and didn't have much time over the weekend to play with it but spent a few hours with it between thursday and today and have dialed in some great tones with this thing. I had to adjust a few patches based on the pickups (using Lester and 89 bridge for a lot fo my heavier tones)) as opposed to EMG's or Duncans, but it's been a breeze to get really terrific tones and I love being able to switch from a fire breathing Engl or Bogner to a 12 string acoustic or sitar instantly. This is really going to change how I can do things live and gives me the opportunity to replicate a lot of stuff on our album live that I couldn't before. And the guitar itself is good quality IMO. It's from World factory in korea and I have a few Schecters that I really like that were built there so I am not surprised. Is i as nice as my high end ESP Custom shop guitars?.....no. But it's damn good.

I think this is where the confusion lies. Sure you can. You can assign up to 8 blocks to each footswitch. But you can only assign an individual block to one footswitch not to several footswitches. So create the same block again and assign it to a second footswitch with a second HK channel. And a third, etc etc.

Sure you can. Set up a footswitch to send a midi channel change to the HK and also turn effects on and off at the same time. I have a few patches where I have 2 or 3 different verbs or delays on the same patch specifically for this. In some cases I have the same delyor verb 2 or 3 times to make this work, but i works great.

Check out Customtone. There are some really good presets on there. They should at least make a good jumping off point for you.

Weird. I have the Grandmesiter (not my main amp, but I've hooked it up to the Helix) and I have no problem doing this (although I didn't go full monty and do 10 of them). The only obstacle is setting up additional chorus/flange/etc if necessary due to assigning an effects block to only one foot switch if I want it on instantly with the amp channel change.. Scenes would be nice though.

Simple solution to all of this. Get an H&K Grandmeister or Triamp MkIV, run the helix in a 4 cable method and you can have 128 different amplifier tones all on the same patch using midi commands. :D Actually, with the button limitations, you could have 12 completely different amp/effects combinations set up on one preset. Then we can start asking why there are only 12 foot switches per Helix. ;)

It's kinda funny to me the different added features that each player would want if they had a blank check so to speak. Those would not even occur to me as I don't even use loopers, but would really be cool nonetheless. I have gotten a lot of very good ideas just looking at ideascale and the added features different player request. And yeah, the modeling is light years beyond even the HD400 I bought a few years ago as is the user friendly interface.

Excellent. Not quite as simple as just the toggle switch, but if I just have to hit a footswitch and toggle at the same time, that is simple and convenient enough for me. thank you,.

Really? I had not thought of this. That will solve a problem for me for sure. It is possible to have the toggle switch on my JTV50 not only change the model from Lester 1 and Engl model to Sitar and clean at the same time? controlling no only the guitar model but the amp model as well?

Sweetwater finally got some of the black ones in stock an I picked up a scratch and dent for $799. Couldn't see any flaws in the pics, but we will see when it arrives. So now I will have the JTV,-59 the Helix and the DT50 for live gigs along with my Japanese ESPs. I already love the Helix and the DT50 (as well as my Egnater Vengeance and other amps) so this will just add another dimension to what I can do live. Now to dial in the acoustic tones I'm looking for out of this for a live situation.......

Yeah, that's a different application of the same effect pedal, definitely. I'll do some playing with it and see what I can come up with for you if you have a song example? The EM is a pretty specialized piece of gear and it takes a while to get used to how the controls interact with each other. that is what I actually liked about the helix model of it. It's very similar. I haven't tried those clones though, so maybe that's where I'm off.

Really? The Courtesan flange is the effect I probably use most and got it to line up really close with the real deal for the settings I use (think Machinehead). But I do agree the univibe is very good.

I would use 4CM so that you can put boosts, distortions, wah and other effects in front of your preamp on the Vox and other effects like delay, verb, modulation etc after. More flexibility and better tone IMO.

I just snagged a DT50 head for $500 new at the Guitar Center in town here.

Yeah, I saw that, but that isn't working either. I'll try building a patch from scratch to start, maybe that will help.

Actually, I would have to respectfully disagree to a point. If you are just plug it into the input jack of your amp then I think you are correct, however using it with an amp (or amps) in the 4 cable method (or 7 or 10 cable for multiple amps) with the additional benefits of channel switching and adding the modeled amplifiers direct to a tube power amp, you get a ton of possibilities that go well past being a very expensive effects unit. You get the benefits of modeling, pre and post effects with flexibility in the signal chain, as well as using your real tube amp preamp(s) to integrate into your sound. All with the tone and feel of a real deal tube power amp. Because it is. While I feel modeling has come a long long way, especially with FRFR systems, I'm still a believer in the tone and the feel that comes from bottles.Especially on stage in a good sized room. Plus, now I have a really nice 8x8 recording interface for my Protools setup and can record some amazing sounds direct and silently.

Just picked up a DT50 brand new from GC for stupid cheap ($500) and I've been messing with it for the last 2 days. For some reason the instant commands don't seem to be working for me to set up channel B for something like an JCM800 and Channel A for a Deluxe reverb tone. Then again, I'm also in 4CM with added Midi so maybe I'm doing something stupid.....but it gives me much more flexibility than just an L6 connection with one amp per preset. this way I get 3 amps per preset. I set up a pretty intricate preset with most of my commonly used effects and an amp model for high gain like a Mesa or Engl. I switch to the DT channels for the other 2 tones that I want (clean and crunch). I have them set up manually and they work if I no longer screw with Midi, but it doesn't seem to work the same if I use the command center to send the CC. I will say that I really like the DT50 even as a stand alone amplifier. surprisingly good tone. I couldn't pass it up for $500 new with warranty. Even without Helix I would have snagged it for my studio. But with the helix, it's incredible,. Now I just have to figure out how to get the midi commands to work like I want them to............... :(

I just started playing with this. I just picked up a DT50 head brand new from Guitar Center for $500 ($537 out the door) and have been playing with it in 4 cable method and playing with midi control. I need to pick up a L6 cabe to mess with it that way as well as I don't have one yet to see how that will work. so far I am impressed.

Works great on my studio computer with Windows 8. I'm not really concerned about it not working untethered as I really don't know why I would edit tones without being able to hear them.....Same with reordering. What good would it do me to reorder my patches without actually reordering them on the helix?