brue58ski

Yeah, I figured as much. It still irritates me. Which I guess, is kind of silly in itself. I mean what are we talking about? 3 seconds more at the most?

The whole reason for this product is to provide many choices to many different guitar players. How many amps do WE need. A lot. There are a lot of different guitar players out there. How many amps do YOU need? Apparently just one. I personally just don't use what I don't need and don't begrudge others that may use an amp I have no interest in. If the amount of choices is truly daunting to you, there are simpler solutions out there. Or, you could just put your choices in the Favorites folder and be done with it. I like the idea of essentially having a music store full of gear. When I go into a music store, I don't try all of the amps. I do get what you are saying. I certainly have wandered into the multiple choice arena and spent hours there until I looked up to see the sun rise. And not really accomplishing much. What would you prefer they do? I truly am curious and not trying to be glib or anything. I know for me there are a couple of distortion boxes and choruses out there I wouldn't mind seeing in the Helix.

It sounds like you may have but make sure the output is set to multiple or USB 1/2.

The best part about logging in is the Fire Hazard warning that pops up everytime you do. It's only been there for around two years now.

Not 42. That's the answer for everything. The answer as to when will the Helix be perfect, It's 3.2!!

Here is what I found on a Helix. If the tone is saved on a patch from 0.1 to 0.9, when you switch to another patch with a different tone setting, it remains on the previous tone setting. If you press the patches foot switch again, it will then switch to the proper tone. I believe the same or similar issue occurs with the volume knob. If you notice in the Helix 3.15 notes, it mentions a Variax issue that still hasn't been addressed. It says this specifically In some cases, the current Variax tone knob's position may not be recalled across preset changes This is the issue it is referring to. So they are aware of it. It sucks because I cannot use the tone knob to get a better acoustic sound for which I find the tone knob to be critical in. For now the only fix is to leave it on Don't Force. You can't preset the tone knob properly for now.

Not knowing what your guitar is, check out Worship Tutorials acoustic IRs. They are made to take whatever your guitar uses for the 1/4 inch output and essentially EQ it to make it sound more natural. They also have a free sample pack so you can check it out. https://worshiptutorials.com/acoustic-guitar-impulse-responses/

I actually have it on one of these https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000RXN6XI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I highly recommend it. It fits perfectly. I did have to ever so slightly, bend the side tabs out just a touch, which i just did with my hands, just so it wouldn't rub against the sides of the Helix. Regarding the EXP footswitch, there is no way I can apply enough pressure to engage that switch using that stand. On a table top maybe but it almost toppled over when I tried to when it was on the stand.

Thank you. At least it wasn't me.

I agree with this and am absolutely guilty (still) of trying to try everything. I try to look at it like a room full of all of this equipment. I'll bet after trying everything eventually, I would settle on only a few things. Oh, I'd run back to the room to try a bunch of stuff every now and then, but I'll bet I would only use a few things consistently. I have to keep reminding myself that I don't need to, nor have the time to setup and tweak every iteration of FX and amps in the Helix. I still do try every now and then (it's so much fun). But, eventually I wind up spending my time on one amp and a bunch of different effects usually.

Kind of related to this issue, I have my floor Helix off the floor and that makes it impossible to engage the footswitch under the expression pedal (try it). The way it's setup, I can't apply enough pressure to engage it. I cannot for the life of me, figure out how to switch from EXP 1 to EXP 2 from HX Edit. I can turn on and off the blocks they control (usually vol and wah), but I cannot switch to the EXP 1 or 2 I need to control it. Does anyone know how to do this? I suspect it's easy and I'm just not getting it.

Well I would say my solution would work. Have the looper on path B with the Pitch Shifter.

I'm not sure I'm understanding exactly what you want. If it's what I think you want, put the looper in path B after it goes through what you want in path A. Then add the polypitch; then merge and mix after. You can set it up so you can turn things and paths off and on using Snapshots or footswitches. So you can have the looper loop what you want on path B, shut that input down when you're done recording that loop, and go through the polypitch there. If you still want to hear some of the "dry" looper sound, adjust the mix on the polypitch. Is this what you wanted to do? I guess the best question is, if you had no limitations, what would your EXACT path looklike?

I don't know if this has been mentioned but don't forget the mic input in the Helix. You could mix and blend the piezo (if you have that) with a mic. There is a feedback danger with the mic so go in knowing that. But you probably knew that that would be normal anyway. Start with the mic preamp and some EQ. One thing I've done to varying degrees of success, is to run the Acoustic Sim in parallel with the guitar's main path. You can blend that in as well to help craft your tone. Not perfect maybe but you do have options. This not definitive either. As has been mentioned, there are IR's. I've often used cabs for "eq's". I'll quickly run through all of the cabs just to see what their effect maybe on the sound. Even try different amps, bass and guitar. It often surprises me what will pop out. Hope this helps. I think it will work pretty well. You just need to find what combination will work for you. I do think it's in there.

I have the floor Helix. For now, I think I will wait on a Stomp. My hope being they keep the same models etc. but use whatever new hardware that's been developed that will give it more DSP.. It would mainly be for a backup which I have a POD HD 500X for now. I realize my dream could never come to fruition. Just a thought.

I got mine!! To those that haven't, you will. There is hope.

Bias and bias X are functions of the tubes in a tube amp. Tubes have a bias. It is a DC current applied to the tube that is part of how the tube actually operates. Tubes have an optimal bias setting (amoutn of current) so it can run efficiently but often people will change it in an tube amp so it runs inefficiently because it does change how it sounds. Changing the rules so to speak. This article will help to understand the bias thing a bit better. It did for me anyway https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/what-is-tube-amp-bias/ BUT, describing what it does physically doesn't really help you find out what it does to the sound, does it? To me changing the bias affects the amount of "distortion saturation' I hear. A clean sound it seems to, well, it's subtle and hard to explain. It gives it more or less ooomph. You know that technical term, ooomph don't you? That's the best way I can come up with to describe it but no words will really work. It's easier to just hear what it does than use a description to come up with how it will sound. Sag is a bit easier. I think of it as a kind of compressor. Higher settings will compress it more, kind of like a harder rock sound via Scorpions or Metallica. Make it a bit tighter Lower will loosen it more like Stevie Ray Vaughn or maybe Robin Trower. As has been mentioned before, hum and ripple are essentially flaws inherent in a guitar amp circuit that get worse as time goes on and electronic components deteriorate. They are both subtle things you may hear in an old amp and so you may want them because they do contribute to the sound you hear. Subtly but it's there. Nothing wrong with turning them down either. These are all subtle things that many will probably not even notice. Take an amp with a lot of amp distortion and mess with them on that so you can hear what these things do. But just note that they are subtle and are there more for the tube, cork sniffing thing which I do have in me, just not as much as others. Just a few more tools to help dial in your perfect sound. Not everyone will use them but they are there for those that want them. Hope this helps in some way.

First, you will rarely get to know any of Line 6's plans. It's a long story but I understand why. One reason is just so the competition can't take advantage of that info. But that ain't the only reason. There's a guy you will get to see here and on The Gear Page called Eric Klein also known as Digital Igloo. He is the Chief Product Designer. He has said the Helix definitely has a few more years in it. I take that to mean anywhere from 2 to 5 years. If anything came out soon, I would say it would only be to make it more powerful DSP wise so you can have more blocks. Many of the new models of things are DSP devourers. Regarding Native, I believe it has several settings in it that will limit the DSP it uses to help you create patches. One setting to simulate the Full Helix DSP limit, one to simulate the HX Stomp DSP limit and one that is only limited by your computers power. i don't know where the settings are located as I am not at home. But I would check that out. Another thing Eric mentioned is that they start working on new hardware products about 5 years before they are released. For me the Helix has reached the quality I've been waiting for in modelers and it fills all of my needs. I would like more DSP but other than that, the next Gen would have to have a major sim improvement and I don't know what a major one would be since it's so close now. What about a way to add more DSP to my current Helix? via the USB port perhaps? How would they implement that? I have no idea. It's probably not feasible. But I can dream, can't I?

I've used a talk box with the Helix utilizing the mic input. It worked GREAT.

I remember Craig from his articles in Guitar Player Magazine. I have his Electronic Projects For Musicians book from when it first came out 40 years ago. PAIA still sells kits for some of the projects in the book!

I just tried and my old link still says download expired. My email with the link is from December 28th

That's what I thought.

I can't figure out how to download the book again. The old link that I have says the download has expired. I can't see anything else in my account or on the website that even mentions the update, let alone how to do it. It is listed as version 1.1 on Sweetwater's website. I have contacted Sweetwater and am waiting for a reply. I talked to a real person so he gave my problem to "them that know" and I will get an email back telling how to do it, hopefully. Anyone else know how to do this?

So I have a Vetta amp. I would like to flash my JTV 69 back to 1.90 (the last firmware with the old models in it) in the hopes that the Vetta be able to see/have more control of it like the original Variax's. Two questions, if anyone can answer. Will my JTV69 be OK after reflashing back to 1.90? Since it's still available then I assume it will be but I just want to make sure. Will my Vetta then be able to see/control it like an original Variax?

A fake Variax with no guts?!?!?! I'm dying to know who first purchased it, and if they really thought it was a real Variax. Now I've seen everything. Unbelievable what people will do to make money. Just part of the human condition I guess.