cruisinon2

You can use the mixer, but you don't "need" it. Helix is fully functional as an interface. Connect your monitors straight to Helix, and you can easily play along to stereo backing tracks... no external mixer required.

As already mentioned, monitoring directly from Helix, either with headphones or directly connected powered monitors will solve any latency issues. If you don't want to do that, then a separate interface with direct monitoring such as the Focusrite stuff will work also. I run mine into a Focusrite 2i4, which has a direct monitoring/ playback blend control... no latency problems, and the blend control is useful so you're not constantly futzing with the relative output levels from the computer vs. Helix... just roll back and forth as needed with one knob.

What happens if you run the guitar straight into the amp with Helix removed from the equation completely? Is the hum still present? Any other gear/pedals involved?

https://line6.com/customtone/browse/hx_effects/ Not a whole lot to choose from....eventually you're gonna have to learn to create your own patches. Everybody's needs are different. The odds of finding ones that just happen to be exactly what you want are slim. What are you looking for?

Don't know much about the Amplifire or Bluguitar in terms of the # of amp models and FX (if any?) they offer, but I do know Helix has more than I'll ever use...I suppose it just depends on how much versatility you want on tap, and whether or not either of them ends up playing nicely with your HX Effects. Personally, I like having everything in one box. I don't want to have to create patches on multiple devices, or deal with extra cables, FX loops, etc. if I don't have to. And the fewer things my aging vertebrae have to drag aground, the better....

What's next? Lunch. I'm not terribly sure what it'll involve just yet, and that's only a few hours out. Everybody finds out about new stuff the same way: from the press release.

Well unfortunately you've already got your answer. If it needs service, it needs service...and it's either still covered under warranty, or it's not. I don't want to pay for car repairs, but the warranty is long gone...so either I pay up, or I'm walking to work.

I doubt you missed anything. There's nothing mysterious about bolting on a new neck...particularly if it's another JTV neck. They should all be interchangeable in terms of dimensions and fit. And assuming that it's properly intonated and set-up so it's not buzzing, then you're good to go. If the alignment were grossly off, you'd know...either the low E or high E would be falling off the fretboard. That aside, there's not much else to do. Sound on the other hand, is another matter. It's far more subjective, and influenced as much by what you play and how you play it, as anything else. I wouldn't necessarily expect any two necks to sound identical... even if they were made of the same type of wood. Being an organic material, wood is notoriously imperfect and unpredictable. No two pieces will resonate the exact same way. Tone, sustain, bright highs, muddy lows, how it interacts with the individual body you've slapped it on....you can expect any number of things to differ after swapping out necks. Sometimes you like the end result, and sometimes you won't. I've replaced necks on numerous guitars over the years... it's not always a win. It's all personal preference. I have a Warmoth neck on my 69... one-piece bird's eye maple. While I much prefer the wider nut and string spacing and have no gripes about the tone, this is by far the least stable neck I've ever owned. It's far more susceptible to even minor changes in temperature and humidity than anything else I own, and requires more frequent truss rod adjustments. I suspect it's because it's just a single piece of wood. Seems that a separate glued-on fretboard imparts some additional stability, regardless of the type of wood in question. I have other 2 piece necks (maple/maple, maple/ rosewood, and maple/ebony), all living in the same environment, that don't need to be tweaked as frequently. Or that one is just a crappy piece of wood... hard to say. Either way, no more one piece necks for me...when these frets are toast, I'll be replacing this one again with something else... and with stainless frets. It's always a bit of a crap shoot.

This thread is ancient, and the OP hasn't logged onto the site for 3 years... don't bet on a reply.

There are plenty of small, near-field studio monitors out there, but you might have to spend just a little more than that...JBL LSR305's can be had for ~$200/ pair. And they're powered (as are many similar options) anyway, so you won't need the power amp...

Had the exact same problem years ago with a Boogie 2x12...was passable at low volumes, but cranked...nothing but mids. Didn't matter what I ran through it, or how much EQ fiddling I did. Sounded like I was playing through a giant nose. Finally de-honked the rig by ditching the damn thing and going back to a Marshall 4x12. You won't necessarily get along with every piece of gear you buy... if its been 2 years, I'd say it's time for it to go. There are other options...

The problem is that everybody's needs/ wants/desires/expectations are different...a universal definition for "getting the best out of it" doesn't really exist. With a unit that has as many options as Helix, there are 1000 ways to reach the same/similar end result...with just as many variables from one player to the next also factoring into the equation: different means of amplification (the biggest factor by far), guitars, pickups, playing styles, etc etc etc. It's nearly impossible to put together a one-size-fits-all template for how to set things up. You needn't look any further than the factory presets and all the stuff on Customtone for proof...some might be useable with little or no adjustments, and others will sound grotesque and make you wish you'd taken up the bassoon instead. I'd love a shortcut too... there just aren't any.

Forget about "rough representations", and forget about some video review from Joe Average, which isn't showing up on this end anyway, so I can't comment on it. But regardless, it's not a good way to gauge ANY piece of gear. The only way to tell if Variax would work for you, is to put one through it's paces, period... just like anything else. Judging it by how someone else uses it is pointless... there's no earthly way to tell if the guy on the other end knows what he's doing, or what actually went into creating the sounds you heard.

If you also have HX Edit running at the same time, try closing it before you muck around in Workbench... depending on the computer, they don't always play nice together. One or the other might lose connection. Sometimes it'll happen, sometimes it won't.

If it keeps going through the same sequence of flashes, I'm gonna guess that it's not an accident, and perhaps indicates some sort of error which the powers that be love to get all obtuse and "007" about. Don't be surprised if you're told that it needs to be serviced, with little else in the way of explanation. Or it could just be some weird malfunction of no particular significance... hard to say either way. I hate anything that relies on batteries...always power mine with the Helix, and the POD before that.

Please tell me that you don't teach math for a living....;)

Among the JTV's, there's the 59, 69,69s, the 89 (stop-tail) which I don't think they're making anymore, and the 89F with the Floyd Rose. Of those, the 89F is the "metal machine". The 59 and 69 are basically a LP and Strat, respectively. No idea what an "LPB" is... But if the only one you can afford is the Standard, it's all a moot point anyway...unless you're gonna look for a used JTV. The Standard is essentially a Yamaha Pacifica with Variax guts... basically a Strat clone and closer to the 69 than any of the others. There's nothing wrong with them, and the modeling is all the same no matter what you buy. As far as the feel and aesthetics, you'll either like it or you won't... but if you're looking for a "shred-mobile", it probably won't be your cup of tea.

It's a dead thread, gents... waste of time.

It depends on how you're connecting to the computer... if you're using the wretched USB dongle, then your only option is to plug into an amp with the 1/4" cable. If you're using another L6 device as an interface (POD, Helix, etc), then you should have no trouble hearing the changes you're making in Workbench while listening through whatever you normally use to monitor the sound... headphones, studio monitors, etc. I do it that way all the time.

Lmao! My day job is in healthcare....I'm printing this one out and hanging it over my desk, lol.

It's just a totally different head...I bought one after 25+ years of staring down at 6 strings, and was immediately lost, lol...felt like my first month of guitar lessons when I was a kid. Particularly with finding 5th and 6th string root barre (sp?) chords. Might seem silly with something so basic, but at a glance, what used to be the A string, is now the E. Your eyes and your fingers are telling you that you're playing D chord, but your ears are telling you it's an A.... very disorienting initially. Also if you 're a "thumb over the top of the neck" string bender, that's a lot harder to do on a wide neck. It gets better with practice, but there's definitely an adjustment, especially after decades of 6 strings....

If that's the only thing holding you back, just go buy one. They don't all suffer from that affliction. Owners of ones that do tend to complain about it loudly, and at length...and justifiably so...However, they are not the majority. Forums are ground zero for whining about product issues, and it's VERY easy to come away with a wildly distorted perception of the frequency of any one particular problem. I palm mute with mine all the time, with plenty of high gain tones, and no plink. Since they're almost non-existent in brick and mortar retail shops, you'll likely end up buying one online. Grab one from Sweetwater, and you've got 30 days to return it, no questions asked. But you won't need 30 days anyway...you'll know if it sufferers from the dreaded "piezo plink" in the first 10 seconds...but you won't lose a dime on it unless you choose to.

I'm the last guy on earth to defend the "Me, me" entitlement/instant gratification crowd, but it seems to me that rules like the ones quoted above stacks the deck pretty heavily in favor of the retailer...and while there are always exceptions to the rule (long live Sweetwater!), retailers as a species (at least in the US) have a long and glorious tradition of being wildly full of $hit....Anybody here ever buy a car? ;) But I digress... During my music retail years, I worked for a guy who could sell snow to an Eskimo...not exactly an altar boy when there was a buck to be made. As long as the guy who's selling you something has a financial incentive to lie through his teeth, consumer protection laws will be necessary. They should be as balanced as possible, to keep everybody honest. Obviously, the retailers shouldn't be getting screwed left and right, either. And while there will always be a small percentage of buyers who will abuse return policies and try to game the system, I still think that a bunch of happy, repeat customers are worth more $ in the long run, than whatever is lost on the occasional return. If somebody thinks they've been screwed, they're not coming back, no matter what actually transpired. Perception is everything, and a little good will goes a long way... especially with gear like this. You can research and read manuals all day long, but until you actually use something for a while, there's no real way to tell if it's gonna work for you. Just my 2 cents...

Again, it's really not a "right" or "wrong" thing. Every nip and tuck t that you make will impact your sound to a greater or lesser extent...and no, merely noticing a difference in the sound doesn't "prove" that you're clipping the input. Plus, the absence of onboard input metering in Helix makes it basically impossible to prove one way or the other anyway. It doesn't much matter though..."Does it sound good?" is the only question that really needs answering. As long as the answer is "yes", who cares how you got there? Regarding any individual parameter setting, there are precious few situations to which the one and only answer is "No, you can't do that"...

Personally, I've never found a need to use the pad. It's usually only necessary if you have active pickups, but a higher output passive pickup might drive some amp model(s) a bit too much under certain circumstances, resulting in the harsh high end you've experienced. But active pickups or no, the end result is all that matters. As you can see, there are numerous ways to deal with brittle highs that modelers sometimes produce... and in the end, there's really no "best" way to do it...trust your ears, and use whatever method is easiest to wrap your head around. If you like the way things sound with the pad on, leave it on...