cruisinon2

Well I'm the farthest thing from a computer programmer that there is...but the exact same pitches are found in multiple locations across the instrument as both open strings and fretted notes...I don't see how any algorithm is gonna be able to tease them apart reliably and in real time, and "know'' which ones it's supposed to alter and which ones it would ignore. I'll believe it when I see it in a consumer level device that Joe Average can afford... till then, a theoretical possibility is exactly that.

No, it can't... no algorithm can pick and choose, altering the pitch of some strings but not others. That requires processing a completely isolated signal from each string, as the Variax does with individual piezo pickups in each bridge saddle.

The OP is the poster boy for why our species is doomed..."Gimme what I want and shelve the rest! If I don't need it, nobody does!" Boggles the mind...

Intonation, gents... intonation. You can tune up with the best strobe tuner in the known universe all day long, and if the guitar's intonation is not spot on, it will wreak havoc with pitch shifting effects.

You'll use it this much______.

What happened to the bananas? Personally, I think they're a pain in the a$$...I like them, but they're not cost effective. Once they hit that perfect ripe spot, you've got like 17 minutes to eat 'em, or they get disgusting... it's a shorter half-life than Taco Bell.

Like a sugared-up toddler....;)

Harrumph! I'm glad that's settled... saves me the trouble of recording my own clips and climbing Mt. Parnassus to seek divine judgement from the Oracle of Delphi... Now that that's over, let's move onto something less contentious, like politics...;)

That would be a first...;)

That's easy: Don't bother getting into it in the first place...because the result was a predictable as this morning's sunrise: "This is awful" "Sounds fine to me" "Well you're deaf, then..." This thread has repeated itself countless times... the name of the new effect, amp model, or other feature changes, but the underlying sentiments, set in stone (if not preexisting) opinions, and conversational diarrhea that follow are the same every blessed time. It would be funny if it weren't so pathetic.

What he was trying (ever so tactfully) to tell you, is that your perceptual acuity cannot match his. In other words, if you can't hear how terrible that clip is, it's because your ears suck, and that's why it sounds fine to you...

In short, the answer is "no"...there will never be a perfect 1:1 relationship between any modeled parameter settings and the corresponding settings on it's real world counterpart. You'll be in the ballpark, but expecting a perfect tonal match is unrealistic. In part, this is simply because of the fact that not all tube screamers will sound exactly the same either, even if they're the same model (or multiple examples of any other dirt box for that matter). If you line up 10 "identical" tube screamers with the same settings, you're bound to notice some subtle differences...it's just the nature of the beast.

... or an OS that doesn't rely on happy thoughts and the constant repositioning of virtual duct tape to function. ;)

"Strange things are afoot at the Circle K"...;)

Which I think is really the intended use, as opposed to being a recording solution. I agree that results are OK... don't think it's any better or worse than what I get with my Variax. I wouldn't track anything with pitch-shifted effects though, at least nothing that I intended to be preserved for posterity... but live, eliminating a guitar swap, it suits me just fine, as did the Digitech Drop that I've had for years. But if I need to drop-tune in the studio, I'll do it the old fashioned way.

This is the same problem often reported by new Variax users, and the explanation is simple. You're hearing your guitar acoustically. Yes, I'm serious. We all do...all the time. The strings are inches from your ears, it's impossible not to hear them directly. And when the pitches hitting your ears directly from the instrument are the same same as what's coming out of your speakers, the acoustic sound of the guitar is easily ignored... but when the processed pitches coming from your monitors are no longer the same, particularly at close intervals, dissonance is inevitable and glaringly obvious. You have to turn up loud enough to drown out the guitar itself, and the problem will go away... and you'll likely find that you have to crank it more than you'd think to accomplish that. Also, some guitars are more resonant and thus intrinsically louder than others. Don't be surprised if you find yourself cranking the monitor volume a bit more for some guitars, compared to others.

Posting the same thing multiple times doesn't guarantee a faster answer... in fact, you're probably shooting yourself in foot. Most people don't read every thread, and even for those who do it's human nature to start ignoring the same thing when it's repeated ad nauseum. And you won't... it's a user forum not frequented by anyone "official". Here's the good, the bad, and the ugly...a factory reset, and/or reinstalling the firmware (perhaps to a previous version if you really want to rule out 3.0 as the cause of your current woes) is basically your only recourse for dealing with sudden unexplained malfunctions. If neither fixes the problem, then it's service ticket time. There's really nothing else you can do.

Cramming cables underneath gear is never a solution... you're asking for a busted jack and/or cable. Not to mention creating a unstable Helix that'll wobble every time you step on a footswitch because it can't sit flush with the floor. Go wireless... problem solved. And you'll never want a guitar cable again. Failing that, most of life's problems can be solved with either duct tape, or WD40.... Hint: in this case, you don't want the WD40. ;)

It might, and it might not. Variaxes are weird instruments. Data is being transferred in both directions via the VDI, and there's complicated switching within the guitar itself between the mag pickups and modeling engine, A/D and D/A conversions happening all over the place, and the hiccup could be anywhere. And none of that crap goes on with a normal guitar. It is conceivable that whatever it is, is originating in the guitar itself, or that it's some odd communication problem between the Variax and Helix. I'm not saying that this is definitely the case... merely that it's a possibility. And until it's ruled out, a possibility it remains. If I'm wrong, so be it...but plugging in something else is free to test, take two seconds, and it just might save you the headache of trying to fix something that ain't broke.

Then it's time for a factory reset on the Helix, which is really the only user- serviceable "fix" there is for weird issues. Failing that, it's service ticket time, and see what they tell you.

That's not a good yardstick...be it modeled or a real amp, I wouldn't expect any acoustic guitar to sound anything even remotely pleasing through a Plexi. Plug that Taylor into anything but a dedicated acoustic amp, direct to a PA, or a patch designed specifically for an acoustic tone monitored through some kind of FRFR output, and you'll get that same thin, craptastic sound. You've tried one guitar that relies entirely on fancy tech to function, making it prone to weird quirks and problems, and an acoustic. If you really want to troubleshoot this effectively, you need to beg, borrow, or steal a "normal" fully functioning electric guitar and see what happens. Otherwise there's a good chance that you're chasing a problem that doesn't exist.

Yes, there are... and the reply above indicates where to find instructions on loading them to your device.

The only advice that'll actually yield results is this: Buy it and try it... As you've already seen from other opinions you've run across, they're all over the map... as they are with just about any guitar ever built. And in the end, everybody's opinion is worthless...except yours. Comfort with any particular style of guitar, neck profile, fret size, etc etc, is very much an individual thing. Hell, EVH played some of his most legendary stuff on guitars cobbled together from well-used $50 parts, which he then proceeded to further mutilate to his liking. There are numerous variables that go way beyond how big or small your hands are, and guitar players are the pickiest people on earth. If you line up 10 guys with the exact same size hands, and give them all the same guitar to play, I guarantee you'll get 10 different assessments of what they love and/or hate about the instrument. Personally, I can't stand semi-hollows and jazz boxes... feels like I've got a canoe in my lap... but that's just me, and it doesn't mean a blessed thing for you or anybody else. For anything that's entirely subjective, trying to guess whether or not you'll like it based on someone else's experience will get you nowhere. Yes, it's a gamble buying sight unseen... so buy from someplace with a decent return policy that allows you to try it out for a couple of weeks at least. Sweetwater gives you a 30 day return window, no questions asked. That's about as good as it gets.

What you haven't mentioned is trying any other guitars besides the Variax to see if the problem persists... in two seconds you'll know if the Helix is the problem, or not. Variax guitars are this close to being too complicated to get out of their own way, and notorious for sudden odd behavior, particularly piezo failures, which is especially likely if the problem occurrs (or is most noticeable) on only a couple of strings. Plug in something else and see what happens... I'd bet money that this is a Variax problem, and has nothing to do with the Helix.

We'd all love this... unfortunately it's largely unachievable. Your output device (and the volume at which you're listening) accounts for at least half your tone, perhaps more. Headphones, studio monitors, and a PA at gig volume are all very different devices and scenarios, and maintaining continuity from one to the next with any one patch is nearly impossible. Patches need to be designed for their intended use. If you want to make life easy, keep separate set lists of patches EQ'd appropriately for each scenario... Yes, it's more work up front, but if you value your sanity, this is the way to go. Otherwise you will be in a constant state of tweaking back and forth every time you change your output device(s) and relative volume levels... because no matter what you do, headphones and a roaring PA system are not the same thing, and any one patch will never sound identical through both of them. Sometimes the differences will be subtle, and sometimes night and day... but changes will need to be made. That much is a guarantee.