cruisinon2

Don't know about the distorted output issue, but it would be worth a try to re-flash the firmware... sometimes that corrects various different kinds of Variax weirdness. As for the scratchy volume pot...eventually that happens to every guitar in the universe, and is easily remedied. A quick blast of contact cleaner should suffice. https://www.amazon.com/DeOxit-Cleaning-Solution-Spray-spray/dp/B0002BBV4G/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?keywords=deoxit&qid=1548161751&sr=8-4

Seems odd... if I mess with anything besides the mix and feedback, it's usually chopping off some of the high end.

The internet says lots of things.... most of which is to be taken with a metric ton of salt.

I'm assuming you meant Helix...as there probably aren't a whole lot of Headrush pedalboard owners in this particular forum. But either way, "the better way to go" is entirely subjective. I'm also not quite sure what you mean by "tuned for guitar", but the whole point of using an FRFR speaker is that it's not "tuned" for anything in particular... it's supposed to be a blank slate...a speaker that will provide as little color as possible, so that the modeler (whatever it is) can do what's it's designed to do... mimic something else. By preemptively "tuning" anything one way or the other, you lose that blank slate. So I don't really see that as an advantage of any kind, but rather another variable you'd have to work around. Most FRFR platforms will provide similar results (emphasis on similar...no two units can ever be expected to sound exactly the same, no matter what the spec sheets say). What that really means, is that in most cases you'll b e applying high and low EQ cuts to eliminate muddy bottom end and fizzy highs that often plague this kind of rig... but that will likely be necessary no matter what you choose in the end. Using FRFR speakers requires a different approach than a traditional guitar amp. It's just the nature of the beast...It will vary from one unit to another, some requiring slightly different tweaks than others, depending on the frequency response, volume, the kind of tones you're after, etc etc... but trying to predict which one will better suit your specific needs is more or less futile. In the end, you have to experiment. Buy from someplace with a reasonable return period so you have time to work with it, without worrying about being out a bunch of money.

I'm gonna go ahead and guess that it's because nobody wants to wade through hundreds (if not thousands) of patches, most of which will be garbage and utterly useless...

If you're happy with that setup, great... but as already noted, it's a whole lot of extra driving, just to arrive at the same place...

We'll get laser weapons first...;)

I'll take my pony, or nothing at all...

I say just enjoy your new toy, unless a problem actually presents itself...

There's really no "right" or "wrong" way to create your tones... what works for you will depend heavily on how you're monitoring.... headphones, studio monitors, through a "real" amp/cab, etc. I'll echo what's already been said... cab and mic choice make and enormous difference, and merely duplicating settings from another modeling platform guarantees absolutely nothing in terms of tonal continuity.... modelers don't work that way. You just have to experiment, and continue turning knobs until it sounds good.

A USB cable is a USB cable...but without more details, troubleshooting will be difficult. Did you install the HX Edit software, Line 6 Updater, drivers, etc. etc.?

$75 is perfectly reasonable, probably about average I'd say...and I'm certainly not advocating searching high and low for the cheapest guy in town. Eventually that won't end well. And I certainly understand that not everybody has the time or the inclination to do all their own set-ups... but that doesn't mean they should get fleeced in the process. If I were ever quoted $230 for a set-up, I seriously doubt I'd be able to stop laughing at the guy. Nobody's that good... he's fixing a guitar, not raising the dead.

There's really nothing magical about it... if you can turn a screw and use a tuner, you are eminently qualified. The saddles on a Floyd move the same as they do on countless other guitars...loosen the screw, move the saddle, check the pitch, tighten screw. Done. Some "techs" like to make it seem like they're doing the Lord's work, or repairing the Hubble telescope...and it obviously pay$ to do so. It's a guitar...a couple of pieces of wood and some strings. It just bugs me when places overcharge...for anything. This is no different than the mechanic who tells you that you need to replace the 3rd Fetzer valve in your car, or you risk bursting into flames on your way to work....so you fork over $1800, and he puts air in your tires, changes the oil, and hands you the keys...

I sympathize with your plight... but it's a losing battle. These guitars are a niche product as it is... the average right handed player doesn't know they exist. For the number of lefty's they'd sell, they'd lose money just having the conversation about it in the boardroom...

Well no doubt that's the sales pitch, but the truth is, it ain't that time consuming... not by a longshot. The guy I take my guitars to charges $75 + strings for a set-up, no matter what it is. Off the top of my head, I'm not sure what the extra cost would be to shim a nut, but I'll bet the farm that it wouldn't triple the price. Now the only thing I pay for anymore is fretwork, as I don't have the expertise...but set-ups I do myself. It's not hard. I'm in the shop often enough though, and there's a huge "menu" posted on the wall over his bench... the only thing north of $200 is a complete re-fret. I just paid $150+tax for a full grind and polish (regular nickle-silver frets), which I guarantee takes a hell of a lot longer than setting up a Floyd Rose. $230 US for a set-up is beyond ridiculous...I cannot fathom what the justification is for charging 3x as much. It does NOT take 3x longer to set-up a Floyd, compared to other guitars. I no longer own any myself, but I've had several over the years, and set them up countless times. It's a few extra turns with a hex wrench, and clipping the ball ends off the strings... I'd put the over/under at an extra 5 minutes, 10 if you're tired that day. That aside, it's no more difficult than setting up any other guitar with a floating bridge. I'd shop around, if I were you... Better yet, learn to do it yourself. There are a thousand youtube videos to walk you through it, if you're not familiar with what to do... it ain't rocket science, and with the prices you're paying, it'll save you a small fortune in the long run.

You should post this in the Helix forum, you'll get an answer much faster... nobody's gonna see it in here.

I'm not defending shoddy craftsmanship from a manufacturer, but anyone charging $400 for a set-up, even with shimming the nut, is a thief... and I pay NY prices for everything, so thievery is a familiar concept for me. ;) A complete re-fret with stainless wire might cost you that much. Hell, you can buy an entire new Warmoth neck for less than that... and a high quality, exotic wood neck, at that. But it takes a set of stones to demand that much for a set-up...

This is a user forum... the "official" folks who occasionally make an appearance won't divulge the time of day.

Well beneath the quote he did indicate that it "Also works on piezos."...

Like it or not, today's tech is disposable... particularly anything that relies on computer connectivity for certain functions. Sooner or later we're all forced to upgrade to the "next big thing" if you want stuff to work right. And honestly, even if you liked it, the Spider III you mentioned wouldn't be much of an "upgrade"... at this point, that one's old too.

Then find a "happy medium" tone for those parts, probably without the boost, and that's Snapshot #3...

This is true... but it's an issue that applies to the entire mix, not just your guitar sound. It's why studios usually have multiple sets of monitors. Big ones, little ones, good ones, and $hitty ones... because out there in the world the finished product has to be listenable on everything from $5 ear buds, to systems you and I couldn't afford if we worked nonstop for 3 lifetimes. It's a challenge to say the least, and like everything else, the only thing that makes you better at it is repetition. Recordings are audio jigsaw puzzles. Everything has to fit together just right, or the whole thing becomes an indecipherable mess. That's why there's a short list of world-class recording engineers out there, and the same names appear on album after album... it's an art all by itself.

There's no magic formula... it's no different than recording the old fashioned way, with a mic-ed cabinet. You turn knobs until it sounds good to your ears, and doesn't get buried in the mix. Each track will be different...a tone that sounds amazing solo might disappear in a mix. Or a sound that fits just perfectly in a mix might sound like garbage on its own... but that's always the case, no matter what kind of gear you're using. There's a guy on youtube named Jason Sadites, who has a number of Helix tone-building tutorials. They're worth watching if you're not familiar with modelers.

Speakers account for at least half your tone... so anytime you change from one speaker(s) to another, you can expect the tone change to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the circumstances. The biggest hurdle to overcome is volume.... patches need to be dialed in at or near the volume at which you intend to use them. Our perception of sound, particularly the relative loudness of different frequency ranges varies considerably with large volume differences. There's nothing that can be done about this, it's just how our brains work. You can't assume that a tone you've dialed in at stage volume will sound the same at bedroom levels, and vice versa. Also, moving from whatever speakers you're playing through live, to listening through studio monitors or headphones while recording, is an additional variable. Bottom line is this... you can expect to have to do some tweaking of your patches for different uses, and some tones might require more adjusting than others. It's just the nature of the beast.

You've got it backwards. You can't trigger snapshots, or anything else on Helix by flipping the toggle switch on a Variax... it's the other way around. Helix can control model and/or tuning changes on the guitar, but you can't switch amp models, tones, etc. from the guitar's toggle switch.