vonprater

I've tried this, but for some reason it sounds like crap. The signal gets overloaded, that's the best way I can describe it. It seems to only work with low gain amps.I'm going to try your recommendation though. 

Has anyone taken their Helix back panel off? I'm wondering if it is reversible. I do realize the serial information is on the back. For one, I have scratched up the bottom in a freak accident after babying my Helix for the past year. Also, I'd like to protect that product information on the bottom by flipping the back cover. I realize this is silly to most people, but for some reason I'm OCD about my electronics. 

Try: low/High cut cutting lows to 160-200Hz > Noisegate > TS9 (2.0, 0.0 ,7.0 controls roughly) > Rev Amp model on Agressive 2/Peavy 5150 > Cab V30 or an IR)

I run my Helix directly into my Macbook and use Garageband. It sounds very good. I don't us the LA Compressor it does tighten the sound and make it more aggressive, but at the cost of dynamics. Maybe for Rhythm tracks.

@gunpointmetal

You have some material up on Youtube if I'm not mistaken?

14 hours ago, Lachdanan0121 said:

Not really, I was merely commenting in general. 

I have spent time with several forums, and honestly every single one I go to (even ones that use to be great) are following the same trend. Snark disguised as wit is gaining ground over helpful information.

Gearslutz, no I have not been there, but I see this trend at these forums. I have seen this trend at Sevenstring forums, and I have seen this trend on thegearpage.

The best forum I have been apart of is Imageline forum, however it is even starting to happen over there. 

 

I don't intend them to get any better, I just see less, and less reason to be active in them. 

Thank you for saying this. It's like mob mentality this intellectual wit pissing contest. 

I'm championing for Line 6 and the Helix. I'd also like to add the metal community is the most responsible for popularizing switching to modelling as an overall amp replacement. Do you have any ideal how many Helixs would be sold this year if Premier Guitar did a rig Rundown of Misa Mansoor, and he had a Helix Floor in his pedalboard? 

14 minutes ago, Kilrahi said:

 

BUT BUT BUT but . . . King of Tone! 

 

To me that's like being disgruntled that you have to go on second date with Scarlett Johannson, but this time she's wearing the Black Widow costume. 

I mean not really but I get you disagree. If I were dating Scarlett Johannson I'm sure I'd have better things to do than tweak my Plexi patch that sounds less like Van Halen than I'd admit to myself.

6 minutes ago, silverhead said:

You don't need to have a second date with her. You can break up anytime. 

 

Would you rather Line 6 not say anything about pending updates and just drop them with no notice whatsoever?

Well at this point I won't be setting myself up for failure anymore. This was my first update announcement with Line 6. So, next time I see an update announcement "By End of 2019" I'll check in on January 1st, 2020 I guess. Maybe my expectations or perception about this product were wrong and that's on me.

They have till the end of June until they're late. Yeah, technically. They announced this about 3 or 4 months ago and for me it kind of made it seem like it was going to be released by now. Not that it would be here "right before spring ends". When I bought it I was told and under the impression that they were going to be adding some "big updates" and it was a very exciting time. I like my helix very much and I'm happy with what's included. But, when this update was announced I was already a bit disappointed. The main focus was to make the economy between their products healthier which is nice for those folks. 

But, that’s not quite what I imagined would be on the horizon. I imagined a few more Modern Hi-Gain amps, perhaps some cool Line 6 Originals, a nice drop pedal modelled effect, or anything else its seems to be lacking. The old Marshalls and Fenders I think we are good on. I think we have enough overdrives but we’ve got yet ANOTHER fender and 6 more OD’s. You know, just in case the traditionalist are satiated with this hi-tech product that one would think would be best marketed for the current generation who are all moving to modelers? 

So sometimes it feels like I’m waiting on that second date with a girl I’m not that crazy about wondering how I found myself in this mess to begin with. 

While it's nice of them to update the unit for you, you very specifically asked for a factory new box.

It may seem like not a big deal to most people but you asked for this for a peace of mind. I'm much like you.

You are not over-thinking this. I would either ask for an open-box price or a different unit.  I bought my Helix open box

and it had the plastic on the screen and I'm not even sure they took the Helix out of the plastic - but I got it from MF for ~850. 

54 minutes ago, codamedia said:

 

Maybe :) 

 

A week or two back someone requested a '63 Bassman, and I supported that request. There were several people that jumped in and said "no way, we already have a bassman". 

• I know the difference between a 59' Bassman and a '63 Bassman. They are not the same amp.
• You know the difference between a 5150 (aka Panama) and a 5150 III. Since I don't know the amps, I trust when you say they are NOT the same amp

Good luck in you quest. If the reqeust is on "ideascale" I will go upvote it for you! 

You should have every year Bassman you want!

You guys are part of the reason I occasionally go to the amps I wouldn't usually use, pull out my strat, and step out in your world for a minute or two. I found some beautiful tones with one of those old Marshalls with some spring reverb and the minotaur in front of it. While I'm a metal and 80s hair metal guy, sometimes I just pick an amp and start building a patch. 

5 minutes ago, codamedia said:

 

I have zero interest in high gain amps... anything beyond a JCM 800 is too much fore me. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a Peavey 5150 and an EVH 5150 III in real life or in a modeler.

 

BUT I couldn't agree more with what you are saying here. I already got my Deluxe... I got my Twin... I got my AC30 (two of them actually), and I got my Plexi. Just because I have everything I love about the amp world doesn't mean you should be deprived of what you really want. If the 5150 III is an iconic amp missing from the Helix, then you have the right to request it, and I hope you get it! 

 

 

You should think of HX as a series... the Helix is just one product (the flagship) of that series.

The more successful the series is with a diverse user group, the more they can develop the series... including the Helix. 

Wow I didn't expect anyone to concede my point. Is this....an actual discussion...and not a pi$$ing contest?

The 5150 on the modeler doesn't sound like the 5150 Block Letter I once owned. The 5150 III sounds different than either of those and a huge amount of the metal guys are using them. Even satchel from Steel Panther, Killswitch Engage, Gogira, Trivium, FFDP, and probably 80% of metal bands have used this amp - not to forget Van Halen. It doesn't need anything in front of it and its capable of nearly any kind of tone you'd want. 

2 minutes ago, Kilrahi said:

 

Based on all of the ice cream talk, I'm confident he meant to say, "Big meal."

THE MAN SAID 3.0 I'M FREAKING OUT MAN.

8 minutes ago, phil_m said:

 

The HX Effects was released in 2018 as well.

 

From Line 6's perspective, all these products are part of the Helix platform, and they were all planned almost since the Helix was first released, or even before. I have mock-up 3D models of the Stomp that Eric sent me going back to 2015, for instance. They weren't just afterthoughts. There part of a long term plan. The 3.0 update for the Helix is going to be a big deal...

That last sentence. Please don't do that to me man now I'm all excited. What do you mean by "Big Deal"?

2 minutes ago, phil_m said:

 

They actually haven't shifted their focus that much... It's just that there's a lot of stuff happening behind the scenes at the moment. But, also, the more stuff in the HX sells, the more likely Line 6 is to keep on investing in updating it.

LT in 2017 and Stomp in 2018. 

This update will be telling for me personally. So their overall focus is still as much devoted to making the Helix better as it never was, it's not way more focused on more streamlined units of an existing product?

Hey man in not's a Twin Reverb with a special Tolex from 67, so these old guys don't give a S#!t. Go to Idealscale.

But I'd be content with just the 5150 III, the most popular amp in metal. They obviously supplemented amps for guys like me with the Line 6 Originals.

Not having the 5150 III for guys like me would be the equivalent of not putting a JCM800 in there for the 80's guys or a Twin Reverb for the Country guys. I understand the lack of empathy, most of the people on here aren't using the tones I'm digging for. Arguing that more options would be useless because it has the particular amps you like, or that the AxFX having 200 different amps is a con is just ridiculous. I'm sure they will, but it'll just be another Fender, Marshall, or an amp that's a competitor for either. I paid $1,000 for a piece of modelling technology. I feel obligated to offer my opinions on these threads in the off chance L6 read these threads. That's a lot of money of someone in their 20s like me. 

Sure there are guys in my genre who use the Helix, but start competing with Fractal in the High gain section and you'll attract a lot of those guys to the L6 side of the fence. 

Having said that I love the Helix, but as of late they have shifted the focus of bettering the Helix and focused on getting the products in more people's hands. Not saying that's a bad approach as a business. 

51 minutes ago, gunpointmetal said:

AFX has like 80 models that all sound almost the same, just to have that many models. There are several L6 original high gain amp models (badonk being a port of the iconic Big Bottom that basically made djent), Modded 2204, HBE, Archon, 5150 (still probably the MOST used metal/core amp)... There are more than enough high gain options in Helix. 

I'm just going to have to disagree with you respectfully. I had a 5150 before, cranked it and it tightened up and sounded nothing like the amp modeled in the Helix.

While the Archon and Badonk are nice, it leaves more to be desired. I wouldn't consider the modded Marshall 2204 to be Modern High Gain.

The only Modern High gain amp on there relaesed in the past 10 years is the Archon. No 6505+, 5150 III, Savage, Dark Terror, JVM, Splawn, or Etc. The most used amp in metalcore is the 5150 III and I would be happy as hell with that. The Orange Dark and JVM would be amazing as well. Im not too familiar with the HBE but Ill check it out.

On 12/28/2018 at 2:28 PM, brue58ski said:

 

Not that you asked but, there are 6 different Helix products. Right now, there are differences in the "core" of, I think, two groups of them so before this next upgrade they would have to code things two times to accommodate the differences between them. With the coming update, they won't have to do that anymore. They fixed the "core" so it's the same in everything. And they appear to have made the Helix program itself overall more efficient. So it will be able to do more things. It basically means they won't have to spend as much time "coding" so we get updates sooner. (Oh boy!) and some things that they couldn't do before they are able to do now because they've tweaked it. There were a couple of amps they couldn't do before but because of the tweaking, are able to now. Don't know what amps they are.

That's what I was guessing but wasn't totally sure. I understand it takes a while to develop new amp models, I think they've said a month actually. 

But I would imagine some of the guys who got the Helix on launch are a little disappointed. I would have hoped for more AMP models by now. There really isn't much of anything that is a modern high gain amplifier. I feel like they missed out on that demographic and handed it over to AxFx. I'm a little disappointed to be honest. 

I don't understand anything besides the new amp models thing. I'm excited about that though and hoping for something more in my ballpark. 

Crossed fingers for a 5150 III or high gain orange 

I thought I corrected the Own/Ohm thing before anyone saw this. Ohm seems to make more sense to me but I don't call the shots.

Yes the pack I bought was $19.99 and was my testing of the IR world to see if it was worth it. It includes the following:

https://www.ownhammer.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=176

Cab based on a "Based on a Mesa Boogie Standard/Oversized straight 4x12 cabinet"

-6 Speakers including a C60, C70, and C90

-7ish? Mics

I'm so far partial to the C70 and other Celestion speakers with Balanced, Modern, Forward, and Full mixes. As of right now, no this isn't something I want to research super deep. I think I'll continue to use OwnHammer because I really like their mixes they include in the pack and they sound super legit. I had a really hard time dialing in the stock cabs and mics. It seemed like only a couple of mics weren't muddy and a lot of the cabinets just didn't sound good for metal. I mean I tried quite a few things but didn't and still don't understand how that all works. All my attention is on dialing in Amps and learning how signal paths work to my benefit. 

I just bought the OwmHammer Recto 412 pack. Last night I figured out how to authorize my purchase and downloaded the zip file. I'm new to this to forgive the weekly questions from me.

I quickly recognized that my Helix can't hold all of the Presets available in the pack - first world problems. I read the "Read Me" section and decided the best course of action was to download all the premixed IRs. So I imported ALL, BAL, FWD, MDRN, etc. for each of the speaker options. My question is am I IR'ing right and am I missing out on the other IRs that are in the pack? What's your approach?

Also I must give praise to OwmHammer. I immediately did comparisons between stock cabs and IRs. To my ears the IR has a sense of authenticity and breath life into each AMP Block I selected. Went with the Recto 412 because I play primarily 80s Dokkenesque stuff, Metalcore, thrash, etc. 

Also looking for opinions on my next purchase. 

EDIT(spelling): HAHAHAHA I thought it was OhmHammer, so stupid....

Line 6 HX effects is like $450 used in excellent shape on GC site right now. Just FYI. Less than half the cost of all the pedals and you can get GC coverage. 

19 hours ago, gordwait said:

Had the flextone II for gigs back in the day, it was good enough and bet versatile for live but not 100% there for home. 

I just got the Helix floor for gigging, I love the sound of my Mesa Boogie Lone Star with a Digitech rp1000 in four cable mode but I got tired of the weight. I am keeping the Lone Star for home, but here's the thing, I'm having a blast with the Helix at home! If you get one of the better patches I can't tell it from a tube amp. On YouTube is a comparison between a Mesa and the Helix, I guessed wrong trying to spot the Helix vs tubes. 

One thing though, when you compare at home, the Helix will behave like a studio recording of a tube amp, cabinet microphone and studio room, then playing out your stereo speakers, or monitors. That won't be the same as the big juicy sound of your tube rig in the room with you.  A proper comparison would be to record your tube rig with similar settings as the Helix then compare them both recorded, back thru the same full range speakers.

The Canadian guy on YouTube who compared his LT to the Blue Angel right? Amazing comparison.

4 hours ago, kylotan said:

 

I don't think that's particularly true. Look at the European metal scene and you'll see much of it using Peavey, Engl, Orange, Blackstar, Laney, etc.  These have a range of relatively distinctive tones, typically much less scooped than a Recto, and higher gain than a 2204.  I think we have a total of 3 amps by those makers modelled - Orange OR 80, ENGL Fireball 100, and Peavey 5150 - and the OR 80 isn't particularly a metal amp compared to the Rockerverb or Thunderverb anyway.

 

Now compare that to the fact we have at least 7 Fender amps and 9 Marshall models, and it's clear there is a lot of effort put into giving the clean and crunch players a ton of their favourite amps and channels, whereas those of us who play modern metal are stuck with just over a handful of usable amps, most of which are Mesa/Boogie variants.

 

And don't even get me started on the lack of an HM-2 pedal! :)

I agree with you. I get so much flack for this too. We need more High Gain amps. Currently we have only a few to choose from and a lot of these amps require a pedal in the front to get into that territory. I do like the ENGL and the Badonk. But there's tons to choose from for any other Genre. My thoughts on this are as follows, and keep in mind these are jsut my personal opinions others may not share. 

-5150 III (EL34 edition would be nice also). This is a staple of Modern metal, it should of been implemented a long time ago. I do think this one is hard to argue and I'll be surprised if it's not released.

-5150 block letter: I've owned one before and L6's patch sounds way different than my experience with the real thing. I wish they would revisit this or give us a 6505+ amp. Again, it may sound ok but this DOES NOT sound like the 5150s I have played. The low end it not flubby and the sag is eliminated nearly completely when it's cranked. It also has a very distinct lows end thud. 

-Orange: We need a high gain Orange of some kind. Maybe a Dark Terror or Dual Terror. I'm disappointed by the one and only Orange model they included. 

-Marshall: JVM OD2 (this one I'm not certain of because it would sound so similar to other patches)

Opinions are opinions. For myself, it has enough Fender Amps and cleans but more power to you. 

I'd like to see more Line 6 Models. After I heard the 2204 Mod and Badonk I was kind of impressed - I like when they take existing amps and edit them. 

I'm hard pressed to come up with an amp or sound I'd like that isn't available.