dickbanks

Definitely agree! Wanna hear something scary? I occasionally use it for Praise and Worship--it's good for that too!

Also, never underestimate the power of the mix to wash out any "trailing-off" effects! When I first unboxed the Strymon Big Sky, "man, this is just too much!" Really wanted to dial a lot of it back. But the rest of the band loved it, and the mix really took care of it anyway.

To contrast, I'm 58 but I work mostly with 25-35s, and the huge majority of them really love our Country, and really respect us Vets and thank us for our service regularly. Your story was GREAT, thanks for that, and thanks for your Service! I guess that the only guilty feelings us later vets have is that our Vietnam-era "big brothers and sisters" really got the shaft, while we were treated as heroes from the beginning. However--to stick with this thread--an open box means that someone probably tried it out. I try not to be too picky, since I'm gonna take it out of the box, throw it on the floor, and start stomping it straight-away! That, and the 2-yr warranty--I feel pretty good about these things--I own two of them--one for the stage, and one as a backup.

My early method was to modify the existing patches on CustomTone, Glenn DeLaune, etc. My latest approach is to do it like you just walked into a music store. Guitar, amp, IR/speaker cab, get good tone that way, compressor to shape the front end, effects/'pedals (if you need them), EQ for specific amp or PA. That's pretty much it.

This sort of thing is why I have two of them, one as a backup. Nothing against Helix, but DSPs in general are always susceptible to this sort of thing. That being said, in two years of gigging almost every weekend, never have needed the backup. Converse of Murphy's Law, I guess...

Without seeing your settings or knowing about your other gear, I can tell you that if you WANT feedback, you can certainly get it with this pedal. Some things to think about: (1) Make sure that you are not multiplying your drive. i.e. pedal O/D plus amp set to drive hard--try one or the other (2) 4CM method? check your signal levels going to the amp--try inst rather than line (3) On your amp--try channel volume down and master volume up, and vice-versa.

Yes, this ^^^ plus a volume pedal at the end.

I look at it like this: I've spent A LOT of time creating my sounds with this thing, and I'm not about to do the same for any other processor in the event that my Helix croaks. Also, there are a number of retailers (MF, others) that will extent me enough credit to buy a new one, and have it to me in 48 hours. So that's my main backup plan. And if it croaks inside of 48 hours to the gig, I have a Katana head I can use as emergency, or my local GC has one I can go pick up. So my advice is to have some very low cost processor available to squeeze in in an emergency. But the best backup to a Helix is another Helix.

If at all possible. keep your "real" stuff until you have the Helix for a couple of weeks. When I first stated using the Mesa Boogie Mark IV models (Cali IV), I thought, "these don't sound anything like the real amp." And then I bought a used Mark IV--and promptly realized that the models sound EXACTLY like the real amp, with some EQ tweaking.

Briefly. But I think now that tonight I will take a closer "listen." I have a song to play this weekend that really BEGS for a Strymon Big Sky "shimmer." I have actually considered adding the the Big Sky, but it's a LOT of money, and what's worse--foot-space that my gig does not afford.

I own the Mesa Boogie Mark IV, and the Helix Cali IV Clean and Rhythm channels are spot-on. I DON'T own a Lonestar, but if it's as good as the Lonestar patch on Helix, it must be quite an amp! The Boogie amps, clean or dirty, just have this quality of "climbing right up your fingers" and really getting inside your pickups to draw out sounds. Somehow the Line 6 people captured this nicely with these Mesa Boogie amp patches. I have to say as a guitarist I'm grateful, and as an Electrical Engineer, I'm envious...

http://line6.com/support/topic/31789-helix-models-definitive-cheat-sheet-all-model-names-with-descriptions/ Thanks to hefonthefjords

Also, probably WAY too much to ask for, but... Strymon Big Sky Reverbs!

Granted that Line 6 has greatly reduced the "backup-install new editor-install new firmware" chain down to just 2 steps (and I AM eternally grateful for that), but the next logical step would be a one-step "update firmware" that would do all three. Just sayin...

You DO realize that this is a bit like walking into a bar and asking everyone if you should have a drink... Just sayin' :D