erniedenov

I don't have a "monitor mode" in my Alto FRFR, but I assume it's purpose is to simulate what the speaker would sound like mounted on a pole. I had to do tons of low cut for my Alto (on the floor) before someone here advised me about how floor coupling affects it. I bought myself a pole and it's way better sounding now that I re-tweaked my Helix for the Alto being mounted on the pole. I'm not quite used to mounting a speaker on a pole and I feel a little weird about it, like I should hire an exotic dancer to make extra use of it. :) But sound is top priority. Listening to your video, I had the impression that it might be the guitar. Do you have a whammy bar bridge? I've had a problem in the past with a resonating spring. I stuffed some foam inside the spring and it helped a lot.

I just updated and this is the first new block I tried. I tried the settings suggested on this thread and nothing was making it for me. I still don't know if this thing is just not very intuitive or it just doesn't work right, but so far I can't see it beating a good old fashioned volume pedal for the desired effect. Oh well!

I have an Alto TS212. I initially tweaked with it on the floor and had the same experience when I heard my patches through the PA. Once I bought a pole and mounted it, it was a whole different deal and I had to redo all of my patches too. I've yet to hear them through a PA, but I have confidence it's going to sound a whole lot better through one now. Whether you lay it on it's side or stand it up, there's still going to be a lot of floor coupling. I initially made my patches with the headphone jack in stereo, using my $500 Shure SE535 in-ear monitors. Everything sounded great through them, but aside from doing massive EQing using my Alto, some of those stereo effects being summed to mono didn't sound very good. I've since changed those effects to mono (had to do some re-tweaking with them too) and they sound much better, particularly the chorus. I'd love to get a second Alto and go stereo but for now I'm dealing with what I've got and trying to make the best of it.

Well I'm once bitten, twice shy; lost most of my user presets when I upgraded to 2:10 (never bothered with 2:12). A little while after that, some upgrading tips that aren't on the Line 6 instructions started showing up here. I think I'll let you guys do the groundwork this time around. :P

In global settings, set your outputs to line level, that is if you have line inputs on whatever you're using as an amplifier. They're louder than mic inputs. Also (and I don't exactly know why, but) quarter inch cables are louder than XLR cables in the Helix. You should be able to get plenty of output without turning your Helix up much past 12 o'clock. Most digital sound products have crappy presets and Line 6 is no exception. I knew this going in, having used several Line 6 products before Helix. When I first got mine, I checked out the presets out of curiosity and there were a couple I kind of liked, but not enough to use as a starting point for building my own patches. After that, I started building my own patches, starting with just an amp and cab block. Within an hour, things were starting to sound much better. It's actually much easier and faster to tweak the Helix than it is with any previous Line 6 preamp/processors.

Been thinking the same thing!

Happy Alto TS212 user here!

You can also set the tap tempo to global in "global settings." I did because the last thing I want to do when blasting into a solo is have to tap the tempo into a lead patch.

I've seen him 6 times. I have all his (officially released) albums too. He's in a league by himself! I have my own Holdsworthian clean patch too, though I didn't name it that. I didn't use the Octoverb though; that's a nice touch!

Nice arrangement and tone!

Echoing that sentiment!

It was an "On-Stage" mini adjustable speaker stand; just a nickel short of $24 at Sweetwater. It was about the cheapest I could find, but it's sturdy enough.

Made me think of one of many famous Yogi Berra quotes: "Mickey Mantle can throw and bat lefty or righty, he's amphibious." Some really good drummers can do anything that they do righty lefty. But I don't think it's a natural thing; it has to be important enough to you to train yourself for it.

Price WAS a big consideration for me and that's exactly what I bought after doing some research. I'm pleased with it! Just keep in mind that you have to mount it on an amp stand or pole, otherwise there will be coupling with the floor and it'll be extremely bass heavy. I learned that the hard way and built my patches with gobs of low cut until someone here hipped me to this. After getting a pole and retweaking everything, the Helix and the Alto are sounding pretty great together! Except salespeople at Home Depot are practically geniuses compared to most of the ones at GC. I've gotten pretty pissed off a couple times over there (I'll spare you the details) and I'm not a guy who gets in that state easily (my wife says I'm the calmest person she's ever known). I'm conflicted about buying there, but the bottom line is that being a corporation, they have better prices than other walk-in stores (not to mention the 30 day guarantee)... and I don't have a lot of money. For the most part, I'll only go there if it's an emergency; like some piece of gear dying on a day when I have a gig that evening.

Same here (except my conscious choice was to play lefty and fortunately that was corrected before I could do anything with a guitar besides use it as a weapon). I know a lot of lefties that do some stuff righty. I think our brains were wired wrong. Not that I'm complaining. Sorry to derail this thread with our dexterity leanings. Just killing time while waiting for the next firmware. :)

Double ditto. The first guitar lesson I ever had was the most valuable one; my teacher told me I was holding the guitar upside down. Never heard that theory, nor do I think that one hand plays a more important role in guitar playing than the other, unless you're someone like Allan Holdsworth, who picks about one out of every five notes he plays. I'm glad I learned how to play righty; lefty guitars were extremely rare when I started playing in the '60s. These days they aren't nearly as rare, but I guess we've still got a ways to go with making life as easy for lefties as it is for the right handed majority.

Great playing, writing and tones! Kudos!

My Line 6 Vetta had some great synth stuff with very good tracking. I love Line 6, but I've often wondered why they have almost systematically abandoned some great stuff from their previous products when they brought out new products. Maybe they could take a look at the Vetta's synth filters and figure out what they did.

I initially got interested in jazz in my late teens. At the time, I just wanted to learn a few things to take me beyond the pentatonic rock/blues box that I felt stifled by, but I ended up falling in love with it! I never abandoned rock, which is fortunate, because I make the bulk of my income by playing pop and rock covers (jazz gigs rarely pay adult money). And playing with a sound that is more akin to rock (distortion and sustain) thrills me more than that clean, dark big box archtop sound, though I do some gigs with a hollowbody and no effects if that's what the situation calls for. Anyway, jazz poses a lot of challenges that can't be found in most rock musics and though I understand if it's not somebody's cup of tea, learning a little bit about it can't hurt for developing chops, music theory knowledge and a better ear. Great story! The guy obviously knows what's going on; expression and the ability to communicate to an audience trumps everything else when it comes to playing. I've been very lucky to have played with a slew of musicians who were better than me and if it wasn't for their support and encouragement, I probably would've decided that I sucked and might've quit decades ago.

Well I think (or hope) that I explained that here: I'm willing to admit that maybe I'm going about it the hard way, but I'm doing so mostly because of my situation. The bottom line is that I'm still getting great results with my powered speaker. The destination is what matters, not the route you took to get there. But I'll tell you what; next time I'm able to blast away in my home, I'll try making a patch from scratch and experience the difference.

So much of it depends on your personal experience. My only frame of reference is my own, so bear with me if this seems a little self indulgent... I took lessons for about a year and a half, between the ages of 10 and 11, but in retrospect, my teacher was terrible. He paid no attention to my picking and the way he "taught" me to read music was by giving me a couple of tunes and telling me to play them for him at the next lesson. Being a crafty little brat, the first thing I would do when I got home was to give the music to my mom, who was a hobby pianist and ask her to play it for me. I always had a pretty good ear (though I developed it more with "in-the-field" experience) and I would quickly learn the tunes by ear. My mom didn't know what I was up to, she was just happy to have something new to play. So I'd go to my next lesson and pretend to read the music while I was actually playing it from memory. And I had him duped for over a year; how lame is that?! When he finally figured it out, he gave me 2 weeks to get it together and of course I didn't. So he dropped me. I never took another lesson again and my parents figured music was just a passing fancy that I'd soon abandon, but I was determined and decided to teach myself. The thing is that with no guidance, I taught myself wrong, at least where proper picking technique is concerned. Many years later, I learned that the technique I used is called "economy picking." I do alternate pick when I'm playing notes on the same string, but when moving from one string to the next, I use the same motion that I used on the previous note, i.e. if my last note on the G string was a downward motion, the next note on the B string would also be a downward motion. I developed some speed using that technique, but there's certain things that I can't do. By the time I discovered alternate picking, I'd already been a professional guitar player for over 20 years and I was completely set in my ways. When I tried to do all alternate picking, it was completely awkward, largely because of the way I hold a pick (my index finger is just barely bent at all). So I was at a crossroad; do I take a gigantic step backwards and possibly lose work because my playing would get much worse before it got better, or do I stick with playing the way I do and just get as proficient as I can with what I'm stuck with? I opted for the latter and reminded myself that many great players have unorthodox techniques. Wes Montgomery only used his right hand thumb. Allan Holdsworth picks about one out of every five notes he plays. Django Reinhardt burned his left hand in a fire and only had use of two fingers. All amazing players! I guess my point is about how long you've been at the technique you have and how much you'd have to compromise it to reinvent yourself. I'm never completely satisfied with my technique, but I've made the most of my limitations, at least to the best of my ability, though I'll probably always regret that I didn't learn to alternate pick when I had the opportune chance to. RE: Holdsworth and Govan: In my mind, they're the most accomplished guitar players on the planet, but they're as different from each other as could be. Guthrie got where he is by listening to every guitar player under the sun and figuring out how to do what what each of them did, whereas Allan sounds like he never listened to another guitar player in his life.

It comes with the territory and I think that's extremely normal. The more you know and have accomplished, the more you realize there is to know and accomplish. Even when everybody tells you how great you are, only you know where you're at and how far it is from where you want to be. In my opinion, Allan Holdsworth is the most accomplished electric guitar player in the world and if you've ever read an interview with him, you'll keep hearing how insecure he is and how completely unsatisfied he is with his playing. All I can say is keep pushing forward, concentrate on fixing what you think your weak spots are, listen to your heroes and try to absorb what you can from them (without actually emulating them) and practice, practice, practice. And most importantly, accept that you're never going to be completely satisfied with your playing, but you can be more satisfied than you are currently.

If you're auditioning for the position of being my editor, the gig is yours! That all makes sense. The truth is that I've never tried building my patches for FRFR from the ground up. I'm pretty happy with what I've got from the method I described, but perhaps I'd be happier doing it your way. I do indeed have to tweak everything to adapt those headphone jack patches to FRFR, not just the EQ and what you say about tuning the global EQ to the room is (or should be) obvious. But one problem I have with starting over is that I've got my wife, stepdaughter, her boyfriend and their 4 month old baby living with me for now and my windows of opportunity for blasting away in my home when everybody's out of the house are few. Also, my ears are messed up; I've had tinnitus for 30 years and prolonged high decibel tweaking sessions aren't helping. I realize that all of that is more than anybody needs or wants to know; the point is that I'd like to be done tweaking. But don't hold me to that! Yes they do! I was forced into the in-ear monitor thing; first with one band where the leader didn't want amps on stage anymore and then with my touring band, where I was the last holdout, still using a wedge monitor that the singers were tripping over (which I admit was pretty funny in a sadistic way). I got on the bandwagon begrudgingly, but I've come to appreciate the advantages of in-ear monitoring. I decided early on that I wanted some reasonably high end in-ears and I'm very pleased with the Shures! One of the band members recently switched to them from the Sensaphonics he was using (which cost twice as much) and he prefers the Shures.

There's no reason why you shouldn't be able to get a great sound out of any number of FRFR powered speakers at a low volume. Just be aware that they're going to sound very different when and if you turn them up, because of the Fletcher Munson Curve (how we perceive frequencies differently according to volume). Though I agree that headphones are more ideal for what you want to do, if you don't like them, you don't like them. I have separate setlists for headphones and for live with my powered FRFR speaker. My patches were initially made with headphones... well actually with my Shure 535 in-ear monitors, which have triple drivers and sound pretty great. When I set out to make a setlist for playing live with the powered speaker, I used those same patches. Obviously, I had to use the global EQ (which I bypass for the headphone setlist) to cut hi and low frequencies and had to do some additional patch to patch EQing and modifying, but it's not like I had to start over from scratch. In a matter of a few hours, I had those patches sounding pretty great with the powered speaker. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that it didn't take lots of time. I think starting over from scratch would've taken much more time.

That would do it! Musicimpossible, perhaps those little monitors would work with a patch that has enough gain, though bigger speakers would be helpful. My main lead patch uses the Achron lead model, which is my favorite high gain amp in Helix. I have a Minotaur lying in waiting on that patch and even with it's drive set pretty low, switching it on gets me some nice feedback (at least with my FRFR that has a 12" speaker) that's easily controllable. The only problem is that it gets pretty noisy. I'm thinking about setting it up so that one switch will turn the Minotaur and a noise gate on simultaneously, since the Achron isn't that bad on it's own. In one band I'm in, we use in-ear monitors and Helix goes direct to the board. Obviously, you can't get any feedback that way, but at least with a higher gain amp model (and possibly an added distortion and/or compressor block), you can get some pretty decent sustain.