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Everything posted by Kilrahi
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Okay! Time for another episode of Kil's adventures with the Firehawk and the HX Stomp. Though today I experienced what should have been a freaking "duh" of immense proportions, but what can I say, these setups are far more complicated than the simple stuff I'm use to. Basically I've been thinking far too binary. Generally my thinking has been either Stomp for post Firehawk effects (with Firehawk as distortion and amp) or pre amp effects and amp with Firehawk for time delays, reverb, etc. OR, as all or nothing with HX Stomp as effects, amp, etc. Today though it dawned on me I could use the distortion of the HX Stomp, route it into the Firehawk to use the amp modelling which I still think is pretty impressive, then have a separate Stomp channel of wet effects in order to maintain the wet/dry. This allows me to keep using the ever expanding and wonderful Stomp distortions, as well as the other Stomp effects, and save on DSP or more effect blocks. Here's how it looked: 1. Guitar in to HX Stomp. 2. Guitar cable out HX Stomp into guitar in of Firehawk. 3. Firehawk effects loop block post amp. 4. Left/right guitar cables into effects return ports of HX Stomp. 5. TRS to TS Y cable from Stomp send to Firehawk effects return. 6. Amp model of choice activated in Firehawk but distortion, delay, modulation, reverb effects off (I did use Firehawk's compressor at times to save on Stomp DSP). 7. HX Stomp distortion of choice set at start of signal chain. From there split into A and B path with path B going out separate from path A (out Stomp's stereo send). 8. FX return block active on path B of HX Stomp. 9. Reverb of choice on path A of stomp. 10. Reverb of choice on path B of stomp. 11. Two additional blocks remaining for path A or B depending on choice. There you have it! It sounded glorious to me and was also a great setup for acoustic stuff with some tweaks. Best of all, it maintains the wet/dry/wet setup that many of us bought the Firehawk for, and if I wanted to, I still have access to the Firehawk's distortion, delay, modulation, and reverb blocks if I would like to further color the tone. For now I think this is my favorite setup for combining the two, though I think my lazy butt will more often just use the HX Stomp as a post effects chain expander (fewer cords, less mess).
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I mean, it all depends on the complexity so I can't immediately say. Depends on the positions of all your gear. Could be zero blocks or one or more.
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One new method for me that I tried today was the 4 cable method as described above, BUT on the amp channel I only used an amp without a cab, and then for the Firehawk I did no amp but chose the cab I wanted (so you go under acoustic amps and remove all amps, but then you click the cab button and change it from no cab to the cab that you want). I actually thought it sounded pretty good, and the very nice thing about it is that it saves DSP in the Stomp allowing some of the more complex effects just in case you hit some type of DSP road block (which I've run into a few times, specifically with more complex EQs sometimes).
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1. Yes you would need to attach a cable to the "Send Stereo" output of the HX Stomp. 2. It mixes them. I personally wouldn't recommend doing that. I'd have path B go to a separate output like you did in the above computer graphic. You bought the LT? Lucky bugger. I know the feeling because I bought the Stomp, but as soon as I started getting to know it I found myself wondering if I needed an LT, but if I do that, I completely undo the whole reason I justified getting a Stomp. Must resist . . . for now . . . One of these days you'll have to let me know if it was significantly cooler to have the full unit. Maybe Christmas 2019 for me!
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Wait, excuse me if I'm dumb ('cause I often am) but what are you referring to in the above? Are you referring to the simple act of plugging a standard guitar cable into the analog output of the Variax? Are we supposed to make sure it's a TRS cable? Because the handbook simply says "standard" guitar cable here. Is there a risk to the unit? Hopefully I'm off on I90 and didn't realize what you're referring to.
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My Stomp has worked just fine, and I've put it through a few rigorous things (preset fun, dual signal chains, 4 cable method, effects use, heavy snapshot use). The thing has performed like a dream for me (and yes, it gets very warm - totally awesome during winter time). I'd give Line 6 a chance to fix it rather than bail on it. It's a solid machine and it does have a beefy warranty which should give early adopters less worry.
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Yes, the stomp can only have two paths. If you need to go crazy further you have to amp things up with either the LT or the even beefier full Helix unit.
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Well, as said above, to do two amps you need to do parallel paths. Basically when you select a new block if you look at the screen one of the knob options lets you choose if you want it on path A or path B. You simply twist the knob and select your path. The default is path A. You can then either have the two paths recombine, or output to entirely different places. It can get a bit more complex than that, but I'd recommend reading the guide on signal paths.
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In terms of question 2, what is it you're trying to do? You want to use two amps in conjunction with two IRs? Or do you mean run two amps with no IRs? Also, are you wanting the amp signals split or blended?
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I caught the Goo Goo Dolls "Dizzy Up the Girl" 20th anniversary show at the Paramount theater in Seattle on Saturday. Their lead guitarist, Brad Fernquist, appeared to be using some sort of multi effects processor on the ground. I was unfortunately too far back to confirm if it was a Helix, but it does look like they've used Line 6 before in some way. https://line6.com/news/artist/1198/ This is kind of a challenging question though, because on one hand . . . I mean should we care? I don't mean that to attack the question because the original poster long ago admitted that wasn't the end all be all. Hell, I ask the question too. We naturally want to appeal to authority figures, and besides that, as more use it, it allows Line 6 to expand what they can offer. Ultimately though, if Helix is awesome (and it is) and powerful (which it is) and sounds good (which it does) and I'm the only person on the planet who "gets it," I mean, I should still be proud of using it.
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There's nothing wrong with it as long as you like the sound of those effects prior to an amp. I did that just the other day with a distortion pedal and a freeze pedal. The HX Stomp signal chain attempts (and in my opinion brilliantly succeeds) to mimic a real signal chain, so if you can picture those things being placed before a traditional amp and it working just fine, then it typically works here too before the HX Stomp's simulated amp.
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The complaint kind of confuses me. Yeah, it's three snapshots per preset, but there's no reason why preset 1A can't be nearly identical, or in fact identical, to preset 1B, which then has an additional three snapshots which you can tweak. Does anyone really use all of their individual presets for completely unique and disparate settings? Because that's a lot of presets. I'd recommend having preset 1A, 1B, and 1C be virtually identical and then think of your snapshots - which are a total of 9 in that preset section, being how you jump around. Surely 9 variations of a theme could cover most situations.
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I'm basically just repeating what others said here, but it would be helpful to know just how much you're saving vs. a new one. Is the sales price $600 for a very well cared for unit? Well holy crap man jump on that. A Helix appears to be very reliable, and even if it did break, the odds of it being a $900 repair are very low. Is the sales price $1300? Ummm . . . are you sure you wouldn't rather just drop the extra $200 for piece of mind? There are other considerations too. When Line 6 had their big Firehawk 1500 sale in July ($799 vs. $999) the "open box" versions cost $700. Now, $100 is not a huge savings, but the place I was ordering from guaranteed the open box was like new. I added a three year accidental damage warranty (because I knew the thing was like hauling around a small building) for $130. My end cost was $30 more than new, but I actually had more solid piece of mind. Plus, when the unit arrived it was exactly as promised - I tried to find the evidence that it had been opened before and I couldn't. It was that nice. Why the long story? Because your decision is two parts. There's the math part, and the subjective part. To some, my story of the warranty is a complete waste of money. To me, it was very solid piece of mind. By the way, I bought the HX Stomp new with no additional warranty because I feel Line 6's 2 years is enough. However, I would not feel safe buying a used HX Stomp without a warranty at this point because it's a device yet to be proven. So there's a lot to think about.
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That's exactly what I have! There's a number of cool well thought out ones that can both be useful, or just show you what the unit can do. I hope they work out for you and provide a great starting point. They sure did for me.
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Try following this thread to restore them:
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Well, I mean yeah. You're missing all the other ones you listed. So are they just blank? What does it say for preset 1? What numbers are the DIR presets?
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WOW! That's pretty amazing . . . I mean, yeah, if you can do that that's a clear win. Was this purchased new from a music store? Or was there something unique about who you were buying it from?
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That's a good point. I've never run into one like that, but that doesn't mean they're not out here. Further, even if it does color it in some way, if you're still happy with it more power to you.
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A freeze pedal? Like the Electro Harmonix Freeze pedal or the Gamechanger Audio Plus Pedal? I would love this and it certainly seems like there'd be no hardware/software issue other than design, but considering the Freeze pedal first came out around 2010 and there has yet to be any version of this I personally gave up holding my breath and dropped the $130 or less to buy the Electro Harmonix freeze pedal last month. In fact, it's the only "real" pedal I currently use. Everything else is done through the HX Stomp. Still, if they ever do add one, I'll be thrilled.
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Lots of good advice here, but Spikey is correct that the big thing is the amp needs an FX loop. I'd seriously consider what Shanecgriffo said. If you look at it and the cost of an amp you like for that cab is about equal, or heaven forbid more, to a flat response fr/fr speaker you're probably better off bailing on the cab and getting the fr/fr speaker.
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Did you buy it new? My first impression is you bought a lemon. If it's new, I'd try to get whatever company sold it to you to swap it out, or go through Line 6 customer support.
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I tested some of this tonight. First off, without shows it's nearly impossible to do them both at the same time (not that most of us would ever do that in a gig setting - but just a friendly FYI). Otherwise with shoes on I'd say it's not a big deal OTHER than it is one of those things you'd need to practice, but you'd get the hang of it rather quickly. Within a few minutes I was banging away at it just fine. Now, there does not appear to be anyway to switch between Stomp Mode, Scroll Mode, Preset Mode, and Snapshot mode without first bending down and hitting the "page" button. Not that that is a huge ordeal, but if you want to switch between those you have to hit page. As to jumping around within the view, I think if you're a person who wanted to really use HX Stomp presets to its most powerful, you would want to be in snapshots mode. From there you can hit either FS1 + FS2 to scroll to previous presets, or FS2 + FS3 to advance forward, and from there easily stomp on FS1, 2, or 3 to choose the preset you want, and from there select the snapshot you want. I'm actually glad you asked this question because my natural tendency is to ignore the whole snapshot or preset way of doing things because I just don't usually get that crazy (I am the type of guy looking to replace a single pedal board, not create 3 billion pedal boards). However, after trying to answer your questions I'm blown away by just how powerful you can get with this little thing. Honestly, the three footswitches can seem really limiting, but if you were okay programming things really thoroughly you could easily make whatever you wanted happen using the snapshots mode and only three switches.