themetallikid

I am playing an electric guitar with the acoustic sim to help make leads a bit easier to play as we try to keep songs as similar to the full band versions as possible. Which is where i'm struggling a bit to find a sound that retains that acoustic type sound, but gives me a bit more girth to work with gain wise. I think the first suggestions of the tube pre or legacy tube drive might be best options to try. I have not tried the Prize Drive yet, but have tried the Minotaur/Teemah and such and there is something in those that I dont like in THIS application.

Never thought about the preamps, but I like that thought line in my head, and seems to be more flexible.... my preset is pretty simple as well, so I should have plenty of dsp/room to do that.

Yeah the Studio Pre is one that I had in mind to try out when i sat down again with it, but the legacy side is one that i for sure have not explored with this goal in mind. I will note the Tube Drive. Thanks for the suggestion. The EQ'ing i'm not worried about, i can handle that if needed, its more the added playability of 'dirty' without it being too grindy and trying to keep it in the acoustic family tone-wise. Although, adding a post OD EQ may help tame what i'm not liking so far on some of the models i've tried that get them into that fatter overdriven tone that i'm trying to avoid in a way.

So I do solo acoustic shows (no leads required), I have a duo group (on a real acoustic) and I'm fine with my tones on those projects for how I play. However, I have a 3 piece (2 guitars, lead singer) where we are a 'broken down' version of the full band with a few deviations setlist wise to lean more towards the acoustic sound of things as some songs just dont carry the weight. We do a variety of songs (girl singer), and to help make things easier with capo/keys and such, I've adopted the Poly/Acoustic sim approach for myself to blend with the other guitar players acoustic. No worries here rhythm wise, it sounds great and the Helix makes it super easy for me to turn on the Poly Pitch to adjust where my capo would be. However, I am struggling with getting a good lead sound for this. I could just boost the level a little add the usual delay, etc, however, i want to add a little bit of dirt/weight to the tone without losing the sort of acoustic vibe that we have created. I've tried a variety of OD blocks, and just cant seem to get a good balance between adding a little grittyness to the sound but then making the acoustic sim lose its character. It's hard to describe what i'm really looking to do, I hope it makes sense. Initially I tried switching to a fenderish amp to create a good clean lead tone to put over the other acoustic, but I didnt like the overall sound that had. I like having the acoustic sim still there, but need to find a way to boost it up a bit to give me more of a fluid lead type sound. Any ideas? I have not dug into the legacy options yet, but just looking for suggestions or ideas??

Yes this is what i did when i was testing some IR's. I'd set up an Amp & Cab Block of whatever amp I was going to be using, dial it in as best as I thought I could with the stock cab/speaker. Then i would set up 2 IR's on path 1, and 2 IR's on path 2. I would then make each one active on a different snapshot. I could test 4 at a time then, so typically i would take the same speaker/cab combination but change the mic or mic placement to find it out. Once I liked something I would save it as a favorite and then create a new round of the favorites to compare the speaker/cab/mic choices I liked. Much more thorough of a process, but worked for me.

I have noticed this as well. Few things about when I do notice it. Guitar with Hetfield EMG's so plenty of input signal (input pad is off) Gate is on, -48db, 250ms decay. Poly block is first in my chain. I have also noticed this....its not at audible level if i was playing out live, but with headphones on, and letting a note ring out, when its very low in signal strength, i also hear it jumping back to original pitch. I'm typically using the -1 setting as well, fast tracking (maybe tied to this setting instead of the most accurate one?) with the tone/eq setting at 5.0. Its subtle and again, well after i would have killed the note live, but when i let something ring out and am adjusting in HX Edit, i can here it happening at the very end of my input signal life. I suppose you could add something like a gain block or something before it to boost it if its really bad, however i'd be wary of just introducing more noise into your signal then.

I'm curious if he is updating his dsp or if anyone else has a list of the dsp usage of the new amps. His site was great for allowing to compare the new blocks compared to what i'm using now without having to go into each preset and click and look for colors. I get that i could just try that, but I tried reworking a new preset structure assuming the L6 original amps were as low dsp wise as the Ventoux or a few others, but they seem to be higher than some of the previous ones.

There's a tuner?!?!

Also, if you search (not sure here, but on TGP for sure) there is someone who shared EQ (I think it was a Para EQ block) settings to basically add what the bright cap is doing.

I tried inputing this method into my STP tribute presets where I use the Ventoux/Placatar dual amp sound. While I liked what it was adding in clarity, it also sorta removed the 'thickness' I was getting from the Placatar. However, I did not spend a ton of time trying to 'fix' it. I like what its doing overall, just might not apply to my use-case greatly.

I had same issue with my LT initially. Toe down would only reach anywhere from 88-100%, but it would never be consistent so adjusting my 'toe down-off' % could not be set right. And there is nothing more embarrasing then having a whammy that auto engages at 95%, not turn off and be 6% in its pitch shifting travel and you can't turn it off mid song. Ultimately I was in warranty and had to send it in. the replacement unit they sent back was great for about a month and then had similar issues. I upgraded to the full Helix at that time, and have not had a problem. Troubleshooting option.....try blowing some compressed air into the optical sensor bay to clear any hair/dirt/debris that might be causing the sensor to read funny. That cleared it up a few times for me, but ultimately still had issues.

YES I DO

one last follow up...There might not be any actual difference to listeners, but again, my brain can't math all this...In my head there wouldnt be a difference, so why not just control it in Helix. Lets say at the merge block I keep it A100/B100 and keep a true stereo L/R out. Running into the board the mixer could then 're'-pan these Left/Center/Right or anywhere on that spectrum to balance the sound evenly. Correct? OR... I could just set my merge block to maybe A45/B45 (whatever mix I would choose). Then at my output, I would essentially be back into that dual mono situation, but not a true 100% mono as the Left would have both signals, just a more pronounced Left Amp sound and the right would the opposite. In my head those are the same scenarios just leaving it up to me or sound guy to determine.

haha, love the reference!!! Does that work as a 'poor man's wah' in a way? I remember back when I had a Boss GT-3, the wahs were pretty weak....and someone on their forum had a way to assign the expression pedal to a parametric EQ and use that to create a wah. It gave you access then to the Q type parameter, but could also set your min/max frequencies with the low/high cuts/frequencies and you could tailor the Mid frequency to adjust the peak frequency of your pedal. I havent been able to duplicate it very well, but i remember it being very vocal.

Thank you for that, that last line clears it up. In my mind I thought that would be the case, but then overthought it and ended up down several thought paths that I couldnt get out of. I think then thats where I can play with the 'stereo image' a bit more. Appreciate your help.