themetallikid

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.

I think that last part is maybe what I was missing. Running my chorus with a pretty high depth, mix at 50%....it was audible for sure, but not nearly as wet as I would have imagined given I had the A100/B100 setting setup as mentioned. So if I kept my mixer (merge block?) as the default setting, then i'm essentially collapsing into a dual mono sorta thing? I'm losing the stereo image? To be fair, as I mentioned, I dont really have a reason to be 'stereo' out front....however, I do want/need that sorta stereo/chorusy type sound. How do I get from the split/amps/merge/stereo effects out of the Helix into the FOH mixer but not have my AC30 in one speaker and the Placatar in the other speaker only. I understand stereo enough to confuse myself with all the different collapsing/splitting options, but then we you add panning options at the board as well I get lost in the best practice for this application.

I get that I can dial in the low/high frequency settings. However, with no boost, Q, resonance options.....is there anywhere, or anyone that would provide details on what that portions of the circuit do and maybe how to approach duplicating them? I've also loved adding an OD prior to my wah with a slight bit of dirt and boost to it, but option paralysis gets frustrating in a way. Just looking for a headstart as i'm reworking some of my favorites for 2 new projects I got.

So in my Stone Temple Pilots band, I try to run a 'similar' style signal path to what he does. This has typically been: stereo chorus > split block > Path A - AC30/Ventoux stype amp for highs/edge type sound, Path B Placatar Dirty with all switches on for lows/thick type sound > stereo cab > post effects (delay/lead boost) However, I have been running the split block as an A/B split with left side 100% path A, right side 100% path B. I recently tried it with the split block being the one that allows you to set a frequency (I forget the name while here at work). I have also tried the split 'Y' block where you just slide between A100>B100 so you can choose which mix/balance you want. Can someone explain in simple terms what difference there is and what makes sense. Is there much difference between the Y split and the one where you can choose the left/right of each A/B path? and what difference does that have from doing the frequency split option. I obviously get that its grabbing everything +/- of the 650hz frequency and splitting it to paths A/B. Is it 100% cutting the sound to the other path opposite the frequency selection? I'm going to try and find some videos on these, as I know Jason Sadites does the frequency split thing, which is what caused it to be added to the Helix, however he still uses a different method for some extra control which I get and he also doesnt run a stereo chain like I need for this project. I'm not sure i've seen any other videos covering the options for this point in my signal. ***I also get the 'dont use stereo live, it doesnt make sense' argument. However, all other mono options I've tried just dont seem to get that chorusy type sound he gets on several tunes.

Just as an added option. Most (in my experience) modern FRFR speakers have a direct out that just pass audio. For myself (floor not stomp xl) I just use the 1/4 out to my wedge, however, I have used the direct out from my wedge too when I first started as well. I'm not familiar with the Headrush, just throwing it out there as an option if you dont have an available HX output to use.

I would favor this option as well, I dislike the BPM/Tuner button where it is located, but have learned to work with it. I would love to be able to move it or add it to a preset if I want, or even have some flexibility to what engages the tuner.

I dont know all of the 'logic' in the saves/copy commands, but.....what works for me when designing a preset is that I go to snapshot 1, I setup my layout, I choose copy all, clear all (kicks you out of Command Center, I hate this part) then go back in and paste all. This then applies my one snapshot layout to all snapshots. Which is what I want being that I don't use the 'stacked' snapshot approach. I'm not sure if the paste all, carries over from pasting into preset 1, saving, changing to preset 2 and then pasting again. I rarely have songs with the exact same layout next to each other (only thing that varies really with me is number of snapshots) to try it out, but maybe worth a shot?

How did you achieve your tone without a cab? If it works it works, but your question lacks some details to offer anything constructive. As far as picking out a cab that matches your tone. the only way would be to gain experience with each cab/mic combination and find your favs. Grab an amp + cab block and adjust the amp to where you like it. Then go to the cab and start playing around and noting the differences of the cabs using the same mic and the opposite, keep the mic the same but change cab/speaker combinations and note the changes if you find a mic that gives you what you want, try that on the cabs that you favor. There are many cabs/mics combinations that lend themselves more to one style than another, however there are no rules....

For my needs, factory presets are useless. There was a factory setlist that went through the amps, which i spent about 2 days going through and deleting out the effects (or just bypassing them) and leaving the amp/cab. If they were separate blocks or the single block I dont remember. However, i literally went through all the amps in the Helix and dialed them in to various gain stages, found out what I liked that amp to do best, and saved it as a user default (not a favorite). Yes tedious, however, if you utilize the looper trick (if you dont know that one, its where you put a looper at the beginning of your chain, record your guitar and then that allows you to tweak the amp/cab without having to stop playing to adjust. the Looper is like a friend playing for you) and it didnt take long to dial in the amp variously. For your case, here is what I would do. And remember get your tools in order and it's much easier to build a house. 1) create a template. For your purpose, I would create a blank preset. Set up your typical preset flow. For me, line 1 input is guitar, line 1 output is set to line 2, line 2 output is set to -4db and multi as the output option. I would add the looper block first in the chain, and assign the bypass parameter to a footswitch. I would add an Amp +Cab Block at the end of line 1 (or first block on line 2). This allows you to add pre/post effects easily DSP wise. Save this as Template or something easy. 2) record your typical playing style into the looper with the amp/cab block(s) bypassed so you just hear the straight through guitar. I usually try to cover a variety of play styles when doing this. I'll pick some clean-ish type stuff, bang some chords, palm mute some chords as well as play a few bluesy/rock type lead passes. This lets me hear the most without having to re-record different things. 3) while the looper is repeating this back to you, activate your amp/cab blocks (if separate, do your cab block first so you dont get the raw amp sound, harsh and just ugly). You can literally start at the first amp in the helix, tweak just the usual amp settings (gain, bass, mids, treble, presence). However try to keep volumes even so adjusting the master volume (affects tone) and channel volume (does NOT affect tone will need to work cooperatively to do this. Do it now, so that your user defaults are relatively balanced, or you'll need to do this later when you create presets. remember what I said earlier about organizing tools early? 4) when you get a tone you like, there are two approaches. If you want a one-trick pony tone for each amp.....save it as a user default. Next time you call up that amp, you got YOUR tone. If you want to use an amp to do multiple tones (Deluxe, AC30 type stuff) then I'd suggest saving the block as a user favorite, you can name it as something like Deluxe Clean, Deluxe Pushed, Deluxed Ballz, lol. Again, next time you build a preset, select blocks from the favorites folder and you have YOUR tone. Those 4 steps can be overwhelming in volume, but really they are foundationally what you need to build upon further. You can do the same thing with effects and such as well. I do that with all my effects. Being in a cover band with over 100 songs available. I create a preset per song, i use my user favorites that i've saved. if I save it as a different setting, i save it as a different user favorite. Hope that helps!

I agree. My buddy picked up a Helix because of my use and he just can't seem to find the time to sit down and program a preset per song like I do for our setlist. However, once you have your favorite blocks or user defaults set, I can program a fully function 4 or 5 snapshot preset (using HX Edit mind you, not that I couldnt do it on the unit, but HX Edit is just so much faster) in about 10 minutes, and that is being generous on the time, i doubt it even takes a full 5 minutes. Any carpenter will tell you that its impossible to build a house when your tools and materials are scattered all over the yard, garage, house. However, Line 6 has done a great job organizing the tools in the garage and tool box, and they continue to drop off materials in neat piles on the driveway and yard. So it takes minimal time to build your new practice space in the backyard. Do the work up front, set yourself up for success and the payoff lasts down the road. If you just expect to plug and play and the EVH patch to be gig-able....then i'd suggest moving on to something else as even if me and DunedinDragon swap presets that are 'perfect'....we would probably almost be better off creating our own presets that accomplish the same tone rather than tweaking someone else's settings and blocks.

some of these things can be addressed by having a more streamlined approach to building presets. If you use the Amp & Cab block, you'll get the amp paired with the proper matching cab/mic. You can edit the mic for sure, with the 3.5 update that is super powerful and not overly daunting, especially if you leave the speaker/cab aspect alone. With the amp settings, most of the defaults are set pretty well, but if they arent, dial in the amp how you like, and then save it as a user default. Next time you bring that amp up, it'll come up with that exact amp/cab/mic settings. problem solved there. On a side note, nothing will sound good 'out of the box'.....typically. Different player, guitar, monitoring system (studio monitors, wedge, powered cab, combo amp power section, headphones) are all different. So even if I sound like EVH on my systems and settings, that same preset in your environment could sound like a leprechaun farting on a mushroom. You can design only a few presets and work off of that. If you go with one of the smaller HX units, then you may need more presets to address your sound needs, but the LT and Floor are super powerful and you can easily throw a few sounds into a preset at once, depending on how many effects you want. But there is nothing stopping you from doing a kitchen sink preset built around a genre's typical tones in a single preset, with a few stomps or snapshots to change amps/effects. I did this with the soldano SLO amps as a good kitchen sink for those random songs my band gets asked to play that I dont program a preset for the song specifically. I have 5 ranges in gain structure, I have a lead boost button (OD, delay, volume boost), chorus, pre-amp compressor effect. works great.

Tuner works great for me...... OP resurrected 3 zombie threads, only has 5 posts, 3 of them are copy/pasted. <insert rolling eyes emoji>

Agreed on that aspect, was referring more to choosing a cab in Helix. More the tonal differences between the different sizes, open/closed versions.

So I'd love to explore some of these. Yes, I know I can just do it, but I love the sound of the 4x12's I have dialed in. My current project plays a wide variety of rock styles, even a dabble of some countryish songs. What is the advantage to using a smaller cab vs a 4x12? I've always had a 4x12 in real life, much less an open back style cab. So if I were to go exploring, what am I going to find while searching that would be a target principle of using those cabs?

I'm curious to add this as a subtle type effect to my guitar signal for my acoustic sounds when applicable. I tried scouring Jason Sadites and youtube for videos on best practice to apply this effect. I know there are several ways people have made it sound best by adding it on a parallel line and mixing it in, but can't really find any great direct resources to this. any help on this?

The only way I could see doing this as a work around.....would be this, and I don't have my Helix in front of me to test.....but, if the scenario ever pops up, this might be a legit way of backing out without losing any tone settings. Preset 1 - Snapshot 1 Rhythm Preset 1 - Snapshot 2 Lead Both of those are dialed in exactly how you want, however you start messing with snapshot 1 and realize that you like what you dialed in to be used as a different snapshot, but dont want to lose the original settings for SS 1, but you can't "SAVE AS" as you're looking for..... You could at that point, do a Save Preset, and save it to a different preset slot. I'm thinking this would retain the original SS1 settings, although I think this would be dependent on whether you have snapshots global setting set to discard any changes or not

Are you referring to a 'save as' sort of function? Like you can do with preset saving, where you can choose the slot you want to save it to? I follow what your asking, but then lose it in a way. lol.... I know your not talking about the copy feature, I get that, but I think (maybe.....) your asking that if you have preset A, snapshot 1 dialed in. And you make edits, you want to save those edits to a different snapshot slot (slots 2-7, which ever makes sense to your structure of preset building)? If that is the case, I dont believe there is an option to do that in either HX Edit or on the Floor itself. I know with my process, I will dial in whichever block/amp (etc) that covers most of my needs for the preset, and then assign the snapshot controllers. Whatever you dial in without snapshot controllers assigned will apply to all snapshots in that preset. For example, if I'm playing a song with a typicaly rock guitar sound and then I need a lead sound. I will dial in the rhythm sound (snapshot 1 - Rhythm). Save preset, i will then go to snapshot 2, name it Lead, and then assign my snapshot controllers in the amp to Gain/Mids. While the snapshots will be active on all slots, they will retain the original rhythm numbers, the lead adjustments will only reflect on Snapshot 2 where I changed it. I assume you know this logic already.... But I think your asking about making adjustments to the rhythm preset, and then saving them to a different snapshot slot while retaining the rhythm settings after the fact. I do not believe that is an option, but I think a 'Save As (snapshot _____) could be a useful quality of life option. Not sure if that is feasible coding wise.... Is that what you were asking?