themetallikid

So...been floored with the Helix so far....even my sound guy was impressed. Basically with my first batch of patches he had me almost flat (the flattest he has ever ran me). Just a small boost around the 315hz mark. He always seems to add some of that to my signal. Not sure if its the EMG's or just how I dial it in, or if that's what helps separate me from the other guitar player...oh well.... I move on.... So while creating my presets, I ran into times where I wanted to copy a layout from one preset, but copy the amp/cab block (or other effect) from a different preset. It would allow me to copy the block, but would not allow me to paste it into the new patch. Not sure if I'm doing something in the incorrect order, but 1) choose old preset, 2) right click > copy, 3) choose new preset, 4) right click > paste - seems pretty straight forward. And it worked sometimes, just not when I was on a roll and wanted to use it. My second topic - have an acoustic performance Thursday, and there is a chance that I'll be going solo....would like to get the Helix setup with running guitar/vocals through it. I think there is a guide in the cheat sheet to do this, but does anyone have any tips on this?

I agree, the Helix is worlds better in many regards, which is why I am forced to switch to it, lol. So, being that I still have the GT.... IF I were to run both, only for the sake of using the FX1 Block to simulate a single coil pickup for some of my Helix patches, would I just run: Helix Send > GT Input > GT FX Send > Helix Return > PA I could put the Boss S/R block right after the FX first in the chain with only the FX1 block between the input and S/R. That would be the cleanest in my mind. If I'm wrong I'd be open to those ideas? My 2nd thought was to find some single coil pick up specs and see if I can duplicate it with a few Parametric EQ's. Not perfect, but if it at least helps with the character of a single coil, may be worth exploring.

I'm guessing that because they work with Variax guitars, that this is something they choose not to offer in order to help promote that product.....I could be wrong (and probably am).... BUT, my Boss GT series had a nicer (not perfect) feature that allowed you to simulate different guitar/pickup configurations with a block at the beginning of the chain. I'm guessing it was just an elaborate EQ based on some generic pick up frequency responses, but was nice. Even my EMG81 could sound like a single coil guitar. Or you could go from single coil > Humbucker, or other similar changes. I did not see anything like that in the Helix, am I missing anything? I'm assuming this could be done with a Para EQ or 2 at the beginning of the chain if you can find the PUP response curves for certain pickups, but was nice having a generic block/setting for it you could tweak from.

I will definitely check those, and post the settings. I do have the noise gate on, set minimally to just clean up a bit of stuff in the background when not playing. , input pad is off (no noticeable clipping). I am running EMG 81 in my bridge.

Thanks, I will grab these and try these. Right now, trying to get my presets ready for the show Saturday before I start building some specialty presets.

Thanks for the responses.... I'll check and play with the settings you mentioned, but I'm pretty sure I left most of them stock to when the Amp was pulled up. I usually don't need to mess with the 'power' section, unless I want more on the Master Parameter. I don't think this is just on this amp, the only way I can describe it is how a compressor works when set to a country/chickn-pickn, you get the louder attack, then a noticeable drop in volume. Now the drop in volume is not substantial and remains constant while I'm playing. I'm not referring to the pick attack you hear when playing and hear on single notes in general. This literally sounds like compressor set to squash the signal, but let the initial attack through. As I've been more concerned about getting patches setup for the show this weekend, I have not spent a great amount of time trouble shooting this, but it seems like an odd enough behavior, based on my experience with BOSS and Fractal units for the last 15 years or so. To be honest, it almost sounds like there is an initial signal bleed of the dry signal, and then the processing kicks in. This is literally within half a second from pick attack being made, but its audible to me and I don't have the greatest ears. My signal is pretty simple as I said, and I was hearing it when powered through my sound guys powered wedge (did not have this problem with my Boss unit through there, so its not the wedge) . I can't recall if I heard the same issue when playing via my IEM's, but can check on that tonight.

So, I have a patch dialed up using the Solo Lead OD and stock cab settings for the most part. Signal chain is pretty normal Guitar > Wah > Drive > Amp/Cab > Delay (Parallel) > Output When the guitar is silent as in no input being generated and I hit a chord, the initial attack is much louder than the 'body' of the chord that comes through. Almost like a compressor is grabbing it and squashing it. If I keep chugging away, its not there. It only shows up when I stop for a short bit and hit a note/chord. For instance to check my tweaking I'll hit a low E open power chord, or chug on it, the first attack is louder than the regular sound after. Anyone else get this? I dont have a way to record this....

Yes, the fractal editor allowed you to save each block in a preset with a specific name. For example, my 80's preset... I could save the chorus as '80s chorus', the amp as 'jumped Plexi', the delay as "80's lead delay". Then when i create a new preset where id like that blocks settings, instead of hunting for the block with those settings to copy/paste, i could insert the block, then right-click and pull up pre-saved settings for that effect/amp/cab. Its a minimal option, but is nice for recalling settings that may be uaed 8n different presets.

Alex, yes...I will also be utilizing an auto engage function with the wah as well. Any quick starts on how that gets setup? Also saw in the manual that when a separate EXP is attached, the onboard one defaults to EXP 1 and the external defaults to 2......but then when a volume/wah are added, they default to one of the pedals specifically...can this be changed or is it hard coded and just the way it is? I will more than likely not use Wah on every patch, but will probably have a volume pedal pre-amp to adjust input gain on the fly...I'd prefer to using the onboard for the volume and external for wah, but can't remember how it defaults per the manual.

That's a clever approach Silverhead, and I will definitely use that idea. My Fractal had the option in the editor to save custom blocks, so I could save several versions of the Amp block with different settings and then when I create a new preset, I would right-click, choose Amp and then see all the Amp Blocks I had saved to recall directly. That could be a nice feature for them to add to the editor. Really allowed me to create things from scratch

Sorry for the easy question, but my Helix arrives today, editor is installed at home....and I've scoured the manual but don't seem to see anything that tells me this for sure. I know you can copy/paste effects within the same preset, and also from one preset to another.....but can we save block settings to recall later from within a new preset? Meaning can I save a chorus with a name of 80's Chorus to recall later or would I have to find a preset that has that chorus sound, and then copy/paste? It seems according to the documentation it only mentions copy/paste.

That looks to be a great resource. Thanks Farley.... I've had several modelers with different wahs and there is usually more than a few models that just seem unusable. Just checking if there was a 'fan' favorite in the Helix or if they are all pretty usable and different. That video I saw seemed to really make them all sound similar when the Frequencies were evened out. Now I understand the frequency range is a factor in the wah sound, but so is Q, resonance and such. I assume the Helix has those parameters baked into the Wah models.

I also have a Helix coming from Sweetwater today actually.....I was told by my rep that they did open the boxes to update the firmware to the latest before they shipped them out. I'm shocked that it had that issue, I would imagine they have a test process post-upload to verify it loaded correctly, but I suppose there is always be a % that gets missed.

So I watched a video last night regarding the different wah models and how they are basically the same, just different frequency ranges. Is there anything else that separates the Wahs? I'd assume there are some baked in settings regarding the 'Q' of the wah and resonance type stuff as well. Do you have a favorite and what do you like about that one over the others?

What would it be? My interest is in getting some wide preset coverage initially up front so I can implement this into my shows, and then work on more detailed presets later. I'm looking for a patch that will cover these areas (some are duplicated): Preset 1 - I label this my 'Dance' Preset Snap 1 - Clean - would like this to be an actual clean, JC120 comes to mind, but not sure how well that would build into the next ones Snap 2 - Gritty - Slight breakup when strumming chords, picking notes would have a touch grit to them (essentially) a dirty clean sound Snap 3 - Classic - This would be probably in the Plexi range nothing too gainy, I like to reference Boys Are Back in Town kinda feel Snap 4 - 80's - This would be a boosted version of the Snap 3 setting. Preset 2 - I label this my 'Rock' Preset Snap 1 - Clean - Either Clean or the typical Rock Clean with a touch of grit on it Snap 2 - 80's - This would be similar to a Plexi/800 type sound Snap 3 - Boosted 80's - This would be a boosted Modern type sound of a Plexi/800 Snap 4 - Modern - This would be a heavier Recto type sound, little more bass chunk So, I know I mention Plexi/800 amps and the JC120, but that's only cause those are the models I'm familiar with by name/ear mostly. Are there any Amp models that with the addition of a pedal in front could cover each of the 4 snaps in that preset? Of course Eq'ing will help with Preset 2/Snap 4. It's mainly finding a single Amp to cover from the 'clean' to 'boosted' realm well. When I first started with my Fractal Ultra years ago, I did this with a Badger 30 (or was it a 15?), with a volume block in front or using the guitar volume was able to get a convincing clean/gritty and full volume got me into the 80's realm...add a pedal and it was saturated just right. Like I said just looking for a spot to start with to get me gigging with this until I can dive in with more depth as I'm just not familiar with a lot of the specific models in the Helix. Thanks in advance, Cheers!!

I tried listening to the link and it wont play for me.

I agree... I will probably have a few preset templates for snapshots as well...

Thanks again guys, the response here is very encouraging and i k ow some of the questions im asking are splitting hairs a bit. Musiclaw- generally my preset/snapshots will be setup as follows 1-beginning sound only 2-bridge/verse/chorus sound as needed 3-bridge/verse/chorus/lead sound as needed 4-lead only In that setup, i should almost always have snaps 1 and 4, but 2/3 would be song specific. They will be there, but named as blank. Most the songs i ne3d the help on are single sound +lead sound anyway so only 2 snaps needed. Its just easier to tell them to always hit "this" button. To your 2nd point, i generally always create a base of presets for template reasons: clean, gritty/breakup, classic, 80s, boosted 80s/90s, modern. That allows me to always have backups and easier to copy paste when setting up song specific presets.

Ok, so i could set up all 4 scenes, just turn off all blocks for scenes 2 and 3, and leave the names blank so it onlt appears that there are scenes 1 & 4? Reason being is that i tend to wander off stage for solos, and its easier for my bass/other guitar player to know that one switch is for leads. Lol, trivial i know... But just trying to hammer out programming things before hand. 2nd question: if i choose to go with the amp/cab option right away for programming simplicity of 50+ presets, can inlater on adjust just the cabinet portion or just the amp portion or do i need to start with thos3 blocks seperated to have that flexibility? Just trying to avoid dialing in a sound and then having to recreate it later on with new blocks.

Thanks for the responses... RV - Thanks, it seems like you run the same preset design as I do for order. I typically run my clean on the left and heavy stuff on the right, when I'm running preset mode. With the Snapshot options, I think I will probably run this way, and maybe this will clear up my question. snap 1 - Song intro sound snap 2 - First sound change snap 3 - 2nd sound change snap 4 - I would like to always set this snapshot to be my lead sound, whether snap 2/3 are being used or not. Duned - Thanks as well for that offer. Coming from the Boss/Fractal realm, I'm familiar with setting up Assigns/Modifiers to attach several changes to one button or signal change. With the Fractal, I've assigned a 'lead' button IA for instance and with my Boss, I had the 'CTL' button which I could assign for the same duties. I've also attached all lead changing parameters to an expression pedal so that toe down was rhythm, toe up was lead sound. I'd like to get away from all that 'extra' programming and just setup a lead version of the preset using the Snapshot idea. My question was more, do I have to use snapshots 2 and 3 in order to have the ability to use #4? Or can I have presets that only use #1 and #4

Well greetings....My Helix LT is on its way from Sweetwater.com and I'm already salivating at rejoining the realm of good solid tones/gear. I'm a long time follower on the Rig-Talk forum, but tend to lurk rather than post a ton of stuff. I enjoy the forums for sharing tips/tricks and experiences that I just havent had, and ones I've had that others havent. Little about me, I had a Fractal Ultra (original Ultra, not the II) for about 7-8 years and last year sold it and downgraded to the Boss GT 100. I only did this cause I got a decent offer on the used gear I was selling and really didnt need to spend a lot for the $700 local bar gigs I do. Just couldnt justify the spending of another $1500 or so. I went back to the Boss GT series as I was quite familiar with the programming tactics and tricks that Boss uses from my past history with the 3,8,10 series units. It made sense to go with what could get me up and running the quickest. Well had some issues the last gig, that I will not tolerate, and it get me realizing that the COSM models Boss uses are not better today, than they were back when I had the 8 (10 years ago). Definately no way near the level of the Ultra that I had gotten and loved for so long. Anyway, was comparing the units of the Helix LT/Native and the Fractal Ax8. Eventually the extra features of the Helix won me over as I think the amp models are close enough to me between them and I like the presentation and ease of programming the Line6 units seem to incorporate. Anyway...On to my question.... I'm pretty sure I get the Snapshots thing, but my question is......I know that there can be as many snapshots as you allow (based on the stomp switches layout). I myself will more than likely be going with the 4 presets on the top row, and 4 snapshots on the bottom row. I tend to program a song per preset for my band and switching snapshots will make achieve all song sounds pretty slick. BUT....can I put a snapshot into in any snapshot slot? Or will it always go in chronological order? Meaning, I have 4 snapshot slots, can I always have Snapshot 4 (far right button) always be my lead snapshot? I'm thinking this is not possible and it will always go in chronological order. Thanks in advance for any help, I look forward to picking your brains when I get stuck. CHEERS!!!