GenoBluzGtr

Tips... from another newbie (about 3 months now, but plenty of gigs with the helix so far)... EXPLORE! You can do so many different things with Helix and it does things in different ways, so don't be afraid to try things... but explore with your EARS, not just what you think SHOULD work. READ! This forum, The Gear Page Forum, etc... TONS of information and questions answered here that will help you avoid getting frustrated or disappointed. A lot of great advice and ideas. Try the all out. I've change my basic patch-building approach 2 or 3 times now and the sounds I'm getting just keep getting better and better. All due to listening and learning from others. Also, READ THE MANUAL!! So much of what i ran into in the way of problems and misunderstanding why something happens, could have been avoided if I had read and understood the manual BEFORE i started. VOLUME MATTERS! Build a patch at volume A. Play it at volume A - sounds great. Pack up the Helix and head to the gig and play at Volume B. You'll be sad. It's not the kind of modeler that will allow you to build a preset and play it at whisper volumes, but then just turn up and play at gig volumes. Things change sonically (even more so than it does with most tube amps). FIND YOUR APPROACH! Like I said, mine has changed a couple of times, but each approach had something useful and good in it, but as I learn I'm incorporating new ideas and replacing concepts that don't work the way I thought they would. Things like... - Using a compressor at the end of the signal chain when building clean to dirty snapshot presets. The LA Studio Comp allows for minute tweaks that keep the super-heavy overdriven snapshot for sounding so much louder or gnarly compared to the cleaner ones... good balance tool. I would have NEVER thought of putting a compressor AFTER all my amps and effects... but a very knowledgable guy did a video about it and it sounded great. Plus, he explained it in a way that makes perfect sense... in the studio, the engineer is going to take your tonal output and reprocess it... he will very likely add compression, reverb, delay, etc... to "polish" your sound. ALL That is happening after you routed your signal through your chain. So why can't a compressor work at the end??? And you know, what... it DOES for some things. it Alters your tone so it should be put in at the beginning of the build, but try it. I was very pleasantly surprised. it solved a major issue I was having with trying to get my gainy sounds to be smooth. - Also, where to cut the cab freqs... you can do it different ways, but it has a different impact depending on where and how much. EQs have different cut slopes than hi/lo cuts inside effects or cab blocks. - Tons of these types of things to suss out for yourself... modulation effects before an amp block? After an amp block? series or parallel??? no wrong or wright, but certain ways just don't work for me on most of my presets... you'll find the same thing, but it will take time. EXPECT TO SPEND A TON OF HOURS at first figuring things out. it's a simple tool to use, but not a simple one to set up and get to know... give yourself time. I got VERY discouraged after my first couple of gigs. Just had too much trouble trying to balance volumes, and having one patch too dark, and others to ragged and loud and nasty sounding... I gave myself about 10 days to get ready for the first gig... I should have stuck with my normal rig for a few weeks while I learned Helix... luckily I didn't bail on it. The awesome tones are there, but you have to figure them out. it's kind of addicting once you get into it. I've missed meals. it happens. SHARE!! Check out the "Customtone" link at the top of this page. We all upload things for everyone to try out. Don't expect a downloaded preset to sound great right off the bat. I build patches using MY guitar, MY FRFR speaker, at MY volumes, and using MY Approach (and favorite blocks, eq settings, cabs, mics, etc..... ) but check out the ones that sound interesting, load them up, tweak to your taste. You may want to change a few things around on them, but they are WONDERFUL way to learn about building presets. Some people LOVE to use compressors in their builds. others don't Some like them early in the chain, others late in the chain. Load it up and bypass a block and play. See what it does to the overall sound. tweak the settings. play some more. Move to the next item. Investigate why that SHOULD or SHOULD NOT be used and how it impacts the sound. The best feature (In my opinion) on Helix is the ability of all of us to share what we know and that collective knowledge helps subsequent newbies figure things out much quicker. I am amazed at some of the folks who were the 'pioneers' on this thing. I would have ditched it weeks ago had it not been for the knowledge I gained from this and other forums and youtubes. Finally.. ENJOY IT.

Mine sounds great going direct.... no amplifier required. here are some clips of others doing the same thing... Not a Helix, by any means, but it will definitely get you through a gig if the worst happens... and slap one of these on a PT Mini board with a couple of mini pedals and it can be pretty flexible.

I highly recommend this video to everyone, especially newbies (like me). This keeps the process relatively simple, but also draws on real-world experience with tube amps and in the studio... there is a part 2 as well that dives even deeper into Cabs and Mics...

I struggled MIGHTILY with this when I first started using Helix... get everything "perfect' at home, but get to the gig and things just don't work right... too loud on one, too soft on the other, etc... I've tried a number of different ways, but even the band experiencing "volume creep" from song to song (drummer plays harder on some, the bass player hammers his strings to keep up, etc.... oiy... I have finally relegated my self to making ALL my patches volume adjustable on the fly... Right now, what's working for me is to have the Amp Channel Volume controlled by the Expression Pedal. and set the mins and max so it's not a HUGE swing. Usually I build my patches with a "standard" channel volume of about 7.8 - 8.0.... so I'll set that as the minimum and then set 9.4 - 9.6 for a max. if the normal volume works, then I can use the Exp pedal for a lead boost, but I also usually have a footswitchable "2dB boost" in my signal chain for that, too. if the song starts and my patch is too low, I just ease the pedal forward a bit until it's right. Sometimes, shifting from a clean to a dirty snapshot, I will need to adjust it as well... so it works great. Just have to put some forethought into the building process and account for it. you will still have to get the volumes relatively close, though, this is for fine-tuning.

This is my backup for now (plan to get an LT down the road for backup)... fits in a guitar case, can go direct to a powered FRFR speaker or to the PA (or both if passed through my monitor). Has clean, OD, Boost, and with Delay and Reverb. Definitely a step down, but will get me through a gig without lugging a second amp. It's less than a foot long, and less than 3 inches wide. https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/RK5?gclid=CjwKCAiA9f7QBRBpEiwApLGUir3VLReABBAEu0eoH5fJmVrZbo5qykLd4Csag5mS6tdjmCLYC2Eh0xoCvKAQAvD_BwE

Semi-noob here too, but with about 12 gigs with the Helix behind me now, I will chime in and relate my experiences. I also use a K-series for my "on-stage amp"... and i found pretty quickly that having it standing upright on a pole or on a "Gramma" isolation matt is a better way to monitor things from behind me. The K series have a very wide horizontal dispersion (when upright - "vertical" when in a wedge position) and if you had it in a wedge position behind you on the floor, you're getting a TON of floor reflections from that that you likely won't get from the PA speakers on a pole. That's one way it may sound different. If you mean that what is coming out of your vocal monitor in front of you sounds much different than what's coming from behind you, remember that if you are using the same type (FRFR) cab behind you that you are on the floor in front of you, you MIGHT be hearing some phasing of the signals that is happening around your head/ears. You're likely standing in that zone where the two are meeting (picture the wedge in front pointed at your face and the wedge behind you pointed at the back of your head)... if you move out front or turn your "on stage FRFR" (the one behind you ) off you'll get a better idea what is coming out of the PA. I've actually had this happen even with a traditional guitar cab behind me... what comes out of the monitor for my guitar sounds makes everything where i'm standing sound thin. Step out in front and it's Normal. Regarding the preferred approach to presets... this is a matter of your needs and what is best for the audience... but my experience is that I like to have just a few sounds but enough variety that a cover song that was originally done with amp X can sound as close to amp X as I can get WITHOUT needing a patch for every song. I tried that the first few gigs and it's WAAAAYYY too much to manage for me. 55 songs a night, meant that I had close to 45 patches... getting those to all sound right, with the volumes properly balanced would take me weeks or months to get right. And our set list changes enough from gig-to-gig, that's just not practical. I prefer snapshots and one thing I've started doing over the past couple of gigs seems to be my new go-to... I call it a "4-Channel Amp Collection" set up. I build a "stomp/snap" set up with different Amp models. So I have a "Vox Snap" a "Marshall Snap" a "Boogie Snap, a "Tweed Snap", a "Blackface Snap" and now I have a "Trainwreck Snap". hope to have them also soon for Hiwatt, Small Tweed, Bogner, etc.... I build them with enough stomps that I can access a Tremolo, a Chorus, a Wah (on ALL of them) and on some a Phaser, and/or a clean boost via the 4 stomps... while the 4 Snapshots are "Clean", "Crunch", "Drive" and a 4th channel that is "solo", or "more drive" or something like that. I also set up the Channel Volume on the amp to the footswitch with the heel position being a very reasonable "low volume" gig volume, and the toe position giving me what I want for a lead boosted volume. So I can choose the 'Vox Snap' for example, and it should give me a authentic sounding "Clean Vox tone" for beatles, queen, some country stuff, etc... a "Crunchy Vox" for those types of tunes, and heavier overdriven Vox, etc... all with adjustable volume (via the footswitch) and some basic but crucial stomps. I also use the exact same footswitch positions on each preset.. so no matter which variety of "amp" I'm on, the clean is always the left-most, and it goes left - to-right to get to the highest gain. If my volumes are slightly out of balance, the expression footpedal is all I need to get it to whatever is the "right" volume for that song (this can vary depending on the drummer, the bassist, the keys, etc... so having the set exactly right before the song starts is kinda hard, and with this set up, I don't have to be exactly right. I also use the same color codes for the footswitch LEDs, so I don't get confused if I can't see perfectly or don't have time for more than a quick glance while singing and changing snapshots. I still have a few songs that absolutely need (okay strong word, but it's better if...) their own presets... something that needs a million different effects that need to be turned on/off at various parts of the songs, etc... VERY few, but still a few. These get their own presets and I simply change modes prior to the song for those and the back to my "4-channel amp collection" snapshots for everything else. So this is my approach... it's evolving but this is where I am today... Next step is to try to have something tweaked for different guitars and see if that helps, but I'm with Amsdenj in that if you want the patch to sound the same with different guitars, then why change guitars? The different pickup configs will make those "simple" patches have more sounds, thus being just like gigging with a real amp and different guitars... except in this case you can gig with EVERY amp known to man.

Okay... VERY quickly, just built this preset, set up Helix into Garage Band, raw, single track, FULL OF CLAMS (so make fun all you wish)... No enhancements at all other than the 'verb and delay I used in building the patch. it's a Trainwreck (Derailed Ingrid) into a Zbest (2X12 Interstate) with a 57 at 2.5". EP Boost (Kinky Boost) is on all the time. Initially, the clip is clean... EP is at 0.7 gain, Boost ON, Bright ON. Amp at 0.1 gain Bass 2.7, Mids 4.5, Treble 8.6. Using my Rocketfire Tele with Arcane Pickups on the middle position. I switch to neck and then bridge near the end of the clean part. At about time 0:19 the EP is bumped up to about 2.4 gain, Amp gain to 1.0, Bass stays the same, mids up to 7.9, Treble up to 9.2. Start on Bridge Pickup, then to Neck. At time 0:38 Klon kicks in Gain at 7.7, tone at 6.9, level at 5.8. Amp gain up to 2.6 bass down to 2.6. Also switch to Bridge Pickup at the start of this section. At 1:30, I shift to a snapshot with more ambience.... and a little more gain. Amp goes up to 2.6 Gain, Treble down to 8.2 Mids/Bass stay the same. EP boost gain up to 3.2 gain. Klon gain to 5.4. the Delay (transistor tape) is bump up in mix and time and the reverb ('63 spring) mix comes down a bit. Pickup changes throughout. MASSIVE clam at time 1:21 is my fumble-fingers, NOT an electronic artifact (although it sounds like one... Ha ha) https://soundcloud.com/geno-13/ep_klon_trnwrk

I don't do much recording at all, but for $79 I couldn't pass it up... NEVER hurts to have it when I DO want to use it... and a great discount made it too much to resist. I snatched it last night... now I just have to find time to figure it all out with Garage Band. Ha.

Did you do the 1. HX Edit download/install on your computer, 2. Back up Helix 2.X to the new Editor, 3. Firmware 2.30 Download/install onto the Helix, then 4. Restore Helix from the NEW HX Edit software... in that order? The old Helix Editor won't talk to the new firmware, so the order is important to end up with a package of Floor processor and Computer-based Editor that will work together (and share all the same information and presets).

I think the most fantastic combination is the EP boost in front of a Klon into the amp of your choice. Amp tweaked to give great clean or cleanish grind... EP boost with Boost "on" and Bright "off" (unless it's a very dark amp) and set to about 2ish on the gain... KLON (Minotaur) set at lower gain settings and volume/tone to taste.... then, add a controller or 2nd snapshot to goose the EP up to about 4-5 and the Klon's drive setting up a few notches... and for kicks, bump the amp's mids up a couple of notches... then hold on. Ha but seriously, those two pedal models a nearly perfect models of the real things. The way they push a small tweed amp or add major girth and grind to a Marshall or Vox works in Helix very much like they do in the real world. That says more to me about the fidelity of the amp models on Helix than anything else... the interaction between different components seems to be very realistic.

Okay, maybe I'm just a total dummy, but I just bought native, downloaded it, and installed it. It says "Install successful", but i can't find the application anywhere on my computer. What am I missing? EDIT: Nevermind... I answered my own question - yes, I'm a dummy. I didn't realize it runs within Garage Band or other DAW/Recording software. Got it.

When I say "scrolling" I mean having to use the "scroll bars" on the bottom and side of my window to get to all the parameters. The size of the bars and fonts were so large, it didn't all fit into the largest viewing window on my Mac Book... so when I was editing an amp, I could only see the first 4-5 parameters, and had to click/drag the scroll bar down to get to the rest... sometimes it would take more than one to get the last parameters. This one all fits.

THanks RRMark. Good to hear you've had no issues with this set up. I'm thinking the benefits may just outweigh the risks, in this case. Keeping the Helix off a nasty, dangerous barroom floor would be a huge plus for me.

Here is one tune we get requests for quite often... at about 0:56 you hear the pedal steel begin, and it crescendos into a double stop bend right at the 1:00 mark.... I can play the lick, but it just sounds like a guitar pretending to be a pedal steel, usually.

That's what the real pedal does, as well. Even with a nice tube rig, I kept one of these early in my pedal chain to give everything an "open and airy" tone. "more analog" sounds about right. I also used this extensively when I tried several different solid-state amps and it really made a difference in those as well, so I'm not surprised that it has this impact in Helix. Pretty much every preset I build now will have this at the beginning - and possibly at the end as a lead boost, too. Works great for that.

Has anyone found a good, realistic way to create a Steel Guitar tone using Helix? some country tunes I would like to add in some licks here and there that sound like a pedal-steel.

Can someone from Line 6 comment on this, please? I have the backpack, and it's a GREAT transport/storage situation, but I would much prefer to have the Helix sit inside a bottom of some type while I'm on stage (protection from spillage, and protection of the jacks on the rear, etc...). So something like a Thomman case would be ideal, but not if it is going to cause any heat-related damage from blocking ventilation ports.

Good question. It sounds to my ears like the 3dB boost. it think the two on/off options are modeled after the internal dip switches. One goes from Unity Gain to 3dB boost and the other is a "bass" on/off - if I remember correctly. The three parameters on the "Kinky boost" model are the single gain/level pot, and the two dip switches. I have had both versions of the EP boost and this one sounds to my ears to be more similar to the newest version. I tried it in a number of patches as both an "always on" adds "air and tube-iness" AND as a lead boost switchable pedal. It sounds just like the real pedal in both roles to me. in some cases, it's even better, because the real pedal has a "boominess" or low end that I sometimes couldn't tame enough... the Helix model seems to not have that - very subtle, but it seems more neutral

voted

The "rebuilding patches" part of the download/reboot simply rebuild your User Patches, but not the Factory presets. When you do the "Restore" function, AFTER the download of the new firmware, you'll have the option to "restore" your old factory presets or leave it as-is from the 2.30 firmware download. If you want to keep the "new" factory presets, do not select the option to "restore" factory presets... you can choose to restore ONLY the "user" and "IR" lists. If you just do a blanket restore (as I did), it restores everything, include overwriting the new factory presets with the old ones you had. It does this, I presume, because some people use the factory presets and may have tweaked them.

Yes. Smaller fonts, narrower bars, etc... but much better to fit on a laptop screen. Probably not as handy if you are using large monitors.

It's the background throughout this You Tube...

I personally like the new editor format better. A LOT less scrolling left to right or up and down (for those of us who have small laptop screens to work with)... Yes, some things are a bit harder to discern since they're smaller, but I much prefer being able to see all the parameters without having to scroll with a trackpad.

Thanks, I'll give that a try

I'm trying to figure out how to get a harmonized guitar lead sound from a single guitar. Specifically "Can't Get Enough" by Bad Company... is there a way to get that into a preset so I can have that as a footswitchable lead tone? starts at about 4:16 here...