Quickdraw

I am using virtually the same setup: Variax JTV-69s, Helix floor, GR-55 and 3 EHX pedals. I will attach my final wiring diagram as pdf below. This details every connection I used in my pedalboard setup.

 

Here's a description of how I am using it.

 

I currently have my Helix patches configured as four parallel stereo paths:

• Path 1: JTV-69 Magnetic pickups (via VDI cable) -> EHX LesterG rotary pedal (via FX send/return 3&4)

• Path 2: JTV-69 Variax models (via VDI cable) OR used as a "1B' path inserted from Path 1.

• Path 3: EHX Key9 pedal set to Suitcase Rhodes (via FX send 3, return to aux input)

• Path 4: GR-55 guitar synth (vix FX return 1&2)

(Note: I have FX send 4 feeding an EXH B9 pedal patched into a HACKED guitar INPUT on the GR-55. I also have the Helix AMP control out patched into a HACKED input for remote toggling of the GR-55's CTL pedal.)

• Expression 1 = Gtr volumes

• Expression 2 (switched internal) = Wah or other special effect

• Expression 3 = LesterG variable rotary speed (pedal's Exp. IN)

• Stereo Volume 4 = path: GR55 -> iC Audio4+ -> Vol pedal -> FX ret 1&2.

 

Thus I have four different signal paths going at once, each with their own choice of Helix FX.

• The  iC Audio4+ allows me to add 2 additional audio inputs if desired, plus use direct lightening I/O connections to my iPad or iPhone. It also provides extra MIDI I/O as wells USB.

• I pulled two 4 point TRS I/O modules from a studio patch bay, velcro'd them to my pedalboard and used them to provide remote access points to Helix I/O.

• Similarly, I used extension cables to provide access to the Helix's XLR outputs and the USB port.

The Helix is VERY powerful.

 

Here's photos of my pedalboard (as well as under the hood).

 

Are you just running a 1/4 in -into your modified GR-55 jack?  Does your variax have a gk 13 pin output?  your image looks like you are still running the 13 pin.

Me and the bass player are fine and he is on board with me using the Helix.  I would leave the band and keep the helix if I had to choose.  I think his biggest concern was what happens when we play out the pa speakers face the audience and not us.  I will use an amp unless we know we will have working monitors.  It's all good.  I encourage communication with everyone, especially bandmates so the last thing I want to do is discourage questions and exchange of ideas.

 

thank you all for some great suggestions and advise.  from here on out, I believe I'm good and the bass player and the rest of the band is fine too!

Its hard to keep perspective with the "lack of knowledge" on todays modeling technology and the stigma others may have... So in the vein  of keeping the good blood between you and the bass player here are a few more "common sense" issues that need to be pointed out.

1) If you played a venue without a appropriate monitors you are already screwed... your vocalist is the one that everyone should be the most concerned about if that is the case... I haven't played a venue without monitors in a long long time... even the smallest clubs have them.  if they don't, you need your own, or go IEM.

2) I get the fact that he may be used to the Sound Pressure Levels pounding on his chest, but once you guys have worked on getting your levels acceptable (meaning- just above the drums) your sound will improve immensely.

3) Like others have pointed out... clearly, he is in the dark with how prevalent modelers are now in live situations...point him at a few of the bands and add this guy to the list -Richie Castellano of Blue Oyster Cult.

4) This has been said as well, so just repeating good advice-  get a good monitor for your self... I went with the L6 L2M, there are more affordable options but this one works great... I can place it behind me like a cab, but I prefer to use it as a monitor and go direct to the house PA. It works fantastic, and I have never heard one of my band mates complain about my levels (or lack of amp).  I used to blow their heads off with a Marshall 1959... I just think they are all thankful now!

Pm me if interested

email sent.

oh ya... i probably would not need my backpack any more either. 

I may be interested... we should talk.  I have a ton of OH Ir's as well so not concerned with them.  More concerned with shipping and the fees incurred there.  My floor unit is also at 2.1 and has been flawless.  I am in the Seattle area so that may give us some indication of shipping fees.

I love the tuner. It works fantastically for me.

I agree... quick tunes between songs are a breeze.  The last fix was awesome on the resolution indication.

That is very similar to one of my setups.  Let me know if you have any difficulty.  The JMP-1 is a killer preamp- very versatile.

I will have to throw this out there though... I believe the factory presets have been tweaked a bit in the latest firmware... scrolling through them tonight I am finding some of the old ones that I would not give the time of day sounding pretty sweet...

ok... maybe just a bit thick...i dont get the lollipop thing?  Is that a reference to something specific?

That's OK, I just sold it. I dig like the Helix once I got the right IRs it started really happening for me. It's just I am not 30 anymore and spending so much time tweaking and headphone work is something I need to start getting away from. The Helix has an infinite param adjust variability and I am getting where I cannot keep wrapping my head around so many options. I need to be able to just shut up and play my guitar, so I get to leave this website in peace. I do not want to say where my next gear acquisition will lead but I am deciding between two really amazing options. (Not Fractal or Kemper BTW) Anyway, so long to you Helix mavens, I enjoyed the forum and using the Helix. I hope the next upgrade rings the cow bell. Helix has a lot of potential but L6 has to take a hard turn away from the whole POD mentality and cheese effects thing. Not sure they can but they will sink or float on how they update the Helix. So long campers. 

C'mon man! spill the beans!  What, a new Petrucci head maybe?  Gotta be good!

Do I get a participation medal?

 

Ummm.... no.

Wow, call me simple... Load up third party Ir's and have it your way... just like the commercial says.  And if you prefer a stock cab, well great you saved yourself some dough... it sounds like you may have third party Ir's so that part is real easy.

My experience is that the Helix responds to my guitars "more like" my tube amps do.  In previous L6 modelers my guitar was a much smaller part of the equation to the tone.  I could never get away with running my strat in place of a paul in my tube amp... but when it came to my POD xt or HD500 the guitar was "homogenized" enough to get away with that scenario pretty easily.  The good part-  the realism in the Helix is pretty amazing; the bad part-  I hate switching out guitars, Lol,  and buying a Variax with the stable of guitars I have just seems silly.

Tom

Hey, I have no experience with the Friedman so I can't compare the two but I've been giggling with the Helix + L2t for well over a year now and have been extremely happy. My old, beloved Soldano 4x12 just sits gathering dust now. I play in a loud rock band with another guitarist who's running a Peavey 5150 and a 4x12 and my Helix setup can hang with his old-school rig and then-some. Even for the rare clubs where our guitars aren't mic'ed I've never needed to go over maybe 60% output level on both the Helix & L2t. It sounds and feels exactly like my old 4x12 setup only with FAR better projection & sound diffusion than any 4x12 I ever heard-- and my entire rig fits in my trunk with ease. Line6 finally came out with a wheeled case for the L2t as well, which has made load-ins & outs much more civilized. By sheer coincidence, I usually use the 5150 model for most of my distorted tones and it's so close to sound of the actual 5150 it's scary. Obviously tone is very subjective and it will take some time to get yours just how you want it but all I can tell you is I took the plunge and am extremely happy I did. I've also gotten better feedback regarding my sound from fans, bandmates & sound-guys over the past year than at any time in the past 30 years of playing in bands. I still occasionally see a sound-guy turn up his nose when he spots my Line6 gear only to listen to him rant & rave later about how good it sounded and how easily it fits in a mix.

Good Stuff.  Ya, no buyer remorse here.  My L2M, bag and Link chord all got here Friday as promised, and I took it from the Fedex guy straight to practice.  I have very little tweaking to do at all.  Most of my patches were created through a decent set of studio monitors and they translated beautifully.  There is plenty of head room, and the best part... my guitar is "more reactive" with the speaker in a monitor position.  I was having a real difficult time getting the sustain and "riding the edge" of feedback that I get from my amps... I was really missing that.  This weekend I was screwing around and ran stereo out to a G150 power amp driving two marshall 4 X12's (both wet) and ran the L2M dry as my monitor.... holy Crap!  It was one of the most monstrous sounds I have ever gotten -this coming from a guy who has been running stereo with two plexi's for the two decades!  Lol

I'm supposed to get My L2M, carrying bag, and a new cable Friday... That will give me one week to tweak my presets before my next gig.   This is going to make all the difference between lugging out the old 1/2 stack or going direct from the Helix... this could be really cool!

Get yourself the rolling carry bag and you will really feel good about your decision. Super easy to transport with these.

Good advice. I had read that previously and sprung for the bag too, ease of transport and protection for less than 90 bucks was a no brainer.  Getting the bag is what force my hand in going with the m vs. the t though...

It's late, I know, but I think you made the right choice.  I have no idea what the Friedmans sound like, but I don't need to.  My StageSource speakers not only compete perfectly well with my 412 cabinet, but I have a system to build on (actually I already did).  The L6 LINK feature is marvelous when using more than one unit.  Now save your $$ and get an L2T and an LINK cable and you'll have your own mini PA, an awesome stereo outfit, and what I consider to be one of the best acoustic guitar amps on the market (the LT2/3).  Of course when playing electric on stage, I use mine in front of me as a personal monitor with a cable out of the Helix to FOH - not used like an amp as you would have to have 3 mikes to mike it.  I don't play super heavy metal - but I do consider the L2 to be a beast for my needs. 

Good stuff, that sure helps... i don't like second guessing my choice- even before the Fedex truck arrives!  Lol  I think this  (and a second one-when i can spring it) is going to be awesome. 

Good info... Based on that train of thought i just sprung for the L2M, I think this will help dial in the the sound I "expect" to hear FOH.  If all goes well I'll have this setup dialed in for our next show... 05 Nov at Studio 7 in Seattle  (shameless plug fro anyone who want to check this rig out in action- Lol).  First big gig going ampless... what a trip.

tom

Well, doing a bit more research I see that the L2, L3's are all ply... throws out my concern for the "plastic box". Thanks anyways, although there isn't much on the Friedman's available here.... oh well.

Sometimes its the little things...

 have you set the pedal on full output, then saved that preset?  The only time that has happened to me was doing a quick save with the pedal rolled off... after recall... well that's exactly what I get... rolled off.

I know.... subjective as hell, but I really need to hear from the guys who have the experience with these units to help push me over the edge.  This new era of plastic cased powered monitors is not to impressive to my ears... really tired of sounding like a kazoo... I believe the Friedman gets around this... do the L2T's sound like a thin plastic box or have they gotten around this?  Thanks a lot for you inputs!

Wow, Great job!  Your singer has some serious pipes!

 I experience something similar with high output hum-buckers into over driven amps only.  I have been living with it, but there is a fuzzy prevalent presence that is there.  Ive done exactly what you have done to minimize it... and have settled on no pad (same thing... by the time I get the drive where i want it the sound is back),  auto impedance typically selected, and i have knocked the Lows and highs out... which has effectively tamed the bulk of it.  The rest (unfortunately) I have been stuck with.  I would love to compare my unit to someone's who is not experiencing any of this...and "critically" listen to see if there is a difference.  I can be pretty damn picky about my sound. Something else that has helped quite a bit... going wireless... crazy, but it has acted the same way as shielding works in a high emi environment.

I actually say this is 1st.  The headphone out is one of the best trouble-shooting tools on the Helix.   The OP stated "I Still obtain a bad noise with crunch or distortion like if you put directly a distortion pedal in a sound card. The sound is not natural."     This description does not sound like something that would come out of the Helix unless you programmed it too, but it does describe a possibly faulty unit.

This is the sound you would get if your amp (head/ pre-amp) was not feeding a speaker cab or IR... that can be pretty hideous... just like a distortion pedal into a sound card...

Do all the pre-programed presets sound this way also?

I don't believe any others do. I recall a discussion about this from a while ago (on the gear page I think...) and it was mentioned that it almost requires a separate processor chip to handle the spill-over. I think where others MAY have the advantage is in patch change times but, I don't have any experience with Kemper/AxeFX so I don't really know for sure.

My old Late 90's GSP 2101 does, does a good job of it too!  Want to buy it? Lol