GazzaBloom

After much consideration I purchased a Yamaha DXR10 at the weekend, to go with my Helix. Do you have any general tips, advice or recommended settings for getting the best most amp like sound from an FRFR solution?

Yes, I dialled up the Bassman recently, having ignored it as the PODHD version sounded awful and I was pleasantly surprised. I played it loud through a Yamaha DXR10 and dialled it with my R8 Les Paul against a Joe Bonamassa live clip where he is playing a single Tweed Twin and got pretty close. It sounds great. I put a Minotaur in front just boosting it slightly and to add a little upper mid range and carve off a little low end. Great tone. Might try and find some Tweed era IRs to try with it.

It simply does, a really good model of a Tweed Twin for those Joe Bonamassa and Keith Richards moments...some bloke called Clapped Out uses one as well. Make it happen!

That's it! You legend. Thanks

I watced a video the other week of a guy playing a Helix (I think it was a Helix) through a couple of FRFR monitors at his feet in stereo, he was playing a Fender Jaguar or Mustang and playing along to some rhythmic drums and percussion and making some nice ambient and off the wall tones. Does anyone know of this and have a link? Thanks

This is what really got me interested in the L2s:

I'm still torn between a tube combo amp and a FRFR powerd speaker for my Helix. I didn't get on too well with an AxeFX and CLR as I found it too polite and hi-fi with not enough fat mid range like a guitar speaker.

I know the general recommendation is to use the Helix and L2 monitors in Reference/PA mode but the Electric Guitar mode has me curious. In this video (with an HD500) it sounds like it gives a much more authentic 'amp in room' tone with plenty of mid range and some feedback. Does anyone one use the Electric Guitar mode and have any views? Does it sounds like a traditional guitar cab? Would you use it with or without a Helix cab/IR? I am not in a position to try before buy, I have also read that the L2s can be a bit bassy and too rich in the low end, is this the case? Comparison between L2 reference mode and electric guitar mode at 15m10s:

I can't see where to check out your clip? i'm not on Facebook

Didn't Andy Summers use an original green EH Electric Mistress on MIAB? Not the Deluxe but the original non deluxe? I wish we had tha as a model in the Helix as it was a sweeter sounding flanger than the deluxe I agree with post above that Andy Summers never really effectively replicated this live. It's 2 guitars harmonising and to me it sounds like it might be Tele neck pickup, it's a much dirtier sound in isolation than you first think when hearing the full track. I like the Classic Rock mix of MIAB on the singles collection album.

He's playing through a Helix off camera, the vintage Champ is for decoration only as it sounded nowhere near as good as the Helix :D

I agree, I would like to see a copy of the EH Electric Mistress, the original green one, not the Deluxe. A very different sounding flanger and the one you need for The Police sound.

Archetypal Clean, 1x12 Celestion and Minotaur That's today's choice, will change tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day...

Great - thanks for the tips

Can you get a Chopper effect with the Helix? Like the Gig-FX Chopper that Prince used to use occasionally

It's fixed. I stood the Helix vertically on it's side and knocked it gently on a carpeted floor from about 2-3 inches up and when I turned it over the flake of whatever it was has gone and is no longer visible. Plugged it in and tested, all good and working fine. Incidentally, I had exactly the sme issue with a new Axe-FX II in 2015. The Axe is very easy to disassemble and I blew it out with an air duster. Minor crisis averted and my OCD can restablise!

It's not dust it's a flake of plastic or paint or something, white.

I have a new Helix and have had it a few days and only today removed the plastic from the LCDs and there is a small piece of something behind the plastic glass cover on one of the scribble strips about 1-2mm in size. It's large enough to notice and really bugs me. Is there a way to easily disassemble the Helix to get this cleaned out with an air duster? It's going back for a replacement if not!

Thanks. One thing I have tried is a trick I used with the Axe-FX; adjust the hi-cut down to around 7-9KHz and push up the lo-cut to around 100Hz. That really helps give that focussed mid range and reduce any flub or brittle highs from the cabs. Also, I move the mic to the closest position, dial out any early reflections and also reduce sag on some of the amps. That really helps give the amps a more present and focussed sound. I started going through some presets this morning and got as far as Line 6 Epic, tweaked it and ended up playing on that for an hour. Sounded very good.

Well I quit using Line 6 gear and this forum in 2015 and caused a bit of upset with a few members when I perhaps a little arrogantly announced that I was getting an Axe FX to replace my POD500X and DT25. Well I went to Axe-FX and a CLR for 6 months and while it sounded good I was getting fed up with endless tweaking and the boggling array of parameters. So, I sold that after 6 months and bought a tube amp and build a small pedalboard. Ran that for a year and loved it but just can't get to play at a volume where it sounds at it's best very often so was finding that I was not playing electric in the house much at all, and if I did it was unplugged. I also had issues with using FX in the amps loop and the tone being affected. So, that's all sold and I have now got the Helix, will be connected to audio interface and near field monitors and I am also looking at getting an FRFR speaker for louder moments later. I haven't decided what FRFR to get yet but it won't be a CLR, it was too big and heavy for my needs. I like the idea of the Stagesource with it's guitar mode to sound more like a regular guitar cab. We'll see. I only got the Helix yesterday and had a couple of hours with it last night but my first impression is good, it certainly looks superb, very sleek and stylish, with excellent interface and controls and quick play around setting up a simple clean sound revealed that it sounds good, I especially noticed the reverbs and delays sound a lot better than the PODHD500X. First off, I want to learn the Helix so will be spending a lot of time searching this forum for answers and tips but may ask a few silly questions along the way. I'm looking forward to this!

OK great - thanks

Apologies but been away from L6 for a long time and this has probably been covered, but have a quick question Does the Helix have an attenuated FX send? I know the PODHD500 FX send has a 6db drop in level.

Cool - thanks

Hi, How is the output mode mono/stereo determined on the Helix for all outputs? i.e. is it a global setting per output or blanket for all outputs? or is it determined within the patch by the choice of blocks (stereo/mono)? Reason I ask is this scenario: Could the Helix be connected to an amp in a simple guitar into Helix and 1/4 mono out to tube amp in and run as a traditional front of amp FX only unit...BUT....at the same time be connected via SPDIF to an audio interface and run in stereo? I wouldn't want to run both together but switch between the 2 depending on needs, without having to redo physical connections. Can this be done without reconfiguring any global output parameters every time? Could I create FX only mono patches for use through the tube amp, with no amp/cab modelling and then other patches for stereo recording with the amp/cab modelling switched on?

OK, I have no intention of starting a AXE FX vs PODHD flame war and will try to comment as objectively as possible. I caused a bit of a storm by announcing that I was selling up my POD HD500X and DT25 rig and moving to a AXE-FX II XL+ and Atomic CLR. The new gear arrived late yesterday afternoon and I have had just a couple of hours with it, here is my initial impression in comparison to the L6 rig. 1) The problem I had with the L6 sounds was a harsh boomy low end on the majority of amp models coupled with a (hard to describe) thin high end glassy presence (you can hear this clearly in some Youtube 'Vs' demos). I also found that I have to add the 'hard to understand' EQs to just about every patch to get anywhere near a tone that I was happy with. I also found the DT25 drive sounds to be harsh at low volume and it seems to need some significant volume to get the best from it. This is a luxury I cannot afford as I play 99% of the time at home. In general I have never been satisfied with the tones from the PODHD (I was happier with POD XT and X3), the cleans also sound too thin and almost 'DI' like with any string rattle from my guitars be prevalent in the tone (unlike through an amp) and no really 'body' to the sound. 2) My initial impression of the AXE-FX when plugged in for the first time through my Event TR8 nearfield monitors and the CLR wasn't good. I scrolled through many of the presents and found few that sounded good with my guitars and were not at all EQ'd right for me. 3) I came back to it a couple of hours later and I found the Axe-FX 'DOUBLE VERB' present and decided to have a look in that and see if I could adjust it to my taste. I switched off the bright switch, adjusted the tone to my taste (brought up mids, reduced bass, treble to suit my CS 60 Relic Strat), adjusted the drive, input level and output level, lowered the level on the reverb...and....there was a superb full bodied clean tone, direct into the interface and monitors. It's really hard to describe the difference, but the quality of the sound is significantly better, punchier, clearer and fuller. Through the CLR wedge, it really does sound like a old Fender amp played clean, with a punch and body I never found with the POD. 4) There is a plethora of options to tweak on the amps, effects, and cabs but this is down to the individual as to how far you want to go. I just tweaked the drive & EQ and am very happy with the Double Verb tone, no need for deeper tweaking. Took a few minutes and it was dialled in. 5) Effects, just had a quick scroll through some delays, reverbs, drives and modulation and again, a noticeable improvement, especially in the reverbs and delays. I'm delighted and look forward to exploring further, now it's time to read the manual. If anyone gets the chance to upgrade and to spend some time (away from the Axe FX presets) with the AXE-FX II I think you would be impressed. But, it is hellishly expensive. New rig shown in pic below Gazza