steveglock

Thanks for all the good suggestions. Here are the results (not great). The Deville manual does not specify whether the FX loop is Instrument or Line. I did find a website that said they were Line level. Since you can only specify one option for both the Send and Return on the Helix, and with the suggestion above that the Send -> Deville instrument in should be Instrument, I used Send 1 and Return 2 as follows: Guitar -> Helix guitar/Variax In Helix Send 1 -> Amp Instrument In – (Send 1 = Instrument) Amp Send (Pre-amp out) -> Helix Return 2 – (Return 2 = Line) Helix ¼ inch Out -> Amp Return (Power amp In) – (1/4 inch out = Line) No improvement. I then randomly toggled the 3 parameters and found these settings each resulted in a slightly higher output. But the result is still significantly lower than when I unplug the amp send/return cables. With these setting the output may be slightly higher, but the tone is a little distorted. Kinda nice if I ever perform in a closet. ;-) Guitar -> Helix guitar/Variax In Helix Send 1 -> Amp Instrument In – (Send 1 = Line) Amp Send (Pre-amp out) -> Helix Return 2 – (Return 2 = Instrument) Helix ¼ inch Out -> Amp Return (Power amp In) – (1/4 inch out = Line) Finally, I confirmed the same results using my Ibanez Roadstar guitar with the Variax disconnected. And just to test the Deville FX loop, disconnected the Helix and ran a guitar cable from Preamp out to Poweramp in - worked fine. Thanks again for your help. Unless there are other ideas out there, I think I may just abandon this approach. Steve

Thank rd2rk! I'm hoping I have a Helix setting set wrong. But if this is something I have to live with, I will definitely try your idea. Thanks! Steve

Hi folks. I'm using the 4 Cable Method with a Fender Deville amp. The issue happens when I use my JTV 69 and when I connect a traditional guitar. The issue is: when I have the FX Loop 1 switch on (sending the signal to my Deville preamp), the volume out of the Deville is about 80% reduced compared to the normal volume. I'm testing with a preset that has no effects, 0dB output level, FX Loop 1 parameters Send and Return = 0 dB, mix 100%. Please see my setup and test results. 1) setup. I have tested and retested with reliable cables. Guitar -> Helix guitar/Variax In Helix Send 1 -> Amp Instrument In Amp Send (Pre-amp out) -> Helix Return 1 Helix ¼ inch Out -> Amp Return (Power amp In) 2) In global settings, I have 1/4 inch out, Send 1, and Return 1 set to Line Level. 3) I have tried Send/Return 2 but did not work either 4) If I disconnect the Preamp out and Power amp in cables (signal chain is Guitar -> Variax in -> Send 1 -> Amp instrument In), I get the correct (loud) response from the amp). The issue seems to be between my preamp out and the power amp In. However, with FX Loop 1 OFF, all my presets work great (Helix signal out through the power amp. Any ideas? Thanks!

Thanks Folks. Good advice. For what it's worth, re-loading the Preset did restore the Model snapshot assignments UNLESS the Preset was saved. Since I was adjusting output levels and saving them, the Model info was lost. I like the idea of using the Looper! Will give that a try. Thanks again.... Steve

CORRECTION: The title should be "Using USB INPUT FROM USB Takes Variax Model out of Snapshot Mode".

Sorry I didn't make this clear enough. I will try to better explain what I meant by "trying to normalize Output volume levels" but I really want to focus on what I believe is a flaw that occurs when you assign a USB port to the Input block. When I said, "everything was working correctly" I meant with input set to Multi, every Snapshot had the intended Variax model. Snapshot1 had {Spank-4}. Snapshot2 had {Lester-1}. Right clicking on Input Block/"Model (Preset)" in HX Edit showed the "Snapshots" assignment selected. You are correct - what changed is key. What changed is I temporarily switched the Input block to USB 7/8. Ignore this paragraph if it is confusing: I was trying to monitor the Cakewalk Input level meter to help me adjust Helix output levels. Trying to get all my Snapshots to about -10db. I send a recorded Cakewalk DI track output to Helix on USB7/8. Then output Helix USB 1/2 (with amp and effect processing) to another Cakewalk track and monitor the input level there. Is there a better way? Let's leave that for another post. In fact, there are already many on that subject. When I switch back to Multi Input, the Variax Model is no longer Snapshot controlled. Snapshot1 is now Lester-1. Snapshot2 is Lester-1. ALL snapshots are now Lester-1. No brackets. Right click on "Model (Preset)" and Model's assignment is now "None". You can duplicate easily with USB 3/4 and 5/6. Forget Cakewalk, in HX Edit switch to USB 7/8 for the Input block, then right away switch it back to Multi and see the Model's Snapshot brackets are gone. For what it's worth, all the other Snapshot assignment variables (Amp gain, reverb Mix...) seem to be preserved afterwards.

I am working with a JTV-59 and a Helix LT. I am using the latest firmware (3.71?). I have setup a Preset with different Snapshots using different Variax models. {Spank-4}, {Lester-1}, and {Accoustic-3}. These worked great until yesterday when I setup a kinda Ream configuration with Cakewalk to normalize output levels. In HX Edit, if I leave the Input block = Multi or Variax, everything is fine. When I set Input = USB 7/8 (or any other USB or other non-Variax input), the Variax drop down disappears from HX Edit. I get it. But when I return to Multi, the Variax Model is no longer in Snapshot mode and all Snapshots have the same Variax model (no more {}s). 1) Snapshot mode and settings for Variax model should be saved and restored after using USB Input. 2) just noticed Output block levels are also lost after returning from Input = USB. :-( 3) Apparently using Input = USB is an unreliable way to normalize output levels as it looks like model and output block levels are ignored. And lost.

Hi. I am visually "challenged" and colorblind to boot. I have a couple of questions. 1) There are a number of YouTube videos out there showing oversized parameter bars in HX Edit. I will attach an example, and another screen shot of the same effect block from my laptop. The difference is not screen resolution. In Ritchie C's video, the bar width is 3x the size of the word "Gain" (within the bar). In mine, the word Gain is equal to or larger than the bar and no longer fits inside it. If it was screen resolution, everything should be larger/smaller. Is there away to configure this view? Maybe it's a feature of an older version of HX Edit and no longer available? 2) I believe I need to submit this as an enhancement, but I struggle to read Amps, Preamps, Cabs, IRs in the HX Edit effects list as they appear to be dark red over a black background (no contrast). And the parameters as well. I would love to change to white or any other lighter shade. PS: I did notice the little Gain pic/icon is much larger in the Big Bars attachment, so modified my screen resolution to minimum available but could not replicate the size ratios in Big Bars. Thanks for any suggestions! Steve

Hi again. For posterity sake, I thought I would document the results. 1) adjusting the Variax Tone Control parameters DID work. I could adjust several parameters to go from Clean to Lead by turning the Tone knob. 2) However, switching from the Tone control Snapshot to another Snapshot brought the Lead parameters/sound with it (even though the boost devices were not even activated in the second Snapshot). I believe this is related to the Helix/Volume and Tone knob bug mentioned above by brue58ski. I gave up. I gave up my Volume pedal and used Exp-2 to replace the Tome knob. Works great. I can get a dirty boosted lead sound or a clean/bright sound - or anything in between. Thanks for the great advice! Steve

Thanks folks. I gave up on this and didn't see the great replies you've shared. Let me give them a try!

Whewwww. This solution did NOT work. While I can get max(clean) and min(dirty) to work, none of the in between knob settings are working. Any better ideas? Steve

:-) I guess I found a solution. In the Variax controller section, I assigned the Variax Tone Knob TO the Variax tone knob. Then set the Min Tone Knob to 10 and the Max Tone Knob to 10. Voila! If there is a more logical way to do this, I'd love to hear it. Thanks. Steve

Hi folks. I have created a Preset with the Line 6 Litigator Drive parameter assigned to my JTV-59 tone control knob. I have it set up clean when the knob is maxed and dirtier as the know is minimized (turned counter clockwise). The issue is the tone knob seems to still be adjusting the output tone. When I have the knob set to minimum, the output tone is indeed very dirty but also very bassy and dark. With tone knob set to max/10, the tone is bright and clean as expected. With the Tone knob set to 10, when I set the drive level to max/10 manually on the amp in HX Edit, the sound is bright. It must be the Tone control. Is there a parameter I need to set somewhere to turn off the Variax tone control when I am using it to control other things? Thanks for any advice you can share! Steve

Thanks for your responses. Too bad about the 5-switch option. I have confirmed that the issues is Preset related. Some of my homemade presets always work. Others never work. When it isn't working, I don't hear any changes in tone when I press the Tuning knob, so more evidence that it's not "just the light". Got me thinking maybe the guitar is "locked" in 1-3-5 mode. However, I just checked and while the Tuning switch press will not work correctly on these presets, while watching the Variax model in HX Edit, it DOES switch the Model - for instance from Spank4 to Spank5. Even though it doesn't sound like it and I don't get the light color change. It would be nice to figure out the root cause, but I have found a workaround. I found that all the "New Presets" (unused, empty ones) are OK. I recreated one of the broken presets and it works fine. I upgraded to Helix a few months ago, so I don't have too many broken ones to recreate. I hope the broken presets were corrupted because I created them by copying from a bad source preset. Hope so. Thank you both for your input!

Hi Folks. I have a JTV-59. When I want to switch the pickup switch from 1-3-5 pickups to 2-3-4, I push in the Tuning know as instructed in the manual. (Usually) the light under the Model knob turns blue. Lately I have encountered situations where the light is not blue no matter how many times I push in the tuning know. Other times it works fine. I am colorblind and not sure what to call the not-blue light, but there seems to be no light at all. Lately I have been working a lot on tones in HX Edit including changing models. Not sure if that is involved in the cause. I miss that darn light and it doesn't take long for me to forget which mode (2-3-4/1-3-5) I'm in. While I have your attention, is there a way to replace the 3-way switch with a 5-way? May be a complicated solution given the electronics but thought I would ask. Thanks! Steve JTV-59 Helix LT Floor Model All Firmware up to date