theElevators

let me try one more time:

This is a great way to achieve the "global gain" functionality that Helix sadly lacks. I have 2 Brian May guitars: one a close replica, the other one a production tribute. The production one needs a 3db boost to match what the other one sounds like. One cool thing about this wireless system is that it remembers the boost setting per wireless pack. So you can have 2 wireless transmitters and one of them can be set to be hotter than the other one.

Have a preset for every song. Even if you only use one sound throughout the song, still create a new preset. I use snapshots to change all my sounds in the preset. Eg: verse, chorus, solo. Some people like the pedalboard approach or a combination of both Then before each service, arrange the presets in the desired order. It’s very easy to do with HX Edit. Also you can do it on the Helix: there is a knob that can move the selected preset into a desired place.

The steps I listed cover that scenario: the thickening consistent delay. And the improvised tap tempo delay.

Yes, but just be advised that there may be popping sounds as a result of this.

I don't understand what the issue is. 1. Use this formula: https://tuneform.com/tools/time-tempo-bpm-to-milliseconds-ms 2. Obtain the desired BPM value for your note. Save that BPM value in snapshot A. For example: you want 500 ms for every quarter note. So you save the tap tempo value of 120 BPM in snapshot A, and select that it's a quarter note. It's really easy to do in HX Edit: simply type in the desired BPM value, rather than tapping it in, which is not 100% accurate. Now......Every time you select/re-select that snapshot, it'll be at that value. Messed up the tap tempo? - reload the snapshot. 3. Use the Tap tempo button to change the BPM as you please during your gig. Drummer decided to speed up? -tap the Tap tempo button until your new BPM is correct. 4. If you want to go back to your pre-saved BPMs, re-load snapshot A. This is the way I have my Helix set up: I don't have global Tap tempo value. The tap tempo is as I saved it in each snapshot. To change this behavior, touch (don't press) the Tap tempo button and you will see a menu, you can change the setting with the knobs under the screen. I play in a band that plays to a click, so all our tempos are predetermined. But if I ever needed to modify my delay time setting, I can tap in the new tempo. And I can re-load my snapshot in question to go back to the saved tempo. I use the preset-per-song approach: there are some presets where the delay timing changes, so I have the tempo pre-saved, no need to use the Tap tempo button for me at the gig personally.

It depends where you placed the volume pedal. If it's at the very end of the chain, turning it down should completely mute your sound. If you put the volume pedal somewhere, and also have a parallel path, then that path will let some of the signal through.

You can simply max out the big volume knob, and put a stereo volume pedal in your chain at the very end. That way you can change how loud you are. I think this is what you need. You can set the exp pedal to persist globally from one preset to another, as opposed to it being set to a pre-saved value in each preset (under settings / expression pedals -> set the EXP control to Global) That's what I would do. If I were playing an acoustic show for example and want to be able to quickly turn myself down, I'd use the volume pedal at the end of everything.

If you are talking about the 6 knobs under the screen--those cannot be assigned to each adjust a different thing on various blocks, unfortunately. These knobs control parameters of the block that is highlighted in your preset. You can save your preset with the cursor on a specific block, for example your delay pedal. That way, when you enter that preset, the 6 knobs can be used to adjust your block of choice right away, without having to scroll to it. You can then quickly reach down and change whatever settings you need. If you want to change the settings on another block, you need to use the joystick and put the cursor on something else you want to adjust. Helix has something "better", arguably. Not something that I would ever ever ever use live, but there's this: you can adjust all the parameters of anything you want in your chain with your feet. You hold down the "mode" button and then can select a block, and parameters, and adjust the parameter value with the expression pedal. You can basically make changes to your sounds while continuing to play your guitar. I mean, how cool is that?

In my honest opinion, the string gauge does not make enough sonic difference to justify changing it.... Everything makes a difference. I've seen that Rhett / Beato video where they put 8ths on their guitars where they loved how it sounded. For myself: I want the strings to be slinky enough, and taught enough. Let me explain: I want to comfortably be able to do a bend of a tone and a half when I want, and not rip my fingers in the process. I also want to be able to strum chords without having to be cautions that the strings do not go out of tune ( a la Helter Skelter ). I play a short-scale guitar which has exactly 24" long and I use 9-42 on it. I use the same strings on my 'Strat. On the Les Paul I have 10-46, because that's what it was initially set up with. I like 9's, but 8ths for me would be too slinky, especially on the 24" neck. 10's for me are more difficult to bend because I'm not used to it, but I could also get used to it. What makes a world of difference, however is gunky old strings vs. brand-new strings. You always notice how much brighter your guitar sounds right after you change your strings. So in short: use the gauge that works for your playing and allows you to effortlessly play solos/rhythm as you please.

Just curious -- could it be the interface that is the issue? Try an exaggerated left/right ping-pong slow delay and check left and right channels separately in an amp/FRFR. If you only have the user interface as your amplification source, try connecting both sides separately. Or pan the delay hard-left or hard-right so that you could be 100% sure that left and right sides are coming through. The reason I'm saying this is that in Logic, for example, you need to enable your track to be in stereo, otherwise it's in mono. Just for reference, here's how to change your track to stereo in Logic:

I've experienced all sorts of popping noises when certain blocks are enabled/disabled when switching snapshots. First of all, ensure it's in fact the amp block, not something else. For example, I had issues where acoustic sim would pop really loudly. If you checked and the issue is actually the amp blocks, and if you must use 2 different amps, use the A/B switching. Place one amp on path "a", the other on path "b" and switch between them (they'll be on all the time, non bypassed).

"sit better in the mix" is a sort-of a broad statement. What are some of characteristics of a good sound mix, when it comes to your guitar sound? 1. Guitar does not interfere with other instruments, and vocals 2. solos are nice and loud 3. rhythm sound complements the rest of the band, without sticking out, and all notes are heard as needed. 4. no crazy out of control delays that overpower the rest of the band, and there's enough 3d effects so it sounds like a CD. 1. You don't want to have too much bass in your guitar, so I always resort to cutting the extreme lows on the amp block. I like the Jimmy Page sound approach -- the sound is pretty mid-range-ey. In other words, I don't ever want to have the "and justice for all" guitar sound. The 1990 "metal zone" sound only works in the bedroom when you jam by yourself, and live is too boomy. There are certain frequency spectrum ranges that are known to be occupied by instruments. For example, the "2k" range is typically reserved for the vocals. So IMO, a nice mid-range is what guitars should go for. When you have multiple guitars, they need to be eq'ed differently, one more honky, the other one more bright and together they work nicely. Also stereo panning helps separate several instruments. 2. For my solos, I add an EQ block before the amp block where I radically boost 2k 10db. This is the vocal range that is occupied by the vocals normally, but when you play a solo, this frequency range makes your solos pop out. 3. Don't have too much dirt in your sound. Once again, the sound that works in your bedroom may not always translate to the live situation. 4. Delays/reverb also needs to be adjusted to taste. After playing several shows, soon after I got the Helix, I went home and listened to the recordings of the live performances and made several adjustments. In one case, the stereo delay was pretty much overpowering everything at home, but on stage was not nearly as loud as I wanted it to be, so I turned it up. In another instance, there's this one tricky intro to one of the songs that is very very recognizable and needs a certain sound--I always struggled with it live until I bumped up the delay some more and then it became easier to play and sat so much better in the mix. Tweaking your sound takes a long time. Each piece of equipment has so many different parameters. If you used to have good results with your analog gear, and then are struggling with the modeler, maybe it's time to take the "modular" approach to your sound -- try to replace one piece of gear at a time. That's actually what I did in the beginning -- I connected the pedalboard to the Helix and then one-by-one replaced all my pedals doing A/B comparisons. At first I played through my physical tube amp, and got rid of my pedalboard, when I found all the effects on the Helix. Finally, I got rid of the amp too, also doing A/B comparisons: with the tube amp / with the Helix emulation. Finally, I took the Helix to the rehearsal and made tweaks as I saw fit. Eventually, the Helix is my only piece of equipment that goes to the FOH and to my monitor mix. The sound guy still needs to make volume adjustments, he says, but the consistency is a lot better than with the old pedalboard I used to use. Because of the pandemic, I didn't have time to finish setting the loudness of all my presets/snapshots, but when I have time, we will go to a big space and run through our set and make those final tweaks. That is pretty much impossible to do unless you play on a big club stage. Those issues can never be addressed at home or even during the band rehearsals.

Was messing around with the Helix yesterday and came up with this, if anybody is interested in getting the signature delay sound...

Add a stereo volume pedal at the end of your chain, boom! You can un-assign the expression pedal from it. Put the cursor on it and save your preset. When you enter that preset, the block will be highlighted and the knobs will allow you to adjust the parameters as you please: position % and curve. So if things are too loud, reach down and turn down the percentage with the knob.

My advice is to set up a basic preset with all your necessary sounds.... then copy/paste that preset and tweak the copies. You should not use different amps/effects in each of your presets, because that is asking for trouble, as there will be volume/tone discrepancies.... So Take the template, build your own preset from it, copy that preset and tweak it in all your next presets. It'd be faster than recreating your preset from scratch each time.

I've had my HX Edit crash a few times... usually when the preset was very very heavy in terms of DSP usage. It also caused some of my bypassed/un-bypassed parameters to switch around after it crashed. My guess is that it's your preset. Maybe try re-saving your preset from the Helix itself first, and then connect it to your computers.

Time to introduce the concept of an open source guitar processor box, where you can run a VM with Helix, Kemper, Fractal, Zoom, whatever firmware... Wouldn't that be wild?

Here's another trick I came up with for auto-engaged effects -- it's a visual cue that I use. Take a look:

So usually a Fender combo amp has this little piece of 1/4 inch cable that is coming from the speaker itself. This little cable is plugged into the “speaker” jack in the back of the amp. Simply unplug that little speaker cable and plug it into the Baby Bomb’s out jack. All combo amps have an ability to use an external speaker cabinet if you want…so you can plug an external amp into it. Just obviously do not turn on the amp, and unplug any pedal switches from the amp prior. And so you’ll have a simple speaker cabinet with a short cable coming out the back of it that you can power with a micro amp…

I started using Mooer Baby Bomb amplifier and have been extremely happy. It's tiny and can fit into the top pocket of your Helix bag. I get a very consistent sound each time. Let me explain what I have been using: I take the 1/4 inch out of the Helix and connect it to the Mooer Baby Bomb. Then I connect the Baby Bomb to the speaker cable of the amp. I have been using Fender Deluxe and Fender Twin speakers and it sounds amazing: in other words the actual Fender Twin is not connected to the outlet and is just used as a glorified speaker cab. I don't even have to adjust my global EQ, my sound is that consistent... unless I use something like a 4x12, then the sound is too boomy without taking off the lows This in my experience is still a lot more consistent than going into an effects loop of an amp. A lot of amps don't have an effects loop to begin with. And the amps' effects loop may be way too muddy/distorted for what I do. With the Baby Bomb, it just sounds and feels like you are playing out of a conventional guitar amp and it's plenty loud at 8:30 with the bright setting. Anyway, this is what I recommend, and what works for me -- it's small and consistent and this tiny little box can be deafening on stage if you so desire. https://www.amazon.com/MOOER-Baby-Bomb-Micro-Power/dp/B07C1JJ6CH

I think what you are describing is you are in fact on crack or something equally heavy... What you describe, needing to "calibrate" the expression pedal is the fact that your expression pedal's position is saved inside each preset. This is the behavior that I personally use. I go into my preset, and the expression pedal is saved at 99% regardless of the actual position of the pedal. Then as I start rocking the pedal, it starts following the actual physical position of the expression pedal. Why do I personally want that? Because sometimes I don't have the time to move the expression pedal up when I switch from a previous song... and always want my preset to start out with a specific wah-position. That way I have to do less work, as the ideal initial wah setting is already pre-dialed in. You know, sometimes if you put the wah in the heel position, it loses volume and tone -- I don't want to have to remember to pre-adjust the exp pedal prior to switching my sounds. Plus I always put the pedal in the down position when I'm done using it in a specific preset.... for consistency. Regardless.... Check Global Settings / EXP pedal. If you have Expression pedal 1/ 2 "per preset" or "per snapshot", then there's your answer right there. Until you move the pedal, regardless of the actual physical position, the pedal will at the "saved" percentage amount.

Heya. Was doing a sound check yesterday and the issue came back! At least I now have my #0 preset “sound check” that tests left/right delay so I know: if I don’t hear the sound I want, I re/plug my monitor mix cable. The bug…It comes and goes. Doing a reset solves it for some time, but without doing anything (no change to any settings)….it comes back. Support can’t replicate it because it only comes up after some time, not when you restore your backup right away / when you do a reset. ughhh

In 2040