DarthHollis

Hello everyone.

I have created a stereo patch that I really like but I was wondering how everyone else achieves it.  I am only using one amp and cab at a time.

I use a simple pitch shift that just a few cents off  and a little bit of delay in it's own path on the right side - 100% wet and the left side is dry.  Stereo reverb is last but not heavy in the mix.

I have tried chorus and I don't like it.  I have tried just using the delay trick and that is OK.  

What unique methods have any of you used to create a stereo sound with only one amp and cab?  Is there something I haven't thought of?

Thanks in advance.

I have a few videos on my channel about this but they are with the POD HD500.  It's still the exact same method.  If you are doing everything right and it's still not working contact Fender/EVH.  I have spoke to other people that did have problems and they had to get the amp repaired.

Best of luck.

Home and live I use an EV ZLX 12P.  I also have two Harbinger Vari V212s.  The Harbingers, although they sound good and are cheap, are heavier, a little awkward to carry, and difficult to daisy chain.  The EVs are little louder (1000 watts compared to 600 watts) sound a little cleaner with less hiss, and are simple to daisy chain without having to adjust volumes.

I'm selling the Harbingers and getting another EV.

Do you have on the FX loop path #1 in the Helix on?  That's problem number one.

What most people don't understand is the that master volume on your amp controls the FX send level.  There is no level for the FX return.  This may not be all amps but most of the ones I have dealt with.  

Tip of the day:  I keep the master volumes for the two channels of my amp higher than I would probably ever need and then I use the Helix master volume as my overall volume.  When I use a preamp in the Helix and bypass the preamp on my amp (by turning off the FX loop #1 in Helix) I can set the preamp level to match the amp.  

You never know what will happen until you get there.  Schrodenger's Cat and what not.....

Sometimes I use 4CM with 5150 III and 2x12 cab and I also go direct, sometimes using a FRFR for just my Helix and another as a monitor, sometimes no FRFR for the Helix.  I have prepared to make all of it work.  The best thing you can do is be prepared.  I would not recommend buying something just for this gig, though.  Rent something you can keep for a week before and experiment.  You can copy your set list and switch to only using pre-amps and no cab sims or IRs into the FX return of a real amp.  That will probably be the easiest way for you get make it work if you are really worried.

I have showed up to gigs where they expected me to have an amp and I just had the Helix and an FRFR... used a direct box.  The sound guy did not blink an eye.  He said he preferred mic'ing a cab because he's old school but that it really didn't matter.  I did have to switch over my output from instrument to line level because he said the signal was not hot enough.  Point is, I had a FRFR as my amp and because I had the direct box and I was cool about it the soundman was cool too.

Know your equipment, be prepared, be cool and flexible.  If you can do those things you probably won't have any issues.

You shouldn't have any problems using the AUX input for a low impedance signal from a wireless unit. 

I did.  I have a guitar with active pickups and I don't think that translates though a wireless unit.  There was definitely less gain. I tried with two different guitars and both wireless units (G10 and G50).

I got the Live Wire ABY and it works great.  I can have a second guitar ready to go with no wait. 

Thank you for all the help and suggestions.

Thank you, guys.  The Gigrig looks great but way more features than I will ever use.  I'm just looking for a simple, small box that can switch between two input signals.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Livewire/ABY1-Guitar-Footswitch-1274423038167.gc

It's bigger than I want but will probably do the job.  This would be better:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/JHS-Pedals/Mini-A-B-Box-Footswitch-Pedal.gc

I've been looking at A/B boxes online and it seems they are all for going from one input to two outputs.  Is there one that has two inputs and one output?

The Aux in on the Helix loses a considerable amount of signal and it is not switchable so that is not an option.

I have two wireless units and I would like to have a second guitar ready to go.

Would a simple Y cable work?  I'm would like to be able to switch between the two if possible.

Thanks is advance.

I'm pretty sure its an Archon with an OwnHammer IR, probably something with EVH or greenback speakers.

I'm getting away from using an amp at all.  the Helix really does everything I need.

Here is mine.  All Helix direct to the PA.

Just to chime in with my philosophy on this.  I have one main patch that I use for about 95% of the songs we do.  I use two amps (Soldano for dirt and a Fender) and the same IR for both.  I have 8 snapshots - bottom row: Soldano - Clean - Clean w chorus - Clean w chorus and delay - top row: Soldano w Dig delay - Sol w Analog delay, and then copies of them with tube screamer and boost.

I also have the pedal page with 8 different pedal, octave, whammy, chorus, tube screamer on top row and phaser, flanger, dig delay 398ms, and analog delay 500ms.

Then I have specific patches for songs that are outside of what I can do with this patch.  So for Like a Stone which has a tremelo part that need to be tap tempo, a regular crunch sound, whammy with delay for the solo, and then a clean patch for after the solo.  I have a separate patch with 4 snapshots that covers all the tones for that song.  I also have snapshots on the top row that cover for Killing in the Name.  That's my Tom Morello patch.

Set lists change with every show and we do a lot of stuff on the fly so I have to be ready.  Also, if I need to change something in a patch I only have to change a total of about 12-16 patches.  Not 60 because I did every single song with an IR and now I want to change the IR.

I stick with using the same amps because of familiarity and ease of use.  I do have a Plexi patch I use sometimes if I want something different and also an ENGL patch for heavy stuff but I have found it to be a little too bass heavy to use with the band.

My advice is to try some different methods.  Practice with them at home just like you would be at a gig and find out what works best for you.

I have a G50 wireless and the Helix which I use in 4 cable method with a 5150 iii 50 watt amp and 30 feet of cable (90 feet total).  

In my normal usage I do not feel any perceived delay. 

When I am using the Helix to drop my tuning a half step there is a noticeable latency but not enough to make a difference, especially in a live setting.  When I go out into the audience or something the actual distance from the amp is much, much more noticeable than anything else.

My advice always is "if you have any concerns try it out for yourself."  If you need to find someone in your area with a Helix and a G50 or something you need to make the effort.

I'm selling my Mission Expression pedal on Reverb if anyone is interested.

It works amazing and is in excellent condition (sill has the plastic on the bottom).  I just realized that I only used it on two songs so I can deal without it.

http://rvrb.io/ep1-l6-k3s

Make sure when save the patch that you save it with the volume pedal toe down and that it says 100%.  The Helix actually remembers where it's supposed to be.  

For Whammy stuff, I always save at 0%, or heel down, so that I can turn it on with a switch and I don't have to start using it right away.

If it's just glitchy you may need to tighten the pedal or something so that it doesn't randomly move.

I still have my POD HD 500 "just in case."  i pulled it out a week ago just to check on something and it does sound really good.  I'm probably not going to sell it but I don't see myself ever using it unless the Helix crashes.  It's my only backup.

I LOVE the HELIX!  Here are the things I like on the Helix:

1. Functionality - colors, easier to see everything and create/edit patches on the fly. Much easier for my old eyes.  Also easier to incorporate other pedals, work with real amps, route the signals externally and internally.  This alone is pretty much worth the money to me.

2. The FX are better.  Delays, modulations and distortions are much better.  I use Helix with a 5153 50 watt and it sounds great.

3. Ability to add IRs.  i actually don't think the amps in the HD were bad but the cab simulation was not very good.  The cabs in the Helix are also not very good in my opinion.  Specifically they sound fizzy, bass heavy and just unrealistic.  I bought the OwnHammer IRs just on recommendations and I think they make a huge improvement.

4.  The amps are better.  I tried several of the Pre-amp models directly into the FX return of my 5153 and I have to say the SLO Lead is almost indistinguishable from my blue channel.  I still wish there were some other amps (Friedman, Bogner Ecstasy) but these work very well.

Things that could be improved/are not "better" than the POD HD?

1. Reverbs are about the same.  I think I've seen people say that they used the same algorithms as the HD

2. No Aux in for MP3.  Not a game changer but was a great feature of the HD

3. Expression pedal - just like the HD the sweep is too great and it does not feel like a Wah or a Whammy pedal.  On the HD I could callibrate the pedal and get it to feel better but that's not possible on the Helix.

Those are all very small things in the overall scheme of things but they could be game changers for some people.

OK.  Here is my fix.

Manually turn on the Wah with the "BYPASS" button (next to "ACTION").  This will not change the Exp pedal.

Verify that the Wah is working by using the Exp pedal.  If it is not working change the Controller assignment to the other Exp pedal (1 or 2).

The Helix remembers the location of the Exp pedal so make sure the pedal is at 100% (toe down) when you save the patch so it will be at that point when you hit your snapshot.

This should "fix" your issue. Let me know what concerns or issues you have and I will try to resolve with what is available.

I was able to make it work on my Helix.  You just won't be able to use the wah in the rest of the patch (although you could probably add another wah pedal and use it that way).

Did you figure it out?  If not I can explain how I got it to work.  It's very simple actually.

I don't like the sweep of the exp pedal in the Helix for a wah so I actually bought a wah pedal.  The sound of the wahs are great and it's nice to have the huge variety.

But to answer your other question, there is no "auto on" function for the wah in the Helix.  You have to activate it either with the toe switch or one of the other foot switches.

I sold EVERYTHING to buy the Helix but I did buy a Digitech Drop and I am buying a CryBaby Classic with the Fassel inductor.  

The pitch shifting on the Helix takes up a lot of DSP and is not meant to be polyphonic.  The Drop allows me to not have to bring extra guitars to a gig for the 5 songs we do that are down an extra half step and it sound VERY good.  

The expression pedal on the Helix is not usable for me except for volume.  The sweep is way too wide and getting from heel to toe takes too long for many of the whammy and wah uses.  I bought an expression pedal that I use for Whammy and I finally decided that I need a separate wah pedal too.  

On the POD HD500 I was able to put some dual lock under the heel of the expression pedal and then calibrate the pedal so that the heel was not as far down.  This gave it a shorter range of motion and worked great.  They eliminated this calibration in the Helix.  While I understand their reasoning (because so many people asked about how to calibrate the pedal) it doesn't allow for customization.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDyV4mMNzKe/

Road Cases USA 32x16 case.  It was a great deal.  I kind of wish I got the luggage casters to make it easier to transport  With everything in it the weight is about 50lbs.  I added rubber feat on the bottom and took out the carpet.  Using 3M Dual Lock to hold down everything.

Thought it might be something simple. I take it when it's set to 'X' the signal 1 path will still go through signal 2?

Yes, As long as the top path is set to "Output path 2A".  Good luck!

Hope this works, picture attached of an affected patch.  I think the Helix is up to date and the mix is set to 100% on the whammy pedal.

Your bottom input needs to be set to "X None".  Right now you have a second guitar signal going into that input and that is causing the other "dry" signal to be heard.

Script Mod Phase

Rate 1.5

Mix: 50%

Level: +1.0dB

Gray Flanger

Rate: 3.0

Width: 4.0

Manual: 4.0

Regen: 10.0

Mix: 50%

Level: 0.0dB

Both in front of the amp.

I have struggled with this too.

 

Any chance @inkowathingortwo could post up some settings?

 

Thanks

Do you mean me?