hallissyc

Considering selling my Mesa Boogie Mark V and going to an HX Stomp into studio monitors. I’m a bedroom musician and the Boogie, while nice, is entirely too much amp for my needs. 
 

Does anyone else just use the HX Stomp or am I going to regret it and need the Floor it the LT? I’m a simple guy. Usually Jerry Garcia/Santana tones.

7 minutes ago, MusicLaw said:

The HX Stomp is awesome! Also know that Line 6 just released the HX Stomp XL, which is slightly larger and has a few more touch capacitive footswitches. The DSP engine is identical. The HX Stomp XL should be a consideration, regardless of what you will be using to listen to the audio signal. What will you be using to listen to the output?

I plan on using headphone for the time being. The entire time I had my Floor and Powercab, I used my Powercab probably 10 times and everything else was just through headphones.

Hello all, 

So I am a 35 year old dad for starters. I live in suburbia. I play guitar (sometimes) when my wife is watching TV or when I am supposed to be listening to my Masters Degree professor talk. 

I had a Blues Junior for a while but it was just too loud, and I absolutely despised the pedal market and what it did to me (I was absolutely addicted to pedals and gear). So I sold the Blues Junior and bought a used Helix Floor and Powercab 112+. It was nice. Too nice. Too much capability for me. I also didn't like the footprint. Entirely too large for my space. So I sold it (recently) and bought a Boss Katana 100W 112. It's nice, but I feel like I took a HUGE step back in audio quality vs the Helix. In fact, I know I did. I was trying to be fiscally responsible. The Katana is about as responsible and sensible as you can get. But...it doesn't sound as good. It just doesn't. So now I am thinking, maybe I return the Katana and pick up an HX Stomp. I think it's absolutely perfect for me. Small footprint. Headphone capability, etc. 

Help me. Talk sense in me. What do you think? I am a strictly bedroom player, FYI, so playing out is not a huge deal for me. Also, I have a $300 credit at Sweetwater, so I can essentially get the Stomp for $300 of my own money. Or, I can keep the Katana for free. What do you all think?

Ok - this may be a super simple answer, but was wondering if (1) anyone is using a beat buddy with their helix and (2) how to connect the beat buddy to the helix. 

I am playing into my helix, xlr out into my Powercab 112+. So I gather I need to place the beat buddy into the send/return blocks, but I don't know where to even begin with this process. 

Can anyone help?

I really like the drum/bass capability of the Band Trio+. Anyone like the BeatBuddy? Can probably get one used for $200ish.

13 hours ago, knoxdaz10 said:

get a boss rc10r

8 hours ago, MusicLaw said:

Or, a BOSS RC-5.

I was (personally) thinking a Digitech Band Trio+.

Ok, I have a Helix and Powercab 112 Plus. Any suggestions for a $200 spending spree?

33 minutes ago, rd2rk said:

The original POD came out in, what, 1995?

I have a friend who bought one of the first. He uses it into an old Spyder amp he paid $75 for.

For the kind of music he plays - hard rock/punk/metal - it sounds great.

25 years later.

 

What guarantee do you have that you'll still be ALIVE in 25 years?

There are very few companies in the world still making tubes. They're horrible for the environment, and will likely cost a lot more in 25 years.

 

There's no guarantees in life. Play what sounds good to you NOW, and worry about the future when it gets here! 

That's definitely an interesting angle with regard to the environment - I never thought about it in those terms. 

1 minute ago, cruisinon2 said:

 

Let me save you the suspense... you can't. Technology evolves at a ridiculous pace today... couple that with the fact that we have a disposable economy we're, and the planned obsolescence of anything more complicated than a Pet Rock is inevitable. Helix will not be your last piece of gear... that much is a virtual certainty.

This is a good point - I guess I just thought that a tube amp was more or less rock solid in that it doesn't need firmware updates and will last as long as you maintain it; which is different than the Helix which requires Line 6 to continue their support of the product. 

I agree, though - I think I just need to understand that this product is what I am using right now, and it doesn't need to be my forever solution. 

23 minutes ago, Wondo100 said:

Hi hallissyc,

 

Welcome to the forum. I have played guitar since age 14, so I get where you are coming from. I am 55 now though. I had played in many bands over the years and cut back significantly when my career was taking up more time and helping my bass player load his gear in his truck at 2am after a gig was getting old. 

 

I am asking kind of the same questions. I have two Hughes and Kettner Grandmeisters to run stereo. Each go in to their respective 2x12 cabinets with V30s. This was kind of a downsize since I previously had a Hughes & Kettner Triamp with a 4x12 cabinet and it was just too heavy and too loud for my needs. I had a small rack of effects with that amp set up and sold all of it for the Helix. Now, I am getting some pretty good tones with the Helix, but running into the two Grandmeisters is bringing up the same issues of all of this extra gear that I really do not need. So, I find myself just running into my studio monitors from the Helix these days and love the tone I get with the IRs in the Helix. The Grandmeisters are great and have true tube tone, but I just spent some money re-tubing one of them and it reminds me of the fickleness of tube amps and with the Helix, I can have a pedal on the floor and two cables running to my studio set up. I am also considering selling one Grandmeister and putting the other in storage and just using the Helix with studio monitors but am thinking of getting two PC+ 112s to run in stereo. 

Not sure what others think about this. I started a post about this earlier today and hoping to hear some ideas. 

 

To answer your question. I do not think this technology is going anywhere. The only thing I see happening in the future is that the Helix might get a hardware upgrade with more DSP power and that would mean people selling off their current Helix and going with a new one, but most would stay with the Helix since they are familiar with it. I would think the Power Cabs would stay the same and would only get software upgrades and should be around for a while. 

 

I have been around this scene for a long time and I have been a tube snob for years, having gotten really frustrated with the POD XT Live and the Vetta, but when I tried the Helix, I realized we were in to new territory. Now a lot of people that I know that were true tone purists are playing Kemper or Helix and some are eagerly awaiting the Quad Cortex by Neural DSP. That will have four DSP engines compared to Helix's two. A much smaller footprint than the Helix. Some great effects, good models and the ability to do amp profiling. But, does not have the routing power of the Helix yet and is limited in a lot of areas that Helix still rules on. Plus, all of the companies that are moving in this direction have used Line 6 as the template because they were the first, so no... this stuff is not going away. I will stick around because the future looks really bright for some amazing things. Remember, just because Helix has a lot of things it can do does not mean you need to use it all. A swiss army knife is usually good for the knife, but the screwdrivers and can opener do come in handy now and then. 

Thanks for the note - I appreciate your experience and sentiment. I think you are spot on - the convenience of the digital gear far outweighs the benefits associated with the analog counterparts. 

As to your post - I will make my comments over there, but I have been generally happy with the PowerCab 112 Plus that I have. No complaints, but my threshold for tone is low. I am over here playing scales and beginner licks on ~$5000 worth of gear, haha. 

5 minutes ago, phil_m said:

You most like won’t need to buy anything new, but you probably would want to... Needs generally have little to do with it.

Ok - yea, I get it. You could hold onto old products for a while after they are superseded but I wouldn't run into the same "problem" with a tube amp and pedals. Now, there are certainly upkeep costs associated with tubes, so there is that. I am just trying to protect my purchase the best that I can. 

4 minutes ago, j_hotch said:

For what it's worth, I packed up my tube amp and sold off my pedal collection after having the Helix LT for 3 months. In my experience, its a Swiss Army Knife which allows for so much tweaking and customization that I can't imagine ever getting to the bottom of it. Each major update has improved it, too. Every time my G.A.S. rears up, a hour spent with Helix tamps it down again. If I long for the simplicity of an amp and a tube screamer, I whip up a quick patch with only those blocks and I'm off and running. I don't miss anything about my amp/pedalboard setup, frankly.  Good luck!

Good perspective - and don't get me wrong, I am not saying that the Helix isn't good. In fact, it's great. I am just worried that I will need to buy Helix2 in a few years, and my current rig was expensive hah. 

I am a recent Helix owner, and need some help. I am a bedroom hobbyist; no more, no less. I don't play out and I don't play in a band. I just want to play good for myself. I like to figure out licks and songs, and just have an outlet for my life. 

I played guitar as a kid from 13-23 and gave it up the last 10 years or so when we had our kids. I sold everything to fund their childhood, hah. 

I recently acquired a few items to get back into it; a Fender Blues Junior, a few pedals and a Music Man Cutlass HSS. I briefly dabbled in the pedal game, but quickly realized that it (1) gets out of control quickly and (2) there are just too many options out there. I started to think that a multi-effects unit was my better option in terms of cost and convenience. So I sold my Blues Junior and all pedals and picked up a used Helix Floor and Powercab 112 Plus locally on CL ($1200 for all). I have enjoyed it the last month or so, but am starting to get spooked by the fact that this unit will eventually go the way of the antiquated units that Line 6 now has in their lineup, where a tube amp wouldn't have that issue. 

So my question is, what do you all think about my current rig for my situation? Do I hold the Helix/Powercab or sell/trade back in to the tube/pedal world?

What's ya'll's reasoning for sticking around?

I just signed up as well!

On 9/12/2020 at 7:10 PM, MusicLaw said:

So long as you don't need or want HX Stomp's numerous amps and cabs, HX FX's six footswitches win out over the Stomp. 

I recently picked up a Line 6 M5 after seeing it on so many rig rundowns and I love it, but I feel like it is slightly limiting (one 1 effect at a time, no looper, etc.) I knew this going in, but figured I'd be able to get past it but I have found myself going down the HX Stomp/HX Effects rabbit hole. I have a Fender Blues Junior amp, so the HX Effects would be the natural next step up from the M5/M9/M13. The Stomp would give me headphone capability, though, which is nice. I am a bedroom noodler, so this doesn't necessarily have to be super rugged. 

What do you guys think? How do you like the Stomp over the HX Effects or vice versa? I am leaning towards the HX Effects because of my existing amp and the number of foot switches over the Stomp, but maybe the 2x foot switches on the Stomp isn't that limiting?

6 hours ago, malhavok said:

POD Go and HX Stomp both have amp models in them. HX Effects has no amp models. HX Stomp has all the effects that HX Effects has. POD Go has almost all the effects that HX Effects has. POD Go and HX Stomp have all the same amps. HX Effects can do up to nine of any of its effects. HX Stomp can do up to six. POD Go can do up to four, but you always also have a wah, volume pedal, EQ, amp and cab in addition to those four (and all can be turned off). Any of those three can be a great option for a bedroom player. It's hard to say which is best for you without knowing more. Happy to answer more questions.

The capabilities of all of these units are great - exactly what I am looking for. My concern is if they will work correctly into my Blues Junior (1-channel amp) with no effects loop. I am getting mixed reactions to say the least (I am asking the same question on Reddit). I understand that the amp sims/cabs are not going to work as well as they would on an FRFR speaker, but will these units work with my specific amp. A lot of people say get the HX Effects if you are already happy with your amp, and that's great, but will it work on an amp with only 1 input.

The chain would be guitar -> HX (Stomp/Effects/Pod Go) -> Fender Blues Junior. No 4-cable method. Strait into the amp. 

Will this work?

This is probably completely hashed out at this point, but I am going to ask anyways for 100% clarification. I recently started back playing again after a 10 year hiatus. I started back with an EBMM Cutlass and a Fender Blues Junior. I started buying analog pedals and quickly realized how out of hand it can get, so I started to think a multi-fx unit is probably the way to go, at least until I figure out what kind of effects I like to use. The Pod Go caught my eye due to the price, although I do like the HX Stomp as well. 

The Fender Blues Junior does not have an effects loop, so the 4-cable method would not work. I would be going directly into the front of the amp. I am a bedroom guy - is the Pod Go a good option for me? Should I be looking at HX Effects vice the Pod Go? What about the Stomp? I just need a little bit of steerage - thank you!