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Thank you, rd2rk! I'm looking into this. With my Helix floor I can just play guitar without involving my computer which is very easy. If I get an audio interface, I need it to get one with two (stereo) XLR outputs for my two studio monitors.

If I have Helix Native, can I plug my guitar into a sound card and plug my guitar into the sound card and output from the sound card to my studio monitors? I have a Helix floor and use my desktop computer to edit. If I understand this thread correctly, I could get a sound card and sell my Helix Floor. Is that correct? I only play at home.

Using the Looper is great for my purposes. I can tweak all the settings while the looper is playing back the music. However, I have a question. When I play it sounds much better than the looper playing back. Why is that? Am I probably as bad as the recording? The live sound is more full and good whereas in the recording it seems my errors are much more conspicuous. By the way, the output is stereo through two good powered studio monitors. Maybe, when I am playing, I am too busy to hear the flaws.

I have a Helix Floor and I figured out right away that the 6 Switch Looper is best and maybe the easiest to use.

That worked! I've become so accustomed to getting tips and tutorials from youtube and other posts, I forgot about the manual. It explained the looper well and I got it working. Thanks for the help!

That makes perfect sense. Before replying about the looper method, I thought I should try it. Now for the embarrassing part. I can't figure out how to get the looper to start or stop recording. According to my looking into this, I should assign the looper to a stomp switch but that isn't working. Maybe I switched that ability off in Global Settings. I looked in Global Settings and haven't found a way to fix it. Any ideas?

That sounds easy. But, if with VST I can't record and then use Native to change amps, how would it be different than just using Helix Edit?

Using Native to switch amps and other effects to fine tune a tone sounds quick and easy way to compare tones. However, is learning to use a DAW worth the trouble just to use Native? Based on what I've read, all DAWs are difficult and time consuming to learn. I've used Audacity a little and it was a PITA and never sounded good. I'm just a living room player but I do use Helix Edit on my PC.

I knew, or at least suspected, it is a great value. To tell you the truth, I think $20 isn't much money to most Helix owners. I was only concerned that I might be overwhelmed by all of the presets and the 320 page book because of my relative inexperience. I was afraid I'd spend hours being overwhelmed by all of it before I realized my time would be better spent learning more Helix or effects basics. Anyway, I downloaded the Multi-Pass Delay file above and the explanation was excellent. Sold. Thank you for the explanation. It sounds like I should start by using presets, maybe a couple of them per day, and use the book as more of a reference book.

How would you define Intermediate? I'm not sure I'm there yet. The six presets I made and use are fairly simple and each one is for a different type of music, acoustic, jazz, rock, etc., but I have stereo output to two studio monitors. I've had my Helix for 3 years and my tone adjustments have steadily improved my tone as my knowledge and ears improve. I'm fairly new to electric guitars and I have no experience with the myriad of pedals and amps except what I've learned from using a helix and reading about effects and amps.

By computer monitors we mean the visual display or LCD connected to the computer, not the speakers connected to anything.

My trackball is a Logitech M570 and I believe it is a quality trackball. I used it for several months before switching back to a mouse. The mouse is so much faster for me. I can move a mouse with my arm and hand much faster than I can spin a trackball with my thumb and with a mouse I can get it precisely on target faster too. An advantage of a trackball is they need less real estate but a mouse needs less than a square foot. That isn't a problem. A trackball is ergonomically better regarding carpel tunnel but I don't use a mouse enough for that to be a concern. Trackballs are all thumb so maybe my thumb doesn't have trackball DNA.

I tried a track ball and mice are faster and easier for me. I just realized that my Helix is close enough to my desktop computer to connect it to a separate monitor, keyboard and mouse for editing Helix presets even though it is several feet away. My gaming monitor and keyboard will still be connected to the computer too. My computer can work with 3 monitors at the same time. When I don't want to edit Helix resets I will just turn off the Helix monitor. Multiple mice and keyboards can be connected to a computer simultaneously so that will be ok too.

I connected my Microsoft Surface tablet to the Helix to try a touchscreen interface and it sucked. I think a 20" or 22" 1080p monitor will work well.

Thanks for the input! Your setup is very impressive. You said you used an old gaming notebook. My notebook that died is a ten year old Alienware M18X. Other than that, we are at opposite ends of the spectrum. I just play at home and prefer to use a computer to interface with my Helix. I should get Helix Native for fine tuning tones but I'm not into recording, (I don't even know how to.) so I haven't taken that step toward being able to use Native. I just want to know what monitor works well ergonomically for editing tones. My 18" notebook worked ok but I suspect a bigger screen would be better and the only disadvantage of a touchscreen is cost. But, if the controls are too small for a finger unless I use a huge screen, I shouldn't get a touchscreen.

Thanks for the suggestions, Waymda. I'm considering getting a computer just for the Helix for a few reasons: *I play guitar in an area that is away from my desk where I have a big desktop computer that I use for video games and photo editing. *Since my 18" notebook screen seemed too small, I think the next step up is a desktop monitor. *I would buy another desktop computer because they are cheaper than notebooks and easier to service/repair/upgrade. *A low performance computer would due for me because I don't record. It would just be for communicating with the Helix.

I'm wondering what I should get for a computer monitor for tweaking my Helix. I was using an old 18" notebook but it died and its screen seemed a little too little. Also, do you use a touch screen or mouse or both? A touchscreen would be convenient but the details displayed are small so maybe a mouse or a touch pen would be better. I'll probably buy or build a small computer just for this. Thanks!

Google "Helix Boot Failure, Entered Update Mode!"

I've tried to use the Acoustic Sim but it always sounds like fret buzz to me. Instead, I use a good IR, no amp or cab and I use a little of the 12 string guitar sim. I also add a little chorus and reverb. It doesn't sound real acoustic but it sounds good which is more important to me.

It looks like Schecter has a new version of this model. Now they call it the PT SLS Elite. The Controls are a little different. The headstock is 6 inline vs 3x2. There is forearm contour but you can't see it in this photo. The body is tele shaped whereas the earlier ones were strat shaped. Below is a 7 string version of the previous version of the guitar above.

That was really helpful. Thank you! The Schecter C1 SLS Elite is a great guitar for the money and it has just about everything I want in a guitar except a single coil in the middle. Middle pickups really annoyed me too until I lowered it enough to be out of the way. If the middle pickup has a ceramic magnet, it can be lowered a lot. Eventually I found I could raise it gradually and get used to it. A lot of the music I play is music I learned playing acoustic guitars and I find a middle pickup replicates that best but I also like flat (Schredder) fingerboards and fixed bridges. That combination is almost impossible to find so I might be ready to settle. The single coils split out of two HH and in parallel sound good enough. I never play anything that need humbucker tones that I can't get close enough to with the Helix. Schecter C1 SLS Elite Pro's Stainless frets Ebony fingerboard Thin neck Compound radius Carbon fiber and a seven ply neck = 9 ply neck = STIFF neck Compensated nut fixed bridge Fishman Fluence cold fusion super conducter pickups Beautiful guitar Great value Schecter C1 SLS Elite Con's No middle pickup No forearm contour Not headless Have to remember to unplug it. You can't alway get what you want, but you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need. Darrel Braun loves that Schecter. Darrell's review

Thanks, Doug! I searched for a Fischer pickups forum but didn't find one. Do you know of one? A. It is my understanding that Fishmans are especially good at no noise high gain tones but they are also excellent at low gain tones. Do you agree with that? I suspect the pickups have low impedance and the boost from the preamp does the heavy lifting when switched on. It is also my understanding that, to take advantage of this, the gain of the amp or Helix, should be set high. If I set the gain on the Helix moderately low, could I get some great clean tones and flip the switch to get edge of breakup distortion? The guitar has a Fishman Alnico in the neck, a Fishman Ceramic in the bridge, and a Fishman single width Ceramic in the middle. B. The guitar with Fishmans that I am interested in has no tone knob. I use the guitar tone control a lot, especially when I switch to a different pickup or switch from jazz to rock, for example. I can't imagine why this guitar doesn't have a control knob unless there isn't room in the cavity for it. What do you think? This is the guitar: Ibanez S Iron Label Axion It is real thin and I love the neck, hardtail, and that is has three pickups. I was on the verge of ordering a custom Kiesel when I discovered this guitar. Thanks again, Doug T

Thanks for your reply. I didn't know that the noise gate affects dynamics. I will check to see if my noise gate is set high enough to make much of a difference in dynamics. I haven't noticed it yet. The most distortion I use is classic rock style, not metal. Actually, noise isn't a problem for me. I'm just a sofa player in a relatively noise free newish house. I have guitars with humbuckers but I prefer the sound of single coils with the noise gate adjusted to taste. I'm no chicken picker but, for some of my music I like to get a tone that is similar to that of acoustic guitars and I like to use a single coil for that especially but everything sounds better through a single coil to me. Maybe that is because of old ears and hearing loss. Here is my real problem. I'm having difficulty finding a good SSS hardtail guitar with a flatter radius. Most SSS guitars have trems and most shredder neck guitars have trems. One exception to this is the Ibanez S671ALB but it has Fishman active pickups. A lot of people really like Fishmans so I thought I should consider them even though I wouldn't take advantage of their full benefits. I could replace the pups if I don't like them. The guitar doesn't have a tone pot. That could force me to use the Helix for that and have presets with the treble adjusted for each song or each pickup. That could be more efficient than finding the right tone knob setting everytime I play the song again. My Helix sits next to me at finger level so it is easy enough to use its tone knobs.

I'm considering buying a guitar that has Fishman Fluence pickups. Are Fishmans overkill since the Helix has good 60 hurtz hum supression? Another feature of the Fishmans is the gain can be increased by the push of a button but the same can be done with a Helix. While we are on the subject of hum, does anyone even need humbuckers if they have a Helix? Thanks

Thanks for the input. I replaced some 14k ohm ceramic humbuckers with some cheap 7K ohm AL2 single coil humbucker size pickups and it made a dramatic improvement but that is a pretty extreme example. Now it sounds like my other five guitars that all have different pickups but sound similar through my Helix effects. The humbuckers might have been better at heavy metal but the single coils were much better at everything I play. However, the biggest improvement in my tone has come from taking advantage of Helix options and playing in stereo. At this point, the most important thing about a guitar to me is having a neck I like and pickups that aren't too hot. I might try the B+C option if I get real board but I doubt if it will improve anything. Evidence of that is my google searches haven't found any discussions about it.