datacommando

Correct - it does need the green lights on from a charged up battery. Darn, I forgot about that one! Doh!

roscoe5, Yep, what Charlie_Watt said above is correct. You will need the USB interface to connect to Workbench HD - that's what is required to do the FW updates etc. Power and control Variax through VDI only - no problem. Note: you also need to have a 1/4" jack connected to the Variax along with the VDI when hooking up to Workbench - otherwise WB doesn't see the connection. Strange but true! Let's all hope that Variax/Workbench integration is fixed in the next Helix FW Update. LATE EDIT: Get them to lower the price a little more and buy a charger from Line 6 store @ $49:99, don't know about the USB gizmo!

Point made? No - I don't think so! This is the real world. Simplicity. Less clutter, less to go wrong? Jeez, there are already people on here complaining that the Helix does not have enough foot switches to cope with their tap dancing demands. Even "Snapshots" are insufficient for some! Ye Gods, WTF were these guys using before? If you were to bring all this extra stuff on board, then what happens when there is an issue with the Helix DSP and it falls over, by not being able to handle the load? You could still use your external units within another rig. Flexibility - yes? All your eggs in one basket come to mind? Why should Line 6 provide clones of FX units that are sold for about 20 or 25% of the cost of the Helix and then pass them on to you - free, just because you bought the basic model. It's the bottomless coffeepot again! Zooey, You already said it! "Helix is unique and proprietary hardware running a unique and proprietary OS" It seems that there is whole bunch of folks in these Helix forums would love to see Eventide and Strymon added, but as noted above why would Line 6 give you this stuff free - come on, get a grip on reality guys! Do you have any idea of what that would involve? Hope that Santa has word with elves that work for Line 6 and your wishes all come true - you never know! Ask the Digital Igloo! Oh, yeah! Who really cares who else uses Helix? We use it and that's all that matters! Nuff said! I'm outta here. End of!

Double damn. An aloe infused Helix - that's what we are all waiting for - soften up those metal guys a treat! ;) Erm! I reckon this is wishful thinking. Why would Line 6 bother with third party involvement! Did no-one read the blurb about Helix when it was first released. You remember. The stuff about having all those in and out options to allow you to connect all your favourite pedals to the Helix without tying up the main unit. You want Strymon, Eventide, Electro Harmonix FX - simple - buy them and stick them in the Helix loops like many other user on this forum have already done.

Damn, I should have realised when I couldn't get a decent sound out of this Helix thing - it's a bottomless coffee pot! :)

Must have been a worldwide phenomenon - but I have noticed it happen previously - IIRC around the same time Monday 3rd Oct. It only seemed occur on the Forum section of the site, because if you check the site status with, http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com or http://www.isitdownrightnow.com it appears O.K. Other areas, Customtone, Support etc all were fine. Maybe someone doing maintenance on the Forum database could be the reason for it?

steevo1977, What an excellent observation and I've got to agree wholeheartedly. That's just the sort of comment that also should really be added to the "Just for fun: What do you think is coming in the next update?" dreamers thread on here. Why did anyone bother to buy the Helix in it's original form if they think it needs continual and endless fantasy updates, forever and for free? Ridiculous demands from people who can never be truly happy! Dream on!

Glad you enjoyed it - Bill is a real gem, and I've been a long time fan of his stuff. I first encountered him when his band played my old Art School, Christmas gig - way back in 1968. That was when he did all the Hendrix and Cream covers (perfectly). That clip above is from an event back in 2011 and if you check out some of the other, clearer UChoob clips from the same night you can make out that Bill was still using his old Kidney Bean POD2, it's on the desk just behind him where he keeps his EBow. He's been a long time advocate of Line 6, but then I found this quote: In August this year, when asked, by a visitor to Bill's own website forum, to give his current gear run down, he said, I'll try to answer your questions as best I can: Yes, I've been using the Pod 2, the Zoom 9050S and the Digitech valve FX live for some years now, though nowadays, in the studio, I'm using just the Pod 2 and the Fractal AxeFX, with an occasional use of the Pod HD 500. That's it, no amps or analogue pedals, just digital straight to desk. In a live situation I use the Pod 2, Zoom and Digitech units as separate units, switching between them with a three way foot switch. So the thing of a signal chain doesn't really apply. Each unit goes straight to pa and monitors. I don't combine them but use each unit independently of the others, depending on the sounds I need. I've programmed them with my own taste in sounds. I haven't had a chance to use the AxeFX in a live situation yet...it tends to be reserved for more ambient textures in the studio, but it's an impressive, if somewhat complicated, unit. Nooooooo........ I think we really need to have him convert to the way of the Helix.

Nope! Your EBow won't (no moving parts) but batteries do! Remove from velvet bag (or blow the dust off it), switch it on (up or down from central position) - no blue LED, could be battery has snuffed. Replace battery, put ebow back in velvet bag and forget about it for another 10 years. Next time you come to use it – change battery! ;) Watch a real master of the ebow at work here: Dedicated to another Master Of The EBow - Stuart Adamson "Big Country" and "The Skids"

Glad to hear you got it working, but not glad to hear you're suffering the duck effect. I sort of suspected 2 octaves would push it beyond the usual "demented pitch shifted warbling noises". Guess this means you will have to change your fingerpicking technique/pattern and try using the 1st string - see if that works? I think I will steer clear of "High Strung" and stick with all the other altered tunings I know – I have hundreds collected in an old Variax Workbench Library the I haven't looked at for a long time. I must have a look and see if there is usable variant of the Nashville and let you know. Meanwhile - Good luck!

Hi knoxdaz10, Simple solution - buy one and put it into one of the send and returns on your Helix. Then you will have that exact "Duck in Box" sound. Get one from here: WR-3 WAH ROCKER® : Buy Online from Godlyke Distributing That way you can add the Helix auto filter stuff to the Wah Rocker for complete funked up lunacy. ;)

Hi Dave and CBTL So guys, it looks like we are agreed that this a fairly important issue that needs to be addressed. Even Line 6 Product Manager, Digital Igloo, (hi, Eric), agreed with this way back in Feb 2016 when he commented on my Ideascale request for the Workbench integration feature. Helix to Variax USB communication feature QUOTE: "No, you're right. Helix doesn't currently allow Variax to communicate with Variax Workbench software via USB. It's something we'd really like to add." Please note, several other people have also requested this in other Ideascale slots, one from almost a year ago has over 160 votes and the idea is currently listed as "in review". Let's hope we see it in a update in the very near future, unless everyone has been sidetracked and too busy with the new Spider V launch! :P

No problem. See the comment above from "taylorbeats" - these Variax edits seem so breathe a new life into his JVT69S acoustic models! Even his wife is impressed! WoW!!!!!!

Amen to that! Although I am surprised that you cannot communicate the necessary edits to your Variax directly from WorkBench then hook up to Helix for the final effect. I guess you must be missing that plastic hub thing? Mine has to communicate via the old POD HD500 Dave, You right about the ability set up, and to have the tuning altered on a newer model Variax from within the Helix input blocks for a whole range of options - my old 700 is a bit hit and miss about some changes. In fact it should not work at all ...although somethings do function! What you mentioned would cover all the open and modal stuff, cross note, sawmill, Hawaiian or whatever, (so Stefan Grossman or Duck Baker should be OK), but the thing about this particular tuning is that in the real world the low E, A, D and G strings are swapped for the lighter versions from a 12 string set, ie: tuned one octave higher than normal. In this case I think what the OP is trying to achieve is the well known trick that Dave Gilmour used on the track, "Hey You" (The Wall Album), where he actually replaced the low E string with a second high E (not a 12-string set low E octave) such that it was actually tuned two octaves up (ouch!). It's the 2 octave shift on that string that is the problem here. I don't see a way of doing it directly on the input blocks as it seems they are tied to a + or -12 semitone shift. Unless I missed something?

Hi CBTL, Sounds like a sorta curious way to approach the High Strung Tuning (Nashville) sound, by shifting everything on the input block and then using another pitch module block. Why don't you create your octave above custom tuning in Workbench and do the single E string shift on the Helix input. Possibly could be less of a "warble" in the sound than using just the pitch shifter effect. Try it and let us know if it works. EDIT: You could simply just do an octave shift on your first string using Workbench the move everything up an octave on the Helix Input - same result?

Hi slicbald, First up hook up your Variax to Workbench as usual - if you have any custom Variax settings of your own in your guitar - make a backup copy, just to be safe! Now load the "TDR 28.09.2016.bun" into Workbench and then click on the "Upload All" button to overwrite the models that are already installed. Now when using The Pink Floyd preset patches in Helix, your Helix will automatically detect and reconfigure you Variax with Fremen's custom Variax programmes. Hope this makes sense. You can always revert to your custom or factory presets for Variax whenever you wish - just reload those instead. Enjoy!

Rocco_Crocco. Have a look inside the "Bonus Presets - Pink Floyd" Folder there is a Workbench HD Bundle which is the thing you're seeking. File Name: TDR 28.09.2016.bun That will contain the required Variax Patch info. Hope this helps

Check higher up on this thread for answer. Similar to question from Rocco_Crocco 23rd Sept, asks: "Fremen, I searched this thread and others and can't seem to find the answer... how do you set your global EQ in Helix for live with a band applications?" See subsequent replies. Hope this helps.

Excellent -LMAO!

Oh, yeah - Definitely MIDIpants®. +1 Tried the Space Pants – and I wound up with a very bad case of the asteroids! Sore "Lollypop" – Eek!

Theong, Sorry for the misunderstanding, but really you should not be hooking up your PC speaker system to the headphone socket. The correct way to connect your system was provided above – as "silverhead" stated, it works like this: Helix USB into computer and GarageBand, Reaper, Logic, Abelton, ProTools, iTunes, YouTube or your weapon of choice etc. Studio monitors, FRFR (or whatever, but you know what we mean) out from helix 1/4 inch or XLR Plug mic/guitar into Helix. Make noise! Nowhere does it say – "Oh, yeah if it seems like a good idea, you could plug you gamer's speakers from the PC into the headphone output". Apart getting into the realms of physics and Ohms law (I think the impedance is rated @ 12ohms on the cans output) etc. your headphone socket is probably sending the fully processed signal from Helix. Not good, you have to know it's going to distort. Just take a look at how many other Helix users on here say stay away from trying to judge any of the the sounds through headphones. Use speakers that you can evaluate properly in the correct setup. Anything else is going to fail - big style. Yeah , Zombie, Good call - let's get this guy on the right track so he can enjoy the sonic elegance that's the Helix sound machine.

Hi Thoeng, If you want to get this right – very simple answer – buy some real studio monitor speakers. They don't need to be huge or expensive - just anything that is a real monitor. For the life of me, I cannot comprehend why anyone would spend a stack of cash on one of the most state of the art digital modelling units in the world – and then feed the signal from the phones socket to some PC speakers. Jeeziz wept! Then you wonder why it distorts? Wrong, wrong, wrong, in so many ways it's just wrong! This is a joke post, right, or, is it me?

Got to get me one of those Ernie Ball string driven things. State of the art! If not, maybe I will try building one of these units – outstanding!! Check this monster out: https://guitarextended.wordpress.com/2011/12/14/arduino-based-pedal-pduino/

I pulled this out of a similar thread from a little while back. See if it is what you're trying to achieve. It uses a "Pitch Whammy" block, not the simple pitch. Here's a link to a tone I made that already has an "Eb Drop" switch for you to play around with. http://line6.com/cus...e/tone/2031305/ Have fun! PLEASE NOTE: A lot of users have complained that the upgrade to FW2.0 has screwed up the pitch shifting quality. Digital Igloo states that Line 6 are aware and a patch to revert the shifter algorithms will be made available.

Hi jjvillafane, If you didn't find anything about snapshots in your manual, then I guess you must be looking at an older version. The info you require is available on Page 34 in the Helix 2.0 Owners Manual – Rev D. You can download it here. Manuals | Line 6 Likewise renaming a preset via the Editor is pretty straight forward. 1, Select the name in the list that you want to change - it should highlight with an golden brown background. 2. Whilst highlighted, look up at the top of the list of preset names and you will see the options (white text on black) Copy|Paste|Import|Export|Rename 3. Click rename and the title you selected becomes available to edit - simply change or type the new name you want it to be. Done! If that doesn't make sense you could also grab a copy of the "Pilot's Guide" for the Editor software and have a good read. Get it here: ‎line6.com/data/6/0a06439c4dbd577d594db0bd0/application/pdf/Helix%20App%20Pilots%20Guide%20-%20Rev%20B%20-%20English%20.pdf The step by step you need is on Page 4 Have fun. LATE EDIT: "I musta bin asleep at the wheel" - as far as the Editor is concerned the Pilot's Guide is available under Help from the top menu. Doh!