JohnnyRokstar77

There are instrument IRs just like there are Cabinet IRs. The acoustic guitar IRs I have seen work ok to simulate an acoustic on an electric, especially if that electric has a piezo pickup. I have seen violin and cello IRs for sale, but I don't remember where. I have a mandolin IR that I use in helix that I like fairly well. I use it in conjunction with my Variax guitar. I set the Variax up in workbench as an acoustic 12 string, I tune the high strings like a mandolin, turn off the low E and A, and send it through my mandolin IR. I suspect you could do something similar with a banjo IR if you could find it. Although none of the IRs I have heard sound "exactly" right, they are certainly ok depending on the situation. Rock on! JOHNNY

I use the original helix to control all 4 channels on my engl powerball 2. I use a trs cable from the helix to the channel jack on the engl. I set up one switch in helix to control the ring and another to control the tip. with both off i'm on channel 1, 0+0 is channel 1. 0+1 is channel 2. 1+0 is channel 3. and 1+1 is channel 4. I have not tried to use snapshots with that. if helix fx has a trs jack, which from what I just read it does, you should be able to do this. I am unsure whether or not it will actually work on the original powerball. good luck with that. I know a few different amp models have had a bit of trouble with it. from the manual.... PEDAL/EXT AMP 1-2 Two expression pedals can be connected to the HX Effects device and assigned to adjust a wide variety of parameters. By default, EXP 1 is automatically assigned to control and bypass Wah/Pitch Wham type blocks, and EXP 2 is automatically assigned to control Volume blocks, making them ready for use with your connected expression pedal(s). See "Assigning a Controller" Alternatively, either jack can be connected to your traditional guitar amp to switch its channels or turn its reverb on and off. Use a TRS cable for dual operation (A=tip, B=ring). To set this jack's function. See "Global Settings > Preferences"

:unsure: hmmm. I am using snapshots with my powerball 2 and accessing all four channels. i am using 8 snapshots...main (chnl 3 on engl), lead (chnl 4), phase (chnl 2), octave (chnl 4), univibe (chnl 2), flange (chnl 3), whammy (chnl 4), and clean (chnl 1). I can switch from channel 4 lead to channel 1 clean with one press of a snapshot switch and vice versa. the snapshots are just remembering the on/off states of the switches I programmed to control tip and ring on the ext jack. is it possible that the snapshot is not remembering the state of one of your switches, or that the parameter is not set up to be controlled by snapshots? is it possible that you did not save the snapshot properly, or that you are using the switches in stomp mode and not snapshot mode? if you could please describe what is happening in more detail, I will try to recreate it with my rig. otherwise, congrats on your purchase of the z-11. i'm pretty sure that solution will work very well for you. i am currently using midi notes to control a lighting system that displays a different lighting scene depending on which snapshot i am using. i can say that helix midi notes works very well for that, but i have not used helix midi for cc or pc messages. maybe someone else with more midi experience can help you with that if you have any problems. good luck, and rock on! JOHNNY

not sure I understand your question, but I use a powerball 2 with 4cm and have no trouble accessing all four channels using the helix. you could think of the channels on the amp like this....left and right, top and bottom. channels 1 and 2 are top, channels 3 and 4 are bottom. 1 and 3 are left, 2 and 4 are right. next, turning tip off gives you the top set 1 and 2, tip on gives you bottom set 3 and 4. turning ring off gives you left set 1 or 3, ring on gives you 2 or 4. left right ring off ring on top 1 2 tip off 1 2 btm 3 4 tip on 3 4 on helix, I set up one footswitch to control tip, and one to control ring. 2 footswitches and four possible combinations of off, on. I hope this helps.

Another vote for auto volume, auto volume, for the love of all things holy AUTO VOLUME!!! The filter stuff sounds good too.

I am using helix connected to an American dj dmx operator via midi to control lighting scenes with midi notes sent in snapshot mode. I have a different scene for each snapshot. For example, rhythm sound triggers red, clean triggers blue, lead is yellow, etc. it works great. I tried with stomp mode before v 2.0 but had problems. My process was as follows: 1. Set up the scenes on dmx operator. 2. Figure out the midi notes required to trigger the scene. 3. Set up the snapshots for the sounds I wanted. 4. Have the snapshot send the correct midi note. Once I had it working I could use the preset as a base, copy it, and set up another preset with different scenes by changing which midi notes were sent. I remember it was a little tricky but don't remember exactly what the issues were since it was months ago. If that is your plan, it is entirely possible. Rock on! Johnny

I was researching (still haven't tried the patch cable trick) and I found this... www.vibesware.com its a guitar resonator..looks like it might work like an ebow on a stand. maybe an ebow would work somehow. more research is required, but this is fascinating!! rock on!

I stumbled on the patch cable in the fx loop trick while trying to make a shimmer effect. its actually a useful technique. i'll play around with it and see if I can get more of an amp feedback tone and let you know what I find. rock on!

I love all those old sounds, and it's the main reason I play, but sometimes I want to sound like R2 having a seizure. It's ok to do both, and I want one thing that does it all. Call me crazy, say I'm a whiny baby. I'm getting older and can't take a truckload of gear everywhere I go. As far as what I'd like to see in the next update...auto volume like boss slow gear, crazy effects like the earlier vid or even just a nice version of ehx freeze, better synth, and a few more amps like another engl, another bogner, maybe a diezel. Polyphonic pitch would be totally cool as well. Really, the auto volume is my #1. It would open so many possibilities! But helix is awesome as it stands! Rock on!

before you go with the voodoo midi switcher for all the amp functions, I thought I might add one more thing. I am using midi note messages from the helix to control my lights. I am able to send a different midi note for each snapshot. i'm not sure, but I don't think you can send program change messages on a per snapshot basis, but you can send them per preset. if the switcher responds to program change only that would mean you wont be able to change amp channels per snapshot. I believe it IS possible, however, to send CC value changes. therefor, in order to get snapshot control of amp channels, you might need a switcher that responds to cc msgs. anyone else know more about this? I barely had enough midi knowledge to get my lights working correctly. btw thanks for the feedback on my rig...I didn't mean to hijack the thread.

ok. this is a pic of my rig right before I integrated the helix. the background are just two led pars shining on the wall. any color you like :)

you are welcome. speaking of my rig...I have a 4x12 with vintage 30s (not engl..but has a metal grill) in which I installed led tape lights. the tape lights are wired for dmx control. using an American dj dmx operator controller with midi capabilities, I was able to connect my helix up via midi. once I upgraded to helix software 2.0 I used snapshots to send midi commands to the American dj controller to trigger lighting scenes and now have different color lights for my crunch (red), clean (blue), and 6 lead variations including octave, autofilter, phase, flange, univibe, and whammy....all with their own color scene on the cab. I made a frame that fits just inside the engl head behind the grill that is lined with the same led tape so inside the head changes color as well. how cool is all that???? I love the helix!!!

I have a powerball 2 and have I used the 4 cable method with an additions trs stereo cable to handle the 4 channels. I did notice that the amp tends to run a little hot in temperature when connected this way. let me know if you find the same. in the meantime I have been using the onboard models and going straight into the effects return. I can tweak the helix angel model to sound fairly close to the powerball 2 on channel 3 and the other built in models are so good I don't really even miss the regular engl sounds. plus only one cable!

There are lots of ways to achieve some good ambient tones. I really like the presets I found on customtone with the octoverb too! I was just amazed that I could reproduce the feedback loop with a patch cable and thought I would share it. I am also hoping someone will discover new interesting ways to use that technique. the possibilities are endless! helix rocks!! ps. thanks for the pog2 tip. if only I had one... :(

Advanced Shimmer trick: patch cable in helix fx loop. I was working on this the other day and read that the u2 shimmer chain was a parallel path with a pitch shifter and modulated delay that fed back into itself with an external mixer. this is totally possible in helix with a patch cable in one of the effects loops. just put the send block for that loop at the end of the path with the pitch block and delay block, and put the return block at the beginning of that same path. make sure to allow the original signal through at both points and reduce the amount of send (or return...I did both) or you will get horrible squealing feedback. I read that this was a problem for u2 as well. once all levels are adjusted to just below feedback there is a very nice clear shimmer. I started with the same delay times and pitch settings as one of the other shimmer patches I found on customtone. I just changed the reverb to a nice deep hall (instead of octoverb) for a smoothing effect. works pretty well! just make sure to LOWER THE SEND BEFORE PUTTING IN THE PATCH CABLE!!!!!!! in order to avoid the squeal!!!! you can control the level of the shimmer effect at the send blocks dry thru. you can control the overall tone of the shimmer with an eq...roll off bass if too boomy or treble if too ringy. rock on!!! parallel path like so... -------{amp/cab}--->---------------{any fx blocks for main tone}----------------->-------------> \ / \-->--{return}---{pitch}---{delay}---{verb}---{send}-->--/