cclement

Just spent a good amount of time trying to get my Helix updated... and it took some doing. So here are the "gotchas" that I ran into that may help you when it comes time for you to update on your own PC. I'm still running Win 7 as my machine is rock stable, and I'm totally happy with 7. YMMV. Feel free to add to this list if you've found other gotchas that you had to get around. Administrator Mode For the life of me I couldn't figure out why the Line 6 Updater would NOT see my Helix. I could see it was connected (when I checked the device manager) but no joy. Then I remembered the "Run as Administrator" option... and that did the trick. Now both the Updater and the Helix app have been set to Admin mode. Good/Non-sleeping USB ports This is the fun one. I was connected to the front panel USB3 ports on my PC and I keep getting an error about 2/3 of the way thru the update. So frustrating. I use the same ports for my MIDI Keyboard controller (M-Audio Oxygen 61) so I've never had any issue with them. But when I hooked up the USB cable to one of the rear ports... the process ran just fine. Moral of the story... try a few ports if you can.

That's what I figured. Sorry if this was asked and answered before... I was sitting at the haircut place waiting to helped and didnt have a full look before I posted.

Hey all, I'm going to do the 2.20 update in just a bit. This will be my first upgrade as my unit was updated by Sweetwater before it got to me. So what it the best way to do the patch backups? Individually? Set lists? I'm ok with either... just looking to see if there is a preferred method. I don't have too many at this point, but I sure don't want to lose them either with the update.

Here is a great look at Andy's rig...

Yup.. the Helix does this just fine.. and I tend to ride my volume control quite a bit with the band. Depending on the patch, this is easily done. I also have a "treble bleed" circuit on my volume control, so I get the added bonus of not getting that muffled sound when I turn down. Some people dig that however... YMMV.

Looks like it has an auto-sensing power supply... http://line6.com/support/page/kb/_/general-faq/power-supplybattery-specs-and-faq-r445 Just need an US style cable and you should be good.

It will take a little doing.. but you can do it with the Command Center/Snapshots via MIDI. Here is the very basic idea. MIDI OUT from the Helix > MIDI IN on the VS2480. MIDI OUT/THRU from the VS2480 > MIDI IN on the Eclipse. You'll need to look up on the VS2480 how to switch the OUT/THRU port to work in THRU mode. Then.. it's just a matter of making snapshots for each thing - START and STOP for the VS2480 (probably with MIDI Machine Control messages - MMC) and then snapshot for the BANK UP and BANK Down for the Eclipse. Just make sure your VS2480 and Eclipse are "listening" on different MIDI channels.

Pick/Pinch harmonics with it are quite easy. I just change the angle of the pick as I would with a smaller one. It can get a bit slippery, but most of the time it's OK. If I had to order one again, I would probably get it with the "satin" finish as they say it gives a better grip. I may at some-point break out the sandpaper and rough it up a a bit. But the "glass effect" sure is pretty... until of course you drop it on a dark stage ;)

Jumping on the "pick" bandwagon here... I ordered one of these last year... http://plectrum.ch/product/the-original-glass-effect-drop-plectrum .. and it's really grown on me. Yes, it's freaking huge, but it feels good in the hand and definitely feels like I'm working less to pick. YYMV

There is also the option of doing a Wet/Dry setup with two monitors. While not "stereo" it can give a bit more depth to the sound. YMMV.

I'm also a happy Alto user... albeit the older TS110As. For the price point, they sound really good. I've used them live with my old HD500x with great success. - I haven't yet had the opportunity to go direct to FOH with the Helix.The added bonus of them not being to heavy is awesome. I can carry my guitar, my Helix in it's case over my shoulder, and a TS110A all in ONE trip from the car to the rehearsal space!

Another good trick is to split the low end out... and compress it "harder" than the high end. This is an old tick that I do in my DAW to tighten the bottom up.

Depends on the split.. but generally a 50:50. From the manual: Split Types Y -- Both the left and right sides of the signal are sent evenly to Paths A (upper) and B (lower). By default, a Split > Y appears any time a parallel path is created. There are no settings to adjust. A/B -- The signal can be sent in different amounts to Paths A (upper) and B (lower). Crossover -- Treble frequencies are sent to Path A (upper) and bass frequencies are sent to Path B (lower).

As the song says.. "The waiting is the hardest part...." Heh.... I'm old enough/been at this long enough to remember when a "Firmware Update" meant installing a new PROM chip... Ax-Sys 212 anyone?

Could you do this with MIDI CC values instead? MIDI CC 64 is sustain.. just assign that to one of the switches, and run a MIDI cable back out to your Prophet.

Thanks. I've always dug AH's tones. I got to see him live last year in Santa Cruz.... such a monster player.

Yes... you have 2 paths (each with an A and B, so 4 total). So you can split a path in two... put reverb on the split ( B) path, then merge it back in to the main (A) path. Super easy. For more fun... each A & B Path can be routed to different outputs if you want to do the Wet, Dry, Wet kind-of thing. Check out pg 17-19 of the manual for the full skinny.

I've was playing around tonight and came up with quite a nice clean sound a la Allan Holdsworth. I'm using the Octo verb for the octave shimmer on top. There is a Elephant delay setup as well - with the volume pedal right before it - for the chordal swells. This is definitely a patch your going to want to try in stereo. https://soundcloud.com/christopher-clement/holdsworthian-clean This was done under Firmware 2.12. Just download the file and rename the extension from.txt to .hlx. Holds Clean.txt

Definitely this. Tweaking the sounds I had on the HD - while at rehearsal - was such a PITA. Typically I would just take notes and then fix stuff later at home with the editor. But with Helix.. it's just super easy. I had a new patch that I needed to add a gain boost at the end of my chain for solos...BOOM... done. Assign it to the foot-switch... BOOM. I started with the Ax-Sys 212, then to the AX2 with a chip upgrade and new knobs/sticker (firmware update.. whats that?), then the Vetta II, then HD500X.. and now the Helix. Various Fender and JC120 rigs pre-date all this Line 6 shenanigans ;)

I just did the migration from HD500X to Helix about three weeks ago... so I know how you feel. I just posted a related story here: http://line6.com/support/topic/26073-1st-band-rehearsal-with-the-helix/ The big thing you will find is how EASY it is to recreate you tones in the Helix... and how quickly you can make them even better. Keep a copy of the manual handy.. but I haven't had to crack it open anything more than just a few times. Watching a bunch of the Helix videos on YouTube really helped me get and idea for how people are constructing tones, and way to leverage that in my own tone building. You are going to have so much fun!

So last night was my first night practicing with the band* since I got my Helix about 3 weeks ago. We are getting ready to record a few tracks soon, so I’ve only spent my time recreating the specific tones I had already built in my HD500x in my Helix. For monitoring at home, rehearsal and live, I’ve been using a set of the Alto TS10As that many of you have. First observation – It took SO little time to recreate them in the Helix.. and then taken them farther than what the HD500X could do or sound. Absolutely awesome. I was goofing around with a patch I made at home that was unrelated to one of our songs. But.. with a few tweaks at rehearsal last night, I was able to use it for another song that we just added… and it really brought the song to life. Building/tweaking tones on the Helix – even without the editor – is just so dang easy. Second Observation – the Helix definitely has more of a “real feel†as compared to the HD500x. Don’t get me wrong, the HD500X is a great bit of gear… but the Helix is just SO much more. It really seems to react more like a real amp. Nice! So if any of you are still running the HD500X and luring around on the Helix forum trying to figure out if you really should/shouldn’t upgrade to the Helix… just do it. I'm just absolutely smitten with my Helix! *We really are just a bunch of old farts that get together and play a few gigs now at then. At 48, I’m the “young guy†in the band.

Back when I was a tool of Guitar Center selling keyboards (you gotta' pay rent somehow).. there was a combination of button presses that would bring up a PONG game inside of the Kurzwiel K2XXX keyboards. Fun stuff.

EMI/RFI is just a bear to deal with. In some places it's less... some it's more. My Frankenstrat has a full setup of copper foil in the cavity... it still buzzes from time to time. In my office where my Helix/DAW setup is, if I stand in the right place, facing the right direction... it's less noise, but not all gone. As a kid... my room had a small hole in-between two tall windows - for an old phone I can only guess. The house had ZERO grounded outlets at the time (it was built in 1953) So I replaced one of the outlets I had in the room with a grounded one, and used old, broken extension cord with the ends cut off to run the ground tab out the hole between the two windows and out to the water supply pipe outside. Instant grounded outlet ;)

I went to New Zealand in November.... so much bacon and smoked pork goodness! The USA went to the moon... while the Kiwis invested in bacon/smoker technology.

Dang.... that's freaking awesome. The only suggestion I have is the "Phaser Lead" snapshot. To my ears, I think it should be a be a "jet flange" sound rather than a phaser. It sounds like he did this same sound a the very end of the song as well... the "Focus" sound... but with the "jet flange" kind of a thing added. Awesome work!