floyd99

hahahaha! sorry!! I haven't got rid of any of my pedal board or amps yet.. not sure i can bring myself to do that. where the helix, for me, has really helped isn't the show so much (as once we've loaded in I'm basically set up for a while).. it's the couple of rehearsals prior. Previously i'd have to lug my amp, plus a separate acoustic amp, plus separate pedals for the acoustic etc. When i'm also having to carry a car load of guitar cases, having to also fit the extra acoustic amp and stuff really made it painful. The one thing i'm not liking on the helix is the footswitches are a bit too close together. I, more than once, have hit two switches at the same time by mistake - and i have small feet. The other thing for me is they all look the same. The coloured scribbles are cool but don't really help too much - stompboxes are good in that they're so obvious. In the show there was a really fast change and i hit the wrong effect a couple of times (supposed to be the rotary, and in a VERY exposed section- just me).... ended up putting white electrical tape surrounding that switch just to make it stand out.

Cheers :) Shame it's pretty dark down there, the go-pro had a bit of a hard time! But you get the idea.

Thanks guys! Here's a couple more this time from Legally Blonde... Frikken huge show.. Just doesn't stop! This is pre-helix purchase I'm afraid haha.

Thanks Bill :-) In one of the videos I actually take the camera to the conductor position so you can see what they do :) It varies. In some shows (like this), he can see the stage as they are elevated on a podium with just their head sticking out at the front apron of the stage. In others, and becoming more common these days, we are completely enclosed either in the pit or under the stage or even a different building. When that's the case, they have monitors. In all cases there is a camera pointed at the conductor with screens in the auditorium so the cast can see the conductor without having to look down at the floor. The most common spots in a show for stretching music is when there is dialogue mid-song. These are generally written in the score with open ended repeat sections (called a vamp). That could be just a single bar of music or multiple, and we basically repeat until the conductor hears the right line and we move on. Once the show is running smoothly it's extremely rare for unintended mishaps as the cast tend to do it the same way every time. It does happen, but we can hear them in addition to watching the conductor, so we know when something's gone wrong and as a band we generally can pick it up. What might seem like a trainwreck moment to us is probably not even noticed by the audience :) Yes it's relaxing in one sense in that no one can see us. And whilst I look relaxed, it's a mammoth concentration. Time signature changes everywhere, and nasty ones. In the middle of a page if you miss that elusive 2/4 bar, not good! What you can't see is that almost all of the accents that the drummer/band hits are also hit by the cast in their dancing/choreography. And yes, it's very much like a studio but live. Especially as we're running silent with headphones, drummer in a booth, etc. :-)

Thanks Bill :-) In one of the videos I actually take the camera to the conductor position so you can see what they do :) It varies. In some shows (like this), he can see the stage as they are elevated on a podium with just their head sticking out at the front apron of the stage. In others, and becoming more common these days, we are completely enclosed either in the pit or under the stage or even a different building. When that's the case, they have monitors. In all cases there is a camera pointed at the conductor with screens in the auditorium so the cast can see the conductor without having to look down at the floor. The most common spots in a show for stretching music is when there is dialogue mid-song. These are generally written in the score with open ended repeat sections (called a vamp). That could be just a single bar of music or multiple, and we basically repeat until the conductor hears the right line and we move on. Once the show is running smoothly it's extremely rare for unintended mishaps as the cast tend to do it the same way every time. It does happen, but we can hear them in addition to watching the conductor, so we know when something's gone wrong and as a band we generally can pick it up. What might seem like a trainwreck moment to us is probably not even noticed by the audience :) Yes it's relaxing in one sense in that no one can see us. And whilst I look relaxed, it's a mammoth concentration. Time signature changes everywhere, and nasty ones. In the middle of a page if you miss that elusive 2/4 bar, not good! What you can't see is that almost all of the accents that the drummer/band hits are also hit by the cast in their dancing/choreography. :-)

Hi all, I posted this photo a few weeks ago but in my sleepy haze, clicked the wrong button a day later and deleted the post by accident. I took the GoPro in one night and did a little filming, so decided to hold off re-posting until I'd made some videos, a couple of which I've posted links below. On my channel there's a couple more. I thought folks might be interested given theatre shows is somewhat unique and most people never see what goes on down there! I'm using the Helix for everything except the banjo. I'm using just a single patch and running in 10 footswitch pedal board mode. Paths 1A, 2A & 2B are basically one big chain, output to Left XLR. This is the electric signal path and i'm just using a clean fender amp model. In an FX Loop & assigned to a footswitch is a Line 6 M5 purely for the Seek Wah effect. Path 2B gets input from Aux In and is used for the acoustics, simple pre-amp and reverb output to Right XLR. I have a volume block in there as well, with level assigned to a footswitch to basically mute/unmute the acoustic so I can swap the cable between guitars as required (sometimes up to 4 different guitars are used in a single song - that's theatre for ya!) Cheers, dave Run through of guitars and most of the sounds used in the show https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3aZtCspcFU Bows & Exit music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-Cz4UqKpbo A tour of the orchestra pit & a few other areas - FOH audio etc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8fQZT4aY-0

Ditto. I haven't played with the editor yet as it's not all that important to me. I find the editing on the Helix unit to be so damned easy that I'm not too fussed. When i want to, I pick the unit up and put it on my desk or coffee table for trial and error testing etc. I'm sure I'll play with it in due course. But I didn't purchase the Helix with an expectation of its existance. I get really annoyed with people on here totally complaining about this and that (and this editor thing has been a major one.. when will it be out, yadda yadda..)... they knew it didn't have one when they bought the unit. If something like this (and certain functionality that it affords) is a show stopper for them, then why did they buy the Helix in the first place? You don't buy something and then complain that it doesn't do something that was never advertised on the box as a feature, or from what you could have noticed during testing the unit in store (eg. patch changes delay!). Is there things that bug me about the unit? Yes. Are they enough that I regret my purchase? God no. The little annoyances I have i'm sure will get fixed over time. While i'm ranting, the other thing that annoys me is people comparing devices (Axe does this, Kemper does that..). They're not the same. They're not the same company. They're not the same prices. If another device does something better, then buy that one and stop complaining. Might AX8 sound better? Sure. Does it have a built in pedal and multiple inputs and outputs? No. Does it have a GUI that is ridiculously easy to navigate and use? No. Are those things a showstopper for ME? Yes... that's why I chose the Helix over another product, as it works FOR ME. If it didn't, then I wouldn't have bought it. Sorry.. lol. Rant over.

i can confirm the line 6 L2M / L2T is extremely loud and is fine for backline and in a smaller gig with a vocal only PA, would provide plenty enough volume. I used it last week running it at half volume and the stage sound was huge.

Line 6 L2M is working well for me, and has a nice soft case with wheels & luggage style handle too.

this would be an awesome feature.. being able to "group" effects blocks together such that only one block in the "group" is active at a time, and hitting another member of the group automatically turns off the other. I think others have requested this too.

used mine live with a FRFR for the first time the other day. I set the volume control to just control the digital outputs (which includes Line 6 Link, which is what I plugged my foldback into), which meant the volume control only adjusted my personal foldback and not the FOH send. Likewise, if you didn't want the volume control to do anything at all, just set it to control an output you're NOT using (such as digital in your case) it's a quick and easy setting to change on the fly at the start of the night, depending on the current gig setup. I do wish there was a more granular setting though.. for example instead of just "all 1/4" outputs or all XLR outputs" to be able to split that into Left and Right. For example, if I had to use 1/4" left to FOH and 1/4" right to foldback (for whatever reason), I could therefore set the volume control accordingly so that i'm not adjusting the FOH send.

Line 6 L2M as foldback

hi all i've put an ernie ball volume pedal as an expression pedal, to do volume control. Into EXP2, using just the pedal's output jack as i'm supposed to. it works perfectly fine.. however, the calibration keeps changing. it'll work for a short while, 0 to 100 all good as expected... but if i do a few sweeps in quick succession over and over a couple of times, the pedal works fine, but the maximum value (toe down) will start to alter. In other words, it'll change from being 100% at toe down to 95% and then maybe as low as 85% at full toe down. Then the only way to rectify it is to unplug from EXP2 and plug it back in. And without changing anything else, the values will go back to 100% at toe down. Therefore i know it's not the pedal's pot. It's as if the auto calibration is getting mucked up ? i've had to resort to plugging it in as a real volume pedal in an FX loop instead of a non-audio expression for the time being. And before anyone asks, yes I know the internal pedal does volume.. but as I sit down in an orchestra pit a lot, I don't like the raised height off the floor of the internal pedal. It's not comfortable for having my foot on full time when seated, the angle is just a bit off. cheers dave

Went well!! No valve amp and it sounded fine! Used XLR out to FOH and L6 link to my onstage foldback. The L2M was plenty loud enough.. In fact it had more available. Was cranking and sounded fantastic. Sound guy said there was no noise although I did ensure phantom was off on my channel. Only issue was a little harshness with overdrive on bridge pickup but I'll cut a little more on the EQ to fix that. Until tonight I'd only experimented at home and not at gig volume so a little tweaking is to be expected I'm still baby steps with this whole modeling multi fx thing so I had everything I needed for the gig in a single patch. Sounded great and to be honest, kicking the Minotaur and the Timmy in together with some delay really kicked butt and I actually played better as a result. So, definitely not regretting this purchase at all! Made even better by the fact I got the L2M almost half price as an ex-demo unit :-)

Thanks all - greatly appreciated. I'll give it a try and post back how I go.

Thanks Peter, I think you're right. And that makes sense. So, the only reason I had the split was because there's no way I see to have 1A go to 1B to basically continue the chain. The only output options on 1A is to jump down to 2A or B.

Hi folks Question.. Pls refer to screenshot. Firstly - Ignore path 2B as this is set to AUX Input and is dedicated circuit for acoustic. So.. For the electric... Path 1A has a split which goes down to 1B. It's a Y split currently. It then comes back and outputs to path 2A where it then outputs to PA. Something I don't understand.. If I move the Amp and Cab from the current position up to the end of path 1A (say just before the split), it sounds different. I don't understand this.. Given the placement in the chain is basically unchanged - it's just moved to a different path but there's nothing different coming before or after if I place them in either spot. Hence I don't quite understand why the sound would differ. Clearly I'm missing something ;) I'm also struggling with the best spot to put hi/low cut EQ. It's currently just after the distortions and before the amp/cab. Appreciated. I'm very new to the modeling world.. I'm a pedals and amp person! Cheers Dave

hehe. Yes, i'll probably curse when it comes time to remove. From memory it's pretty easy once you get one off and have the leverage. I actually only put 6 strips on (about 1.5 inches each). I didn't go overboard.

oh sorry, should have mentioned.. i'll edit the post. I used 3M Dual Lock. Basically the serious plastic snap velcro type stuff with adhesive backing. I've used the similar 3M product for picture frame mounting (holding up 8kg frames) and it doesn't move. In fact, getting the helix off the board again will be a challenge that stuff really holds. And really it's not like i'm going to tip the thing upside down anyway.. lol.

Hi all, for those who are interested.. made a board to mount the Helix on. I do have a pedal train board that would fit it perfectly, but this would add too much weight, and too much height at a steep angle. As I play a lot of theatre shows in pits, which means i'm sitting down, this would have placed way too much angle on my foot which sits full time on the expression (volume) pedal. I'm not the most handy of people, but i think it'll work nicely. Really all i wanted was two basic things ; handles to help gripping when taking in and out of case (why doesn't the chassis have some indents into the chassis to act like handles?!), and to raise it slightly off the ground just in case of spills etc. I got a piece of plywood cut to size at local hardware, a couple of cupboard door handles, some rubber feet and a can of spray paint. I sanded the corners to make them nice and round as not to damage my case (Mono soft case) and i put extra feet underneath to cater for under the expression pedal. only issue is I chose a grade of plywood that was i think one grade too thin. I'll see how it goes but if necessary, I'll remove the hardware and re-do it with a slightly thicker piece. It's super cheap and very easy to re-do, took me next to no time. Particularly when the hardware store cut the material to size for me. (300mm x 600mm) mounted the helix to the board using 3M Dual Lock. i think the materials in total cost me about $30AUD ($20 USD) :)

thanks for the info folks. Mine was also squeaking (brand new). i took the back off and unscrewed the large bolt using allen wrench, put a little WD-40 (off a qtip, didn't spray directly) onto the plastic washer and surrounds.. seems to have fixed. Will see how long that lasts. It's VERY simple to do.

No we're questioning the firmware update procedure people are suggesting (which is not mentioned in the firmware upgrade notes) - which includes doing a full global reset. This makes no sense to me.

I do understand why backing up is important in case something goes wrong. I just don't see why there's a need to do a global reset and have to restore patches and re-set any global settings (which I assume are not backed up). Seems like extra steps that serve no purpose

Why do people say to do a global reset and then restore patches from backup after firmware update? The update instructions don't say to do this. I'm wondering what the benefit is?

hmmm and of course now it's not doing it.. LOL. i swear it was !