aaronlyon

Nice post ^^^ I made the decision to use global EQ to soften the highs only after four or five gigs, where I kept asking our engineer to cut the highs in the mix and in my ears. Before Helix, I preferred the sound of a SM57 well off-axis. In Helix, you could also achieve this effect by adjusting the EQ in the cabinet model itself--but I found I wanted the highs softened on both the direct-to-house and the on-stage monitor sends. Anyway, lots of esoteric tweaking, based on experience, and actual live performance. Bottom line is, I'm chasing the tone I had BEFORE I got the Helix, using "vintage" gear (mostly amps I built myself). Once I was successful, I branched out, using more of the Helix's features, in more creative ways. I even got a Variax, that I have yet to use live. I had a friend who played a lot of Stevie Ray on some old Line 6 Spyder combo--sounded great at bedroom volume. But then we had him sit in with a live band, and his amp sounded TERRIBLE--thin, brittle and painful. His sound probably would have recorded well, but did not work next to a drummer and amplified bassist. So, start simple, and then...wait, I already said that...

I've been playing my Helix live for a year now. Being a skeptical tube head, I started slowly, just using the Helix as FX pedals in front of my tube guitar amp, as a replacement for my old pedal board, so no big adjustment. All good. Then I added an Amp model (but no cabinet model) to the end of the FX chain, and plugged into a 200w solid state power amp, into a 1x12 open-backed cabinet. Great! Nearly identical results, but so flexible because I can change amps on the Helix. I did notice the Helix is VERY full range, and I had to add the global EQ low pass at around 7-8KHz to soften the highs. As a third step, I split the path in Helix, sending one output to my powered cab, as above, and a second output (this time with cabinet and speaker model) to the house PA and my IEMs. Awesome! Now I barely need an amp on stage, just for a little sound reinforcement for the band. And as a security blanket, I suppose.

Do you have your Variax connected to your Helix with an Ethernet cable? Then do not use MIDI, just use Snapshots. As you've shown in your screenshot, choose Snapshots for the Preset Variax Model parameter. Then choose a model, like Acoustic 1. Next, go up to the top and choose Snapshot 2, and then change the Model to something else, like Lester 1. Now when you choose Snapshot 1, you should get the Acoustic model, and when you choose Snapshot 2, you should get Lester.

Finally, found it in the manual! "To create a split path, simply drag a block down." Ah! Thanks.

That's great, I'd like to try that. When you start with a blank preset, how to you get Path 1 to split into 1A and 1B?

I have one input set to Variax Magnetics, and one set to Variax. I want to merge the two paths after the Delay and before the Reverb and Looper. If I choose the output of the first path, the only choice I see is to route it to the 2A input. I can't find any of the split/merge commands. What am I missing?

I echo the sentiment...from Chico...about 2 miles from the western limit of the Camp Fire. Best wishes to you all!

I bought the Helix because it was the first system that could replicate the sound of the pedals I ALREADY owned, specifically, the OCD and Timmy! pedals.

I've been using my Helix Floor in the way you describe, @jdolby, for the past year, and it works great. In addition to the 1/4 output that goes to my SS amp and guitar speaker cab, my Helix patch is split to B path after the amp sim, and I add a cabinet+mic block, then that goes out via the XLR to the house PA. The XLR out is fixed volume, but the 1/4 out is controlled by the Volume knob, so I can adjust my on-stage volume, without changing the PA volume.

Bob, the Helix Floor is a "do everything" box. It can emulate FX pedals, preamp, power amp, speaker cab, and microphone. AND, you can turn OFF any of these elements if you wish. So, if you are plugging your Helix Floor into the input jack of your tube amp, you'll want to turn off the amp (both preamp and power amp) and cabinet blocks. Then you're just using the Helix Floor as a stomp pedal unit. I use my Helix floor as both FX pedals and amp (preamp and power amp) and then plug it into a solid state, flat response amplifier, and into a real 1x12 guitar speaker cab. In this case, I turn off any speaker block in the Helix, because I'm using a real speaker. Are we on the same page?

It is a bit frustrating, for those of us coming from a DAW background, that there is no visual indication of compressor action on the Helix. But then I remember that none of the compressor pedals I've used has had a gain reduction meter... Use your ears. :)

At best, the mods will improve signal to noise ratio. Anyone complaining about the noise floor on their Helix? Not me.

Taking ALL the jobs. Selfish.

What effect is that?

I like the legacy effect Pitch (or Simple Pitch?) for octave effects. As a bonus, I control the pitch with the pedal, giving me a decent Tom Morello impersonation.

Make sure you have amp, cabinet, and mic modules in the signal path. Set the high cut for the cabinet model in the range of 6K-10K to taste, to remove fizziness. That’s all I’ve had to do. I send XLR out, line level, to our Behringer X32 mixer, out to whatever PA system we’re using. I also use a second path in the Helix to send a signal without the cabinet and mic emulation to a 400 watt solid state power amp into my 1x12 guitar cabinet for on-stage volume.

Yes, if you connect the Nano to your PC using a USB cable, you can transmit MIDI to PC also. But that wouldn't be very convenient with this unit, because you'd have to remove the chassis cover to get to the Nano.

I built a new program switcher into a plywood base for my Line 6 50 receiver and an expression pedal, for ease of portability and setup. Let me know if you would like to buy the MIDI pedal I built, shown above, the one in the Hammond 1950a chassis.

Heck, you could set this up as a MIDI oscillator. Like, send a LFO to sweep the wah position.

Yes, super easy. The MIDI library includes SendControlChange commands: http://arduinomidilib.fortyseveneffects.com/a00041.html#gac1109ed9d013b536471fb782c06235c6

I made a two-button footswitch for changing Helix patches up and down, using a generic (Elegoo) Arduino Nano board. It sends MIDI program change messages, and is endlessly customizable. Complete parts list: Hammond 1590a enclosure Elegoo nano (set of three for cheap https://www.amazon.com/Arduino-Elegoo-ATmega328P-without-compatible/dp/B0713XK923 ) two SPST momentary (normally open) switches LED and 220 ohm resistor (optional) panel-mount MIDI jack panel-mount 9v jack (optional, easy to power from 9v battery--Nano draws only 25mA, and only 37mA while LED is lit) hookup wire My code is pasted below. Entire project took less than two hours, and cost less than dinner. // midi.controller // Sends midi program change // Aaron Lyon April 2018 #include <MIDI.h> MIDI_CREATE_DEFAULT_INSTANCE(); byte patchNum = 0; #define BUTTON_PIN_1 2 #define BUTTON_PIN_2 3 #define LED_PIN 13 void setup() { pinMode(BUTTON_PIN_1, INPUT_PULLUP); pinMode(BUTTON_PIN_2, INPUT_PULLUP); pinMode(LED_PIN, OUTPUT); MIDI.begin(MIDI_CHANNEL_OMNI); } void loop() { if (digitalRead(BUTTON_PIN_1) == LOW && patchNum < 99) { // Next Program digitalWrite(LED_PIN, HIGH ); patchNum++; MIDI.sendProgramChange(patchNum, 1); delay(200); digitalWrite(LED_PIN, LOW ); } if (digitalRead(BUTTON_PIN_2) == LOW && patchNum >= 1) { // Next Program digitalWrite(LED_PIN, HIGH ); patchNum--; MIDI.sendProgramChange(patchNum, 1); delay(200); digitalWrite(LED_PIN, LOW ); } }

The JBL is like your Rokit monitors: flat response, right? I don't know what all those EQ presets are on the JBL, but make sure it's set flat, just like your home stereo. The patches you build on the Helix should include amp AND cab + microphone models to simulate the whole shebang, just like you'd send to the FOH mixer. Should sound just like a nicely recorded guitar track, and should sit well in the mix.

Used gear is the most “budget” option. But yes, any pair of decent near-field studio monitors make a great companion to Helix. Or a decent pair of headphones... :)

I do this when needed: Play computer audio out the computer’s headphone output, use a 3.5mm to 1/4” y-splitter to plug into my audio interface, and record the tracks in my DAW. I just have to make sure to mute the tracks being recorded so I don’t get feedback.

1. Sound pretty good to me, though I’m no connoisseur. The Zvex Fuzz Factory model actually self-oscillates! I was especially impressed by the OCD and Timmy models, and this convinced me to go Helix instead of continuing with my old pedal board (haven’t tossed it yet, though...) 2. & 3. Yes and Yes. 4. Yes, I tried this feature out. It’s killer to be able to swap pedal order programatically. Killer. 5. I like it. Had to loosen the nut a bit to suit my preference, and the toe switch is very stiff, but I’ve come to like it. 6. Yes. 7. Yes. 9. Yes.