boynigel

That's kinda what i thought too.

I've always been aware that the Helix LT can act as a controller to change channels in an amp, but what if the amp has 3 channels? doable?

Sorry for the confusion, as i haven't physically tried this yet. I've been doing 4cm for years, just never w/helix, which for me gets a little more confusing when you've got effects loops within an effects loop, but i know how to route correctly for 4cm. my statement that you quoted me on was based on an assumption i made based on past 4cm setups i had with different gear always had guitar hitting the front of the amp no matter what...so i guess i wrongly assumed that the guitar into the amp's pre would be a constant. Will try this tonight. thanks.

I'll give this a try when i get home. I typed this up before seeing this response. sending just in case there's any info that would change anything: So in the 4cm scenario of primarily using my amp’s preamp (LT for effects only), but occasionally swapping the actual amp’s preamp for a Helix amp model via a snapshot, the hurdle seems to be that, sure, I can simply activate the Helix amp model in the effects loop of the physical amp (post-preamp of course), BUT- the front of my amp (preamp) will still be getting a signal from my guitar in addition to the Helix amp model for that given snapshot. Unless, and I’m at work as I write this so I can’t test it, there’s a way to have a snapshot that re-routes my guitar input into the effects loop, thereby bypassing any guitar signal routing (within that snapshot) to the physical amp’s preamp. I’ve never had any reason to try to move my guitar input block to anywhere besides the default front of the chain, and I’m guessing its position is fixed. Plus, if I remember correctly, snapshots don’t allow you to change the order of blocks, so maybe I’m asking too much of the Helix. Everything has its limits. this is why in a perfect world it would be nice if L6 modeled some AIAB pedals, like the Wampler Thirty-Something. of course it's pretty obvious why they wouldn't, and i couldn't blame them.

right. that's how i've been using the LT for the last few years- into the effects return of my amp, obviously w/speaker modeling bypassed. i somehow thought that i could maybe now run the LT via 4cm using my actual amp's preamp section, with hopes that if i wanted to occasionally insert a Helix model post-preamp on my amp...but now that i think about it, the front of my amp would still be receiving my guitar signal in addition to the amp model after the amp's preamp. so close, yet so far! not a big deal. this is all about switching things up for fun and the sake of something a little different for a little while

Right, i realize all of that. i probably could have worded the question better- i was looking to find out if the HX Effects was somehow better optimized than the LT to live in an amp's effects loop given that is what it was designed to do, where the LT was designed as more "stand-alone". Sure, they've always said you could do 4cm w/helix, but the HX came later making me think there was a chance that its ins/outs were better optimized (input pads?) for use in an amp effects loop. Especially in a case like mine where i have a very hot effects loop send level in my amp.

If you have a moment, what's the trick to ensure that any amp modeling happens after my real amp's preamp?

I’ve been using my LT exclusively for a few years now and I want to take a break and give my amps some love. i’m just wondering if the HX Effects would have any edge over the LT as far as how it would perform via 4CM with one of my tube amps. I would imagine my LT is just an oversized HX Effects (w/amp and cab modeling of course) but I just wanted to make sure the HX doesn’t edge it out in this application for some reason unknown to me.

I run my Helix in stereo into two bad cat amps' effects loop returns, bypassing speaker modeling of course. a lot of the time i find that i get the best sound results keeping the power amp modeling section in place (verses preamp only), even though i'm going into a real amp's power section. and yes, TOTAL amp in a room experience. None of that lifeless FRFR sound.

My fix for this was very carefully shaving equal amounts off of the two toe-most rubber bumpers under the expression pedal. worked very well, but then a few days later i learned of Helix's ability to auto-engage based on parameter based on the pedal's position.

Has a 4.0 thread already begun here or elsewhere? If so i wonder how many pages it's up to. don't wanna know, but then maybe i do?

Agreed, and I'm sorry but i wouldn't have a lot of faith in the reliability/longevity of those things.

I went down this rabbit hole when i got my Helix Floor back when they first came out, and wound up getting rid of it for the very reason you cite- no amp in a room experience. Tried it with the Friedman ASM, and QSC stuff, but still the same experience as you. years later i got the Pod Go for quiet, late night practicing. One day on a whim, i plugged the Go into the FX loop return of my Bad Cat. BAM! there it was. This was my gateway back to an LT and i haven't looked back. Unless your amp setup is a head and a huge 4x12 cab (mine's just a 112 combo), i would suggest giving it a try. You'd still be carrying an FRFR speaker to a rehearsal/gig, why not make it a combo amp instead? same footprint, and you can still feet a PA while you hear yourself through an actual amp...obviously just be sure to not have cab blocks going through to your amp. worth noting is that, at least with my amp, I get better sounds keeping the power amp modeling in place, versus using a preamp block only. YMMV

Hey, you tryin' to start something? ;)

good to know, thanks. As someone who likes to be PRO-active rather than Re-active, yes, I tend to overthink things. It's a double edged sword that's saved me lots of money over time, but surely wasted some of my time too!

I cover it up but fur still gets on it over time as it falls off the bottom of my feet onto it while in use

I've a dog in the house. at least weekly I have to dust fur off of my LT and it got me wondering how much hair has made it's way inside the unit, via the openings for the EXP pedal hinges. I consider myself pretty handy, as I've done many electronics repairs and mods to my pedals, guitars, and amps over the years. I'm just wondering how much of a "project" it would be to blow out any accumulated dust/fur inside my LT. Has anyone done this? I'm wondering if in order to do it properly, I'd need to remove multiple PCB's, and if there's any general words of caution from anyone who's done this before?

I would have except that the very first comment by phil_m makes it out to be mac-specific, and my friend is on a PC. I will now tell him to do it anyway. can't hurt. ty

I told him to make sure he wasn't too many versions behind, before he updated. Pretty sure he said he was already in the 3's, version-wise.

asking for a friend who uses windows (i use mac, so i couldn't help him) He has a Stomp. over the weekend he did the 3.5 update. said he updated HX edit first. After completing both updates he's saying that he sees the Vitriol model in his Stomp, but not in HX Edit when he has the Stomp connected. Not sure if it's worth mentioning but given that my personal LT took all of the 45 minutes L6 said it would, his Stomp updated in around 5 minutes. not sure if that's because the Stomp has less going on than an LT, or if this is a red flag to his woes? Suggestions?

If you want to find out on the cheap, i'll sell you my Ownhammer collection at half price.

Don't need to when I'm living inside your head rent-free.

said it sounds good because it does. also mentioned that it sounds good as to not butt-hurt anyone and not come off as hostile or mean spirited, which I wasn't. does it sound great? that's subjective. Why? are the two amps on my wish list horrible? I'm not a gambler but I'd bet if a poll were taken on an non-L6 forum, and the Sunn, along with the two amps from my wish list were on a list with 10-20 other amp models, and people were asked to vote on which ones they'd want in a modeler, I'd be willing to bet the Sunn would get less votes than either of the two I suggested. FWIW, I made a similar comment elsewhere on the interwebs and got a lot of amens, and saw posts from others questioning the Sunn choice as well. But yes L6, don't listen to me because codamedia said not to. I'm just a guy who's money is as green as the next guy's, who made a comment/suggestion. the nerve of ME. ;)

In addition to the message on my screen, I remember there being a 2nd message in the upper-most left corner of the screen and I'm pretty sure it's the message you got. I played around on it for about 3 hours tonight (stand alone and via Edit) and it's been rock solid. maybe I got lucky. given that fact, I'm afraid I can't offer any suggestions as I didn't have to fix anything, so nothing was learned on that front. at risk of pointing out the obvious, did you do the restart while holding down the 9&10 foot switches, and update Edit before you did any of this?

Craig, I've read enough of your articles over the years to know your gear choices tend to lean eccentric! And i say that with reverence. The world has enough people playing through Vox, Fender, and Marshalls ;) I think fender tried re-launching Sunn back in the 90's. I remember the ads- "Stand back. No, WAY back!" BTW- imminent update for your BB of H by chance? Or maybe it already has. Off to sweetwater to check now.