baggas

Unfortunately this site requires a US postal address and Social Security number to do these kind of payment plans. Not much use to those of us in the rest of the world (otherwise there's a nice guitar on there I'm seriously tempted by :) )

Sold off most of my unused pedals to pay for the Helix. After a couple of weeks with the Helix I now think I can part with some of my more used pedals to fund a new guitar. I'm continually re-evlauating what I want to keep and what I can sell. At this stage the ones I'm likely to keep are in two main categories : 1. Pedals I might use in conjunction with the Helix - Strymon Big Sky, Timeline; Eventide H9; Dunlop Vol(X) Expression/Vol pedal 2. Pedals I can't bear to part with, or which are not easy to come by - Tim, Timmy, El Capistan, Turbo tuner, KoT, Paisley Drive, Scarlett Love I reckon with just that lot I could rebuild a pretty awesome pedal board in the future if I need to. Next job is to go home and get out all my other pedals not on that list to put up for sale!

No I'm setting my Helix up using the JBL monitors at home to hopefully achieve good PA sound on stage. The TS210 I just plugged in mono with a guitar cable and set the volume and that's it. But it still sounded pretty phenomenal! Thus far I haven't really even delved into EQ settings very much. For the most part I've been able to get nice tone just playing with the controls for the Amps/Cabs. Possibly the most useful adjustment I have found to get sounds I like is to play around with different Mics and mic settings. Also adjusting the high pass filter can be helpful. When I get more time I'll start exploring other EQ options and downloading presets, IRs etc. But I'm pretty happy with what I've achieved so far without needing to go in that direction yet.

Yes I'm at the point now where I have sold off almost all my secondary pedals that I never use to pay for the Helix. And I'm seriously tempted to offload some of my more used pedals off my main large pedal board, which I (to be honest) can't see myself making much if any use of now. A new guitar is in my near future and the more cash I can raise the better! But there's a few pedals I can't see myself parting with, some of which may be able to be used in conjunction with the Helix - Strymon BigSky & Timeline, El Capistan, H9 Max. I'll probably keep a couple of my favourite overdrives as well, but that's all.

Right on! This is what won me over to the Helix. Yes the sounds are killer, and on the comparisons I've seen, in the same zone as the AxeFX and Kemper. But the ease of use and display are vastly superior to anything else. Although the computer software is good, I don't need to use it to access the potential and tweakability of the unit. As an avowed pedals and amps guy, it took something really special to make me take this leap, and I don't regret it.

Do you mean using stereo type TRS cables for the JBLs? Whats the benefit in that? I've been using normal mono TS guitar patch cables with no problem from the Helix to the JBLs. Any reason I should switch to the TRS ones?

Thanks for all your help guys. I ended up going with the combination I settled on above : - a pair of JBL LSR305 studio monitors for home - a single Alto TS210 for stage On stage today I ran stereo XLRs to the PA, and a mono out to the TS210 on stage. My co-guitarist was very pleased with the on-stage sound, and the PA sound was excellent. Already got some of my pedals/amp friends taking the Helix very seriously now - got some very positive comments :) And I'm loving the sound I'm getting through the JBLs at home. With the Helix, I'm already inspired to spend so much more time playing guitar than I ever did with my huge pedalboard/amps setup.

Appreciate the advice here. It has been useful for guiding my thought process on what to do. What I have realised is that stereo is not important for my on-stage speaker anyway (although I am running stereo outputs to the PA system). So I will use a single FRFR monitor - probably the Alto TS210 which I can get at a store in my city. I do need stereo in my home environment for programming my presets. I don't think using headphones (even good quality ones) is adequate. But two Alto TS210s are probably a bit large and loud for my space at home. Hence I will get a pair of reasonable powered studio monitors for that purpose (maybe JBL or Yamaha). So a single Alto TS210 or similar, and a pair of studio monitors, should satisfy my needs nicely. And all for under $1000AUD, which is far better than over two thousand for the Gemini2 that I was originally looking at.

This is an interesting choice. Certainly the price point is far more attractive and I can find one in my city without too much trouble. Anyone have much experience with it with the Helix? If I use it at home to setup my presets is that going to give me an accurate representation of the sound the Helix is going to pump out to the PA as well? I'm also looking at a pair of Alto TS210 but less keen on having to carry a pair of speakers around. The Roland certainly much more portable if the sound is comparable. My final option is a pair of studio monitors like the JBL LSR305 - should give me reasonable sound at home but probably useless on stage I'm guessing. Could the Roland be the best compromise in terms of price, sound, and portability?

It seems I can order on the ME website and get it shipped here, but will be closer to $3000 AUD by the time it arrives, including tax. I've found one Aussie site offering it for two grand but they are out of stock. Have messaged them to see if they are expecting more.

Thanks for the feedback. I agree the G2 looks almost perfect for my needs. My previous amps were a pair of Vox AC15 and TB18. Part of the appeal of the Helix is lugging less gear around so I don't really want a pair of speakers. The G2 is a good compromise for stage and home use. The cost of the G2 is high but based on your comments it might be worth paying. I have a bigger problem though... so far I can't find anywhere that sells it in Australia, and shipping such a large item from the US is prohibitive. Will keep looking though, and also keep considering alternatives.

Used my Helix in a band setting last night for the first time, running XLRs into the PA. I was happy enough with the sound (through IEM), however my co-guitarist really missed the presence of my amps on stage. The sound coming through the fileback wedges just didn't cut it for him. I also felt slightly frustrated at having to wait for the sound-guy to be able to hear my guitar. So what I think I need is a small-medium stereo FRFR speaker to use on stage (eg use 1/4 outputs to there and XLRs to PA), and also at home when practicing and creating my presets. Currently using headphones/IEMs at home which is fine but don't really want to do that for hours on end. Can anyone suggest an affordable speaker of this type? I'd rather not get two separate powered speakers or something too large, as portability is one of the reasons I got the Helix in the first place. Perhaps a 2x10 powered stereo FRFR cab would be perfect. The Gemini 2 is the closest thing I have found so far to what I want, but it is a fair bit larger than I would prefer and about double what I would like to pay. http://missionengineering.com/?product=gemini-2 Would love to hear if anyone knows of any alternatives?

Looks beautiful, but $279 AUD for a backpack (even an awesome one) is insane. I could buy a whole set of luggage for that! Somewhere closer to $100 would be far more appropriate. At the moment I'm using a small-medium cheap wheeled suitcase. Not as cool looking or as snug a fit as the Line6 backpack, but far kinder on my wallet. http://www.musicpark.com.au/index.php/line-6-helix-backpack.html