hideout

Because our backs don't like lifting those heavy tube amps anymore. Well that and, at least for me, the mystique and allure of tube amps has long dissipated. All I see when I look at one is something heavy, unreliable, impractical and tonally inconsistent.

Or, because it's a smaller form factor, the Amplifire pedal in one of the Helix's D.C. Loops.

Found it. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B016PVSW34/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492814245&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=inextstation+gps+screen+protector&dpPl=1&dpID=51C4e9IZdML&ref=plSrch

I found a tempered glass screen protector for a Chevy SUV's stereo that works great. I'll have to dig into my orders on Amazon to remember what brand it is. It's not an absolutely perfect fit but darn near it.

Ooh, good one.

56 here and love the Helix far more than I disliked the Pods.

I'd think it was the Guinness, if it did get splashed. Either that or there was an iffy part in the power supply and it decided to fail.

Doesn't the Helix automatically adapt to the incoming voltage?

Something's amiss. It should not be acting like a master volume. Without further info, I don't know what advice to give you.

😢😢

Gotta echo these sentiments. Even though I grew up playing through amps (tube and ss), I was never ever satisfied with the sounds I got. The sonic and practical limitations really bugged me and as I grew older, the weight of tube amps really started to matter. As young player, I'd ask older more experienced players how the pros got the sounds they got on recordings and got the same tired answers; "Oh you gotta have a Marshall or a Fender to do that". I had access to a Fender Twin in high school and had tried Marshalls at the local music store (even though I couldn't afford them) and was puzzled for years as to why none of them could sound anything like what I heard on recordings. A few years went by before I understood the complexities of how they got those sounds on albums and later CDs. Then it dawned on me... I've never given a rat's patootie about getting good amp sounds. I wanted the sounds I heard on recordings. Those were my holy grail.

Touché! Lol

That's not really surprising. With the exception of maybe some diehard Rhodes Suitcase players, most keyboardists have really required a full range system for their sounds. And unlike guitar players, they're also not trying to get the tube power section of an amp to saturate. They want it well below that point as power tube saturation isn't really part of most keyboard players' ethos except for maybe Hammond B3 players. Even though Leslies have low and high frequency drivers, not sure you could call them full range and certainly not flat response. There may be some exceptions but for the most part, it's not. Most keyboardists just don't have a tactile relationship with the amplification system like guitar players do.

It's the "microphone" used in the cab sim that changes everything. As PeterHamm said, it's designed to sound like an amp mic'd up in another room. Even a real amp mic'd up in another room won't sound the same as having the amp next to you because microphones don't "hear" things the same way our ears do. When you're next to the amp, you can also feel the air being moved by the speakers. There's no way to replicate that. Basically, it comes down to getting used to the way a guitar amp sounds in a recording environment. Once you get used to that sound, it gets easier to deal with the lack of immediacy. I've gotten comfortable with both sounds but every time I use an amp at a gig, I always miss the flexibility that a modeler through a powered full range speaker gives me. That and the necessary tube amp volume required for it to feel good to play is often impractical for the gig. You end up being asked to turn it down and unless you want to get fired, you do turn it down and end up with an anemic and uninspiring sounding rig. So for me, unless it's a simple jazz gig, I'll take the Helix through a powered PA speaker anytime.

Me neither.

I think this idea I submitted might allow us to achieve what you're after, zooey. For that matter, I want it too! Please vote it up. Dynamics Controlled Crossfade

I've never had an issue turning virtual knobs on a screen unless they don't respond to a mouse's scroll wheel. Most do respond and it's easy.

I really hope Line6 is watching this exchange.

I totally get that. We need something that watches the nominal input level and adjusts the output of the amp block accordingly to maintain a predetermined level.

Zooey, how about this for an idea? What if we had an inverse gain control placed between the output of the modeled preamp and power amp? The idea would be to set a nominal level being sent to the power amp to induce the level of poweramp saturation one wanted but, the "Inverse Gain Control" would raise the preamp's output to compensate for the lost level when you lowered the preamp's volume? What do you think? You may not be able to use the guitar's volume to control it but you could certainly use the expression pedal.

Please read my amended post. I want to able to do what I describe there on the Helix. It is proving difficult.

Exactly what I was thinking. It makes more sense to have a Leveling Amplifier after the cab to compensate (make up gain) for the lower output as you lower the guitar volume.Real tube amps do this naturally but only at very high volumes. I played with a guy who used a cranked Super Reverb and he'd use his guitar case to cover up the two lower speakers and his leather jacket to cover one of the upper speakers. The lone uncovered speaker was mic'd and that's how he got his sound. The amp was at its maximum output capability and so was unable to do anything but compress and distort anything beyond a certain level. It was all about sweet power tube saturation and compression... and it was freaking glorious! When he turned the guitar down, it cleaned up but only lost a minimal amount of volume - because it couldn't get any louder when he cranked the guitar volume. It just saturated the power tubes. No pedals, just guitar and amp

I agree somewhat but like Honest Opinion, I too like the Litigator quite a lot. The thing is, for me, what you say about the sweet spot where rock and blues tones are rooted, is akin to how I feel about metal and high gain amps. I don't have to listen to 25 of them before that "sameness" takes effect. I'd need two... maybe three. I think that with the plethora of amp models available in the Helix, tonalities are reasonably easy to match. The more difficult thing to emulate is the feel and response of the amp. The way it breaks up and distorts is a much more complex variable that's not so easy to emulate. Prior to when the Litigator came to us, I had a few patches that were very similar but they didn't respond the way the Litigator does. Not by a long shot. I was happy with the old pre-Litigator sounds I had but what we have now is just pure icing.

Any of these will do fine thanks. 😊 https://line6.ideascale.com/a/pmd/788874-23508? It this one would be really appreciated. https://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Tape-Saturation-effect/811809-23508

This.