kduck

I haven't opened my Helix, personally, but I believe they are enclosed jack. I've done this on other gear--I used a screw and threaded it gently into the open end of the broken plug tip. You should be able to experiment on the piece of plug that is still attached to the cable to find the right diameter screw. Good luck!

https://www.gearbyceba.com/line6-family-usa/p/helix-floorlt-rack-knob-protectors-short-for-use-with-gearbyceba-full-screen-guards-7t8zb

Glad it worked for you!

If your goal is to be able to play even Helix when it is not powered on, you need to have your amp effect loop run through a true bypass. UNLESS your amp has an FX Loop bypass switch onboard. This is basically what I have in the first diagram, with the addition of a true bypass on the amp effect loop to be able to bypass Helix completely. See attachment for how to use a stereo bypass looper to *completely* bypass Helix with one footswitch.

OK, here is what I was able to come up with (see attached diagram). You will need to buy another true-bypass single looper, like the Compact Looper here: https://saturnworkspedals.com/product/true-bypass-looper/ Note that you don't need to use this brand, I just selected it because that is the brand you already have. Once everything is connected, here is how it works: Loop 1 will enable (on) or bypass (off) your pedalboard Loop 2 is not used. I added a patch from output to input so that if you turn that loop on, you will still have signal. If the jacks are normalled, you won't need to do this. Loop 3 will enable (on) or disable (off) Helix from input to the send block. The single looper will enable (on) or disable (off) Helix from the return block to the output. To completely remove Helix from the signal chain, you will need to turn BOTH loop 3 AND the single looper off. Alternatively, I think you could do it with a true bypass STEREO looper and only have to hit one footswitch. If that interests you, let me know and I will diagram it out.

I can try to help, just a few questions: Where do want your pedalboard? Before Helix, after Helix, or in one of the Helix effects loops? Where do you usually place the noise gate in the 4CM method?

Worth it for the presets alone. Add to that the deep dives on each effect/amp/feature and I'd call it a bargain.

Works on the blackface DR kit that I built. Since your amp has a TRS footswitch jack, I'm assuming it's a modern DR reissue. Looking at the schematic, sleeve = ground, tip = vib, ring = reverb. You will need to set both tip and ring to latching. Schematic for reference: https://www.thetubestore.com/lib/thetubestore/schematics/Fender/Fender-65-Deluxe-Reverb-Schematic.pdf

A cell phone can also cause noise. I remember once I thought my tube amp was picking up noise, but it turned out to be the guitar was picking up noise from the cell phone in my pocket.

Are you using a TRS cable?

Here is how the signal flows in 4CM (your setup): Guitar >> HX L/Mono Input >> (HX pre-send effect blocks) >> HX FX Loop Send >> DC3 Input >> DC3 preamp >> DC3 Channel Master vol >> DC3 FX Loop Send >> HX FX Loop Return >> (HX post-send effect blocks) >> HX L/Mono Output >> DC3 FX Loop Return >> DC3 FX Loop Mix (parallel) >> DC3 Power Amp >> speaker in 4CM, the Stomp FX Loop block is simply your DC3 preamp. The output of the DC3 preamp is controlled by the Master on each channel. With the Stomp mix at 0 this means that your signal is bypassing the DC3 preamp, so your signal chain is effectively: Guitar >> HX L/Mono Input >> (HX pre-send effect blocks) >> (HX post-send effect blocks) >> HX L/Mono Output >> DC3 FX Loop Return >> DC3 Power Amp >> speaker. I would guess that the output from the DC3 preamp is overdriving the Stomp FX Loop Return. I would suggest starting with the following (assuming DC3 mix at 100% and Stomp Mix at 100%): 1. Turn down the DC3 channel volume until there is no unwanted distortion 2. Turn down the stomp FX Loop return level

Thank you, can't wait to dig into the new version!

What @SaschaFranck said is correct. The output impedance of the Helix is very low so that it doesn't get loaded down by the amp. For the JTM45, the high impedance input is 1M and the low is 136k. The low input also sends the signal through a voltage divider, which drops the signal -6db.

True that it would use at least one block, but I think it would be possible to map the CV from a single block to multiple parameters, similar to what can currently be done with an expression pedal. I respectfully disagree. The point in the path that you take the envelope measurement can make a significant difference, both dynamically and temporally. The envelope measured after a compressor/limiter would have a different dynamic range than the dry envelope. The envelope after a delay would be much different, as it would have the dynamics of the decaying repeats. The envelope after an autoswell or reverse delay could be radically different than the dry signal. Definitely some merit to this idea. If that CV was exposed on the output of each block you could have the best of both worlds (no wasted blocks and multiple envelopes. One consideration would be avoiding a feedback loop if CV from one block is fed into a parameter on a block earlier in the chain. Of course, that might be interesting in some cases! Just some thoughts. Not trying to start an argument over an idea that may or may not come to fruition.

That's the way I read the OP as well. Implementing as a block would be pretty flexible. You could put the "sensor block" (not sold on that name btw) after a compressor, for example, to refine the dynamic range of the input to the envelope follower. You could put it on the wet side of a delay to use the delay repeats as a sidechain control. The block approach would also allow multiple envelope followers at different points in the signal chain (dry input, effect output, parallel paths, etc.) Lots of possibilities! Also, seems like it would be pretty easy to implement for L6 since they likely (definitely) already have the envelope follower modeled in the various filter blocks (Mutant filter for example). Hopefully it can get some traction.