guitarno

I'm dredging up this old thread. I previously had a JTV-59 which had the exact same issue (F# resonance) mentioned in this thread. I sold that guitar after a few years. Fast forward to now - I recently picked up another (Used) JTV-59. I regretted selling the 1st one at times and found myself in a position that I need to do fast changes from acoustic & electric guitar for gigs. The Variax seemed to be the perfect answer to that. I also forgot how nice the JTV-59 is to play. It is a really nice guitar in it's own right, without considering the modeling.

   Well I've got the same acoustic model F# resonance issue with this one that I had with the 1st. It was so bad at a recent practice at a hall I play in that I had to abandon the patch (and acoustic Variax model) I was using. I later edited it to include a notch @ 180 Hz (Para EQ won't do 185 Hz, only 180 or 190), and that helped but I couldn't cut enough to eliminate it completely. I also ended up with an acoustic tone that was not great but at least didn't howl.

     I totally reject the notion that it is caused by fret buzz. It plays very well, the action is not uber low, there is no audible fret buzz, it does not happen with the mags, or other models. This is definitely something with the acoustic model itself, or the interaction with the model and other physical factors unknown at this point. I remember screwing around with the string volumes in work bench and maybe that will help but I do want to hear that string in balance with the others on all other notes.

Here we go again...

Sounds interesting. I have owned a GP-10 for a number of years and it is a great little unit. I have a Godin that has built-in electronics to drive Roland/Boss synths (internal GK3). I got a helix a year ago or so and have been using it for gigs routinely. I did add the GP-10 on for just one particular song (One Vision by Queen) for synth tones. I just recently got a Variax (JTV-59), but I haven't used it with the GP-10 yet. There's a lot of crossover in what they both do as far as the instrument modeling and I like them both. It really would be cool to use them both together. I will have to do some experimenting with that.

Hey - I tried to preview it, but Soundcloud says: "

Sorry! We can't find that track.

Did you try to access a private track, but were not logged in?

Maybe the track has been removed."

.. I'd love to hear it.  

 

Thanks!

Same here - can't access your track...

 

Here is my first impression of the Helix, obviously it has only been out a few days so these comments may change or even be moot as Line6 hopefully continues to improve the product with future updates. I have separated my initial observations into three categories, "THE GOOD", "THE BAD", & "THE UGLY":

 

THE GOOD

1. Seems to be excellent build quality. It is a heavy (heavy in that good solid way) unit and seems like an exceptionally well constructed piece of hardware.
2. The interface is revolutionary and astounding. The no-hands ability to modify settings on the fly with footswitches and pedals is a game changer. Fantastic idea.  The internal routing options are incredibly flexible and intelligently laid out. The flexibility on footswitch assignations is great.
3. Several knobs that live on the backs of other units are on the top of this one and very easy to see and manipulate in a live situation.
4. Back panel has an incredible array of outputs and provides enormous potential and flexibility. This is critical as software/firmware can be changed by updates but you are pretty much stuck with whatever available hardware ships from the factory.
5. Scribble strips!!!!!! What can you say, just magnificent. First encountered these on the Behringer X32 boards and again they are a game changer. They make the product so much easier to use and so much more informative at a glance.
6. Different colored customizable lighted rings on footswitches. Again, just fantastic!
7. Touch sensitive capacitance sensing foot switches that instantly jump you to a screen with the parameters for that amp/pedal. OMG, this makes programming changes from the pedalboard so much easier.
8. One of my favorite features is the humble Hold/Edit button. This can instantly jump you from a pedalboard view with presets to a pedalboard view with each of your selected preset's pedals(each switch corresponding to a pedal instead of a preset), depending on how you assigned the pedals. This means you can essentially easily toggle on the fly between a preset and individual pedal view and all of the footswitches that correspond. This allows you to potentially toggle them with, up to I believe, 8 footswitches (10?), depending on your configuration. This feature alone is almost worth the price of admission. Pressing the bank switch can allow you to choose a preset and instantly revert back from individual pedal view to preset view. Inspired!
9. The sounds seems pretty good. Have yet to encounter a multi-effect/modeler that I did not need to tweak to sound good to my ears and be an acceptable replacement for an analog rig.  Time will tell on this account. Don't understand why every manufacturer seems to put out clean presets that sound so anemic. The distorted heavier presets seem to be better straight out of the box.  I am fairly confident I can get this thing to sound amazing. The unit is responsive to volume changes, e.g. cleans up when guitar volume is attenuated but this is no longer such a revolutionary feature, other units can do this as well.
10. Amazing detail on the amp/cab models with lots of nuance that can be customized, e.g. hum, sag. Nice job on this. Have not had a chance to play with the IR's yet.
11. The control pedal is heavy duty and seems to have decent travel. Some criticism of this pedal in the "The Bad" section
12. Lots of control switches with flexible configuration allows this board to be catered to the user. Bottom row preset change, top row pedal stomp; all pedal stomp; all preset stomp; etc.. Very well thought out.
13. Larger screen although it could still be a bit bigger for maximum visibility.  More on this in the "The BAD" section.
14. The scribble strip above the control pedal with the default labels of "EXP1" and "EXP2" can be customized to indicate the assigned pedal's function.
15. This all-in-one box is a high quality modeler and effects pedal board with lots of horsepower and functionality that does not require a separate rackmount and pedalboard or even a separate foot pedal (although apparently the Helix will be available soon as two separate units if you prefer). This one-stop compact solution to my live sound is one of the most compelling features to me in my ongoing efforts to streamline my rig. I have been going direct from my previous multi-effects/modeler to my PA for over two years now and I am sold, I almost never use an amp and pedals any more. With rare exceptions I never bring an amp/cab or FRFR to my gigs. A modeler/multi effects unit makes load in and load out much simpler with less back strain and I have more flexibility, require less tap dancing on my pedals and I don't have nearly as many possible points of failure as with my setup with tube amp, pedals, and cables. Despite all of the virtues of pedalboard direct to PA,  I have never been quite able to hit the warmth, feel, and tonal complexity of my old school analog and tubes rig. I am looking forward to what I think will be a far superior and more consistent sound and user experience with the Helix. Can't wait to get this thing gig ready.

THE BAD

1. A much better screen than former Line6 multi-effects but the screen is still only a barely adequate size. It still does not compare screen real estate, brightness, or clarity with a decent tablet screen. It seems to be fairly low resolution and not very bright. Maybe I am just spoiled by modern tablet screens. The screen on the Helix is perfectly adequate for programming but not very impressive for live use and I wonder how visible it will be on an outdoor gig.  Additionally the still relatively small size of the screen makes maximal useability and visibility of the home screen and its icons almost impossible.  The home screen is more effective for programming than live use. More on my issues with the icons below.
2. Wow, here we are in the touch screen era and users are still being forced to move blocks around and similar operations with a combination of button pushing and toggling. Future iterations of the Helix should employ a touch screen. I grant you Line6 made many of these operations as painless as possible with a very well thought out interface but it is still laughable when you compare it to how much easier many operations would be to manage with a touch screen. A touch screen would have made all sorts of operations much faster, more intuitive, and simpler. Although many of the Helix's features are inspired and game changing, in this one respect (no touch screen), it feels like they simply made the best horse and buggy possible. The Helix is an obvious candidate for a touch screen.
3. Although the build quality seems high I find myself concerned with some of the knobs such as the parameter, "Preset", toggle, "Volume", and "Phones" knobs. It seems like one errant kick of a foot or a clumsy person in the band or audience might easily break them off. Several of the knobs on this unit should have been protected with "fences" from accidental contact from stomp button changes or audience or band members. Either that or changed to less breakable knobs. Am also curious to see how well the toggle switch in particular will hold up over prolonged usage. My recommendation to Line6. Get out a good editor to reduce usage of the toggle and really all buttons. Good editors add ease of use and reduce warranty claims and repairs. With that said the programming ease and conception of the Helix are extremely well executed. Buttons like "Home", "Bypass", "Action" look like they may be particularly vulnerable to moisture. These buttons feel and look great but I wonder how immune to a bit of moisture they are. Some gigs the stage juts out practically into the audience area and I would hate to see this thing die from just a small bit of beer or water spilled on it.
4. Icons, icons, icons. This is a bit of a preference thing so I almost hesitate to put it under "THE BAD" heading.. The icons that represent the blocks, e.g. amps, effects, routing, etc. are a bit small and as a result hard to differentiate in some cases while standing up if you don't have perfect 20/20 vision. Additionally, the icons are only by category e.g. amp, modulation, distortion, etc.. I would prefer to know whether I am looking at a preset with a Fender Twin or a Marshall Super Lead, a flanger or a chorus.  Simply showing a general icon for "Amp" or "Modulation" is too vague. I would love to see each effect and amp have its own icon even if they were only slightly varied. Yes, you can drill down and see the specifics but it would be nice to be able to detect the effect or amp type from the home screen. Perhaps we could see cusomizable icons in the future so the user has the option to create a picture more meaningful to them. I also tend to prefer abbreviations unless icons are big enough to be clearly differentiated and large enough to offer a meaningful visual representation of what they refer to.  This may become a non issue for me as I get more familiar with them. It might be nice to have the option to toggle between text or icon.
5. Where are the inputs on the back panel for additional control switches? Many multi-effects have this capability.  Given the exhaustive array of input/output options on the rear panel I was shocked not to find this capability. I know you can use an expression pedal for some of this functionality but it is a nice option to be able to add a couple of switches (often to work the bank changing) so that the existing switches can be employed for other purposes. Did I miss something here?  Do they exist and I just failed to spot them?
6. The scribble strip devoted to the text "EXP1" and "EXP2" could probably be effective for displaying other pieces of information.  I would suggest a future firmware update allow other pieces of information to be displayed here.
7. The control pedal has a huge hex wrench that is required to adjust the travel resistance of the pedal. To be fair this is a great option. Just not sure I like the idea of always having to have the wrench handy. I also noticed that when you press the pedal toe-down to activate it, the rubber grommet underneath the pedal feels almost like it is sticking to the pedal board for a moment before you move it toe-up.

THE UGLY

1. Why do I feel like I am the villager shouting "The Emperor has no clothes!" when it comes to Line6. The lack of amp models and particularly effects models on the Helix is shocking and in my opinion unacceptable for a unit this expensive. Cheap $150 pedals match this unit for the number of effect emulations. Most boutique effects and even very commonly used ones are totally missing with the exception of a few (would love to see a "reverse" effect btw).  The lack of selection on even basic bread and butter effects is abysmal. I believe there is only one phaser option.. The one phaser (a simple MXR Phase 90 emulation) has almost no adjustable parameters and like the oriiginal pedal it emulates does not even allow the number of steps to be selected, e.g. 4 steps, 8 steps, 12 steps.  There is no biphase option as far as I know. I don't mean to sound obsessive about phasers, I use it to illustrate a point. There are so many basic effects that are either missing or only provide one or two options where other units provide many.  Is the harmonizer a "smart" harmonizer? I don't think so or at least the literature does not seem to specify. There are shockingly few distortion and overdrive pedal choices although this is probably one of the better populated of the categories and it is still pathetic for a unit of this price and potential. There are zero, I repeat zero reverb emulations other than Line6 emulations, no Lexicon, nothing! The list goes on and on as in, there are very few options in every effect category with the possible exception of wah choices. Wow! This is a situation that Line6 absolutely must remedy! What gives guys? This is simply unfair and needs to be fixed with software updates. I agree with people that say, "better one good effect than ten crappy emulations" but this is just ridiculous! Hire some programmers, get them with some musicians with good ears and please address this. It is an outrage that so little effort was put into providing adequate choices and options. How can you guys not see this is a huge problem?  Looking forward to firmware updates that include new amps and effects! No one is saying you need to cater to every single request for each user's favorite amp or pedal but the Helix has yet to hit even an acceptable baseline for the number of available amp/cabs and effects. If more and I mean many more amp and pedal choices are coming in the future please let us know or the usual trolls and idiots will start saying that we don't need them and picking a fight with everyone who is pointing out such an obvious shortcoming in what appears to be such a stellar piece of hardware. No wonder Line6 kept the list of amps and pedals on the Helix under wraps for such an unusually and atypically long time. Were they scrambling right up to the release date just to get the few in that exist? I don't know whether this is the result of an overly complicated development process, a need to deliver particularly high quality emulations, and/or a lack of manpower, or something else but this is a very disturbing, disappointing, and gaping lack in the Helix. I think most of us really expected to see a fully fleshed out selection of amps and effeects in this "flagship" product. Thankfully this is a problem that hopefully can easily be addressed with firmware updates if Line6 realizes how serious this issue is and is willing to commit the resources to fixing it. I would hope there is enough spare memory already on board to add additional amps and effects. The current list of amps and pedals is just embarassing. I promise you, the majority of your general user base needs, wants, and IMHO at this price point, deserves more high quality amps and pedal choices in every category! Thanks!

 

Could you be a little more specific?,,, :lol:

http://www.diywatergardening.com/New-Helix-Pond-Skimmer-Has-Arrived_b_15.html

 

Probably not the one you were thinking...back to your regularly scheduled program...

 

:P

Your Avatar could get tarred and feathered for this... :angry:

You let me know when you've invented that pedal that "knows" when you're changing interval, and I'll order one direct. Meantime, I'll continue to use a system that works for me, even if I have to inform it when I'm changing interval.

Well, he is correct that the GT-10 harmonizer will do what he wants. It allows for customizable user-defined scales where you can select the interval for each note. The Helix harmonizer doesn't currently have this feature.

^^^ What he said! ^^^

The Boss GP-10 - You can order one Direct now!  :lol:  Actually, you should go over to "VguitarForums.com" and look around for the group buys, and order through them... B)

A SOLID read through and you will find what you need to know....

Phil M says "Twin Harmony and Harmony Delay both have intelligent pitch shifting."

 

Refer to my (and previous comments by others) that there will be the facility create the effect you want with this unit.

It will however require you to take one foot from the foldback wedge mid solo, and place it on the expression pedal - heel, toe, heel, toe......(toe down being 3rd interval, heel down being 4th, or however you program it).

I currently use this very technique in a pretty corny Rod Stewart song called Tonight's The Night (although using HD500).

Apparently chicks dig it. :rolleyes:

Otherwise, being that every other man and his dog play guitar these days,  I'm sure there will be plenty of guitarists willing to jump up on stage with you just to play the second part. :lol:

    Having to use a switch to change between intervals isn't really "Intelligent" harmony. That's "static" (dumb) harmony and no intelligence included. The term "Intelligent" implys that it knows to switch intervals to stay in the harmony within the chosen scale when you change input notes. The GP-10 is a much cheaper device, and although no one from line 6 has directly answered this question, I would be stunned if the Helix couldn't do true "Intelligent" harmony as well as or better than the GP-10 and similar effect devices.

    I believe your looking for intelligent harmony (keeping harmony note in a particular scale). If that's what you mean, Roland VG units do this pretty effectively. I have a GP-10 that will do this. I don't play Thin Lizzie tunes and haven't tried it on that song, but I'm thinking it would work that way. The VG units rely on hex pickup processing to do a lot of the synth processing polyphonicly. I'm not sure if a hex pickup is required to get intelligent harmonies or not. I'll have to try that lick on my GP-10 & see if it works for that.

Yeah, I just listened to that clip again. I'm pretty sure that the GP-10 will do this no sweat. The helix ought to be able to do this as well if it has a good usable harmony effect. On the GP-10 you just specify (in advance - written into the patch) what scale your playing in (G Minor, F Major, etc...), and when you play any note, it will automatically switch the interval for you to force it to stay in that scale. I'm just not sure if you really need a hex pickup to do this or not. If you are using a Variax, you've got that, but not on a regular guitar.

See this related post to show how to do this with a JTV / HD500:

http://line6.com/support/topic/11487-how-2-approximate-hotel-california-harmony-with-ur-jtvhd500/?hl=hotel+california

I agree! B) The VoiceLive processing is very cool. Some people might not want to use it, or might regard it as "Cheating", but it can really make a good vocal better without sounding phony or over-processed if used with a little discretion. I'd really like to see some of these features in the Helix for doing vocals alongside the guitar processing for live use, and for recording purposes. If I spend the money to get the helix, I won't have much left to stick into outboard vocal effects, so it would be great if Helix had some of these vocal effects.

I put in a feature request for this.

Vote for it in IdeaScale here: --->  http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Voicelive-type-vocal-processing/772456-23508

Please tell me Line6 is going to transform the Variax Standard into a Variax Pro the way they did the HD500X into the Helix. 

 

I'm not looking for any hate from Variax, JTV or Variax Standard lovers, but they all sound unrealistic to me. 

 

It seems more DSP and better build quality would be welcomed, even at double the price. USA versions for the same electronics seem overly priced but I have not played one. I did like the feel of the JTV59 I tried. I've read many complaints of folks getting a decent JTV69 concerning the fret work. I have not played a JTV89 either.

 

Only one JTV69 around here and that one was not even set up properly. Not a lot of love for Line6 guitars at my local GC. No 59s, 89s or Standards.

 

Posted Variax HX idea on ideascale:

 

http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Variax-HX-Variax-Pro/727249-23508?submitted=1

They just released the "Standard" so I doubt they would change or update it so soon after release. I guess they could release another new "Pro" model, but I hope there's some kind of upgrade path for those of us who already invested in current variax's.

I own a Korean JTV-59, and while I'm all for any improvement in guitar modeling and alternate tunings in the variax's, there's a limit to how much more I'd be willing to pay to get them. I'd have bought an American version if the modeled sounds were really better, but with everything else involved, it was really too much money.

   I'm hoping there are some small improvements in the guitar modelling of the current JTV's when using the Helix, without having to replace the JTV with a newer model. Maybe some king of upgrade kit to update the electronics currently in the existing JTV's someday.

For better or worse, I sold my HD500X, and pre-ordered a Helix. I'm generally not an "Early Adopter", but when the Helix was announced I decided to become one, and I'm hoping that I end up being really happy with that decision.

Helix rack looking amazing. I'll be buying as soon as I've got this kidney removed and listed on ebay...

 

What kind of shape is the kidney in?? How many drinking hours are on it?? 

Are you implying that the Helix's switches are the same as the X3? or the non-HD Pod 500's? If that's the case there is reason for concern. I had switches on a earlier pod fail and have to be replaced. I had a HD500X and never had that problem with the switches and I believe that they updated the switches on the HD model, and they were less prone to failure then the ones used before. I would like to think that the switches on the Helix are even more robust that the ones used on the HD500X considering the price difference.

Well just goes to show how human prejudice works. The thing's not even out yet and people are dissing it. Even if it was the best thing on the planet they would still diss it, so nothing really to be gained from these kind of views. I actually left the Gearslutz forum because there's one wanker on there who's full of his own self-importance (and beard) and you couldn't have one conversation about Line 6 (or any tech past valve amps) without him sticking his oar in. It just got boring after a while.

 

This place is pretty fair I think and allows other views than just fanboyism as long as you're polite and not trolling. I'm glad I can't afford an Axe FX because I wouldn't want to hang out on those forums.

I agree - some of the "fanboyism" and "tribalism" that gets exhibited on some of these forums gets pretty tiring to read.  I have to admit that I've engaged in it myself on occasion - just human nature I guess. I don't begrudge people having a contrary opinion, as long as it doesn't get abusive and out of hand. Nothing's as annoying as weeding through 30 posts in a row with 2 guys having a pissing match over opinions about tone, or which amp or effects box is better. We are all after the same goals more or less, we just get to them in different ways, and have different tastes in sound.

  Tone is pretty subjective, and one person's "dream tone" may have the next guy covering his ears and grimacing.

radatats,

  Didn't mean to get down on you, I just had to point out that Steve is not a forum troll. He was being critical of Line 6 modeling tone, but he has his reasons for preferring other choices. He does great work @  vguitarforums and when he express an opinion on something, I listen because he knows what he’s talking about.

Hopefully when the sound clips for the Helix start coming out, they're impressive and people that aren't fans of Line 6 modeling will find something they like.

Geez, that Elantric dude really HATES Line 6.  Completely destroys and marginalizes Helix off the ad and the "harsh, brittle"tones in the demo vid... totally laughable but I'm sure he is a legend in his own mind...

Actually Steve is a very knowledgeable and experienced player and a brilliant musical gear wizard. He has a lot of guitar modeling wisdom to offer. The Vguitarforums site is a treasure trove of knowledge for a variety of guitar gear from various manufacturers. Although it is a little more Roland/Boss VG/GR centric, it deals with instrument & amp modeling in general. You guys should spend some time perusing the site if you don't already. You will find a lot of general guitar gear knowledge, some great and helpful forum members, and a lot of info & patches for Line 6 gear (JTV, Workbench).

   He is being a little critical of the Sweetwater Helix vid, but he’s entitled to his opinion, and the sound quality and the tones featured in that video weren’t exactly outstanding, or the best the Helix has to offer (hopefully!).

Thanks so much for this info on the 20% off. I already preordered mine from MF. I did an online chat with my MF rep and he matched the 20% so I got mine preordered now for $1199.99 now too.

Glad I could give you that info in time for you to take advantage of it. $300 off is a nice discount - makes it a lot easier to afford than the $1500 list price.

I think the feature set looks incredible. The routing options, multiple FX loops, IR loading, the new UI, all look great. Having 2 processors with more DSP and more blocks available should equate to better overall sound. Haven't heard enough sound clips yet to really evaluate how much of an improvement in modeling has taken place, but I am gambling that it is significantly better, and I took the plunge and pre-ordered one.

Well, there's a lot of debate about how good the sound and features are or aren't or whether it will compete directly with the Fractal & Kemper units, but I really like the feature set. I haven't heard enough of the sounds to make a valid judgement based on the tones, but I couldn't resist & did a pre-order through WWBW. They have a 20% ($300) discount that ends tomorrow, and seeing as how it won't ship for a couple of months, I have a little time to hear what comes out between now and then, so for right now, I'm in.

I'm hoping I don't really see or hear anything that's an absolute deal killer for me, but I really like what I've seen so far as far as features. The price is at the top edge of what I can spend (better with 20% off!), but that being the case, there's really no way I can justify another $500 or $1000 to get into a Fractal or Kemper, so that's a moot point for me.

So far, it looks like it should be a quantum leap above the HD500X, and a lot easier to dial in using the interface, which was always a downside of the HD500 for me. I just didn't like editing on the HD's UI in a live situation, and that made fine tuning live less than a smooth process. I did do some editing live but I'm just not a big fan of the HD onboard UI. The software made it so much easier to visualize what was going on. I really like the look of the new interface, and hopefully it's more intuitive and works better for me.

Done!

Thanks Nico!

Mucho appreciado!  B)

Back goes the model pack. Thank goodness for the 30 day return policy. Don't worry Line 6, the refund will go towards the purchase of a Helix.

How do you return a purchased HD Model pack? I recently bough on for my HD500X, and I'm now considering selling my HD500X and moving to the new Helix when it's available, but I don't see how exactly to return the model pack I purchased for the HD500X??!! I'm within the 30 day window. Can anyone explain how this is done?

Thanks!

Yeah I'd send it back too. That crack & malfunctioning controls sound like it was used and abused - a non starter for sure. You should recieve a better instrument than than unless you got a sizable discount & knew about those things up front.

If you want studio monitors, I am using Presonus Eris 8's that I really like, and got new for around $200 apiece on a discounted price deal. They are fairly large, and are not designed for gigging, but are great monitors. The also have a 5" size in that model. If you want speakers that are reasonably priced, but are giggable, I hear good things about Alto TS110A'S & TS112A's, but haven't used them myself.

I've put these two patches together to demo the Plexi and the Treadplate amps in the HD500X.

 

In Part 2 of my video series, I'll show how to build these two patches and also how to make them "sit in the mix". They should also work well in a live situation.

 

The guitars were double tracked (Gibson Les Paul) just to show how big they can be coming from a modeller.

 

Cheers,

 

Peter.

 

https://soundcloud.com/peter-john-hanmer/hd500x-tread

 

https://soundcloud.com/peter-john-hanmer/hd500x-plex

 

Nicely done Peter. "Part 2 of your Video Series" ? I wasn't aware of your work. I was just checking out your website. I will have to spend a little time there & look at the 1st series of video for the Pod HD500(X). Great stuff!