silverhead

Unfortunately not possible. From the manual: “A Looper block can exist anywhere on either Path 1 or Path 2—one Looper block per preset maximum.”

No, patches for the Helix or POD Go devices will not work in a POD HD device. Like you, I see no Marketplace products for POD HD devices. Be careful when you search for non-Marketplace POD HD presets for sale. In some cases they are simply a bunch of presets taken from Customtone, zipped up, and offered for sale. You can get them yourself directly from Customtone.

My first Line 6 product was an X3 Live, back in 2009 when it was the flagship. I followed that soon after with a Variax 300. Loved them both, especially together. Have Fun!

Yes - the Looper feature in Helix (and other Line 6 FX processors) is quite limited. Most people who use live looping use a dedicated and fully featured looper pedal. The Line 6 Looper is used mostly for two things: - practicing solos over a background chord progression (Looper block at the end of the signal chain) and - developing tones by recording a part, putting the guitar down, and tweaking the preset during playback with your hands free (looper at the beginning of the chain).

The only two volume controls are the Playback and Overdub volumes, and they are both relative. The Overdub controls the level of each overdub part relative to the most recently recorded part. In other words, if you specify a reduced level each overdub will be recorded at a reduced level relative to the previous overdub. Successive overdubs will be recorded at successively reduced levels. In each case the overdub part is baked into the existing loop at the reduced level. The Playback control adjusts looper playback level. You may find it useful to turn this down a bit so your live guitar can be slightly louder. That's it, that's all.

What you describe is the normal and intended operation. The Overdub Volume controls the level of the overdub sound(s) compared to the level of the original recording. This is applied at the time of recording the overdub part; it is not applied to the playback. When a part is overdubbed it is blended with the original recording at the specified relative level and is not able to be isolated. Both the original recording and the overdub are played back at their baked-in relative levels.

… and similarly, the Don’t Force setting tells the HD500X to ignore any Variax-related settings in the current context. When used with Variax Model selection the existing setting for the Variax model will remain active even if the preset specifies that a different model be loaded. That information will be ignored. Note that this does not mean that the Variax guitar will revert to the model determined by its physical switch settings. It simply means that the existing model, perhaps specified in a previous preset, will remain active. Similarly for Alternate Tuning. Use the Global vs. Per Preset options to specify whether (Per Preset) or not (Global) you want to enable Variax controls to apply on a per preset basis; in other words, whether or not you want any Variax settings that may be stored in presets to be applied. The Global setting here will cause them to be ignored. While Global and Don’t Force have a similar effect they are different. Don’t Force operates on a preset basis while Global operates….. globally. In other words, a preset can cause any Variax data it may contain to be ignored even if the overall Variax control is set to Per Preset. This can be useful, for instance, if you are using a preset that you did not create, including factory presets. You are able to have all such Variax control data to be ignored in one tweak, rather than having to visit each control parameter and normalize it’s value.

One of the files you downloaded in the background in the HX Edit package is called Line 6Updater. Locate it. Close the HX Edit program. With your Helix device in the aforementioned Update mode, run the Line 6 Updater program.

The Line 6 product descriptions include sound samples for the HD models. https://line6.com/variax-modeling-guitars/sound/ Looks like the corresponding samples for the pre-HD a guitars are no longer available in the Line 6 Legacy Products descriptions.

Bear with me as I go back to the beginning here and try to understand exactly what you want to achieve via MIDI in Helix Native that you are achieving in a certain way on your Helix hardware. Perhaps you can achieve the desired result in a different way than trying to use MIDI to duplicate exactly what your hardware does. Also, please understand that from your posts so far I know nothing about your experience with recording and plugins so forgive me if my comments are too simplistic for you. You describe a ‘cool’ thing your hardware does by using a single footswitch to simultaneously and alternately switch FX blocks on/off. Presumably this is something you do while playing live, and it is convenient. I do it too. However, Helix Native lives in a recording program, and you don’t necessarily have to do everything ‘live’. In fact my normal practice is to simultaneously record both a dry and a wet (processed) track using a Helix preset while playing guitar and recording. The magic of this lies in the post-recording process, when I apply Helix Native to the dry track. I can tweak the amp and FX settings as desired at any time through the recording project, as more and more tracks are added and my previously recorded guitar tone needs to be adjusted. I can do so using Helix Native on the dry track without having to repeat the performance and record a new guitar track. In fact, the final production rarely includes the original recording of the processed track. And, very importantly, I can apply automation and controllers to the FX blocks and parameters within Helix Native, not necessarily but optionally using MIDI to do so. With that in mind, I have a few questions: Are you exclusively trying to control your Vol and Wah FX while playing and recording live? If so, you can already do that using your cool hardware trick. Where does Helix Native come into the picture? When you are using Helix Native, are you doing so with a prerecorded dry track or are you applying it to a track that has already been processed by your Helix device when it was recorded? If you haven’t already been using dry tracks and post-processing I recommend you try it. You can import your Helix hardware preset directly into Helix Native as a starting point for your post-processing. Have you read the Automation and Controller Assign Tab section of the Helix Native manual, and experimented with the techniques and strategies described there? Will track automation using only Helix Native and Reaper meet your needs without using MIDI at all?

I think Brue58ski has made a good suggestion. If I understand him correctly he is suggesting that you leave the Chime bank as is in your Variax and use it only for the 6-string models. Having used the HD500 preset to select any 6-string model you can then use the pickup selector switch to move among positions 1, 3, and 5. This gives you what you are already familiar with - preset controlled easy access to the three 6-string models while playing live. For the same sort of familiar and easy access to the three 12-string models you would use a different Variax bank, say the Custom bank. Use Workbench to store the three 12-string models in positions 1, 3, and 5 of the Custom bank. Use your HD500 to select the Custom bank (not the Chime bank) when you want to use the three 12-string models. Once the Custom bank is selected you can, as with the 6-string models, move among them using just the pickup selector switch. Setting things up as above means you won't have to worry about switching Variax Banks while playing live. You can proceed exactly like you now do. Use the HD500 preset to select the desired Variax bank (Chime for 6-string, Custom for 12-string) and then use just the pickup selector to move among positions 1, 3, and 5 within that bank.

If I understand correctly you are simultaneously recording both a dry and processed signal into your DAW, using the Helix LT as the audio interface. Then you reamp the dry signal, now using the LT as both the interface and the reamping device, and process the dry signal through the same LT preset. You record this processed dry signal into a new track. On playback of the two processed signals you notice a difference in the volume level and are asking if that’s normal. Correct? I’m not 100% sure but I would say that’s normal, or at least not abnormal. My bigger question is “Does it matter?”. Is this difference in volume level causing some specific problem for you?

Why do you need to use the same CC? Can you not use different CCs and send two simultaneous MIDI messages, one to each CC, toggling them independently? Sorry if the above is naive; I haven’t tried this myself.

You can’t directly save a Workbench setting to the HD500. What you can do is save a Workbench setting to the Variax guitar as a specific model, which means you save it to a Variax Bank and Pickup Selector Switch position (e.g. Custom-2). Then you store the specific model selection in the HD500 preset. Consult the Workbench documentation (or Help feature) to get details on how to save a Workbench model to your Variax. Still, though, you can only have 5 Variax models contained within any Variax Bank (e.g. Chime). If you manage to configure your ‘missing’ 12-string model in Workbench then the question becomes “Where do you store the model in the Variax guitar?” You either overwrite one of the existing Chime models (still leaving with you with 5 of the possible 6 models in the Chime bank) or you store it in another Variax Bank (e.g. Custom), meaning you have all 6 desired Rickenbacker models in your Variax, but one of them is in another bank. Which, of course, means you still can’t access them all during live play using only the pickup selector switch. You will need to navigate to another bank using the Variax Model Selection knob, and then use the pickup selector switch.

Google is your friend. I would begin by setting aside at least an hour and entering the search term “Guitar FX 101” or anything similar. Leave you guitar alone and READ, following whatever links catch your eye.

I do the same thing you do - rarely touch the Variax knobs when playing live. I use the Helix preset to control the model selection. Why did they do it that way? Because most Variax model banks focus on one type of physical guitar. The guitars usually have either two physical pickups (e.g. Tele, Les Paul) and a three-position pickup selector switch, or three physical pickups (e.g. Stratocaster) and a five-position pickup selector switch. In the case of the 3-pickup/5-position guitars all 5 pickup selection options for the single guitar are modeled and mapped directly to the Variax pickup selector switch. However, in the case of the 2-pickup/3-position guitars the Variax uses positions 1, 3, and 5 for the primary physical guitar being modeled, and positions 2 and 4 for a similar and secondary physical guitar. With the Chime/Rickenbacker guitars they chose a 12-string model as the secondary physical guitar. Other examples of a similar secondary guitar being modeled exist in other banks such as T-Model, Lester, Semi, and others. Check out the physical guitars being modeled in these banks and you will see the same principle applied, namely using two physical guitars and only 2 of the possible 3 pickup selector positions on the secondary guitar in Variax pickup selector switch positions 2 and 4. I don’t understand what you mean by your last sentence. Can you elaborate?

Raising the output level of any block in the signal chain can affect overall tone because any of the later blocks in the chain can affect the tone differently based on the input level it receives. Raising the level of the Output block will not affect the tone leaving the device.

Do the amp model packs you purchased also include IRs? Some do, some don’t. If they do include IRs these will be separate files in the amp model download package that you need to manually import into the POD Go’s IR library. If IRs are not included then you select one of the existing POD Go cab models to use along with the purchased amp models.

The Chime model in the Variax provides 5 different Ric models. Three of them are 6-string models, corresponding to the Bridge, Neck+Bridge, and Neck pickup options on a Ric 6-string. However it does not provide all three options for the 12-string. I believe it provides only the Neck (Chime-4) and Bridge (Chime-2) options. What you are experiencing according to my interpretation is normal behaviour. Your POD HD500 preset specifies the Chime-4 setting, which is the 12-string Variax model that is selected when you select that preset. The Variax remains in the Chime bank when you move the pickup selector switch, which then activates the 3 6-string models as well as the Chime-2 model if you depress the Tuning knob with the pickup selector in the Bridge position.

Wait for Line 6 to respond to your support ticket.

A quick followup... There are some things that Metallurgy does/has that Helix doesn't. Metallurgy includes a Room mic option in the Cab section; Helix does not have this. Also, Metallurgy uses two channel mics on a single cab while Helix uses dual cabs. However, with Helix you can duplicate the cab and obtain the same two-mics-on-a-single-cab effect.

It might help if you tell us your overall experience with and knowledge about using guitar FX of any sort. Do you understand what the various pedal categories represent? For instance, do you understand what a Mod vs. Comp pedal does? If not, you need to start with general internet research to gain that overall understanding. If you’re new to pedals in general you have a general learning curve to climb before getting specific about the Spider amp options. Once you understand, for instance, what a Comp pedal is designed to do and understand how the relevant parameters work (Threshold, Ratio, Decay, etc.) then you begin to experiment with the available Comp models on the Spider amp to discover which models you prefer. Same thing with Mod, Delay, etc. If you already have this understanding then please be more specific about your question. What specific options are you talking about - the factory presets perhaps? What exactly do you mean by ‘category’?

Have you considered returning the HX Stomp and replacing it with the HX FX product? The latter has no amp/cab modeling and is designed for exactly the purpose you describe. It will be easier for you to use, eliminating the need to ask the question you’re asking.

I’m not sure whether Helix Native includes the complete set of amps, cabs, and FX in Metallurgy. That’s something you can answer for yourself with a little product research. For instance, helixhelp.com conveniently lists everything in Helix (and hence Helix Native). I’m not aware of anything like that for Metallurgy but it’s model set is much smaller and also well documented. As for the signal chain, Helix Native includes hardware compatibility modes that can restrict presets to the limitations of the various Helix devices. I’m sure that the possibilities include anything that Metallurgy can do. As for presets, Helix devices have their own set of factory presets and Helix Native provides them all, again based on the selected hardware compatibility mode. Hence Helix Native presets will not be identical to the Metallurgy presets but will give you the same sort of starting points for your custom preset design.

Not sure if it's normal, but it is likely because the input levels to the preset are different. You can probably adjust the Input level of Helix Native until the output levels are the same. It probably doesn't really matter - you can also adjust the output level of Helix Native until you like the sound.