silverhead

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.

Personally I think you should switch from using Audacity. The main reason is that, by default I believe, Audacity uses a non-compliant pseudo-ASIO protocol called ASIO4ALL. It is known to cause problems with ASIO-compliant devices like Helix. Unless you can configure Audacity to use the Line 6 ASIO driver for Helix, switch recording programs.

You could try using Helix Native in your studio. Record the dry guitar track, focusing only on your playing without worrying about FX processing. Then apply the Helix Native plugin to the track during playback. The display will show the entire signal path including all FX blocks. Instead of tapping a footswitch you could click a mouse. Select any stomp block at any time and click it on/off. Seems your hand and mouse could be just as effective as your foot. You can then 'print' the affected track to a new track, including all your real-time processing/preset edits.

We fully understand what you want to do. Again, it can’t currently be done. Not the answer you want, obviously, but there it is. I’m not going to debate why it’s designed that way.

Yes, you can only have independent control of the bypass state of 10 stomps in any preset. Why? By design. You could post your request to increase that number to Ideascale. You can assign bypass control of multiple stomps to the same footswitch so you can turn on/off several stomps using a single foot tap. This can be done using direct footswitch assignments or by using Snapshots.

You’re right that there’s no formal way to mark a question as solved. However, as the person who started this thread you, and only you, can edit the Title of the thread. If users here want to mark a thread as solved they usually just add the word SOLVED to the beginning of the title.

You can uninstall all but the most recent identically named items; a total of 5 items can be uninstalled.

A VDI cable is shielded (a circular housing around the connectors) at both ends to secure the connection and protect the jacks. The cable that comes with a Variax guitar is part of a set that is used to connect the Variax to a computer for use with Workbench. It is not shielded at either end, or sometimes only at one end, and is vulnerable to loose connections and damage over time if used in place of a true VDI cable. Here is the Variax Workbench connector set: https://shop.line6.com/accessories/guitar-accessories/variax-vdi-usb-interface-kit.html And here is the VDI cable: https://shop.line6.com/accessories/guitar-accessories/variax-digital-cable.html