Helix Rack
I want to assure "Fulcrum" who wanted to know if an alternate floorboard could be used to provide simple channel switching that the Behringer FCB1010 works for every processor that I have ever owned. It's rugged & inexpensive @ around $150 to $200.
Did the design engineers forget to add a 1/4" guitar input on the Floor Controller for Helix Rack system? Seems to me that by having the guitar input there it would make perfect sense rather than running an additional cable back to the rack mount rig. Now if the guitarist is using a wireless system then the signal would be sent directly to the Helix Rack system rather than the floor board.
The Helix rack mount has 4 - 1/4" jacks described as 3 dedicated to expression pedals and 1 (selectable) as a CV or expression combo output. I'd like clarification on these jacks to see if they could all be programmed as CV outputs & provide me the connectivity to control channel and effects switching on my Mesa Boogie Lonestar amp.
My biggest fear is the clean sound won't be as convincing as playing through an amp. Mitch Gallagher made a comment on the Sweetwater video claiming the distorted sounds on the current processors available on the marketplace today all seem to get a convincing distorted sound such as a Marshall 800 but fall short in achieving a clean usable guitar sound. I've never found one processor including the Kemper to provide a true replication of a clean sound without any so called "HAIR" as referred to by Mitch Gallagher in his assessment of the Helix. I owned the Kemper for three months and found all of the sounds to be very similar in sound quality with a very sterile quality to them. I have never had the opportunity to try the Fractal Axe FX 11 but all the videos I have watched to date seem to have an excellent clean sound regardless of the guitar being used in the demo.
I've ordered the Helix rack from Long & McQuade in Canada and basing my purchase on Mitch Gallagher's assessment of the clean sounds. I am looking forward to working with the Helix rack & the floorboard & will report back when I have the unit & let everyone know what it sounds like.
Cheers to everyone!
Tele'
