davidb7170

When you do a Global Reset, all global settings go back to default. Default for XLR & 1/4" out is Line Level. Dave

Definitely a hardware issue -- get it fixed or get a replacement from Sweetwater. That child ain't right... If it were heat-related, I'd expect it to be alright initially, then go bad, not the other way around. Could be a bad cold solder joint that doesn't make proper contact until it warms up... Either way -- not good. Might be a simple fix or not. It will need to be put on a test bench by a qualified service tech. OR just replaced by Sweetwater. They advertise a 2 year warranty -- time to ante up... So far (knock wood) I've not needed Sweetwater's warrantee service. When my JTV-59 had its 3-way switch glitch in 2011, I dealt directly with Line 6, and they had it back to me in a week. Even though I bought it from Sweetwater, L6 stepped up to the plate and dealt with it. It's been fine ever since. I hope for your sake you have a back-up plan while you wait for resolution if you need to gig in the meantime. I keep my prior equipment. I have a POD HD 500X on hand for backup purposes. I always take my last pedal and keep it in the car, just in case... I got burned when my POD XTLive died at a gig in 2009, made a flying trip home to grab my small Fender combo, but was severely limited that night. Luckily the gig was only ~5 miles away from home, but we were about 30 - 40 minutes late in starting the gig. When I had my X3Live, I had no backup, then when I got my HD500, my X3L was the backup, then when I got the 500X, my 500 was the backup. Now the 500X is the backup for the Helix. I'm an engineer, and think in terms of contingencies. Firm believer in Murphy's Laws, as well.... Dave

My patches sound exactly as they did before the update from FW 1.04.2 to 1.04.3. I've been updating them as they come, and have no issues with them, other than the name issues with patches with New Presets in between, and I solved that with making a New Preset Dummy with simply an amp and nothing else for the New presets -- doesn't mess with those, and leaves everything in place. I wrote down all the globals I need to reset and to what values, including my Global EQ that I have adjusted for my speaker (-8dB at mid frequency = 3 kHz, Q = 1.7), and everything works like it should. Sorta wish the bundle saves would take the Global settings with them, but you can rail against how it is, or learn what you need to do with the reality of the system. Dave Edit - 3 kHz, not 300 kHz... umm, that would be AM radio frequency.... jeez

If it is a traditional Zero Fret, and not some "Zero Fret" product (don't know if such extists) - such as on my Gretsch Country Gentleman, the design of the neck & fret board need to be right for it. It takes a fret positioned at where the nut is now, so major renovation would be needed to implement it. the nut with string slots sits lower than the extra fret and just holds the strings in place as they pass over the zero fret. Action of the strings is only as high as the rest of the frets, so will probably need some neck relief work as well. Usually, if the neck of the guitar is not designed for zero fret, I'd think it'd be a whole can of worms... Dave

Hope the "certain retailers" includes Sweetwater -- ordered the Helix backpack when I first saw it there -- was the first I saw it anywhere, on 11/25.... Dave

Another way is to use your fingers on the frets.... Ok, just kidding! ;) Dave

It all boils down to personal choice. I've been gigging for many years, and have been using floor fx mostly, with a couple of exceptions with an fx in a small 2 or 3 space rack, but it always ate the same floor space plus space for the rack. I am very protective of my equipment, and have always placed my stuff to do my best to keep it out of harm's way.... I've always been a weekender, so hauling weight and setup time are always considerations, as well. I have down sized to a small, powerful system. I typically don't have much stage room to work with, so for me, the choice was always the floor unit. Obviously YMMV.... Dave

Last night's gig with our own soundman went great. I asked him about the phantom power, and it is as I read in the manual for his board & stage box -- the phantom power is assignable on a per channel basis, and he only turns it on the channels he has condenser mics on, for the drummer. The place was small and he didn't mic the drummer, except for the kick. I noticed 2 phantom indicator lights on on the stage box, but he had no XLR's plugged into those, they were just on in his preset for the board. As usual, I ran with my Helix ground lifted to his equipment. No problems. He said on the XLR's pin 1 is +, pin 2 is -, and pin 3 is the ground. When phantom is on, it puts voltage across pin 1 and pin 3, so phil_m saying the ground lift cured it for him is most logical, as it broke the 48V DC path. Cletcher1 may have an issue with his mixing board possibly using the case ground of the board or snake XLR as the ground path for the phantom, so a ground lift at the Helix would not necessarily have broken the DC Voltage path. Just a thought... Dave

I have not run my Helix with our normal sound guy, yet. Will tomorrow night. The bar where I used the Helix first a couple of weeks ago had their own sound system, and I had no problems with his setup, but I do always run with my ground lift on, as I use a stage amp (Quilter Tone Block 200) that provides the local ground via the 1/4" I run to it. I do it as habit. You do have to have a local ground reference, and ground loops are a lollipop, but have not run into the phantom voltage issue -- or the ground lift took care of it, and I was not aware of it. Some mics are sensitive to it, and can be damaged, so I would be really surprised if it could not be switched off. I just took a look at the manual for the Soundcraft digital soundboard and digital stage box or snake our sound man uses, and the 48V phantom power is assignable on a per channel basis. I know he uses some condensers on the drummer, but the wireless and wired vocal mics are dynamic, so don't use phantom. The guitars and the bass all go direct, so do not need and should not have phantom on those runs. each channel XLR input on the stage box has an indicator light on when 48V is present. Like I said, it was not an issue with the HD500X, and should not be an issue with the Helix with our set-up, but it will be interesting, and I will keep an eye out for it.... I'm an electrical engineer, and so is our sound man, so we have good communication between us and can usually troubleshoot situations fairly fast together. Dave Had my first lollipop replacement in this post.... :lol:

Doubting a firmware update will fix this one, as the normal way to be insensitive to phantom power for XLR devices is an isolation transformer stage of circuitry -- physical connections, in other words, not programmed responses, just like you can't program your way out of a ground loop, you need physical circuitry to isolate the problem. Make a note -- turn off phantom power on the device you're plugging into (the "Phantom Menace") - it should be the normal state of a mixing board, and be a simple push button on the channel you're plugging into... Dave

Don't think it will matter. The power switch on the Helix was in response to the outrage of customers (me included) to not having power switches on the HD500(X) pedals, after having them on the XTLive, and the X3Live units. One difference between the Helix & the earlier POD pedals, though is the XTL, X3L, and HD's had external power modules (wall warts), where the Helix does not, it is house power into the unit, so the power conversion is moved inside the Helix. On the earlier units, even though they had a switch, the power module was always on if plugged in to power. On the Helix, the power switch actually turns off the power to the unit's internal PSU. The switch is a switch, no magic there... If your other devices have any inrush or transients that makes your Helix act up when you hit the master power on the power strip, you may want to consider starting up your power strip, then your Helix, as all the stuff on your power strip will be powering up at the same time. The only way to know will be to try it. I doubt that solid state effects on your pedal board will have much inrush or transients, BUT if you also serve your power amp from the same strip, you may have some issues, as those may cause some effects when they power up, usually more of an inductive "bump" from those.... Not "official" information, so caveat emptor..... Dave

I didn't have time to translate the last couple of posts, but agree with cruisinon2 try a different RJ45. One thing that would really not work would be a "cross-over" RJ45 -- don't know if those are still out there, but used to use them for hooking 2 pc's directly together with Ethernet. They have the send and receive wires flipped from end to end, so that would mess up your signal & power paths when used with a variax, which is not Ethernet, just uses the same cable configuration... Dave

I did the update to 1.04.2 tonight -- no issues. I've played the unit for the last couple of hours going through tons of the factory and my own patches, no problems so far. I typically don't drag & drop, I usually use the import function where it opens up a folder and you choose the file. I did put in about 5 IR's with dragging and dropping, again without issue... So far so good. Did the global reset, then went through and redid my global settings. Dave

Logarithmic is also called "Audio Taper" on pots & soundboard mixer sliders... I set my helix up with that curve for all my volume pedal blocks -- just by habit.... Dave

I found some 69 & 69S pickguards on www.fullcompass.com : I bought the white pearloid for my 69S, I got it while my guitar tech was setting it up, so I took it over to him and put it on for me. I was going to do it, figured while he had it.... ;o) Ok, that's strange, tried to paste links -- have noticed pasting on the L6 Forums isn't working for me (works fine on other forums), oh well, will also attach a text file.... Dave Fullcompass 69(S) Pickguards.txt

You probably want to look & verify like cruisinon2 suggested, but also your serial number will tell you what year it was made. I got my 69S in 2012 -- it's SN begins with "W12" -- by then they had done the redesign on the cable routing. Dave

Silverhead - I've tried the separate switch with the EXP1/EXP2, to switch between WAH and Volume control, but when I would switch to WAH, the volume pedal block gets bypassed, so goes to 100% volume... The pedal "positions" don't "stay" are when they were when switched - they get bypassed. At least that's how it worked when I was attempting it with the WAH/VOL operation. But yeah, you have to go to 100% toe position to switch the toe switch.... I don't do a lot of parameter changing in a live situation. I did get an external Mission pedal, but use it at home, and it works well with my Helix, as well. Dave

I don't think anyone is on you about it -- probably more relieved it was MF again in the wrong -- seems to be there a lot lately.... As a customer who's only bought a few things from them, I've not had this experience, but word of mouth on them is not good, and it only hurts their credibility & ultimately sales, I'd think.... The more they're seen to be pulling stuff like that, the worse it is for their bottom line, in the long run. I'd think their management would be (should be) alarmed of the reputation they're getting on this stuff. I've gotten my JTV's & Helix and some other stuff at Sweetwater, and have always been treated well -- just never have lucked out with any price reductions... Dave

Yeah.... I wouldn't recommend it, as the electronics in the Variax are not like a regular guitar, the pots are special, the signal routing goes into the switching between mags & models and AD/DA conversions... And of course the DSP chips... If you use the VDI (I do), the models are digital, but the mags are analog and are converted in the guitar analog to digital (AD) to send out the VDI cable to the POD or Helix VDI input which is digital. Conversely, if you use the guitar 1/4" output to an amp, the mags are already analog, but the models are digital and have to be converted to analog (DA). See there's so much going on under the hood, I wouldn't really suggest digging around in there. Now, I have replaced my 69S's single coil mags with a set of noiseless from DiMarzio, but I just removed the old and connected the wires to the same points as the old pickups were. Most regular guitars are simply pickups, switches, volume & tone pots with caps, not much more -- not so with these.... Dave

Yup - pretty much sums it up, silverhead. I have the XTLive (now the XTDead - RIP, LOL), X3Live, the HD500, the HD500X, and the Helix. I haven't gotten out my X3L since I got the HD's. Definitely keeping the entourage because if/when they get HD Worbench going on the Helix, I will still need the HD500 to edit my Variax 300. My JTV 59 & 69S need a device for editing, and so far it's the 500 or 500X -- c'mon L6, get on the stick.... Don't really care for it when companies orphan their own products... Of course, with the Standard, hope the writing's not on the wall for the JTV's -- discussion on another thread... Yeah I have the USB interface (2 actually - one with each JTV) -- don't like it as the 1/4" out does not have the same volume balance as the VDI between the mags & the models - old subject -- brought it up before got no traction on the forums,,, Dave

I rarely see JTV's at the local GC. Usually have only seen one there at a time. I did see a couple Standard's and a blue JTV 69 at a GC in Minneapolis on a trip this October. I wasn't impressed with the Standard's, and also not a fan of the blue (each to their own)..... These Variax's are not that common "in the wild" - I have seen no one else with one in my area, nor have I seen the HD500(X), and now the Helix.... Dave

I had the same thing happen. The presets are still there in the same places, just the names slipped off the plate, so to speak. I think they will fix it, when it bubbles to the top of their pile. Luckily, I was able to rename the patches by using the Helix app and cutting & pasting the text from the names in the wrong slots to the right slots. I am going to try a few tactics, first will try just putting a different name than "New Preset", then if that doesn't work, will create a minimal preset as a place holder. It seems to me, it either "doesn't like" empty presets or the New Preset name itself.... Dave

Such a rosy outlook.... I ordered my Helix on Sept 30, had it on Oct 20. Didn't wring my hands once. I'll get the backpack when it gets here... Dave

Don't know if anybody already noted this, but Sweetwater has the Helix Backpack carry case on its site. This is the first I've seen it offered. I pre-ordered it tonight. Did not find it on AMS, Guitar Center, or Musicians Friend sites as of tonight. Just FYI... Dave Ok - that's weird, I tried to paste the text for the link, but nothing would paste.... Oh well find it yourselves.... I've noticed this for a while... IE 11 on Win 8.1, recent behavior with only the L6 Forums, works elsewhere.... USED to work here.....

Definitely not ideal. I have 2 of the USB interfaces, got one with each JTV. I had been used to using the Workbench on the 300 with the XTLive, then X3Live then the JTV 59 with first the X3Live, then the HD500. I was forced into using the USB interface when I realized the 500X didn't work with Workbench until they did the HD upgrade, not all that long ago . My use of the USB interface was a PITA because as I have posted before, the JTV's sound different when used via the 1/4" guitar jack versus the VDI input on the pod's. The relative volume of mag's versus models is different from VDI to 1/4" jack. It took twice as much time to adjust the models -- tweak with USB, save, disconnect, hook up to VDI, nope, need to fix that, reconnect to USB, tweak, repeat, repeat..... I was very disappointed when L6 included the VDI input specifically for the Variax on the Helix, but not have the ability to use their own Workbench HD with their own guitars -- what up with that? My HOPE is that they will correct the situation soon, AND make it possible to update the Variax as well. It's sort of like putting a hand crank on a Cadillac -- yeah, it would work, but... why? My perspective.... Dave