somebodyelse

I suppose the title says it all?

Is it possible to do channel changing via the amp switching jack, is the gist of it. The effects switching is really redundant since the HX would be the way to go with this combination.

I get that if the CX100 was used instead of the CX60, I could use MIDI, but I think the size of that amp might  be too big for this scenario.

Apologies, I'm going to make some assumptions...

First, you should be sending instrument level signal to your 5150. That'll need changing to line level for your FRFR. If it were me, assuming the FRFR has an XLR input, I'd buy an XLR cable and use that output for FRFR (set to line level) and leave the 5150 on whichever output you use for that (at instrument level).

Next, I expect you're not using amp & cab blocks in to the 5150? You'll need to add 'em for FRFR - PV Panama would probably be a good starting point.

Then, before you go diving in to adding EQs, adjust the amp block's settings - don't assume just setting them like the real thing will give you the same results. It should, but it's not guaranteed.

If it were me, I'd copy your '5150' setlist to an empty setlist and add the amp & cab to these presets. This way, I'd have one set of presets for the 5150 and another set for the FRFR.

Add the appropriate amp and cab to your first preset, adjust the amp controls until you get it as close as you can. I would almost certainly go to the cab settings and adjust the high and Low cuts to at least 80 Hz and somewhere around 8.0kHz. Experiment with the virtual mic and it's positioning.

EVERY TIME YOU MAKE A CHANGE AND GET A POSITIVE RESULT, SAVE THE PRESET. Do this and you can always easily get back when you make things worse.

Once you've exhausted the possibilities, got as close as you can...

If you were using the same amp settings on the 5150, once you have an amp/cab combination set up the way you like, save it as a favourite and just add it to each preset, rather than keep adding amp and cab and adjusting the settings.

Next, if you need to tweek further, you may need to add an EQ and further tweek it. Maybe start simple with the 'Tilt' EQ. Maybe, you'll need more detailed EQ adjustments.

If you don't 'play out', you could use the Global EQ settings instead of an EQ block on each preset, BUT you'd need to remember to switch them off when using your '5150' setup. I'd rather use an EQ block, find the ideal settings, save as a favourite and add it to each preset...

I strongly recommend getting familiar with the user manual, and subscribing to Jason Sadites youtube channel.

Hope I've helped.

The real experts will be along soon.

All those people you see walking around with headphones on, staring at their phones. They're not listening to music; they're being told when to breathe in and when to breathe out.

Not for me.

I like having to figure things out for myself. It's how I know I'm alive.

I'm glad I won't be around in 50 years. I'd hate to have to deal with people who have grown up with AI - ie. 'the hard of thinking'.

Hmm? Teles and 'snappy'?

Steel saddles and lower wind pickups are the way to go.

Early pickups, pre '53ish were 43AWG/A3/9+k. and the bridge saddles were made of brass.

Around then they switched to 42AWG/A5/~6-7k for the bridge pickups.

They switched to steel saddles around '56 IIRC.

'Snappy' is often associated with the switch to rosewood boards in '59, but there were other changes which probably contributed more to it.

In terms of the blocks... I can get a snappy country-esque tone using just a Boogie Mk4 model with '59 spec' Tele, so you shouldn't have any trouble if you follow the other's advice, but that 'snap' is going to come from the guitar, not the Helix.

You're welcome.

The idea behind the 'tempo' setting is that you set it for the tempo of the song the preset is for, and then when you're setting up your delays, they can be set to 'musical intervals', which then syncs your 'echoes' in time with the music.

It's feature I've never used - I've been playing over 40 years - simply because I don't play in scenarios where you can guarantee the song will be played at a specific tempo - real life human drummer, no click. I've always set my delays in milliseconds.

If you look in the delay control section there's a button 'sync' which when pressed changes... not sure what to - (sorry, I don't actually own a Catalyst), but your delay times can then be set in ms, rather than note intervals.

Check the MIDI settings on the Tonex, too.

Try the old MIDI cable. Back in the dark ages (before MIDI), you could get  5 pin DIN cables for audio use. They're not wired the same a a MIDI cable, from what I remember. I'd be stunned if you've been sold one, but you never know.

After that I dunno - I've been using a MIDI controlled rack for decades, but other than setting the channels and whether programs start at 000 or 001, it didn't get any deeper than that.

The tempos are different - top right of the window. You're using 'synced' delay times, which are linked to the tempo.

On the first one... are you listening for long enough to actually hear the echo...?

Otherwise... all looks okay to me.

PS; Could also be that your noisegate settings are cutting the echo off.

On 6/28/2024 at 3:34 AM, boynigel said:

i need to send 2 mono outs from my LT.  if all my patches are in mono, is there any reason why i still shouldn't use the L and R XLR outputs together?  would i be better off using the L/mono XLR and the L/mono 1/4" instead?

No.

On 6/21/2024 at 2:04 PM, Schmalle said:

No.

Look up the Level parameter in Controller Assign and make sure it is not assigned to something.

 

Also, assuming you're in HX Edit and you're using a mouse wheel, make sure the pointer isn't hovering over any parameters you don't want to adjust...

On 6/25/2024 at 9:19 AM, thirdspace said:

Of course - the answer is right there in front of me as usual - thanks so much!!

Yer welcome. 

Haven't tried it, myself, so I'm only guessing that it'd work.

Export 'em as a setlist and import the setlist in to Native?

On 6/23/2024 at 8:10 PM, craiganderton said:

 

It's good you brought this up! New users should know that updating requires following Line 6's instructions to the letter. Always read through all the update instructions first before attempting an update.

 

This forum is filled with "update bricked my Helix!!" and "new amps don't show up since updating!!" posts, which were pretty much due to user error. Outlier problems are losing internet or power in the middle of updating.

Absolutely.

I imagine if you went and found my first post on this forum, it was me posting how it'd crashed my PC and wouldn't boot. I think I posted something like, 'I'll give it another go and if it doesn't work, I'll send it back...' then a few minutes later, an 'all good' post.

In my case, what happened was, I started the process off, went for a smoke, came back and my PC had a BSOD, so I had no clue what had actually happened. Rebooted the PC, restarted the L6 Updater - at that point, I'd assumed all updating was done through the Updater and tried updating before doing anything else with the unit, straight out of the box... the rest is history, as they say.

On 6/23/2024 at 12:14 PM, SaschaFranck said:

 

Don't worry, I don't think that feature is as old - and it's pretty common for "utility" functions added in updates being sort of overlooked (also happened to me when they changed the dreaded old "IR must be in an identical slot" behaviour to "it's enough once it exists inside the unit").

Buddy, I don't worry about it...

I'm 57 years old, I've been using the same MIDI rack mount setup up for 30 years and I'm still finding out things it can do that I didn't know about.

Makes me chuckle when I read posts where people have given up on a piece of gear after a week with it, though.

On 6/22/2024 at 12:48 PM, SaschaFranck said:

 

Fwiw, you can call me Cassandra.

 

And fortunately they did it exactly like that, a) because as a global tool it's not offering fine enough adjustement options and b) because some amps profit a lot from input padding (making their gain controls way more efficient) whereas others are working better without the pad.

Absolutely.

The moral of the story is 'learn your gear properly, before writing it off'.

I've had my Helix 3 or 4 years and only found I could do this on Thursday.

Old thread, nevertheless...

Usually play with the pad off, however, I have a couple of presets, where I have a few Snapshots set up specifically for use with an E-Bow. In these cases, I have the pad switched on (via the Snapshots).

That was a 'eureka moment' when I discovered I could toggle the Pad in the Snapshots.

Only had mine four years, from new. No issues at all, apart from screwing up it's first firmware update, five minutes after first switch on. One cigarette, a coffee and a reboot later, it sorted itself out.

Only useful advice I have is put the work in and you'll be rewarded. I'm still learning new tricks after four and a half years.

These debates about 'sonic accuracy' always make me chuckle.

Analogue components age over time and fail, sooner or later, and some of that aging alters how the gear sounds.

My 'real world rig' is now 30 years old. The valves, especially the pre-amp valves, have been changed several times, and every time it happened, even though I used the same brand, they sounded different - because old valves get dull over time.

I replaced the speaker units (2x 1x12 closed-backs) five years back, because the original speakers I used failed - they were 20 years old when I got 'em. Replaced 'em with V30s.

The V30 models in my PC+s sounded 'close enough' to them, four years ago, and I'm happy with that. However, the five individual speakers involved are now 4 years older, as are the valves in the analogue setup.

The digital models don't age. The speakers and the electronics do and how that affects the sound... who knows?

That's normal.

As long as the display says <edited> and the ring colour changed, assuming you changed speaker model, it's all good.

Hmmm. In front of a clean amp, not a problem.

Back in the dark ages, I used to have to run my delay in front of my (OD'd) amp... not fun. As soon as I could afford it, that amp was gone, in favour of an amp with an effects loop. I never use reverb anyway, so that was never a consideration.

Never looked back.

You can 'get away with' having delays in front of a dirty amp - low feedback/fast decay, but...

Reverbs, though? NO! Just NO!

On 6/14/2024 at 12:44 PM, thirdspace said:

Sounds interesting - where do I find this - is it a delay?

It's in the delays section on the Helix.

A while ago, I wrote presets that emulate the sound of a guitarist famous for using multitap echoes and an AC30 ;)

I'd done this on other units over the past 15 years, anyway, a friend of mine wanted a set of patches for his POD Go. He'd used my patches before on his Zoom G3.

I'd found I got the best results on the Helix by using multiple instances of the Simple Delay, with a parametric EQ in front...

This isn't possible on the POD Go, so I had to compromise and use the Multitap 4 - not enough control over the individual taps for my liking.

So, I used the Parametric EQ to get the pre-amp curves for the specific units 'the guitarist' used, then in to the Multitap 4 - in my case, the delay time was typically around 600ms, with the taps ranging upwards from 100ms. The HPF & LPF take care of replicating a psuedo tape decay sound.

I don't particularly like Wow & Flutter, but IIRC, I think I found setting the rate around 3-5 and depth around 3.0 gave me results that were 'authentic' to the requirements, but like I say, I don't really care for it.

I 'bluff it' using the vibrato settings in the 'Multitap 4'.

I do whatever suits what I'm playing best.

FWIW, I'm Helix Floor>PC+ via L6 Link.

I prefer to use 'Speaker' mode, and I have tweeked some of the PC's global settings on the advice of a couple of the veteran experts, though I couldn't tell you off the top of my head the exact numbers.

I'm probably less fussy and I almost certainly use less effects than most - one of my presets only has an amp module. I'm just trying to get a great sound rather than match someone else's sound or reinvent the wheel.

"The tone's are in there, you just have to know how to get them out."

Turn the amp up.

A hollowbody is an acoustic guitar. They originally put pickups on, because they couldn't hear them over the rest of the band.

You need the amp loud enough that you can't hear the guitar's acoustic sound over the amp, otherwise you're just wasting your time.

After that, it's the same as dialling in any other electric guitar patch.

As an amateur nobody, I've found that the internet is overflowing with people pretending to be something they're, clearly, not.