wharris66 Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Want to connect my electric guitar with passive pickups to "guitar" input and connect acoustic with L. R. Baggs Lyric pickup to another input so that I can use Helix as A/B depending on which preset I choose. Problem is I can't seem to get enough input signal to Helix from my acoustic. Pickup, battery and cables are all good. I've tried all inputs. Do I need an external preamp or DI to do this? Helix is out to L2t via Link 6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wharris66 Posted October 16, 2015 Author Share Posted October 16, 2015 Bumping this because I need to have it figured out befits Saturday... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozbadman Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Problem is I can't seem to get enough input signal to Helix from my acoustic. Pickup, battery and cables are all good. I've tried all inputs. Do I need an external preamp or DI to do this? Helix is out to L2t via Link 6. Acoustic pickups even without a battery are a decent signal level. If you have an onboard pre-amp, there's no way the acoustic isn't generating a hot enough signal (assuming battery, pickup and cable are all OK). So, my guess is, either pickup, battery and cables are not all good, or you've misconfigured the Helix, or plugged in to the wrong input. None of that is very useful other that no, you don't need an additional preamp or DI. Try your electric. When it's working, plug your acoustic in instead of the electric and see if the signal level is OK. Also try both straight into an amp, to make sure your acoustic is pumping out an OK signal. My guess is you've probably just not set up the Helix properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil_m Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 Want to connect my electric guitar with passive pickups to "guitar" input and connect acoustic with L. R. Baggs Lyric pickup to another input so that I can use Helix as A/B depending on which preset I choose. Problem is I can't seem to get enough input signal to Helix from my acoustic. Pickup, battery and cables are all good. I've tried all inputs. Do I need an external preamp or DI to do this? Helix is out to L2t via Link 6. Have you tried using a return with it set to instrument level? The level from your acoustic should be sufficient enough. If you need more level, just put a Gain block in the chain and bump it up as needed. The Gain block is under the volume/pan category. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wharris66 Posted October 17, 2015 Author Share Posted October 17, 2015 Thanks for the help guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GadgetGuitar Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 What am i missing? Normal setup is Acoustic, BodyRez, Reverb then to a DI to FOH. Plugged my acoustic in last night to the helix, using the XLR from the DI direct to the Helix. Zero volume. I have a PRS P22, tried running the Piezo side into the Helix, same problem? Tried running an EQ block, then went to a Pre-amp block? I would like a boost and some eq but no gain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdmayfield Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 What am i missing? Normal setup is Acoustic, BodyRez, Reverb then to a DI to FOH. Plugged my acoustic in last night to the helix, using the XLR from the DI direct to the Helix. Zero volume. I have a PRS P22, tried running the Piezo side into the Helix, same problem? Tried running an EQ block, then went to a Pre-amp block? I would like a boost and some eq but no gain. I have a couple suggestions - 1) Big picture: compare an electric guitar's volume with the acoustic guitar's volume in some other device. (Like an amp or a recording interface.) Take the Helix out of the equation and see what the actual difference in volume is. 2) Specific about boost: Many non-studio-tech guitar players say "gain" when they mean distortion. Is that what you mean by wanting no gain? A studio tech says "gain" when they mean a 100% clean and un-signal-altering volume change. In the Helix, you can use the Output level of a block, and it won't introduce any distortion, unless you boost the signal higher than the *next* block in the chain can handle cleanly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GadgetGuitar Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 Phil, Noticed some clips you did on The Gear Page of an acoustic. You mentioned using the Taylor IRs. Interested in the other part of the chain? Using a pre-amp? Been trying to just use an EQ with reverb and an IR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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