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Mission Helix expression pedal!


ColonelForbin
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Word is Santa is bringing one of these down my chimney. And when I say Santa I mean wife, and chimney I mean FedEx. I'll report back after Xmas on how it works. I envision using this for all sorts of things, depending on the patch (delay feedback, univibe speeds, reverb mix, you name it).

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I think it's specific to Helix Rack? Looks like the controller for Helix Rack has an input for "exp toe switch", and the rack also has that input- but the Helix floor unit does not.

1600-HelixControl_detail1.jpg

 

1600-HelixRack_detail3.jpg

  • Expression pedal for Line 6 Helix Rack (only)
  • Perfect for using Helix Rack live, making effects switching easier
  • Pedal range is optimized for Line 6 Helix Rack's expression pedal input

"It has a toe switch to engage/disengage your effect of choice for ease-of-use. Just connect the output of the SP1-L6H to your Helix Rack and assign the switches to the effects you want to toggle. "
1600-SP1L6H_detail1.jpg

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  • 1 year later...

AH....ok...gives me an idea

After the warranty is expired on the Floor Helix, somebody could parallel the wiring on the Helix internal toe switch and bring it out to an external 1/4" jack... hmmm

 

toesw.jpg

Seeya

Joe

I thought the helix floor version had a toe switch on the expression pedal which you could assign to switch from volume to Wah and back? The rack remote only has the toe switch input because it doesn't have the expression pedal on it. Unless of course you want two expression pedals with toe switches. That would be too much for my brain to bear while playing ;)

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Hey Gabsbiz...

 

That post was From December 2015 :D ... way before snapshots and auto-engage/ bypass..

 

I will backtrack for you as a courtesy...

 

My original intent was to use an old wah pedal, modified to be an expression pedal with a 10k POT and an internal momentary switch, to be EXP 2 and control the wah while allowing 'ext bypass' like the HELIX Rack unit...

 

Although the Helix Floor has the switch under the pedal for EXP1/EXP2... it doesn't have an external Jack for the "Exp Pedal Toe Switch" like the HELIX Rack...

 

This would have meant that I would have had to modify the HELIX with an additional jack and wired to parallel the Internal toe-switch like this...

 

toesw.jpg

 

Not wanting to modify my HELIX, and hoping that auto engage/ bypass might be in a future update, I waited it out and now I use a Spring-loaded Expression Pedal with auto-engage to bypass the wah.... A way better solution without any Helix mods required!! 

 

(Auto-engage also allows me to automatically turn on a delay and a Gain and Volume boost at the same the Pedal is moved past 5%.)

 

pedal.jpg

 

I hope this helps

 

Seeya

 

Joe

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

I think a firmware update to Helix Floor may enable "exp3" out to be used as "exp toe switch" or "exp 3" out selectively. Wouldn't it be cool that we could have two exp pedal with individual toe switches?

With a little understanding of what Helix is looking for and what your switch is doing, this can already be done!

 

http://line6.com/support/topic/26725-toe-switching-with-an-external-exp-pedal/

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With a little understanding of what Helix is looking for and what your switch is doing, this can already be done!

 

http://line6.com/support/topic/26725-toe-switching-with-an-external-exp-pedal/

Thanks. That's good to know it is already possible at least with a workaround. Anyway without much tinkering, it would be good to connect any expression pedal with a toe switch and assign a role to the "exp 3" input as "exp toe switch" on the gui selectively. So the internal resistors will be activated for the inputs and we can be sure not to fry our expensive hardware by short-cutting the pedal inputs. Even on a cheap arduino we can assign these roles to control the inputs. So for a super hardware like helix, it must be more straightforward on the LCD display.

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I wish they would add calibration. I have a Mission spring pedal that works but goes past the 100% and then folds back down to around 50% at full toe. It worked fine when connected to the Axe FX II (after calibration). Since I can't calibrate the mission pedal in Helix, I guess I'm SOL on using it with auto engage. 

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I wish they would add calibration. I have a Mission spring pedal that works but goes past the 100% and then folds back down to around 50% at full toe. It worked fine when connected to the Axe FX II (after calibration). Since I can't calibrate the mission pedal in Helix, I guess I'm SOL on using it with auto engage. 

I believe I read somewhere in the forum that people fixed that problem by modding the wiring. Anyway I think you can change the pot with a 10k one in the pedal which helix expects, so the calibration problem probably goes away.

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...and we can be sure not to fry our expensive hardware by short-cutting the pedal inputs...

Just for clarification, there is no risk of "frying" anything by doing this. You're just using a switch to produce two discrete EXP positions (0% and 100%) instead of using a potentiometer to provide the full range.

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Oh yea, I can modify the Mission pedal (I'm a 40+ year Electronics Tech by trade) but I still wish for a Helix calibration page along with a "curve" adjust for the heel to toe travel. Seeing is believing.  :)

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Just for clarification, there is no risk of "frying" anything by doing this. You're just using a switch to produce two discrete EXP positions (0% and 100%) instead of using a potentiometer to provide the full range.

Thanks. That's good to know. I wonder if there may be clever things to do with helix and an arduino or a teensy board (Using that exp ins for example).

 

Oh yea, I can modify the Mission pedal (I'm a 40+ year Electronics Tech by trade) but I still wish for a Helix calibration page along with a "curve" adjust for the heel to toe travel. Seeing is believing.  :)

+1

If the firmware was open sourced (at least some parts of the code), I am sure some people would come here with some crazy creative projects.

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