Switching Wah on / off

[vinny199]

Hi,

 

I'm really confused about this. I've been reading the manual and various posts on this forum and I am still not sure how to make this happen.

 

All the presets I see that have a wah included in them, the wah is always "on" and controllable with the expression pedal.

 

But can you not have it off (like a real wah) when pushing the toe side all the way down to the switch?

 

I read on the manual about a hidden toe switch, and then I read on forum people saying you need the: "Mission SP1-L6H For Line 6 Helix" to do this?

 

Could someone please help me understand this?

 

I'd be quite disappointed if you could not have wah assigned to the expression pedal but keep it off as default and switch it on when stepping on it, and of course being able to switch if back off.

 

Hopefully such a smart machine can handle this behaviour without an external expression pedal?

 

Could you please let me know if / how I can do this?

 

Thank you

 

Vinny

[Ka5par]

You can switch it off with the switch that's inside Helix.

One thing to consider is that the switch needs to be pressed quite a forcefully.

Maybe you're not stepping on the pedal hard enough?

[vinny199]

That must be it then, because so far I only have it on my desk and using my hands to learn the unit.

 

Thanks!

[spikey]

I keep hoping for an add for this like what Kemper and the Axe FX already has. At heel down, the wah is off and normal tones apply. As you rock the mission pedal forward (Axe FX has a percentage you can change in the menus for this) it engages the wah. There is also a frequency control for the low end and high end, so you can set the wah to your liking, and rock it on without much difference in the "non-wah" tones, so no one hears it engage until its already on. People go- where did that wah come from, I didnt hear the click?!? 

 

Im trying my best to get L6 to at least acknowledge this much needed add on as a work in progress, but no such luck so far...

[JLondon]

The Helix expression pedal has it's own toe switch.  It's the only way to my knowledge that you can switch the regular Helix with an expression pedal.  Mission pedals makes two expression pedals specifically for the Helix.  One is toe switchable but is only for the rack system with floor controller.  The other is not toe switchable and is for the regular floor Helix.  You have to use the Helix built-in pedal for toe switching. 

[spikey]

Yes I know they have this, but wouldn't it be nice to have that spring loaded Mission pedal wah on, all the time,  and ready to turn on and use just by rocking that pedal forward? And Soon as you remove yer foot off the pedal its back off again... Thats what the Axe FX II and Kemper have now. The reason they do is because its a wonderful and fast way to use a wah pedal. No switch to press- always ready and u can use it on every patch... A much needed add If I do say so.

[dvd5445]

I pick the wah I want and go to the bottom of the Helix page as I edit mainly from my computer.  The very bottom says  Home Bypass Assign/ Controller Assign/ Command Center.  In Controller Assign I pick Exp 1 for the wah and save it.  (Exp 2 is my Mission pedal for volume which I strongly recommend as it is more ruggedly built than the Line 6 pedal) Then click left to Bypass Assign and it will turn the wah on /off.  That works for me.  

 

Divwalnut

[AxelMoebius]

This?

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SDlyivJOw8

[xtragood]

Yeah AxelMoebius !!!

 

Definitely that! Thanks.

[alezzblezz]

Hi all !

 

The link to the video above leads to "video unavailable". I'm interested in the solution. Could you explain ?

 

Many thanx !

[alezzblezz]

Ok. Found this from FW 2.10 changelog :

 

- Bypass Assign > Position—Position determines the location in the Exp Pedal or Variax knob’s travel where the block is engaged. For example, if set to 1%, the block will turn off as soon as the pedal is moved to the heel position. If set to 99%, the block will only turn on when the pedal is moved to the toe position. To swap the on/off state regardless of position, click the small bypass icon above the selected block.

[brue58ski]

I like the toe switch. Had to do it that way for decades before all this digital stuff.

[erniedenov]

That must be it then, because so far I only have it on my desk and using my hands to learn the unit.

 

Thanks!

 

It's pretty damn hard to do with your hand. At first I thought it was hard to switch with your foot too, but it was just a matter of getting used to it. It'll still be difficult if you're on high shag carpeting.

[VirtualGuitars]

I simply assign both the "Bypass" and "Position" to EXP Pedal 2 and it auto-engages when I rock the pedal.  It disengages when I return the pedal position back to "0". No switch needed.  It works beautifully!  Hope this help you.

[duncann]

For people using the auto engage, be aware that there currently (2.30.0) seems to be a bug with it: http://line6.com/support/topic/30135-wah-auto-engage-glitch/?hl=auto+engage

[VirtualGuitars]

For people using the auto engage, be aware that there currently (2.30.0) seems to be a bug with it: http://line6.com/support/topic/30135-wah-auto-engage-glitch/?hl=auto+engage

 

 

Thanks for sharing this.  And I just thought it was my bad playing.  :)

[GenoBluzGtr]

Is there a way to assign the wah to a Footswitch to activate it, then control it from Exp 1?   

 

My issue is that using the volume pedal at about 80% for rhythm and pushing it to toe-down for solos, means that whenever I go from Volume to Wah, my wah sounds are always too loud.   

 

I need a way to use the volume for going from Rhythm to Lead (and making minor adjustments during tunes and between songs/tones), and still be able to use the Wah WITHOUT going to max volume to turn it on.  Any ideas?

[VirtualGuitars]

Is there a way to assign the wah to a Footswitch to activate it, then control it from Exp 1?   

 

My issue is that using the volume pedal at about 80% for rhythm and pushing it to toe-down for solos, means that whenever I go from Volume to Wah, my wah sounds are always too loud.   

 

I need a way to use the volume for going from Rhythm to Lead (and making minor adjustments during tunes and between songs/tones), and still be able to use the Wah WITHOUT going to max volume to turn it on.  Any ideas?

 

I mentioned this a few comments back, but here it is again.  I guess it's worth mentioning that I have two Mission Engineering pedals.

 

"I simply assign both the "Bypass" and "Position" to EXP Pedal 2 and it auto-engages when I rock the pedal.  It disengages when I return the pedal position back to "0". No switch needed.  It works beautifully!  Hope this help you."

[GenoBluzGtr]

But wouldn't that kill my volume to start and stop the Wah?   I don't want to use any extra expression pedals.. just the on-board, and I don't want the volume to go up or down to get the wah started, but still need the pedal for volume when not using the wah... that's why I was hoping to use a footswitch to change the expression pedal from Volume to Wah.

[Propower]

Page 59 of the manual - You can assign the Emulate Toe Switch to a FS on the board.  I use EXP1 for Looper Playback volume a lot and I assigned the EXP1 to Looper volume. Use the Command Center. CC Toggle, CC=59, Min 0, Max 127 - works great!

[line6ujevn]

I'm new to Helix, but I figured this out. I have one of the Mission pedals WITHOUT a toe switch so the question is, "How do you get the pedal to go on/off like it has a toe switch?"

 

The answer is to either (a) use the bypass hardware button or (b)...

 

1. select the wah block,

2. hit the hamburger button,

3. select "controller assign".

4. The leftmost button/knob controls the "parameter" you wish to change. First select "position"

5. Then the second-to-leftmost knob labeled "controller" will allow you to select exp pedal 1/2/3 (among other things).

 

So far so good. I think this is how far most people get.

 

6. Now use the leftmost knob again to select "mix".

7. At this point, the second-to-leftmost knob labeled "controller" will allow you to select a footswitch position for on/off functionality.

 

So toggle off and on with the switch, then use the expression pedal to wah. Not the best solution bc the on/off doesn't go from preset to preset. You'll have to set it for all presets that you use. But it's something.

 

Note, I'm on 2.54 firmware. Not sure if it applies to earlier versions.

[patdixon]

23 hours ago, line6ujevn said:

Not the best solution bc the on/off doesn't go from preset to preset. You'll have to set it for all presets that you use. But it's something.

Global settings > EXP Pedals:

"Determines whether expression pedal positions are recalled per snapshot, per preset, or applied globally. If you want a Volume Pedal or Wah to maintain its position when switching presets, set this to "Global."

 

* This is from the LT manual, I don't know but believe it's the same for the floor. You can also copy the wah/vol block & it should transfer bypass actions to other presets.

[patdixon]

Something that's also extremely helpful is Manual Bypass Assign, where the EXP position automatically engages the wah (or any other block) when moved to a certain position. You can always do it the old way (toe switch) but I've been burned more than once with it. 

 

I understand not wanting to lose the vol pedal with only one EXP but the advantages outweigh the limitation for me. I use this on quite a few presets, and trust me, I ride the vol pedal all the time.

[johnnyvlee]

Someone (at Line 6, ideally) should summarize the info in this discussion on a page of its own for using the pedal for Wah.

[frederic971]

Hi guys 

 

I finally found a very simple way to switch from EXT1 to EXT 2 , engaging WAH block at any defined volume of the EXT 1 pedal , by simply using the snapshots.

Snapshot 1 is  activating vol block EXT 1 , snapshot 2 is activating EXT 2 WAH block on .. In order to make the HELIX understands that there is a swap between two pedals  , you must insert a cable on EXT 2 during the config step . Then you can remove it after saving your config  ...That 's it ... 

 

[phil_m]

36 minutes ago, frederic971 said:

Hi guys 

 

I finally found a very simple way to switch from EXT1 to EXT 2 , engaging WAH block at any defined volume of the EXT 1 pedal , by simply using the snapshots.

Snapshot 1 is  activating vol block EXT 1 , snapshot 2 is activating EXT 2 WAH block on .. In order to make the HELIX understands that there is a swap between two pedals  , you must insert a cable on EXT 2 during the config step . Then you can remove it after saving your config  ...That 's it ... 

 

Snapshots have recalled the state of the onboard pedal since shortly after they’re introduction, so I’m a bit puzzled as to why you’re saying this is new. I also don’t understand why you’re saying you need to insert the dummy cable to get it to work. You guess you’re just doing that to get the bypass that if the wah block where you want it, but you can also do that by simply hitting the Bypass button on the unit while the Wah block is selected.

[theElevators]

There is a feature/bug that if you have an external pedal plugged in while you set up your snapshots, you basically wind up with the expression not saving its state properly. 

 

Normal usage:

1. You can save whether Exp 1 or Exp 2 is selected in particular snapshots

2. When you switch your snapshots, the expression pedal switches to Exp 1 or Exp 2 as you saved these snapshots.

 

If you save your snapshots with a dummy cable in, in other words you can take your existing snapshot, plug in a dummy cable, and re-save it:

When you do this, your expression pedal is no longer saved per-snapshot.  You can manually click the pedal in, and switch it from Exp 1 to Exp 2 or visa versa.  Selecting different snapshots will not affect Exp 1 or Exp 2 -- it will remain unchanged.

 

So there you go, it's a weird quirk.  But once I figured out what was happening, I had to go in and re-save all my presets/snapshots, so it would not be happening.  I had made a mistake of dialing in my presets and snapshots with an external pedal plugged in. 

[phil_m]

30 minutes ago, theElevators said:

There is a feature/bug that if you have an external pedal plugged in while you set up your snapshots, you basically wind up with the expression not saving its state properly. 

 

Normal usage:

1. You can save whether Exp 1 or Exp 2 is selected in particular snapshots

2. When you switch your snapshots, the expression pedal switches to Exp 1 or Exp 2 as you saved these snapshots.

 

If you save your snapshots with a dummy cable in, in other words you can take your existing snapshot, plug in a dummy cable, and re-save it:

When you do this, your expression pedal is no longer saved per-snapshot.  You can manually click the pedal in, and switch it from Exp 1 to Exp 2 or visa versa.  Selecting different snapshots will not affect Exp 1 or Exp 2 -- it will remain unchanged.

 

So there you go, it's a weird quirk.  But once I figured out what was happening, I had to go in and re-save all my presets/snapshots, so it would not be happening.  I had made a mistake of dialing in my presets and snapshots with an external pedal plugged in. 

I don’t understand what you’re saying the bug is. The EXP1/EXP2 state is saved with the snapshots. That’s the expected behavior. If you have a dummy cable in, you’re telling the Helis that you have an external pedal connected to EXP2, and the on-board pedal is always EXP1.

 

Basically, the saved snapshot value overrides the pedal state when you change snapshots. This was actually something people asked for after snapshots were introduced, because it meant if you switches snapshots while the wrong state was active, the blocks tied to the toe switch got out of sync with their saved states in the snapshots.

[theElevators]

7 hours ago, phil_m said:

I don’t understand what you’re saying the bug is. The EXP1/EXP2 state is saved with the snapshots. That’s the expected behavior. If you have a dummy cable in, you’re telling the Helis that you have an external pedal connected to EXP2, and the on-board pedal is always EXP1.

 

Basically, the saved snapshot value overrides the pedal state when you change snapshots. This was actually something people asked for after snapshots were introduced, because it meant if you switches snapshots while the wrong state was active, the blocks tied to the toe switch got out of sync with their saved states in the snapshots.

The bug or feature is that you select EXP 1 or EXP 2 and when you switch snapshots, the EXP 1 or EXP 2 setting does not change to what it was in the snapshot when you saved it and remains in the state you leave it in: EXP 1 or EXP 2.  That is a hidden undocumented feature at best.  Either it should reset the EXP to what it was saved in the snapshot as.  Or it should never reset it to what was saved in the snapshot as.  Not a combination of "sometimes".