Expression 1 Toe switch question.

[JLondon]

   Can someone explain to my dense self how to make the toe switch of expression pedal 1 (set for wah) stop affecting my volume pedal (expression pedal 2)? 

   As it is now, when I have the volume set at a particular level on exp 2 pedal, the Helix goes to full volume and bypasses the exp2 pedal altogether when I engage the wah with the toe switch on exp 1.  Please make it stop doing that!  (grin)  Thanks in advance!

[LeeandTanja]

Don't you step on the Expression pedal all the way to engage the toe switch? That turns the volume all the way up, right? Not sure how else it could behave...can you explain what you'd like it to do?

[silverhead]

You should use a second (external) expression pedal if you want to keep both Vol and Wah on simultaneously, and to stop having the Vol increase to activate Wah.

[JLondon]

You should use a second (external) expression pedal if you want to keep both Vol and Wah on simultaneously, and to stop having the Vol increase to activate Wah.

     I don't understand why I would need a second external expression pedal (total of 3 expression pedals) just to have a wah and a volume pedal.  What would the purpose of the on-board exp 1 be for in this scenario?  And how would I turn the wah on and off without having to tap dance over to yet another foot switch? 

     I simply want expression pedal 1 to be, and act like, a wah pedal - no effect on volume or anything else.  And my expression pedal 2 to act like a volume pedal and nothing else.  I'm pretty sure the Helix is capable of doing that.  I just need to set it so that when I engage the toe switch it won't turn expression pedal 2 off.  Surely there must be a conflicting global setting somewhere that is defaulting volume back to exp 1 when I hit the toe switch.  

[JLondon]

Don't you step on the Expression pedal all the way to engage the toe switch? That turns the volume all the way up, right? Not sure how else it could behave...can you explain what you'd like it to do?

It could behave like a wah couldn't it.  My traditional wah pedal on my analog board doesn't have any affect on volume.  I have my volume set to an external expression pedal 2.  The onboard expression pedal 1 has no affect on vol what-so-ever until I hit the toe switch for the wah.  I just want exp1 to act like a wah, and my external exp 2 to act like a volume pedal.  I'm pretty sure the Helix is capable of this.  If not - that would be just crazy stupid. 

[silverhead]

     I don't understand why I would need a second external expression pedal (total of 3 expression pedals) just to have a wah and a volume pedal.  ..  

I didn't realize you are already using an external pedal. My suggestion was to use one - and no, you don't need two externals.

 

You're right - there's a conflicting setting somewhere. I don't have the Helix floorboard so I'm not 100% sure how the default settings for the onboard expression pedal EXP-1 and EXP-2 are affected when you add an external pedal and assign it to Vol. Perhaps you could experiment with using another controller (other than toe-switch) to activate/deactivate your Wah/Vol blocks?

 

Or you could try connecting your external pedal to the EXP-3 input and assign the Vol block to EXP-3.

[LeeandTanja]

Ahhh...now I understand your situation better. I think silverhead may be pointing you in the right direction. I only use the onboard expression pedal and the only time I tend to use the Wah is when I'm soloing so my volume is pegged anyway.

[plarkin]

I took a different approach to solving this dilemma...I simply use an outboard wah pedal (also my Fulltone Deja Vibe, which I like way more than the built-in vibe effects).  That leaves the onboard EXP pedal to be used for volume control and/or adjusting effect parameters.  If I need more control, I can add another expression pedal.  I like using the volume pedal in the Helix because I can put it anywhere in the chain without having to set up an external volume or expression pedal and/or using one of the loops. Usually I have the volume pedal last in the chain except for the reverb and delay.

[JLondon]

Thanks to all for their efforts to help.  I didn't realize this was such an issue and thought it was just me.  It just really seems completely crazy that as sophisticated and option-rich the Helix is, having a simple wah with a toe switch (first in the chain) AND a simple volume pedal (toward the end of the chain) is so problematic.  I haven't had time to mess with the Helix since I posted this.  But when I do, I'm going to investigate the global settings to see if there is a conflict between a global volume pedal assignment and my patch setting.  I simply just can't wrap my head around the idea that this could be a problem for the Helix.

[HonestOpinion]

   Can someone explain to my dense self how to make the toe switch of expression pedal 1 (set for wah) stop affecting my volume pedal (expression pedal 2)? 

   As it is now, when I have the volume set at a particular level on exp 2 pedal, the Helix goes to full volume and bypasses the exp2 pedal altogether when I engage the wah with the toe switch on exp 1.  Please make it stop doing that!  (grin)  Thanks in advance!

 

I am not currently using an external expression pedal but I think a workaround would be to select the "Volume/Pan" (Volume Pedal) block, then go to "Controller Assign" and change the "Controller" parameter to "EXP Pedal 3" (make sure you have your external pedal plugged into EXP 3 on the back of the Helix).

 

You are correct though, unless you have discovered a bug with the new firmware you should not have to do this. Plugging an expression pedal into the "EXP 2" jack on the back of the Helix is supposed to switch the default operation of the expression pedal included with the Helix to only control "EXP 1". I wonder if your external expression pedal is not being recognized properly by the Helix and therefor not deactivating the Helix's built-in expression pedal's default control of "EXP 2". It might be worth experimenting with a different external expression pedal or the cable connecting it to the Helix.

 

Here is the excerpt from page 6 of the Helix manual: 

Expression Pedal Move the expression pedal to control volume, wah, or a combination of amp and/or effects parameters. Activate the hidden toe switch to toggle between EXP 1 and EXP 2. (The scribble strip above tells you which one is active.) If an external pedal is connected to the rear panel EXP 2 jack, the built-in pedal becomes EXP 1 only. See "Controller Assign".

[darleneg]

I think they should have put the button to toggle between the 2 pedals somewhere else besides the toe. This way you can use both exp1 and exp2 on board. I have the same issue and will have to use an external wha pedal. When I want to use the wha pedal during a solo it's fine but having to engage the exp pedal all the way to the toe button makes the wha useless if you don't want everything that's programmed with exp2. It's definitely a short coming that most units have. Do not understand why they just don't have a switch on the side that would just engage exp1 when needed and leave the toe switch for when you want to engage both. Pretty simple. Best of both worlds with an addition of 1 switch.

[phil_m]

I think they should have put the button to toggle between the 2 pedals somewhere else besides the toe. This way you can use both exp1 and exp2 on board. I have the same issue and will have to use an external wha pedal. When I want to use the wha pedal during a solo it's fine but having to engage the exp pedal all the way to the toe button makes the wha useless if you don't want everything that's programmed with exp2. It's definitely a short coming that most units have. Do not understand why they just don't have a switch on the side that would just engage exp1 when needed and leave the toe switch for when you want to engage both. Pretty simple. Best of both worlds with an addition of 1 switch.

 

Well, I think having the EXP1/EXP2 toggle with the toe switch makes the most logical sense for most users... Anyway, the other option now is to switch EXP1 and EXP2 via snapshot changes. With the 2.10 update, the state of the expression pedal is remember and recalled with the snapshot.

[nobilis]

Can someone explain to my dense self how to make the toe switch of expression pedal 1 (set for wah) stop affecting my volume pedal (expression pedal 2)?

As it is now, when I have the volume set at a particular level on exp 2 pedal, the Helix goes to full volume and bypasses the exp2 pedal altogether when I engage the wah with the toe switch on exp 1. Please make it stop doing that! (grin) Thanks in advance!

I had the same issue ( a year later). I went to the Bypass Asign area and set the "switch" to none for the volume pedal. It is ignoring my toe switch now when I engage/disengage wah.

[kevin627]

There are a few workarounds it seems, like using a MIDI cable. But it would be nice (and easy) to make the EXP toggle-able with footswitches for those of us who use the MIDI ports otherwise. I just saw that there is an entry on ideascale here:

 

https://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Toggle-Expression-Pedal-selection-with-Footswitch/967640-23508

[HonestOpinion]

On 1/16/2017 at 10:20 AM, darleneg said:

I think they should have put the button to toggle between the 2 pedals somewhere else besides the toe. This way you can use both exp1 and exp2 on board. I have the same issue and will have to use an external wha pedal. When I want to use the wha pedal during a solo it's fine but having to engage the exp pedal all the way to the toe button makes the wha useless if you don't want everything that's programmed with exp2. It's definitely a short coming that most units have. Do not understand why they just don't have a switch on the side that would just engage exp1 when needed and leave the toe switch for when you want to engage both. Pretty simple. Best of both worlds with an addition of 1 switch.

 

3 hours ago, kevin627 said:

There are a few workarounds it seems, like using a MIDI cable.

But it would be nice (and easy) to make the EXP toggle-able with footswitches for those of us who use the MIDI ports otherwise. I just saw that there is an entry on ideascale here:

 

https://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Toggle-Expression-Pedal-selection-with-Footswitch/967640-23508

Voted!

 

Agree with phil_m that the snapshots approach is easiest but if you need it I posted a preset/template up a while ago(link below) that allows you to use a footswitch to activate the Helix's onboard expression pedal in stomp mode. This method using a foot-switch instead of a toe-switch retains for example the volume setting on the expression pedal when you switch rather than maxing out as it does when you use the toe-switch.  If you want to set it up yourself you can use the included instructions or you can use  the preset and modify it for your own use. The link in the preset description helps if you need to edit it. As kevin627 said you do need to connect a MIDI cable from the Helix' MIDI in to MIDI out.

 

https://line6.com/support/topic/45297-how-to-resolve-volume-and-wah-expression-pedal-conflict/?do=findComment&comment=293774