chuskey Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 There were several questions on the FB user group about Helix related stuff, and a request to show the process of building a patch from scratch. So I decided to do a YouTube video building a patch from scratch and trying to answer as many questions as I could along the way. I was pretty surprised when I hit stop and realized I had been going on for over 40 min! I guess there's just never enough you can say about what the Helix can do :) Anyway, this covers a lot of bases and would be a good watch for folks starting out and anyone who has questions about setting up routing, different path options, wet/dry, etc. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glideman Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 Sweet! Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuskey Posted June 21, 2016 Author Share Posted June 21, 2016 Sweet! Thanks! You're welcome :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sikter Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 Thanks for the video. What Helix FB group are you running (referring to)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuckeyeTodd Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 Forgive me if this is a stupid question..... Is an IR pretty much just another amp/cab? If so, the patch you are creating in the video would be the same as running 2 different amp/cab setups on one signal path? I am a complete novice when it comes to tone creation, and so much of this stuff makes little sense. I have watched the first 15 minutes of your video, and it has helped A LOT! thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glideman Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 An Impulse Response basically replaces a cab block... use a separate amp block and pair it with an IR instead of or even in addition to a separate cab block. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watch4king Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 Dude!! That was awesome. I know you just went over the basics and didn't really focuus on tone but I am sure you helped a lot of folks here understand the potential of the Helix and get lots of new ideas and options. Thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinoy1 Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 Thanks for sharing chuskey! I'm fairly new with Helix and this video helps a lot! Great stuff!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuskey Posted June 22, 2016 Author Share Posted June 22, 2016 Thanks for the video. What Helix FB group are you running (referring to)? Here's the URL to the FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/line6helixusergroup/ It's a pretty active group and some cool guys on there. The admin is a guy named Chad Boston. He does a great job with it! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuskey Posted June 22, 2016 Author Share Posted June 22, 2016 Dude!! That was awesome. I know you just went over the basics and didn't really focuus on tone but I am sure you helped a lot of folks here understand the potential of the Helix and get lots of new ideas and options. Thanks! You're very welcome! I'm glad it was helpful. The possibilities with Helix are practically endless :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuskey Posted June 22, 2016 Author Share Posted June 22, 2016 Thanks for sharing chuskey! I'm fairly new with Helix and this video helps a lot! Great stuff!!! You're welcome!! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sikter Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 Here's the URL to the FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/line6helixusergroup/ It's a pretty active group and some cool guys on there. The admin is a guy named Chad Boston. He does a great job with it! Thx. I just did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuskey Posted June 22, 2016 Author Share Posted June 22, 2016 Forgive me if this is a stupid question..... Is an IR pretty much just another amp/cab? If so, the patch you are creating in the video would be the same as running 2 different amp/cab setups on one signal path? I am a complete novice when it comes to tone creation, and so much of this stuff makes little sense. I have watched the first 15 minutes of your video, and it has helped A LOT! thanks! You're very welcome! As stated above an IR is essentially just a cab block. There are companies out there that make impulse responses (IR's) that you can buy and then load those into your Helix. Some people prefer them to the built in cabs. I've done a couple of videos comparing the stock Helix cabs to IR's, and for me and the type of tone I'm going for I'm perfectly happy with the stock cabs. There are SO MANY IR's out there that it can also be very time consuming and overwhelming to sift through them and find what you like. Not trying to dissuade anyone from using IR's, lots of people have found some they love. Just giving my .02 :) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcus2323 Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 Great video tutorial! Thanks a lot for all your effort. :D 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glideman Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 It can take long enough just to go through every Helix cab, with every mic on that cab paired with every amp in Helix. That's not even including changing the distances from the speaker for the mic settings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaminjimlp Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 Great video!!! I liked the lead boost, I had originally used volume on the amp, now I use a simple EQ increasing the level 3 db and just make it turn on and off that block with a foot switch... I will be switching over to your method to save DSP... Thanks!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HonestOpinion Posted June 23, 2016 Share Posted June 23, 2016 Great tutorial with some essential tips! I also use the output block for a boost that only affects volume and doesn't drive the amp or effects differently and doesn't consume an extra block. I only use a 3db boost though as 6db can be fairly substantial at stage volumes. I also order my effects a bit differently although experimentation is always great and the order you prefer may be different depending on the sound you are trying to get, as always, use your ears. I tend to usually put a compressor before my distortion as I don't want the compressor squeezing the distorted sound, that seems to kill the dynamics. I prefer the sound of a distortion being fed by a compressed signal. I also always put my delay before my reverb. I don't want the reverb which is essentially a complex series of delays causing each of these "micro" delays to be delayed again by the delay block. With the delay in front of the reverb I feel I get a more natural reverb sound on the dry and delayed signal from the delay block. Nice explanation on the parametric EQ, I actually tend to prefer a parametric EQ on the vocal to a graphic although both can be useful but I think the graphic EQ is more tailored to guitar than voice. I believe all the factory presets have the looper as the final block in a preset and always have it assigned to footswitch #5. If you want to keep your setup consistent and have the looper behave while you switch from preset to preset you may want to mimic the Line6 looper setup. Of course, all of these are just suggestions and your video does cover a lot of ground, particularly for new Helix users. Well done and thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuskey Posted June 23, 2016 Author Share Posted June 23, 2016 Great video!!! I liked the lead boost, I had originally used volume on the amp, now I use a simple EQ increasing the level 3 db and just make it turn on and off that block with a foot switch... I will be switching over to your method to save DSP... Thanks!!! Thanks man! I'm glad the video was helpful with the lead boost tip. I love the fact that there are always several ways to accomplish any goal with Helix. It's so flexible, which is great for us who like to geek out on all the options :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuskey Posted June 23, 2016 Author Share Posted June 23, 2016 Great tutorial with some essential tips! I also use the output block for a boost that only affects volume and doesn't drive the amp or effects differently and doesn't consume an extra block. I only use a 3db boost though as 6db can be fairly substantial at stage volumes. I also order my effects a bit differently although experimentation is always great and the order you prefer may be different depending on the sound you are trying to get, as always, use your ears. I tend to usually put a compressor before my distortion as I don't want the compressor squeezing the distorted sound, that seems to kill the dynamics. I prefer the sound of a distortion being fed by a compressed signal. I also always put my delay before my reverb. I don't want the reverb which is essentially a complex series of delays causing each of these "micro" delays to be delayed again by the delay block. With the delay in front of the reverb I feel I get a more natural reverb sound on the dry and delayed signal from the delay block. Nice explanation on the parametric EQ, I actually tend to prefer a parametric EQ on the vocal to a graphic although both can be useful but I think the graphic EQ is more tailored to guitar than voice. I believe all the factory presets have the looper as the final block in a preset and always have it assigned to footswitch #5. If you want to keep your setup consistent and have the looper behave while you switch from preset to preset you may want to mimic the Line6 looper setup. Of course, all of these are just suggestions and your video does cover a lot of ground, particularly for new Helix users. Well done and thanks! Thanks for the feedback and the suggestions! You make good points about fx order and impact. The patch for this video wasn't really made with any tone considerations in mind, but I'm going to go back to my actual presets and play around with your suggestions. I don't remember how I ordered my reverb/delay, but I know I have my compressor after the distortion. I'm going to play around with that and see how I like having it in the chain first. Always new tricks to learn :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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