ncockerill Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 Hey Helixers! Any advice on how this might be replicated in the Helix? A little context. Doing a cover of U2's With or Without You. The beginning guitar part is normally performed by The Edge with the use of an eBow. This creates constant string vibration and a very smooth sounding "infinite sustain". I don't have an eBow -- but might spring for one. Before I do that, I've actually programmed a patch with a series of delays that comes extremely close to replicating that infinite sustain. However, as the note(s) eventually decay, I will have to occasionally pick the string again. I'm being a bit picky (aren't most guitar players) -- and I don't like the sound that the pick attack creates for this particular part. On my Boss GT-100, there was a cool effect called "Slow Gear", which produced a neat swell effect without pick attack. Any advice on how this might be replicated in the Helix? Prefer not to use the volume pedal as it kills the current sustain. Make sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkornell Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 No, there is no way to directly do an auto volume swell. Best way to accomplish that would be to put the volume control near the start of your chain (before the delays) or use the volume knob on the guitar to roll the volume off and on. Or can use an external pedal - perhaps your GT100 if you've still got it - in an FX loop near the front of the chain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tagmusenmagnus1 Posted June 24, 2016 Share Posted June 24, 2016 What do you mean, when you say the a volume pedal kills the current sustain ? It is exactly the same as the Auto Swell - just without the auto. Of course you have to put the vol block before the delays... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncockerill Posted June 25, 2016 Author Share Posted June 25, 2016 What do you mean, when you say the a volume pedal kills the current sustain ? It is exactly the same as the Auto Swell - just without the auto. Of course you have to put the vol block before the delays... Yeah -- that sounded confusing -- sorry. What I meant was that with Slow Gear, you could continue to pick notes while the previous note was still sustaining - but you since you don't hear the pick attack, it sounds like the note never decays. If I use the volume pedal, the current note that is sustaining dies (I'm cutting the volume). I guess the best way to describe what I am looking for is "infinite sustain" without having to constantly pick. Perhaps I should just get an eBow -- probably why people use them in the first place. Bass player and drummer says it sounds great as-is. But they are probably just tired of me dicking with the Helix. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpdennis Posted June 25, 2016 Share Posted June 25, 2016 Hey Helixers! Any advice on how this might be replicated in the Helix? A little context. Doing a cover of U2's With or Without You. The beginning guitar part is normally performed by The Edge with the use of an eBow. This creates constant string vibration and a very smooth sounding "infinite sustain". I don't have an eBow -- but might spring for one. Before I do that, I've actually programmed a patch with a series of delays that comes extremely close to replicating that infinite sustain. However, as the note(s) eventually decay, I will have to occasionally pick the string again. I'm being a bit picky (aren't most guitar players) -- and I don't like the sound that the pick attack creates for this particular part. On my Boss GT-100, there was a cool effect called "Slow Gear", which produced a neat swell effect without pick attack. Any advice on how this might be replicated in the Helix? Prefer not to use the volume pedal as it kills the current sustain. Make sense? I actually submitted this idea a while back. http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Boss-Slow-Gear-SG-1/818934-23508 If you get a good patch please let me know or vote up my idea or both. Dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncockerill Posted June 25, 2016 Author Share Posted June 25, 2016 I actually submitted this idea a while back. http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Boss-Slow-Gear-SG-1/818934-23508 If you get a good patch please let me know or vote up my idea or both. Dennis Voted up, Dennis! Would be a nice addition. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpdennis Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Voted up, Dennis! Would be a nice addition. Looks like we are not alone in the request. Interesting read ... https://reverb.com/news/pedals-in-need-of-a-reissue?_aid=newsletter&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=fef4b61a38-rn16_160626_content&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5889ed6702-fef4b61a38-56114865 LOL Dennis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ncockerill Posted June 27, 2016 Author Share Posted June 27, 2016 Looks like we are not alone in the request. Interesting read ... https://reverb.com/news/pedals-in-need-of-a-reissue?_aid=newsletter&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=fef4b61a38-rn16_160626_content&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5889ed6702-fef4b61a38-56114865 LOL Dennis Right?! We are not alone. This effect was super useful. I used it extensively in the GT-100. Very versatile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremyn Posted June 27, 2016 Share Posted June 27, 2016 The EHX Freeze or SuperEgo are even better at this. The Slow Gear SG1 is just an automatic volume pedal that detected the attack and faded it in for you, like a gate with a super slow turn on and a quick turn off. Not sure what the GT100 did to emulate this effect, but SG1 wasn't that great at e-bow type lines beyond the first note unless you fed it into a long delay/reverb. The EHX Freeze effect is a true infinite sustain that samples and holds notes indefinitely. For ambient guitar the Freeze is my go to pedal as a base to feed into my ambient chain. I'd love to see that modelled in Helix, then I could stop having to use mine in the loop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris-7777 Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 I am trying to create a Helix preset with a BOSS SG-1 type of effect. To me, it seems like there is more to it than just auto swell. The SG-1 effect is described as first "filtering" the attack and then doing the volume swell. I wonder whether this is an accurate description of what is going on in the circuitry. https://circuitscheme.com/boss-slow-gear-sg-1.html Soundwise, I am not getting there with the Helix Dynamics-Autoswell. Currently trying to add compression before Autoswell. Still, I do not understand what the Rel. Offset parameter is supposed to do. Even with the most extreme settings, I do not really notice a dramatic change. Some people prefer the Vintage Swell Delay over the Autoswell Dynamics model, but I feel like this works for slow swelling of chords and textures only, not for riding the volume on rather quick single note lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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